Episode 96
The reason the temple has been so persistent in finding the daughters of the Moonlight, and the reason the heretics have drawn Lillian in, all came down to one answer. It’s because the only person who can destroy the relic is Maynerd’s daughter, the last daughter of the Moonlight.
Victoria provided Lillian with some further explanations. For instance, she explained that the daughters of the Moonlight were not merely bloodlines favored by the gods but were originally created by the gods themselves to convey their will.
Therefore, the explanation also included the fact that the original owners of the relic were also the daughters of the Moonlight.
“So, only the daughters of the Moonlight can destroy the relic. Now, you’re the only one left.”
Upon hearing the explanation, Lillian became perplexed. While Victoria added that toppling the temple and correcting the distorted history and scriptures was the right path, Lillian couldn’t care less about that. What happened to the temple was not important to her.
But the relationship between the daughters of the Moonlight and the relic was different.
Only the daughters of the Moonlight could destroy the relic.
‘Do I really need the Swan to achieve my revenge?’
No, that couldn’t be. There had to be another way. A way to do it even without Swan.
First, more clues needed to be uncovered.
Rubbing her confused head, Lillian frowned.
“I don’t… I don’t understand. You said the daughters of the Moonlight were exploited by the temple because of the relic. But now you’re saying only the daughters of the Moonlight can destroy the relic? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Unfortunately, that’s how it is. But the daughters of the Moonlight knew nothing. Nothing about their mission, nothing about their true abilities.”
“Their true abilities?”
“Yes. Have you heard such a thing before?”
Victoria recited a familiar phrase to Lillian. It was a passage Lillian had seen somewhere in the past.
[The moon is the only gateway to communicate with the gods.]
It was a passage from “Grace of Luminous,” which Lillian had seen in the temple’s library when she visited with Asher. According to Asher’s explanation, the book was a recommended basic text for beginners, so there was no doubt that the excerpt was widely known.
“This passage is widely known, but few truly understand its meaning. It’s simply a verse explained as the most basic reason for studying astronomy in the temple.”
Even with just a few words, Victoria had corners that exuded experience, and one of them was this. Even without detailed explanations, Lillian could be sure that Victoria had a deep understanding not only of theology but also of astronomy. Expertise is a subtle thing.
“But Lillian, you would understand, wouldn’t you? What the moon symbolizes here.”
Lillian remembered the heated discussion that took place on the table where Victoria had been sitting on the day of her first reading club meeting.
They were arguing about how to interpret the ‘moon.’
And the answer was.
“…The daughters of the Moonlight.”
At Lillian’s murmuring, Victoria smiled broadly. It was affirmative.
“The first child of the Moon who realized this successfully escaped from the temple. But completely escaping from the temple’s eyes was difficult. That’s how you ended up here.”
Now it was time to conclude.
Lillian’s mind went blank at those words. If that were true, the tragedy inherited by Swan was much deeper than Lillian suspected, and even executing it was beyond Lillian’s capabilities. Lillian could have lived Swan’s life for her, but she couldn’t repay the tragedy that befell the daughters of the Moonlight.
A short dagger lay on Lillian’s palm, which had grown cold.
“We’ve been researching a way to destroy the relic through Asher. And finally, we made this.”
A dagger that only the daughters of the Moonlight could use.
“Inject your divine power into it to destroy the crystal.”
“…What if someone who isn’t a daughter of the Moonlight uses it?”
“It will cause terrible divine power depletion. They will die in excruciating pain.”
“Then, it’s still usable?”
“Well, if there’s enough spirit left to destroy the crystal even in agony.”
That would do.
As Lillian’s hand slowly closed around the dagger, Victoria’s hand rested on her shoulder. Thanks to Victoria’s guidance, Lillian’s hand wrapped around the dagger’s handle, but Lillian still felt that this reality was beyond her comprehension.
But the dagger was in Lillian’s hand, and on her wrist was the vow of silence that Victoria had made before all the stories began.
It was irreversible now. If Lillian revealed herself as a fake here, or said she couldn’t do it, the heretics would use the vow of silence to press Lillian. But even if not, Lillian knew there was only one way for her to exact revenge on Swan here.
Bearing the burden and plunging into the fire.
As Lillian sharpened the dagger, Victoria’s hand rested on her shoulders.
“Lillian Maynerd. You can do anything you want.”
The voice overlapped with Swan’s voice that she had heard in her dreams someday.
“Your abilities may not seem to have awakened fully now, but your potential is infinite. If you remove what’s blocking you, you can do anything.”
“…I appreciate the flattery. But I don’t like those words.”
“Oh, why not?”
“What I want to do is just one thing, and that became something impossible ten years ago.”
Even if the gods came, they couldn’t resurrect the dead, and even if they resurrected the ten-year-old Swan, the one here wouldn’t be the ten-year-old Lillian at that time. If she couldn’t turn back time or resurrect the dead, Lillian didn’t want to do anything.
Victoria’s expression became slightly surprised at Lillian’s words. No, it would be more accurate to say she realized something.
“I see. I understand what’s blocking you now.”
“…?”
What is she trying to say? Just as Lillian’s forehead furrowed, Victoria continued.
“If you don’t grow, it’s a problem for us too. So, I’ll give you some helpful advice.”
But before Lillian could get angry, Victoria’s words were faster. She deftly cut off Lillian’s words and added.
“It seems you have no desire. No motive or ambition, so there’s no growth. You seem to have determination, but… it doesn’t seem strong enough to be a driving force for growth.”
Unexpectedly, Victoria’s words touched Lillian’s heart.
“What do you know to say such things—”
“If you don’t grow, it’s a problem for us, so I’ll give you some helpful advice.”
But Victoria’s words were a step ahead of Lillian’s anger. She smiled gently.
“The daughters of the Moonlight were capable of prophecy, did you know that? But that’s not all.”
The real ability of ‘prophecy’ is to peek into another timeline, not the current one.
“If you become capable of prophecy, you’ll be able to see someone you miss and even know what that person was thinking.”
Although it’s impossible to truly go back to the past, Lillian would be able to see Swan again. Perhaps she would even know why Swan sent her to Maynerd.
As if piercing through her mind, Lillian stared at Victoria without realizing it.
“Who are you… really?”
“You finally asked that.”
Victoria smiled loosely.
“I was the first daughter who could do everything I wanted.”
The first daughter who realized what the ‘moon’ meant, and thus escaped from the temple.
The first daughter who took the power of the Moonlight from the temple.
But Victoria’s words turned into past tense. Since the heretics failed to achieve their goals through Victoria, and they were looking for Lillian, Lillian could see that for some reason, Victoria had partially lost her abilities. Details couldn’t be asked. It was a past that even the vow of silence couldn’t tell.
“I hope you achieve everything you want, Lillian.”
