“When everything is settled, please call me here too, Big Sis.”
That afternoon, I saw off Juyong outside the castle.
“It looks even more splendid than the Pronaea I’ve only heard about in rumors.”
“Of course.”
“N-No. If I did that, I’d have to deal with my scary son.” Juyong laughed, referring to Redian as her son.
“Juyong.”
“Yes?”
Facing Juyong made me suddenly curious.
“Don’t you find this world strange?”
Juyong and I were strangers in this world. She might feel more unfamiliar with this world and her own existence than I do, yet she always seemed comfortable, as if she had no confusion about herself or this world.
“Aren’t you confused about why you ended up in this world and what you should do here?”
When I asked again, Juyong gave a peculiar smile. “This is just the world where ‘I’ live, Big Sis.”
She gave a very simple answer.
“Whether I’m Lee Juyong in Korea or myself here, only the environment and appearance have changed. The fact that I am me hasn’t changed.”
She further explained. Whether she lived as Jenny overseas or as the empress here in another world, she was still herself.
“Of course, I had the same worries when I first woke up here. At that time, that devil pretending to be an angel said something.”
It seemed Juyong had also met that angel-pretending devil who whined about not being able to leave work.
“She said that because I’m one of the scattered pieces of the goddess, I must help her resurrection.”
“…”
“But apart from being a piece of the goddess, I am just myself. She might be part of me, but she’s not Lee Juyong.”
Juyong’s eyes were calm but seemed very resolute.
“So nothing else matters. I will live my life for myself here, and since I like it here, I have no reason to leave.” She smiled while gazing at the setting sun. “After all, not only me but every being in this world is a piece of the goddess.”
I also looked beyond the horizon. “That’s true. The sky and the earth must have been created by the goddess’s hand, so they would be her traces and pieces.”
The sky and the earth, the wind and the sea, flowers and trees, even a grain of sand. All of them were living their own lives in their own places. Even if Norma gained new names and lives from me, even if I recreated part of their lives…
Just like I can’t live their futures for them.
“I want you to find out who you are before anything else, Big Sis.”
Juyong, holding my hand, added. Once you know that, the purpose of life will be singular, no matter who you become in any world.
“Well, honestly, as long as I’m happy and enjoying myself, that’s enough.”
Back in my room, I stared at my face in the mirror for a long time. Even if the reason I came to this world was because I was the last piece of the goddess, her incarnation, or for her resurrection…
“Yes. I am just me.”
Standing here right now, I was just myself. Even if the past Siani lived as an empty shell because she was a piece of the goddess, now I’m the current Siani Felicite. I opened the door to the underground castle with my own hands, saved the Norma with my will, and created this reality myself; That was the current Siani Felicite.
So, I was no longer the last piece of the goddess or her reincarnation or part…
“What’s so special about being a goddess?”
A light laugh came out.
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
“Because I’m the goddess.”
I remembered the words I said to Redian when we first met.
* * *
It was that evening.
“You’ve been with the empress for quite a while. What were you talking about?” Redian, who was treating my ankle as usual, asked.
“She said there will be a rebellion soon.”
“Ah, is that so?” He responded as if answering a question about what to have for dinner tonight.
It wasn’t normal for me to speak like this while half-lying on the sofa, but I couldn’t compete with Redian, who didn’t even blink.
“It said the target of the rebellion is you.”
“I see. That sounds interesting.”
“You knew, didn’t you?”
Seeing his calm and relaxed reaction, there was no need to beat around the bush.
“Then why didn’t you say anything to me?”
The rumor had reached Juyong’s ears, so there was no way Redian didn’t know. Yet, he hadn’t mentioned anything to me about it.
“It’s not something you should worry about, Master.”
I frowned at that moment. “Did you forget that I was the one who put you in the crown prince’s position?”
I had no intention of interfering with any of Redian’s duties as the crown prince. But the rebellion was entirely a different matter. Someone was threatening the crown prince I appointed, and as his primary supporter, I was completely excluded from the information.
“I told you not to blindfold me or cover my ears.”
I thought it was because Redian blocked the news from reaching me.
