episode_0079

“Ugh…! Mommy…!!!”

“Maria….!”

Marie, who was crying as if she was clinging to a tree and sending me off into the world, hugging me tightly.

My clothes were slowly soaking wet with her tears.

“Marie was wrong…!! Sob…don’t get sick..!!”

“Mariya..Mom is okay..so stop crying, okay?”

“Hipp..I’ll only give you good medicine….I won’t touch you secretly while you’re sleeping..”

“Huh…Huh..?! What…What does that mean..?”

“Oops.”

Marie, realizing her own slip of the tongue, lets out a short exclamation with an expression of “Oh no.”

But she immediately started crying again, burying her face in my chest as if nothing had happened.

“If you’re sick, don’t leave Marie behind…”

I wanted to think a little more deeply about what Marie had said, but seeing her crying like a baby made me think I couldn’t do that.

I finally let out a deep sigh and gently pinched Marie’s cheeks.

“Huh?”

“Marie. Mom, it’s really okay, so stop crying now.”

“But there’s blood coming out of Mom’s mouth..”

“Ah.”

I looked down.

As she said, everything from my mouth to my clothes was stained red with the blood I had vomited.

But Alina said that the poison she fed me did not contain any harmful ingredients.

Rather, it is said to be a beneficial medicine that causes the body to vomit out impurities.

“I’m really okay. It’s because I took good medicine.”

I patted Marie’s head a few times as she looked at me with a worried expression and reassured her.

“…Really..?”

“Yeah.”

Marie looked around my body, feeling it here and there, and then she looked relieved that she was sure my body was okay.

“…Mom.”

“Uh..huh?”

“You won’t leave Marie behind and go anywhere…?”

Marie looks up at me with emotional eyes.

I guess she was quite shocked to see me bleeding.

I was touched once again by the kind heart of my daughter who cared about me, and I smiled at her and said.

“Of course.”

“Really?”

He keeps trying to get reassurance from me.

I wonder if I haven’t given Marie enough trust all this time.

I knelt down to be eye level with Marie and hugged her.

“I promise, Marie. Mom will always be by your side.”

“….Yeah.”

Only after I patted her on the back and spoke to her did Marie accept my feelings.

“….kkeke…..”

At that moment, Bordin’s laughter was heard from behind.

Let’s look back with a startled heart.

He, who should have been split in half and died, was writhing on the floor laughing.

“How…”

I muttered, looking at him with a frown.

Even if she was a saint, it would have been a fatal wound that could never be cured, so how is she still alive?

No matter how much magic he had accepted, his current regenerative power was abnormal.

“It’s okay, Mom.”

As Marie reached out her hand towards him with a cold gaze, several magic circles instantly appeared around his body.

But before Marie could cast her spell, Bordin spoke in a faint, shallow voice.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m going to die soon anyway.”

“…..”

Marie looked at him with a suspicious expression.

But as if to confirm, Bordin reached out his hand, and his arm corroded and turned to dust, scattering into the air.

“My body is already completely dead. Although the power of magic is activated, it will stop soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he vomited a large amount of blood.

“….”

Marie looked at him with her eyes shining, then put the magic circle back in as if to confirm that what he said was true.

It was heartbreaking to see him dying alone on the floor, but I didn’t feel guilty.

“I won’t apologize. It’s all your fault.”

“..It’s okay. I just want to talk before I die.”

“….I’ll listen.”

I thought it would be okay to listen to the will to some extent.

Still, I owed him a favor several times while I was living in this mansion.

“The royal seal is hidden in a secret space in my office. Alina will know the location. ”

When I looked at Alina at his words, she nodded to me once.

“…How did you get the royal seal?”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I can’t tell you that.”

What came back was a negative answer.

I felt sorry, but I wasn’t that disappointed because it was an expected answer.

“Where the royal seal is. There is a gift for the young lady.”

“…A gift?”

“It was originally supposed to be evidence to be submitted to the palace, but…I think it would be better for you, young lady, to keep it.”

For some reason, his words sounded ominous.

“What are you trying to give me?”

“You said you trust Athena more than a criminal like me.”

“….But.”

As he raised his head, his face, which had been regenerated without me noticing, looked at me calmly.

“The gift contains the truth I spoke of. See it with your own eyes, young lady.”

“….I thought you said it didn’t work.”

“Why should I lie when I am dying? I am giving you a chance to choose.”

“Opportunity?”

Bordin’s body was completely regenerated in no time.

However, his body, which had completed its regeneration, began to slowly decay and disappear into the air.

But Bordin paid no attention and continued speaking slowly.

“Will you continue to live like this without knowing anything? Or will you see the ugly truth hidden behind sweet lies? It’s up to you, young lady.”

“Athena would never have done that to me.”

“If you are so sure, you can check it without any worries.”

“…..”

“Please do as you wish, young lady. I have no intention of forcing you.”

For some reason, I couldn’t refute what he said.

So while I was silent for a moment.

Before I knew it, his body had completely disappeared, leaving only his upper body behind.

Bordin muttered, struggling to roll over so that he was looking at the ceiling.

“In the end, revenge failed.”

I answered him in a sad voice as he spoke alone and in vain.

“Would your wife like seeing you like this?”

“……How could that be?”

A warm glow lingered in his eyes for a moment, as if he was thinking of her, and then disappeared.

“But I couldn’t let go of revenge. Because I had nothing left but resentment.”

“I can’t say Athena is right, but it’s not her fault.”

“……..”

Bordin, who had been blankly staring at the ceiling at my words, soon quietly closed his eyes.

Okay then.

Parsac-

His face slowly began to collapse.

“I’m sorry for many things, Miss.”

Before long, there was no more trace of him.

And so, the story of the character Bordin came to a bitter and absurd end.

