Chapter 70
“Why would we lie? It’s not like we’d tell you what you want to hear. And besides, we don’t want to see you living with hope either.”
“……”
“If you think we’re lying, there’s nothing we can do about it. That might actually be fine. You’ll be tormented, wondering whether this is the truth or not. You asked why we hate it so much, didn’t you? It’s because of you…!”
“What exactly are you doing here? Surely you’re not tormenting someone, are you? My goodness, an elf tormenting a human—it’s disgraceful.”
“Your Highness, you’ve misunderstood. I was worried because they got splashed with water.”
Kavita tilted her head to the side.
“But they’re soaked to the bone.”
“Well…”
“No matter how I look at it, it seems like you were tormenting them. Leticia, you weren’t really bullying them, were you?”
Leticia didn’t respond to Kavita’s words. She couldn’t think clearly. Her mind was consumed with the phrase, “Your mother has died.”
“Your Highness… they say my mother is dead. Does that even make sense? My mother… dead? That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
She turned to Kavita with tear-filled golden eyes that overflowed relentlessly. But soon, she had to accept it. The playful expression on Kavita’s face faltered briefly, and Leticia didn’t miss that fleeting moment.
❖ ❖ ❖
The Pope set down his teacup and spoke. Seeing Leticia, whose face was in disarray, and Kavita, who seemed restless, his expression grew serious.
Leticia abruptly said she would accept the proposal. Her sudden change in attitude wasn’t a welcome development—it meant something significant must have happened to influence her decision.
However, Dandelion calmly asked, “Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I heard my mother has died. Is it true?”
Leticia looked at him with reddened eyes. A fleeting look of dismay crossed his face. Seeing his unhidden reaction, her heart broke again.
“Please tell me. Why did my mother pass away? How do the other elves know about her survival status? I have the right to know, don’t I? This is connected to me, isn’t it?”
She confronted Dandelion, her determination unwavering. If she succumbed to his silence, she would gain nothing, just as in her previous life.
“Your Grace, you know I don’t have much time left. You’re more aware of my situation than anyone else.”
“Leticia, I don’t know how you’ll take this, but…”
Dandelion hesitated for a moment. Speaking of Ellosha’s death as a friend might have been difficult. But her patience had worn thin. With no tolerance left, she opened her lips, determined to speak.
“I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Have you thought carefully about what I said? Have you revisited your memories to see if you truly missed anything?”
Leticia nodded. In her previous life, she had survived longer than the doctors had predicted. That didn’t necessarily prove his love for her, but it was enough to stir doubts. An uneasy feeling, coupled with denial.
The way he knew all the things she liked, the way his blue eyes followed her daily. Little suspicions piled up until she started to think it might be true.
“But I still can’t believe it. Unless I hear it directly from him, I won’t believe it. And even if I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to trust it anymore.”
“I understand. But despite that, don’t you also want to find out? To know what feelings he had when he sought you out?”
Do I still want to confirm it?
“If I agree to Your Grace’s request, then Your Grace must answer my questions as well. That’s my condition. Doesn’t that seem fair?”
“If you’re ready to hear it, I’ll tell you.”
“I’m ready.”
Leticia straightened her posture. She believed she could handle anything she heard now. There was nothing left to shock her anymore.
“You have returned thanks to Elosha. Knowing your fate, she sacrificed her entire life to bring you back.”
But the gods had been cruel to her, relentlessly revealing unbearable truths. The reason she had returned was none other than her mother.
Faced with this unexpected revelation, Leticia’s face turned pale. Her missing mother’s death had been caused by her. How was she supposed to accept that?
“…Please tell me it’s a lie.”
“You said you were ready to listen. Running away won’t change anything. Your mother gave up her life to save yours. For your happiness, because she wanted you to live a life filled with love. She even entrusted me with you, asking me to help you if you ever returned.”
To think all of this had happened because of her. Leticia found the truth too unsettling and unbelievable. She shook her head in denial.
“How… How could this be for me? How could it?”
This wasn’t the kind of truth she wanted to know. Her chest ached so much it felt suffocating. Breathing became so difficult that she thought dying might be easier. Before her own death, her mother had sacrificed her happiness—and perhaps her very existence—to protect her.
“Even if you live an immortal life, extending another’s is impossible!”
“Yes, that’s what is generally known. But it’s not entirely impossible. There is a power that can influence life.”
“…My mother must have seen my death.”
Dandelion slowly nodded.
“How many deaths must I witness, how many sacrifices must I endure? How can I even face my father? I… I…”
She thought she should never have been born. If she hadn’t, her mother wouldn’t have died, her father wouldn’t have suffered, and her mother wouldn’t have been abandoned by her kin.
Leticia clutched her face, writhing in anguish. Disgust with herself consumed her. She had returned at the cost of her mother’s life, yet she had made no progress. In this unchanged state, her survival felt monstrous.
It was then she uncovered the nature of the power she had been granted:
The ability to manipulate dreams, a power only high elves could possess.
Her mother had sacrificed this power to bring her back, and it had naturally been absorbed into Leticia’s revived body.
“Leticia, all Elosha wanted was for you to be happy. To meet someone who would love you and to live a happy life. That’s what she asked of you.”
“…Do you think returning to Arden’s side will bring me happiness? He’s the one who’s draining me dry!”
Leticia cried out. She couldn’t understand why Dandelion insisted on sending her down a path that would never make her happy. If he truly wished for her happiness, he should have helped her create an environment where she could live peacefully with her child.
“Yearning for love beside someone who doesn’t love me… I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to stop feeling that miserable emotion, to stop watching someone’s back and grieving. Is that so wrong? I can’t be happy. I just can’t.”
How could she find happiness when she was constantly being pushed into despair? Every step she took dragged her further into the abyss. Even when she endured and moved forward, unseen hands pulled her back. She had tried to persevere through the growing burdens, pretending she was fine, but she had reached her limit.
“You must go to him, Leticia. Your mother wanted that.”
“…Isn’t it ironic? My mother sacrificed herself for my happiness, yet the path she chose isn’t one that will make me happy.”
“Arden must ally with us if we are to overthrow Cardius. You’ve experienced it yourself—if things continue as they are, the cycle will repeat. He won’t give up on you. What do you think he’ll do once he learns you’re carrying his child?”
At Dandelion’s words, Leticia bit her lip in silence. If it were Cardius, he would kill the child—there was no doubt in her mind. He was more than capable of such an act. She squeezed her eyes shut.
“After your death, Cardius went on a rampage, and not only Brevant but also Arcelion and all neighboring nations fell to ruin at his hands.”
“I don’t understand. Arden… If it were him, he would have stood against the Emperor until the end. Why… why did everything fall apart?”
Arden was a Swordmaster. No matter how powerful Cardius’s magic was, it would have been difficult to face someone of Arden’s caliber. Though Leticia had seen him reach his limits, he was far from being a weak individual.
Leticia looked at Dandelion through tear-streaked eyes. Her defeated gaze held no light; they were empty and hollow.
“After you died, Arden acted as if he’d given up on everything.”
At Dandelion’s words, a faint spark returned to her dulled eyes, bringing back a semblance of focus.
