Ch.203Foreshadowing (3)

# A Memory from the Past

A familiar hospital room, and the familiar sight of white uniforms.

The angel with the frail body always smiled brightly.

Always clinging to the boy as if she were happy.

“Big brother!”

What could have made her so happy?

The world abandoned you and treated you cruelly.

“Heehee!”

“I was brave with the nurse today!”

You never lost your smile.

Though you sometimes cried and were scared… in the end, you always smiled brightly.

If someone asked how I endured those days, my answer would be, without hesitation, you.

You were everything to me. I wished you could live even one day longer.

But because of that, I couldn’t be a good guardian.

Because I rarely stayed by your side.

“Big brother… are you leaving…?”

“You just got here. The sun hasn’t even set, and I’m not sleepy yet…”

I’m sorry.

I have deliveries piling up, so I need to go right away.

“You said you’d stay late with me today… Another lie.”

Forgive me.

Instead, I’ll stay with you all day this weekend.

Of course your brother wants to be with his little sister too.

“You said that last time and didn’t keep your promise.”

“Big brother is a liar.”

This time I mean it. Trust me.

I’ll pinky promise.

That I’ll definitely spend the whole day with you this weekend.

“Really…?”

“Hehe, then I’ll forgive you.”

“But be careful at work, okay?”

The pinky promise made with difficulty.

But that promise wasn’t kept.

Because someone from the previous shift didn’t show up, I had to cover their work.

In the end, you were alone even on the weekend. How much I struggled to console you when you were upset…

Even when it wasn’t this particular time, we were always like this.

“Big brother is a liar.”

I was a liar.

At least in my relationship with you, I could count on one hand the times I properly kept my promises.

To you who would soon leave, I only repeated the worst lies.

With the excuse that I just wanted to see you smile.

‘I am…’

I’ll come back early tomorrow.

I’ll definitely be with you next weekend.

Your brother will surely make you better.

When you get better, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.

When you get better, I’ll buy you anything you want.

‘A liar.’

Lies.

Lies piled upon lies.

And on top of those thick layers, more new lies.

The foolishly stacked lies became a life.

I was a person walking between collapsed blocks.

Leaving crimson marks on the soles of my feet.

‘I’ll always be by your side.’

A promise whispered hundreds, thousands of times.

Knowing I couldn’t keep it, I linked pinkies with you so many times.

And then, using that moment as an excuse, I walked the path away from you.

I pushed myself into the dirt and built walls of brick and cement.

I thought that was what was best for you.

“Big brother… I’m scared.”

“Can’t you stay with me until I fall asleep, just for today?”

“I won’t ask for this again after…”

Poor child.

I should have spent more time with you.

You must have been lonely too. You must have been scared too.

I turned my back, saying I had no money, saying it was for the future.

Even while hearing your sobs, I made excuses that it couldn’t be helped.

I lied countless times like that.

“Big brother is a liar.”

Sorry.

“Big brother is a liar.”

I’m sorry.

“Big brother is a liar.”

If I could turn back time, I would have spent more time with you then.

I would have shared more stories, left more happiness, and not made you feel lonely.

I wouldn’t have created such deep regret and sense of loss.

I only realized this standing before your funeral portrait.

Looking at you smiling from behind the frame.

“Liar.”

That it was too late.

The quietly accumulated lies pierced through my lungs.

Perhaps this was why my ability was lying.

As a mere liar, I wouldn’t know.

I just.

“Ah.”

Still drew you.

***

It had been several days since I returned to the academy.

The spring season was gradually embracing the heat of early summer.

The vast sky painted the background with a deep blue hue.

It was summer. A time when I could attach such a ridiculous footnote.

I reflect on the greenery visible outside the window.

“……”

The scent of grass leaves brushes my nose.

Through the half-open window, a gentle breeze seeps in.

I was lost in thought.

“Liar.”

Was it because of memories from the past?

A feeling of sinking for no reason.

It seemed the recent nightmare had left its aftereffects.

I fiddle with the teacup at my fingertips for a moment.

‘Of all things… memories from my past life.’

While it was nice to see a beloved face after so long, the bitter aftertaste was unavoidable.

A scene that never fades. Everyone must carry at least one such moment.

In my case, it was just a bit darker than others’.

I try to shake off the swirling thoughts.

I raise my head again.

“Ahem.”

An old man was sitting across from me.

Blue eyes staring at me without saying anything.

I gather my scattered consciousness with a fake cough.

Breaking the brief silence.

“I apologize. I was momentarily lost in thought.”

“That’s fine. Rather, why don’t we get to the reason for your sudden visit?”

“Don’t you already know? Even as the headmaster, you must have anticipated it.”

“Well. Living so busy with work these days, I’m not what I used to be.”

“You’re lying without even wetting your lips.”

“We’re both the same in that regard.”

I was visiting the headmaster’s office.

I had a few things to confirm this time as well.

As if he had read this too, he had prepared teacups before my visit.

Two cups of black tea placed neatly as if timed perfectly.