* * *

“Miss…I’ll just go in and come back.”

“It’s okay, Alina.”

This is Bordin’s office.

After much thought, I decided to come.

To confirm the so-called truth he spoke of.

I believe that Athena could not have harmed me.

Even if that were the case, it would absolutely not have been intentional.

So here we come.

To face the truth that Bordin had spoken until the moment of his death.

But for some reason Alina kept trying to convince me not to let her in.

A sense of foreboding began to creep in from her suspicious attitude.

‘…No, come to your senses, Hera.’

It reminded me of Athena.

The countless words of love she gave me.

The warm smile you always gave me when you looked at me.

As I thought about my memories with her one by one, the anxiety that had been rising in me disappeared in an instant.

“Please guide me, Alina.”

I spoke to her with a determined expression.

Alina closed her eyes tightly and pushed a book off the shelf.

Kukuku-

Then a large shelf flips over halfway.

The shelves were turned in half, creating space to move inside.

Let’s follow Alina into the place. A space that was narrow, but large enough to be called a room, came into view.

I looked around slowly.

A variety of items were found, including books related to magic, numerous types of poison, and several sharpened daggers.

“Found it.”

When I approached Alina after hearing her words, I was able to find an object placed on a desk.

Gold with splendid inscriptions and red decorations covering it.

It was the seal of the imperial family.

And next to it, unlike the brilliantly shining seal, there was a simple object.

“…It’s a magic tool.”

A tool that operates on the principle of mana.

Could this be the truth that Bordin spoke of?

Boom- Boom-

I had convinced myself countless times that it would be okay, but when the situation actually came before my eyes, my heart started to tremble for no reason and I hesitated to use my magical tool.

Just in case. Just in case.

I wonder if what Bordin said is true.

No, Hera.

I immediately shook my head vigorously.

Trust Athena.

I once again made a firm resolution in my heart and activated the magic tool.

Woohoo-

Then the magical tool begins to vibrate loudly.

Let me keep holding it in my hand.

Soon after, a human voice began to leak out from the magic tool.

– My lord, a letter has arrived from the palace.

The owner of the voice was Bordin, who no longer exists in this world.

– Really? What’s going on?

And that bold and powerful voice that comes out right away. It’s someone I know so well.

It was a conversation recorded quite a long time ago. The voice sounded younger than it is now, but the owner of this voice was definitely the one I love, Athena.

It seemed that this magical tool was created for the purpose of recording conversations.

– The demons say they discovered it within the empire. They asked you to deal with it.

– Ugh… It’s annoying. Tell him I’m busy.

– This is something His Majesty the Emperor himself requested.

– That old man says he doesn’t like me, so what can I do?

– If we’re not careful, the people of the empire could be put in danger.

– Bordin, do you think I’m interested in that kind of thing?

– Heh heh. I made a slip of the tongue. I’m sorry, my lord.

– Besides, there’s that eccentric old man in the palace. To that person-

Stop-

The conversation suddenly ended.

But soon the following conversation began to flow out of the magic tool.

– You sent the demon?

– Yeah. He was quite an interesting guy, so I sent him over to attack again next time.

– Heh heh. Saving the Demons is punishable by death, my lord.

– There’s no way the Empire can kill me.

Stop-

The conversation was cut off again.

This time too, the conversation continued as expected.

-….

-…

And after that.

-…..

-….

And after that too.

Stop-

The conversation between Athena and Bordin continues.

Athena gossiping about the emperor.

Athena’s remarks that speak lightly of human life, etc.

A lot of conversations flowed out.

I continued to mutter softly with my ears open.

“Evidence to be sent to the Imperial Family…”

Bordin said that this was evidence to be sent to the imperial court.

It’s exactly as he said.

Stories that flow from magic tools.

It was the kind of content that would put Athena in trouble in many ways if it were made public.

But ironically, they were definitely not good stories.

My mind was at ease.

“…….Is that fortunate?”

Bordin must have expected me to be shocked if I found out Athena’s true nature.

If it were an ordinary person who was praising Athena, he might have been quite confused after hearing this conversation.

But not me.

I already knew what kind of person she was.

Arrogant and dictatorial. A character who never showed affection to others and had a distrustful personality. That was Athena.

But at the same time, she always gave me more than I deserved.

As she was the type of person who didn’t pay attention to others, I unknowingly became addicted to her love.

‘…I told you it was useless, Bordin.’

I guess you probably wouldn’t know, but this much I already knew.

..I don’t think you need to hear any more.

At that moment, when I finally found relief in my heart, I tried to stop the magic tool from working.

– Are you a slave?

– Yes. You are the slave who will stay by my side from now on.

Before I knew it, stories about me were coming out of the magic tool.

– It seems like you’re quite interested.

– Phew… That’s right. This is the first time I’ve wanted it this much.

“Ugh.”

Athena’s words made me feel ticklish.

Did she really like me from the moment we first met? Her words were full of interest in me.

Athena’s love for me from the beginning enveloped my heart in warm emotions.

…..Thank you Athena.

Even I, who am so stupid.

– So, destroy it completely. So that it has no choice but to rely on me.

Thank you for continuing to love me.

…….

…..

…

“Huh…?”

1 second.

It was only a very brief moment.

I felt like my brain had shut off.

With a ding-ding tinnitus.

My mind went blank and my body felt cold as if my heart had stopped.

But that’s just a fleeting moment.

I was able to regain consciousness right away.

‘..I must have misheard.’

As my senses returned to me, I forced a smile through my trembling lips.

Yeah, I must have misheard.

There’s no way Athena would have said something like that.

Obviously.

– Are you telling me to break it?

– Hmm. To be more specific.

I.

– To the point where I couldn’t even believe it myself. It broke my spirit.

“……..Wrong…”