“It’s not that…”
However,
“Ash Benio, I’m going to kill that b*stard.”
Redian, looking up slowly, fixed his gaze on me.
“I’ve barely restrained myself from blowing his head off right away.”
A smile flickered across his perfectly drawn lips.
“There’s no reason to refuse when he’s offering his neck to me.”
It was as if just imagining the sight of his head on a spike was enjoyable.
Hmm. Seeing Redian more murderous than I expected, I cleared my throat. “But the leader of the rebellion is not Ash Benio, but Grand Duke Benio though?”
Moreover, Redian seemed more determined to get Ash than the duke.
“Ah, if you wish, you can kill Grand Duke Benio yourself. But…” Redian added, rising from his seat as if he had finished the treatment. “I will kill Ash Benio with my own hands.”
Did something happen between them that I don’t know about? I was curious since it was rare for Redian to express his intention so firmly in front of me.
“Did Ash Benio do something to you?”
“I don’t want his blood on your hands.”
When I looked at him as if asking what he meant.
“I’m jealous.” Without changing his expression, he straightforwardly answered. “That ridiculous b*stard was your former fiancé, wasn’t he?”
“My goodness.”
This was not the first time such a situation had occurred lately. Increasingly, Redian was being so blatantly straightforward that I was at a loss for words. Not only did he embrace me from behind, but he also kissed my shoulder and said ticklish things. His voice, slipping into my ears, was so low and mischievous that it made me feel languid and even drowsy.
“Ah, by the way, tomorrow is the day we go to the Sea of Ananke together,” Redian said, bringing a plate of cherries.
Ever since we started going for walks together, Redian would nod willingly no matter where I said I was going, as if he didn’t care where I went as long as I took him with me.
“Is it okay for me to go to the Sea of Ananke?”
“You’ll take me with you, right? It’s fine.”
He was like a big puppy, not a white fox, wanting to follow me everywhere.
“You’re okay with me regaining all my memories?”
“If that’s what you want, Master.”
Before I knew it, a cherry soaked in honey and lemon juice popped into my mouth. It was my favorite snack these days.
“Redian, you know who I am.”
Surely, as the incarnation of Peidion, he must see me as the incarnation of the goddess he loved so dearly.
“Your subordinates call me the goddess. I must look like that to you too.”
Indeed, his desperate look sometimes showed that he was Peidion, who loved Theia. This endless love and trust he has for me must be because of that. In other words, if I were not the incarnation of the goddess, we wouldn’t have come this far.
“Strange woman.”
But then.
“What?”
“That strange woman who suddenly appeared in front of me…”
“…”
“…Threatened men holding weapons without any fear.”
Unexpectedly, Redian recalled the memory of our first meeting in the underground castle. The first moment when we looked at each other as Siani and Redian.
“I can’t forget that peculiar and strange sight.”
Before I knew it, Redian was looking at me from up close.
“That’s when I fell for you, Master.”
His hand, which had been feeding me cherries, slowly brushed my lips.
“It was the first time I had seen something so beautiful and red in my life.”
His soft gaze moved from my lips to my eyes.
“And that day, I realized. I could desire something this much…”
Under the moonlight, our shadows seemed to merge into one.
“I want everything about that woman, from the joints of her fingers to the scent lingering at the ends of her hair, all of it.”
“…”
“I must have her.” Redian’s lowered eyelashes seemed to tickle my cheek.
“Well.” Smiling at him, I finally spoke. “Your lips are redder and prettier to me.”
Those lips, stained with blood back then and now before my eyes, were undoubtedly the most beautiful color I had ever seen, to the point that I often found my gaze drawn to his lips.
“Really?”
The moment Redian’s hand fell away before the cherry in my mouth touched my tongue.
“I told you.”
He held my chin as if to keep it in place, and our eyes met.
“…”
With the cherry crushed between us, our lips met.
“You can have everything you desire, Master.”
With each whisper, the fragrant cherry moved deeper into my mouth.
“I shouldn’t have held back.”
A fleeting, tantalizing touch of his lips radiated warmth.
“Besides…”
Softly, gently.
“I’m better than the cherry, you know.”
It was almost excessively sweet.
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