Camille (22)

BOOM!!

A thick fog, born from the cannon fire and flames, blanketed the sky in black.

The earth-shaking shouts and screams of soldiers, and the ear-splitting bursts of exploding shells, continuously erupted.

This was Saint Helena Cathedral, one of the Holy Dominion’s proudest achievements.

Once, it was highly renowned as the most beautiful temple on earth, but…

Now, it was filled only with the stench of blood and rotting soldier corpses.

“Push a little harder! Victory is in sight!!”

“Defend the Grand Cathedral with your lives! Those bastards must not be allowed to tread on this sacred ground with their dirty feet!”

Ignoring those monstrous shouts, Camille stared intently at me.

“Helix, can you hear it? The Imperial Army is approaching.”

“Yes, I can hear it.”

Camille’s voice was detached, as if she had given up everything.

Indeed, just as she said, the end was approaching.

“The Holy Knights Division are desperately defending this Grand Cathedral, but that will only last a few hours. Soon, this place will also be occupied.”

“…”

Camille took a step closer to me.

What she held in her hand was a holy relic called the Dragon’s Dagger.

It was one of the Holy Dominion’s three holy relics, crafted in the past by carving a Dragon’s bone.

“Helix, I have a favor to ask.”

“Now?”

“Yes, I don’t want to lose you to the Empress. So, I’m asking you.”

Camille smiled sadly and said to me.

“Die with me. Stay with me as my husband until the very end.”

“…”

I looked at Camille silently for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

“Was it for this that you made me swear a Geas?”

“Yes, I didn’t intend for this situation. But I can’t completely deny it either.”

“Until the very end, you disappoint me.”

At those words, Camille merely offered a sad smile instead of answering.

“I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry for being such a wicked Wife…”

“Yes, you’re right. You really are wicked.”

Now that I thought everything was truly over…

The words I had held back until now began to spill out one by one.

“That’s too much. You really are too much.”

“Yes, I think so too….”

“If there’s a next life, Camille, I won’t be with you.”

“Ahaha, that hurts… Those words just now…”

Camille’s eyes wavered for a moment.

But that was only because she was hurt by my harsh words.

Rather, the grip of her hand holding the dagger grew firmer.

“I’m sorry. But people only become honest when they’re about to die.”

“…”

“Do you know? I, actually, was jealous? When I made the Dragon’s Priestesses embrace you.”

Hearing Camille’s true feelings for the first time, I let out a hollow laugh.

“If you didn’t like it, you could have stopped.”

“Indeed. When I first made Sera embrace you, I felt a tickling sensation in my chest. I couldn’t properly define what it was at first.”

“Ha.”

“Then, when Lev embraced you, and watching the children embrace you one by one, I gradually realized that I was jealous.”

Camille was lamenting.

She deeply regretted the outcome she had brought upon herself, but it was too late to turn back, as they had come too far.

“If I had given up that damn stubbornness about wanting to be a good older sister, it wouldn’t have come to this.”

“Yes, I have nothing to say… Because of that, you, innocent Helix, suffered too much.”

Only a few hours remained until the Imperial Army would enter this Grand Cathedral.

Camille and I shared the stories we hadn’t been able to tell until now.

This was truly the last time.

Beyond this, I couldn’t see her.

Though I had hated her so much at one point and been disappointed by her…

Still, I had never even imagined not seeing her.

“After all, can’t you not kill me?”

“…”

“I just want to keep seeing you.”

At those words, Camille wore a pained smile and merely shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have the confidence to face you once you’ve become the Empress’s.”

“I won’t become Vivian’s. Even if this Holy Dominion crumbles, Vivian won’t have the power to capture me.”

“That’s a naive thought. Then the Empress will take the people you cherish as hostages and threaten you.”

Unable to refute Camille’s words, I fell silent.

Because the current Vivian seemed more than capable of doing such a thing.

“If you’re alive, the suffering is temporary, but if you die, everything ends. Even if we can never see each other again?”

“Indeed, from your perspective, living an eternal life, you might think that way.”

Camille squeezed my hand tightly.

Her small hand was trembling with fear of death and guilt towards me.

“That’s right… I had forgotten. You are a Dragon. Even if I live out my lifespan, you will live for a thousand more years after that.”

“Camille.”

“Haha, truly, from your perspective, it’s a terribly selfish request…”

Tears welled up in Camille’s eyes.

But even that only felt detestable to me.

“Cowardly.”

“…”

“If you cry, do you think I’ll obediently die? ”

“Sorry.”

“Yes, you’re crying because you know I’ll obediently die. Because you know me too well.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I didn’t want to see anything.

Not Camille, shedding false tears.

And not Vivian, who must be looking for me.

Now, I seem to be too exhausted.

“Kill me.”

“Helix…”

“Kill me quickly, before I change my mind.”

Thwack!!

There was no hesitation.

Camille plunged the Dragon’s Dagger into my chest in one swift motion.

Though her hand was still trembling, there was no hesitation.

Gush!!

Dark red blood gushed out from my mouth.

Only a weapon made from the flesh of another Dragon could kill a Dragon.

“Haa…”

My vision blurred.

I staggered closer to Camille and reached out my hand.

“Camille…”

“Helix, Helix…”

Camille hugged me tightly and called my name endlessly.

