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The peculiar voice sounded as if someone was speaking directly inside their heads. Having experienced this a few times before, both quickly realized it was the voice of the Demon God.
Arpel immediately withdrew his hand, but Rohan didn’t. As if trying to confirm Arpel’s safety, he buried his face in Arpel’s chest a few more times, taking deep breaths, before slowly raising his gaze.
Finally, he opened his mouth slowly.
“…Thank you.”
<Oh? I didn’t expect to receive thanks right away. Have you matured in the meantime?>
“It would have been better if you had done it earlier.”
<…Right. I was wondering why you weren’t complaining. Do you think I’m that free? I rushed here urgently while working. You could at least offer a prayer of thanks.>
What started as a pure expression of gratitude now had an addendum. The Demon God merely clicked his tongue, saying he knew this would happen.
Rohan rolled his eyes once unnecessarily and checked Arpel’s condition again. Surrounded by a faint protective barrier, he looked quite alright. It was hard to imagine he had been writhing in pain just moments ago.
‘Is this the power of a god after all?’
There was a bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried. Rohan too had made every effort to protect Arpel by drawing on his own magical power. It just hadn’t been of any use.
But Rohan quickly pushed aside the bitter feeling. Regardless of the method, Arpel’s condition had improved. That was enough.
“Thank you. But…”
Arpel spoke up as their conversation paused. It was a calm expression of gratitude. But there was something more attached to it.
Yes. He was feeling doubtful now. Apart from his gratitude for being saved, he instinctively felt that this too was one of the ‘interventions’ that a god shouldn’t make.
“Is it alright for you to intervene like this?”
<No? It’s not.>
“…You say it’s not allowed?”
The Demon God answered Arpel’s question in an astonishingly simple manner. Only Rohan frowned. The eyes revealed between his furrowed brows seemed to say:
Why are you saying that so nonchalantly? He swallowed a sigh with effort.
“What if you fall into a deep sleep like the Celestial God?”
<It doesn’t matter. I can pay the price later. At most, I’ll probably sleep for a few decades. That’s just a fleeting moment for me.>
The following voice was nonchalant. Even though they weren’t face to face, it felt like they could picture his appearance in their minds. Rohan imagined the Demon God’s smooth face, shrugging shamelessly while babbling.
<Besides… this isn’t entirely unrelated, you know.>
“…What do you mean?”
Rohan flinched at the additional words. Arpel, sitting next to him, also slightly furrowed his brow.
Divine intervention. It was only allowed for other ‘gods’. So saying it ‘isn’t entirely unrelated’ meant…
<That is a sign of ‘descent’.>
It was as if saying that the Evil God had begun to reveal itself in this world.
***
After his conversation with the Emperor, Luciel spent more time secluded in his room. The Emperor left him alone, as if fully understanding his anguish.
“…”
Does he know that this is even more unsettling? Luciel rubbed his face dry and let out a deep sigh. His mind was in turmoil.
He pondered endlessly. Is this the right thing to do? He wasn’t unaware of his father’s near-obsessive ideology. He had heard countless times since childhood about the past that made him hate the temple. Luciel had naturally been influenced by the Emperor’s ideology.
However, for Luciel, this was just a ‘theory’. Like studying the culture he needed to know as the Crown Prince, and further as the Emperor. It was no different from studying to him.
That was until he accidentally met someone, carelessly gave his heart, and learned that this person had almost fallen into ruin because of his father.
This awakened Luciel’s sense of reality. From that moment, he began to feel discomfort with everything about the ‘ideology’ he had believed without doubt. Naturally, Luciel desperately tried to ignore this.
However, once a crack forms, it never heals completely. The more he organized his thoughts, the more he conversed with the Emperor, the more his doubts grew in a corner of his heart.
“Evelyn…”
Luciel’s lips moved, savoring the familiar name in his mouth.
At some point, he began to envy Evelyn. Every time he saw her acting independently, completely free from her father’s shadow, his heart stirred.
And recently, in his last conversation with the Emperor… that discomfort, that uneasiness, that crack had grown too large to ignore. So much so that his daily life was crumbling due to his constant worries.
