“Lying is bad.”
Dad said sternly, and then he broke into a chuckle. A smile spread across my dad’s face! I couldn’t help but smile back.
I saw my dad off and was on my way back, “Haa…”
The maids gently coaxed, seeing me walking groggily, “Master will be back soon, don’t feel sad Miss.”
“I’m fine! Dad went to work. He’s going to earn a lot of money!”
At my enthusiastic reply, the maids asked again, looking puzzled, “Is Miss sad because Sherry isn’t here?”
“N-No!”
I shook my head.
Sherry went on a holiday to visit her younger sibling, who attends a prestigious boarding school. Dad wrote a recommendation letter for her.
After their parents died, Sherry became a parent figure to her sibling.
‘I always felt sorry for her because she didn’t get to see her beloved sibling as often as she wanted because of me.’
Since she was going to visit her sibling this time, I loaded her up with gifts.
“Sherry! These are presents for you! Give them to your sibling.”
“Are you giving me all these expensive things? B-But there is only one of these, and it belongs to Miss.”
“Sherry also has one sibling. But you are with me all the time. That’s why I wanted to give you guys gifts.”
“Miss…”
I didn’t hesitate to give Sherry and her sibling things, no matter how precious they were.
Sherry was moved to tears.
Seeing her happy made me proud. So Sherry going on vacation was a happy thing, not something to be sad about.
‘The maids have a big misunderstanding! I have to clear it up!’
I hugged the hands of the two maids and kissed their cheeks.
“Sherry may not be here, but Carrie and Maria are also very, very nice! Thank you for playing with me!”
“Oh my! Miss…!”
The two maids blushed.
“I’m just sleepy, that’s all.”
“You were sleepy, and we didn’t even realize it!”
“I’ll carry you to your room!”
“No, let me!”
The maids started arguing, and finally they both took me to my room.
“You must be tired, we’ll put you to bed.”
The maids enthusiastically sang me a lullaby.
I pretended to be fast asleep.
“She looks so cute while sleeping. Her cheeks were too soft!”
“I can’t wait to tell the other maids that Miss said she liked us.”
The maids whispered happily and left the room.
As soon as I was alone in the room, I took out the pendant. Inside the shattered pendant, two sealing stones glittered.
“Uncle Rabbit! Miss Butterfly!”
“……”
Still no answer from the sealing stones.
We couldn’t communicate as the linker broke.
But I can’t let it be.
I felt lonely without them. I miss their annoyingly loud chatter, meddling, and bickering like children.
And with Prache possibly targeting me again, I needed the help of these beings.
“But most of all, I want to help Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly.”
If what was hidden in the book was true, and Prache had sealed the other Gods for his own greed, then the two of them were unjustly imprisoned.
To make matters worse, people mistook them for demons.
“Prache is the real bad guy!”
He also got me killed! It was Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly who saved me from Prache.
Thanks to them, I was able to awaken my divine power and escape from the casket of judgement.
I can use divinity which is superior to holy power!
‘I’m still a little nervous.’
Maybe this power can help us. The problem is, I don’t know how to wield this power.
‘The book on the markets had zero substance.’
Will I have to go into the tiger’s den to find the right materials?
I clenched my jaw and stared out the window.
‘Prache’s sealing of the four Gods is a mysterious ancient event, a legend, and the key to unlocking it lies in the ancient books.’
The ancient texts were considered sacred. And most of them were kept in the Great Temple.
“The remaining few are in the possession of the imperial family and private collectors.”
Could there be something useful in the secret chambers of the Imperial Library?
“Right! I copied a text from there!”
I remembered, the day I stumbled into the secret room of the Imperial Library. I thought it was related to my father and copied the lines of the document.
‘I thought grandfather had written it mysteriously, so that no one could decipher it.’
Now that I think about it, the letters were the same as the ones used by Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly.
It was also the very same font used in the oracle Asta had read about, the one in the Casket of Judgement.
‘In other words, these were really the language of the Gods!’
I didn’t know how I came to read the language of the Gods that only Asta could read.
‘Perhaps it was due to divine influence?’
I found the wad of paper I was looking for in the back of the drawer. As expected, I could now easily read what I had not been able to read before.
I was startled, { To meet the God of death, you must become his priest. }
“W-Why does the first line mention the word death?”
It felt ominous.
“Grandfather, why did you have this scary thing?”
I swallowed dryly and read the next part.
{ If you offer your heart to ‘Death’ and obey him completely, the God will bestow upon you the blessing of prolonging life. }
A blessing that could postpone death – Considering it’s an ancient text, it seemed like a writing on how to borrow the power of the Gods so that Humans wouldn’t die from divinity.
‘An user manual on how to meet Gods,’ I thought.
If so, it fit the bill for what I needed. I want to be reunited with the two sealed Gods, so maybe the instruction manual will guide me.
