It was when the darkness sinking into Pronaea invaded their dreams to carve out memories.
Now it’s time. You must return to my embrace.
Redian pushed himself into Siani’s dream. So that he alone could exist in every moment she blinked and breathed.
{Milord, as you commanded, we have erased their memories. However, we couldn’t touch her memory.}
“I’ll take care of that,” Redian replied briefly to Epos’s report ringing in his ears. His voice was lowered for fear of waking Siani.
“Master won’t remember anyway…”
There was no need to touch Siani’s memory. He couldn’t even if he wanted to, and the short period of less than a month wouldn’t be special to her.
Once she returned to his embrace and just a little time passed, Siani would forget this place. That was the indifference of the woman Redian loved so dearly. She spread love everywhere but didn’t particularly love anything.
“Even though I destroyed everything you loved…”
So he kissed the back of Siani’s hand and smiled.
“You can’t remember any of it, can you, Master?”
Countless things he had thrown into hell with his own hands came to mind. All the things she had loved for a moment, all the things her eyes had briefly touched, were gone.
“So, all you need is me, Master.”
Siani didn’t look back or care to remember. Her cruel indifference was so lovable. It made him want to fill that small head with only his traces.
“…”
How much time had passed? The pouring rain had completely stopped, and the raging wind had calmed.
Redian stood up and scanned the place Siani had stayed. It was as if he needed to know what time she spent in places he hadn’t seen, who she met, and what she cared about. However,
A red flower that seemed to be clumsily plucked, untrimmed fruit, and a few useless books.
Redian soon let out a hollow laugh. “Tsk.”
His past anxious times felt futile.
“Lucifer.”
At that moment, a calm voice was heard.
“It’s been a long time.”
“…”
Redian turned his head and looked at the woman who appeared before him.
“I knew you’d come in person.”
They couldn’t help but recognize each other immediately.
“I know you don’t think of me as a family or a mother. After all, I only embraced you to follow the goddess’s will.”
Just as Raphiel said, Redian’s gaze was not directed at his mother.
“Long time no see, Seraphiel.”
It was just as if he was dealing with a being he had known a long time ago without emotion.
“Looks like you’ve been hiding here.”
“…”
At the same time, Raphiel looked at Siani, who was sound asleep on the bed. It was the first time Siani, who had spent sleepless nights since crossing over to Pronaea, slept so peacefully as if Redian’s embrace was more comfortable than any comfort.
“Can’t you see this, Lucifer?” But Raphiel hid her thoughts and spoke up. “The goddess has returned to this land on her own. How can you block the goddess’s will?”
“…Will?” Redian, who finally turned, looked at Raphiel calmly. “This is why I hate you all.”
A sneer filled his fleeting expression.
“You can’t even remember that master doesn’t like red flowers…”
Indeed, Siani didn’t like red flowers because they confused her eyes. That’s why only pure white flowers with the scent of the gardenia she loved were abundant in the garden.
“She especially plucked flowers to use as decorations.”
On the table, petals that someone had brought as a gift were scattered messily.
“Her mouth is small, and her tongue is sensitive…” Looking at the untrimmed fruits, Redian eventually frowned. “Even if you offer her something so delicate it crumbles, she can’t swallow it all.”
Her tongue and lips that touched his hand were so soft and tender they couldn’t hold such rough things.
“…It’s upsetting.”
For the first time, something called an expression brushed his glassy face. As if he genuinely felt sorry for the hardships Siani had suffered on this indifferent land.
“You all just talk about the goddess’s will without knowing anything,” Redian added, laughing low. “Of course, since you’ve even forgotten master’s existence, it must be natural.”
Raphiel silently watched Redian. Compared to any day in Heaven, his blue eyes had darkened significantly, and the air around him was chillingly cold.
“Lucifer, why do you still linger around the goddess when you’ve long abandoned that name and fallen?” So Raphiel couldn’t watch any longer.
“You’re asking something obvious.”
Redian answered indifferently with a light smile. “If Master calls me Lucifer, I can gladly become Lucifer.”
He could be Lucifer if his master wished, or Peidion. He could exist as Redian or be anyone from any time. Every moment of his existence was solely for this woman.
“I can be as loyal as a dog, stab my heart with my own hand, or kill myself.”
But contrary to his cool smile, his eyes grew increasingly mad with obsessive intensity.
“Can’t you see, since master allowed me on this land? Can’t you see she still remembers me?”
“…”
“How much master loves me.”
His words, spoken with a clenched jaw, pierced the ears like a sharp stab.
Before anyone knew it, the book Siani was reading disappeared, and the flowers in the garden she tended withered.
“These useless things here…”
Everything his gaze touched, every trace of Siani crumbled and broke. As if everything she chose in this land while deceiving him was utterly disgusting.
“The only reason I keep you alive is one.”
Redian wanted to cut off the tongues of those who dared mention the woman in his presence.
“Because master shouldn’t show you even a shred of sympathy or compassion.”
But the reason he didn’t was not for them but for Siani.
“So live like the dead in this dreadfully peaceful land, Seraphiel.”
“…”
“Just like you’ve been doing until now.”
Raphiel felt a chill down her spine. Those eyes that only held emotion when mentioning Siani, that expression that wouldn’t miss any detail of her. Even as she faced it directly…
“When the goddess regains her lost memory completely, do you think she’ll stay by your side, Peidion?”
It was an unbelievably blind love.
“She’ll be angry with you and hate you.”
Now, all traces Siani had left here were gone. As Raphiel watched, she spoke coldly on purpose.
“Anytime.”
“…!”
With a whoosh, even the faint candlelight illuminating the room went out. The soft scent of gardenia turned into a smoky stench.
“All of her rage and hatred…”
In the complete darkness that took over the night, Redian carefully held Siani in his arms. So that even those who followed him couldn’t see her face.
“I must take all of it.”
Raphiel staggered under the cold that wrapped around her body instantly.
“…Ha.”
When she opened her eyes again, nothing was left. Neither Redian nor Siani nor even the trace of the woman who had stayed here.
* * *
“Kyaa, Goddess saved Mori!”
“But I’m Lee Juyong?”
“Does Siani resemble me or the goddess?”
“Yes, that’s right. You can retrieve forgotten memories if you go to the Sea of Ananke.”
In the hazy consciousness, dozens of fragments intertwined.
Ugh, it’s so noisy.
It was enough to make my eyes snap open. Blink, blink.
How long had I been staring blankly at the ceiling?
“What is this…”
I realized the chandelier swaying in front of my eyes was unfamiliar. Strange wallpaper, an unfamiliar bed, an unknown scent, and this creepy feeling. Of course, this situation was all too familiar to me. Wasn’t it the scene I faced every time I fell into a new world? But I neither screamed nor sighed, wondering how to survive this time.
“…As expected.”
Instead, I slowly raised my hand and looked at my fingers.
“It wasn’t a dream.”
The shackles with Redian that I had taken off before leaving the capital were back in place. And I didn’t ask questions like, ‘How did this happen? I definitely ran away, didn’t I? Did time go backward?’ anymore. Because I remembered all my past memories so clearly.
“With this, I’ve kept all my promises to you, Princess.”
“Come to think of it, I heard that the king of Decilio has entered the empire.”
“Eventually, you’ll return to my embrace, Master.”
From the conversations I had with them to the moments in Pronaea, I remembered them all.
“Those b*stards…”
Which meant. Not only was I dragged back into their hands…
“Daring to imprison me?”
Having grasped the situation, I kicked off the soft blanket and stood up.
“So you want to fight.”
The real battle was just beginning.
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