“Luciel!!”
At that moment, the tightly closed door burst open.
Freezing for a moment, Luciel slowly turned his head to look at his sister who had boldly entered his room without knocking. His narrowed gaze held a subtle interrogation.
Of course, Evelyn didn’t budge. Instead, she walked over conspicuously and sat down on the opposite sofa.
“…What brings you here? Next time you visit, leave a message in advance. And don’t enter the room without knocking. …Wait. Don’t tell me you snuck out of the palace? Past the knights?”
“There are ways. Anyway, why don’t you stick to either questions or nagging? I don’t know which to answer.”
Leriana replied bluntly to the continuous stream of words. It seemed like the nagging would go on endlessly at this rate. Sensing this, she raised her hand and slammed it on the desk.
“What are you…”
“Listen carefully, brother.”
She brought her face close. Her shaking green eyes were annoyingly visible. She raised one corner of her mouth and spoke again.
“This is the last time.”
“…”
“It’s really the last time. So think carefully and decide. Make sure you won’t regret it when you look back on today.”
There was no detailed explanation. It was just words with the beginning and end cut off, but Luciel instinctively understood what Evelyn was talking about.
Ah. She was urging him. To choose whether to stand on his father’s side or the opposite side.
“…I need.”
Luciel’s lips moved. It was the result of his instincts betraying reason and urging his body.
“I need time to think.”
At this, Evelyn, who had been close, moved away. She looked displeased, but didn’t seem to want to push further. Her slowly nodding head conveyed her feelings.
“One day. I can’t give you more than that.”
“…That’s short.”
“I can’t give you more.”
That was the end of the conversation. After saying she couldn’t give more, Evelyn immediately stood up and turned her back. She had clearly drawn the line that this was the end of her business.
Luciel stared blankly at his sister’s retreating back as she left the room. Various emotions were mixed in his sunken eyes. His head ached.
***
One day. It was an impossibly short time to conclude the thoughts he hadn’t been able to organize until now. Moreover, Evelyn’s last words…
‘I can’t give you more.’
It gave the impression that whatever she, they had planned was right around the corner. His already confused mind became even more complicated. So there was no way he could properly sleep.
“Ha…”
How many minutes, no, hours had it been? Luciel, who had been tossing and turning endlessly, finally sat up abruptly. His eyes weren’t heavy, and he wasn’t sleepy. Probably no amount of effort would bring sleep at this point.
Would a walk in the garden make it a bit better? He moved slowly, exhaling. He put on a thin outer garment and left the room. It was quite a different experience for him, who usually didn’t go out in light attire if he could help it.
“…?”
It was just for a change of mood. That’s what he thought, but before long, encountering a certain presence made Luciel think that all of this might have been predetermined.
Meow.
He heard a small cat’s cry. Reflexively turning his gaze towards the source of the sound, Luciel discovered a small presence prowling the corridor.
It was a small cat. Its fur was black, making it hard to spot in the dark corridors of the imperial palace. Luciel’s expression became strange.
Was it a cat that had accidentally entered? But the next moment, as he made eye contact with the cat, he thought:
‘I must follow it.’
He had to follow that.
The black cat’s eyes were quite mysterious. In the space dimly lit by moonlight, its eyes shone brilliantly. One eye was purple, the other gold, and they were quite pretty.
It would walk slowly, then stop and look back. If he followed unconsciously, it would repeat this behavior. It seemed as if it was helping him to follow safely.
Looking back, it was a foolish action. How could a cat, not even a person, express such intention? However, even realizing this point, Luciel couldn’t stop his steps. It felt as if his instincts kept whispering that he shouldn’t lose it. He even thought he might be enchanted by the cat’s eyes that held a strange light.
“Ah.”
How many minutes had passed like this? Luciel, who had been chasing the small being without properly observing his surroundings, came to his senses as if by magic. It was a strange sensation, as if his mind cleared in an instant.
At the same time, he let out a sigh. He realized that where he was standing was a place he had never set foot in before.
Before Luciel’s eyes, stairs leading downward stretched out.
It was the underground of the imperial palace that he didn’t know existed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