On my pale cheeks, the teardrops she shed fell one by one, dripping.

“Thank you for choosing me until the very end… Thank you for staying with a wicked woman like me until the end…”

Camille hugged me tightly and kissed me.

Her pink lips were stained as if painted red.

“I’ll follow you soon. Just wait a little for me.”

With those final words, my consciousness fell into a dark sea.

This was the memory of my first life.

A life that left nothing but regret.

******

Stomp, stomp.

Footsteps breaking the silence.

Soon, the firmly closed temple doors burst open with a crash, and men in black uniforms rushed in.

“I wondered where you were hiding like a rat. So you were here.”

“You’ve come…”

Camille glanced at Vivian, who had burst into the temple’s prayer hall, then…

She stood up from her spot and gripped the Dragon’s Dagger firmly.

“Ha, you think you can kill me with just that? How laughable.”

“Surely not, I don’t think I can kill you with this either.”

Camille’s excessively calm expression.

In that atmosphere, the one who was rather perplexed was Vivian.

‘This can’t be.’

Camille’s reaction was not what Vivian had expected.

She had expected a look full of venom, thinking she was about to lose her husband…

But wasn’t this an expression as if everything was already over?

“Where is Helix?”

“Well? Where do you think he is?”

“…”

Vivian’s eyes wavered violently with bewilderment.

‘It can’t be, surely not…’

Briefly drawing up her Magic, Vivian checked the Geas contract.

Towards such a Vivian, Camille’s voice, laced with a sneer, was heard.

“You can’t find him, can you?”

“…!!”

“Search all you want, because he might be somewhere.”

Vivian, with venomous eyes, shouted at Camille.

“Where on earth did you hide Helix!”

“Well…?”

Camille fiddled with the dagger in her hand.

“This is called the Dragon’s Dagger. It’s one of only three holy relics in our Holy Dominion.”

“You, surely not…”

“What can kill a Dragon is only something made from the flesh of the same Dragon.”

Vivian’s gaze rested on the tip of the dagger.

Dark red blood, dried and caked on, was visible.

For a moment, it felt as if the blood in her body ran cold.

“Surely you didn’t… kill Helix?”

“Yes, I asked him to die. To be my husband until the very end. I begged him not to become another woman’s.”

Vivian parted her lips, as if she couldn’t understand.

She wanted to believe the Saint was lying.

What had she shed so much blood for until now, with so much blood on her hands?

Killed him?

Killed him off?

By whose authority did you kill Helix…?

“This… this… crazy woman…!! And you call yourself a Wife after that?!”

“You killed him, Empress. If it weren’t for you, Helix and I could have lived happily ever after for a hundred years.”

Having cast aside all understanding for each other, Vivian and Camille began to hurl curses at each other.

“Foolish woman, you will now receive Helix’s curse, cursed to your very soul, you will never be able to stay even at his feet for eternity!”

“What ridiculous things you say. What is a bitch who repaid Helix’s favor with enmity saying? The biggest mistake in Helix’s life was meeting you. Meeting a cursed bastard like you ruined his noble life.”

Deep-seated resentment and a victim mentality towards each other.

Even if there was a next life, pulling this out seemed impossible.

“Even if I go, I’ll at least take your life.”

Gripping the Dragon’s Dagger firmly, Camille charged towards Vivian.

Vivian also unleashed her specialty, flame magic, and aimed at Camille.

“Die!!”

“Drop dead!!”

Just as their attacks were about to reach a vital spot…

“…!!”

Suddenly, her vision blurred, and Camille lost her sight.

Not Vivian, who was enraged and charging to kill her,

nor Helix, who had become a cold corpse…

Nothing was visible.

‘Where is this…?’

It was a dark sea.

Whose depth she dared not even fathom…

An endless bottom.

In that place, only endless darkness filled it…

She merely floated aimlessly in the sea of consciousness, endlessly wandering.

“…nim…! Saint-nim….!!”

At a voice that seemed to be calling her desperately, Camille blinked her eyes.

A clear, beautiful voice, like a child’s.

Who on earth could it be?

The owner of this voice.

“Please wake up, Saint-nim! I told you that you had to wake up early because of today’s ritual!”

Snap.

Camille’s firmly closed eyes opened.

Camille, facing the face that was desperately calling her.

In her two blue eyes was surprise.

“Sera…?”

“Yes, it’s Sera, Saint-nim. You, who always woke up well every day, why did you wake up so late today?”

Camille, facing Sera’s youthful face, rubbed her eyes.

Was she seeing things now?

“Sera, why is your face so small?”

“You used to tease me for having a big face, so what is it now, suddenly saying it’s small?”

No, now that she looked, it wasn’t small.

Sera’s excessively youthful face.

And she was short, and her body was stubby like a child’s.

“What is this…?”

Camille hurriedly got up and ran to the mirror in the room.

Camille stared blankly at her own face reflected in the mirror.

The face of a mature adult woman had completely vanished, leaving only the innocence and youthfulness of a child.

“Sera.”

“Yes, Saint-nim.”

“What year is it now?”

“It’s the year 1405 of the Julian calendar.”

“My goodness.”

Camille’s eyes widened in surprise.

And for good reason, the year 1405 was the year she had just been appointed as a Saint.

And…

it was still the year before she met Helix.