Episode 119
Victoria’s explanation was straightforward. The true inheritor of Agnes’s daughter, the power of Moonlight, was Lillian.
Swan had merely absorbed Agnes’s divine power contained in the pendant, resulting in a change of face.
Therefore, Victoria’s explanation was that the restored portrait looked different from the face Swan had in Lillian’s memory.
There was no flaw in the explanation. However, Lillian desperately wanted to deny it.
“But, you said that the face you restored was taken from a moment in the past. If Swan’s face changed due to the Duchess’s divine power—”
“There seems to be a misunderstanding. Changing faces through divine power is no different from implying.”
“…What?”
“I said earlier, didn’t I? The circuit here is exactly the same as the one in the crystal you destroyed.”
The circuit in the crystal was not only a vessel for containing divine power but also a medium for powerful implications.
Because the focus was on containing divine power, it had been forgotten, but the pendant could also serve as a medium for implications.
“Changing faces is simple. It’s just implying so that the viewer perceives a different face. The actual face doesn’t change.”
In other words, it was no different from wearing a mask made of divine power.
Therefore, when meeting someone with stronger divine power than the one who changed faces, the effect would disappear.
At those words, Lillian suddenly remembered the moment she confronted Odile.
— You’re the dirty fake, Odile.
— Ew! Hey, get off me! Where is this-?
— You’re actually brown hair, not black.
In the moment when anger toward Odile surged, Lillian looked closely at Odile’s true face.
She had thought that the divine power that had been changing Odile’s face had weakened or become unstable, leading to such an occurrence.
‘But that wasn’t it?’
Thinking back, Damian knew how to use implications. And since it was Damian who changed Odile’s face, if the divine power within Lillian had awakened at that moment, it was entirely understandable that only Lillian could see the real face.
‘Moreover, Victoria clearly said… that the divine power of the pendant would last for about 10 years.’
10 years. It was the same time as Swan’s death.
Swan was supposed to die before the age of 10. However, by absorbing immense divine power from the pendant, she maintained her health, but as 10 years passed and the divine power began to diminish, she eventually succumbed to death.
‘Swan’s health deteriorated rapidly from the age of 10.’
Lillian recalled Swan just before her death. Despite running across the field with breathlessness, the child had been fine, but her health deteriorated rapidly day by day. And there was no particular illness to speak of.
Even the doctor couldn’t determine the sudden cause of her health deterioration. Despite Lillian’s crying beside her in worry, Swan remained dignified.
— Don’t cry, Lili. I’ll get better soon.
The strangely mature child.
The child who seemed to know well what lay ahead.
Swan.
Lillian, retracing the past, asked numbly.
“Then… did Swan know the truth?”
“Well, who knows. The dead cannot speak, so there’s no way to know. But the divine power contained here is no different from Agnes’s life.”
It was a power as strong as that, and even contained the divine power of the Moonlight.
“So perhaps there were times when Agnes’s memories or abilities surfaced independently of her own will. Maybe she saw the future or the past. Perhaps she heard the voice of God in her dreams.”
Victoria couldn’t be sure of anything, she was just interested, but Lillian, upon hearing that explanation, had a gut feeling.
‘Swan knew.’
You couldn’t go looking for Theo without knowing anything. You couldn’t leave a diary behind without knowing anything.
The letter that was attached to the diary, which was written under the assumption that Cedric would read it.
Swan’s diary.
[I won’t survive the winter.
Even without the doctor’s words, I can feel the condition of my body.
I pretended to be angry at Lili and cried hiding all day.
Lili won’t be too sad.]
[The reason why that child doesn’t leave here is all because of me. Lili will never leave me first.]
— So, I’m leaving this behind in case I go first.
That child knew everything.
The moment her mind began to reel from the sudden truth, Victoria suddenly asked.
“Lillian Maynard, do you still not believe me?”
“…I’m confused.”
You and I were just ten years old.
Just ten years old, with so many places to see and so many things to do.
How could you have done that?
I wish Swan hadn’t known anything. I wished Swan had been the real one.
Victoria tapped her on the shoulder as Lillian muttered to herself.
“Then live a little longer.”
“…What?”
“At least, wouldn’t you know if you gave birth to a child? Whether you’re truly the daughter of Moonlight.”
If the total amount of divine power decreases after giving birth to a child, wouldn’t that prove her right? Victoria shrugged.
To give birth to a child just to recognize my lineage. Lillian frowned at the somewhat ridiculous words.
“You can’t just have a child for that reason.”
“Then make another reason. A reason for you to live, a reason to have a child. A reason to be happy.”
Victoria smiled cheerfully behind the veil.
“As someone who has lived longer than you, don’t you eventually understand the past as you live on? Isn’t that so?”
“…Yes.”
Ten-year-old Lillian couldn’t understand Swan, but now she could.
As Lillian nodded her head, Victoria let go of her hand.
“It’s an interesting thing. The only way to understand beings from the past that we can never meet is to live in the present and reach the future.”
She glanced briefly at Agnes’s portrait before turning away.
“I hope you find happiness, Lillian.”
Unbeknownst to her at the time, it was the final and best wish for the daughters of Moonlight, who were born of sorrow.
* * *
Lillian didn’t immediately inform Cedric of the truth. Strictly speaking, it might be more accurate to say she couldn’t. Lillian still feared the truth.
“I don’t want to apologize to Dad anymore.”
“Then don’t. Go now and prove that you’re the real one.”
“What if I do that and it turns out I’m the fake one?”
Theo looked at Lillian with a pitiful gaze. Despite everything being clear, Lillian still feared believing herself to be real. That’s why she came to find Theo instead of Cedric.
As soon as the existing power of the temple began to collapse, Theo removed his name from the temple’s records.
Fortunately, Theo had a stake in saving Lillian, and the Maynards reluctantly welcomed him. If a renowned knight receiving criticism from the public was considered, Theo was quite lucky. At the moment, it wasn’t Theo but the temple that was enduring the public’s scathing criticism.
Furthermore, Theo was adept at handling such complex issues. It’s been said before, but if he could handle such issues well, he would have become a scholar rather than a knight.
But sometimes, what’s needed for such issues isn’t eloquent speech but a sharp sword.
“Hey, if you’re worried about it, here’s what we’ll do.”
“Huh?”
“Keep living. Like that woman said, whether you have a child or get married, just keep living. So, when the day comes that you’re sure, then you can say it.”
Lillian’s pupils shook greatly at the clear solution.
“But… is it still possible? Isn’t it too late? Do you think they’ll believe me if I say it…?”
“Even after deceiving for over ten years, can’t you expect the Duke, who’s been understanding, to understand that much? Or do you owe Swan even more?”
Lillian stared blankly at Theo’s golden eyes. Unlike her own wavering gaze, his was always firm. Was that why? Whenever she met Theo’s gaze, she made up her mind.
If she were to ask if there was still a debt owed to Swan, she could never say no.
But.
“Maybe now… you owe me even more.”
At the blankly spoken response, Theo chuckled mischievously, twisting his eyebrows.
Six months later, Agnes’s portrait was covered with a cloth.
Instead, a new portrait was placed in its spot.
It was the portrait of the 17th Duchess of Maynard.