{ If you have the heart of a rebel who doesn’t want to submit to the Gods, there is no way for you. Unless you are a Divine Awakener. }
A Divine Awakener?
I opened my eyes wide.
{ A Divine Awakener who can suppress the rampaging divine power is very rare. Such a person can make themselves a linker and directly meet the Gods. Of course, to become a linker, one must pass a test of life and death. Can you risk your life? If so, chant the following with divinity mixed with your voice.. }
‘Why is it trying to make me risk my life again…’
The more I read it, the more frightening it became.
The next line was like a spell.
“What should I do?”
I wanted to meet Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly again. I wanted to talk to them and get closer to the truth.
But I was afraid of risking my life.
“If something goes wrong? What if I can’t meet Dad and Grandfather again?”
I didn’t want that.
I didn’t want the two of them to be sad because of me.
“But there’s no law that says Prache won’t target me again.”
And above all –
“Can I live like this, giving up knowing the truth?”
Pretending not to know while Prache is being praised and deceiving people?
“Prache was the one who helped Asta regress.”
In the original work, Prache didn’t have much presence. He was just a tool needed for the plot.
‘But that was fiction and this is the ‘real’ world I live in, and Prache is the God of this world.’
Was he really moved by Asta’s fervent prayers and decided to grant her a second chance?
I remembered Asta’s desperate cries as she was being led away from Caliverse Square.
“I did what you told me to do, Prache, help me!”
Others dismissed her words as lies, believing her to be a fake Saint. But Prache may indeed be behind Asta’s evil deeds.
It was strange to see Prache, who had been an ornamental character throughout the original, .
crazy enough to kill a child because of accusations.
‘Perhaps Prache has a hidden agenda.’
I glanced down at the spell inscribed on the paper and used my divinity, “Divine power, I beseech thee, allow my humble self to enter the test of causality woven by nature.”
As I recited the spell, suddenly, my vision went blank.
I was not blinded but transported to another dimension where there was no light. This place was shrouded in darkness. It was immeasurably large, high, and empty. There was something peculiar about this palace, a loneliness that made me feel sick to my stomach.
I could feel someone’s presence without being unable to see. His cold voice echoed, “Causality is cruel. But everything has a cause and an effect, and there is a price to pay to get what you want. For a mere mortal to gain access to the Gods, he must make the appropriate sacrifice.”
As he spoke, three lights appeared before me. They were yellow, red, and green.
“Red is the colour of Uncle Rabbit, green is the colour of Miss Butterfly, but who is the yellow one?
“Sacrifice for those who love you, sacrifice for the weak, sacrifice for the brave, and finally sacrifice for those you do not know. If you pass these four tests, you will be granted access to the Gods.”
Why four tests? Who is going to test me?
My mind was riddled with questions. But I could feel him drifting away.
I called out urgently, “What if I don’t pass the test?”
Then I heard a low, distant laugh, “I told you before, death is the only option.”
“!”
At that moment, the divinity within me turned unstable. I couldn’t control it. I could feel my blood rush. My head became dizzy, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
In that moment, my consciousness plummeted into darkness.
“… can’t do it? Haha, that’s funny.”
Sobs. Groans of pain and cruel laughter cracking above it.
I slowly opened my eyes, hearing the murmuring sound penetrating my ears.
I was trapped in a dark place. The walls appeared to be stones.
“Is this a cave?”
I peered cautiously over the boulders.
I saw Asta and three more priests. They were less in number compared to the first time she kidnapped me. Apparently, all of them couldn’t escape, so she only took out the most fit and useful ones.
“Who were they harassing?”
I glanced at the person chained and cowering before Asta and the priests. The woman looked all too familiar.
“Sherry…!”
I clamped my mouth shut.
‘She’s supposed to be on holiday! Why is she here?’
Next to Sherry was a small child who looked just like her, crying. The child was wearing the clothes I had given to Sherry, he must be her sibling.
They had been captured by Asta.
My legs were shaking and I could barely stand.
“You’re still not giving up! Are you that witch’s follower?”
“Her Highness is not a witch, you are!”
Sherry shouted at Asta.
Asta slapped her hard across the cheek. The loud sound conveyed how hard she had hit Sherry.
As Sherry fell to the side, the child next to her burst into tears.
“Sister, sister! Waaah!”
“You’re making too much noise. Shut him up.”
Asta ordered the priests.
The priests approached the child with knives. Seeing this, Sherry panicked and shielded her brother.
“W-What are you going to do!”
“I don’t intend to kill you. Don’t worry. It’s only a punishment,” Asta said cruelly.
The priests forced the child’s mouth open.
“No! Don’t! Please! I’d rather you cut out my tongue!” Sherry wailed.
“That I can’t do. You need to do some work.”
Chuckling, Asta bent down and locked eyes with Sherry, “Bring Hanelope to me. That child trusts you, so you can easily lure her, right?”