And then he plays dumb… I stared at the headmaster with slightly disgusted eyes.

This old man had cunning aspects no less than the original Judas.

I briefly glared at him before speaking.

“Then… shall we start with the main point?”

There was no ice-breaking.

He probably already knew what my main point was anyway.

Adding any introduction would be inefficient, so I just asked.

It was convenient in a way.

Because I didn’t need to explain.

“I’ve recently learned some interesting facts.”

The Emperor, Valkaros.

The previous head of the Venatti family.

And finally, the Monarch.

I had gathered various clues.

I couldn’t shake off the lingering questions.

“In the recent events… you were always behind them.”

Thinking about it, that was true.

From beginning to end.

“And years in advance, at that.”

First. The protagonist of this world, Lezia.

Until before her enrollment, the girl wandering the continent was suddenly scouted by an old man she met on her journey.

He wrote her a recommendation letter to enroll at Gallimar Academy. None other than the headmaster himself.

To explain this, it means he brought the protagonist onto the stage.

The old man was positioned beyond Lezia’s turning point.

This was just the beginning.

“Gaston Gallimar.”

“He told me about curse sharing.”

“More precisely, he advised me to look through the imperial archives…”

“Thanks to that, I was able to save Elise.”

According to Valkaros’s testimony, the headmaster was also involved with the imperial family.

Elise, a turning point that affected not only the frail girl but also Sharlotte.

The old man had intervened in both their lives.

And it didn’t stop there.

“This letter will probably become my will.”

“Gaston Gallimar. I should thank that nasty old man.”

“Without him, I couldn’t have chosen this end.”

“He’s a good old man, all things considered.”

The previous head of the Venatti family.

In the letter left by Amelia’s father, such content also remained.

Words he wrote calmly just before being assassinated by his brother.

As if he had heard about future events from someone.

The headmaster existed at Amelia’s turning point as well.

“Haven’t you ever wondered?”

“Neria. How could the kingdom discover that child?”

“Who could have tipped them off about that child’s existence?”

“Gaston Gallimar… the headmaster there.”

The Monarch said something similar.

Deep in the northern frontier. Neria, who had been hiding there for years.

It was none other than the headmaster who passed information about her to the Monarch.

The old man stood unfailingly at the deputy director’s turning point.

“Master.”

In Selena’s case, there was nothing to say.

She was a disciple taken in as a child, a relationship no different from father and daughter.

If Gaston hadn’t existed, she probably wouldn’t have become a professor.

The old man’s traces were embedded in that turning point as well.

‘Then.’

I establish a reasonable premise.

The premise that the headmaster was involved in the turning points of key figures.

I recall the setting of the only remaining person, Irene.

The fox who had been an orphan since childhood. Because of this, Irene was raised by her master.

More precisely, when she was a baby, someone entrusted Irene to her master.

The identity of that “someone” wasn’t specifically written in the setting book, but…

At this point, it was something I could sufficiently infer.

“Don’t tell me, that was you too.”

“……”

The old man didn’t answer.

That would be natural. The prohibition placed on him by the world would still be in effect.

I didn’t intend to get anything out of this old man either.

I just wanted to organize my thoughts.

“Sigh…”

It was a question I had been certain of from the beginning.

I exhale a soft sigh.

The old man was connected to all the past events.

As if he had set up a single board.

At this point, I couldn’t help but ask the old man.

Though I knew no answer would come, it was a question close to irresistible.

Even to neatly arrange the complex timeline.

“What… exactly are you?”

These were aspects not revealed in the original work.

To explain it as the butterfly effect would already be a problem of a different dimension.

How far away was the fate the old man shouldered, and the world?

How deeply had he penetrated into the main story?

I inwardly sighed.

“……”

All that returned was silence.

The prohibition placed on the headmaster had many puzzling aspects.

In some areas it allowed answers, while in others it demanded silence.

Sometimes it mercilessly took away a hand. The old man still had one hand missing.

But sometimes he was allowed some conversation. We had discussed sensitive topics a few times.

So I couldn’t grasp it. Where exactly was the “line” permitted by the world?

What boundary determined the old man’s answers?

It seemed this time it had touched the line.

‘Was I wrong?’

It seemed like a wasted effort.

I take a sip from the teacup that had gone cold behind a small sigh.

At that moment, the old man who had maintained silence suddenly spoke.

An answer was coming to my question.

“Your question is wrong.”

“Hmm…?”

“What you should be questioning is not what I am.”

Blue eyes flash.

Pupils as deep as the ocean.

“You should question what you are.”

“……”

“Book of Truth, Chapter 3, Verse 14. Dolls do not shed tears.”

It was a familiar verse from the Bible.

The surrounding air sinks.

I was staring at the old man with my eyes half-narrowed.

Only a boy with golden hair is reflected in the aged pupils.

The following sentence cut like a knife.

“The Snakus family.”

The point where I had been possessed.

Also, Judas’s original home.

“Go there. To where you originated.”

The old man was talking about home.