Two giant trees looked like they had been waiting for me all along. It was like two knights guarding the gate, welcoming me into this huge forest.
Having come this far with determination, I swallowed nervously. Perhaps because it was a quiet place, the sound of my gulp was loud enough for me to hear.
“Are you okay?”
Hestia said from behind, grabbing my shoulder. I simply placed my hand on Hestia’s hand that held my shoulder without turning to face her or responding in any way.
It wasn’t an act of confidence or fear. I just wanted to.
“Let’s go for now.”
My father lifted me up and held me in his arms. I stuttered and begged to be put down, but he didn’t even pretend to listen, just carried me into the woods.
Nestled in my father’s embrace, I looked back at the numerous Conler knights following us.
Is it necessary to have so many of them? In front of them, I saw Cheroke, the commander of the Knights, which I haven’t seen in a while.
Cheroke nodded to me with a solemn expression. I didn’t know how to react, so I just nodded back.
I could also see Theodore, Aiden, and Rex. Their young faces were filled with determination.
I couldn’t help but wonder if it was necessary for all of them to come forward because of Leo but with Astina involved, it was only natural.
I didn’t mean to come with so many people.
I was really going to come alone because Leo said that I should come alone. If all else fails, I was going to take Arsene with me.
“Where are you going?”
Gilbert, who had heard the story from the knights, rushed over and stopped me as I packed up my things, half-crazed by Astina’s sudden disappearance in front of me.
“Astina’s gone!”
“Wait, wait a minute. Father will be here any minute.”
“How long am I supposed to wait?”
Before I knew it, I was crying. I tried not to cry, but the tears kept coming.
I remembered the last time I overheard the Marquis and Marchioness Bourneau talking. They said that Astina was always in danger because of me.
I don’t know what Leo’s motives are, and I don’t know what he’s thinking, so I’m frustrated because I don’t know what kind of danger she’s in.
Gilbert grabbed both my wrists. Tearfully, I struggled to free my wrists from his grip.
“I have to go right now!”
I didn’t know what Leo was up to, what made him find Astina and kidnap her.
I felt a lump in my throat, knowing that if I didn’t go now, something might happen to Astina.
Estin and Lucas, who had heard the whole thing while I was confronting Gilbert, came running toward us.
“Who is this guy who kidnapped Astina?”
“He’s……Leo, we grew up in the same orphanage.”
As soon as Leo’s name came out of my mouth, the tears I had barely managed to hold back burst out again.
He was a friend that I really liked and loved. I remembered Astina’s face as she was so excited to show him to me. And her face as she stiffened in front of him.
“What about Leo?”
“Uh… yes. He’s the one who suddenly disappeared.”
“Hmm…”
Surprisingly, my father and Lucas seemed to know Leo.
“Go get Cheroke and get my sword ready.”
“But……. He told me to come alone.”
“You don’t know where that forest is, and he probably didn’t expect you to actually come alone to that forest.”
He had a point. It was on top of a mountain, but the forest surrounding the orphanage was huge and rugged. It was too much for me to climb alone.
But Leo had told me to come alone if I wanted to save Astina. But I don’t really want to go alone…….
“Or we could go together to that place, and then you can go into the orphanage alone.”
“Father!”
Gilbert was surprised when father said that he would let me go alone. I nodded reluctantly.
It seemed like the best option at the moment. Father summoned Lucas and told him to write to the Marquis and Marchioness Bourneau and inform them of the situation.
He assured me that if anything happened, he and the knights would handle it, and I should only call him if something happened.
I responded obediently, but I secretly asked Hestia to take my bow.
‘Will I ever have to shoot Leo?’
Can I shoot Leo?
When I received the bow, my mind was complicated. What could Leo be thinking while waiting for me?
With minimal preparation, we set out to rescue Astina.
Like that, I stood in front of an orphanage located in the forest.
The orphanage in my memory was shabby, but the orphanage in front of me was almost abandoned. And in front of it was the Marquis’ carriage.
Leo and Astina are here.
Even if he wasn’t the God of Death, it felt like a place where ghosts might emerge. I hesitated before entering.
Aiden offered to go in with me, but I declined his kindness and stepped carefully away. Before I opened the door, I glanced back and saw my father standing there with his sword.
I opened the door, feeling more at ease. I heard a creak, an unpleasant sound, and saw a figure in the darkened room.
“You’re here?”
It was Leo. I was about to ask where Astina was, when I saw her lying on a shabby couch.
The Marquis’ young lady didn’t deserve to be lying on a dusty couch like that.
“I told you to come alone.”
“How could I come all the way here alone?”
Leo made a sound as if he was convinced by my words. If I didn’t come alone I thought he would harm Astina.
I clenched my fists, feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my mouth.
“Do you remember?”
Luckily, Leo didn’t seem inclined to harm Astina. He was just scanning the interior of the orphanage. I followed his gaze.
The nearly abandoned orphanage no longer bore any trace of my presence, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t remember it. I nodded.
“I wanted to live here with you for a long time…”
Leo snapped his fingers as he said it, then the interior of the orphanage became a white marble temple. A gasp escaped my lips.
The eerily white walls were dazzlingly bright. The couch Astina was lying on had been transformed into a long altar that seemed to be made of gypsum or something similar.
‘An altar.’
Yes, the place where Astina was lying was like an altar. My stomach churned at the sight of Astina lying there.
I mean, she was lying there like that on the altar, like a…… sacrifice.
“Give Astina back. I’ve come.”
“I told you to come alone.”
“I’ll tell everyone to go back……. Just give Astina back.”
Despite my desperate pleas, Leo only laughed. I was terrified that something had happened to Astina.
I tried to approach Astina, but I couldn’t move as if someone had put a chain on my ankle.
“You broke your promise…….”
“I, I’m sorry.”
“Then I have a favor to ask.”
I blurted out a response to Leo’s words, so frantic that I didn’t even know how my mouth was moving. Then Leo shrugged and said.
“Can you bring X back to life?”
“…… what?”
I would do anything to save Astina. With that in mind, I waited for Leo’s mouth to open.
But the words that came out of Leo’s mouth were unexpected.
“Can you ask that, the bloody bastard next to you, to bring X back to life?”
“………what do you mean?”
How does Leo know X?
I had a sneaking suspicion that Leo might be a person of the God of Death, but this confirmation made my heart stop.
“I can’t do that…….”
I heard a knock on the door. Leo, who was staring at me without saying a word, flicked his hand again, just like he did when he changed the space earlier.
And something like a white mist wrapped around his body. As the mist dissipated, the person who appeared was…
“Long time no see, Mary.”
The God of Death was looking at me. I staggered back. I was on the verge of screaming.
“Don’t you want to save Astina?”
But as if reading my mind, the God of Death gently stroked Astina’s cheek as she lay on the altar.
