episode_0080

How long had it been? To Cecilia, the passing seconds felt like an eternity before Kristin finally spoke.

“What you’re trying to do… Even if it’s for Oppa’s sake, it’s still a betrayal to him. You know that, right?”

“I know. If Eric ever finds out what I’m about to do, he won’t let it slide. He might even be furious.”

“Calling it ‘fury’ is awfully vague. You know exactly what’s going to happen.”

“Yes. He’ll be angry—very angry. He might never forgive me. If before, we were acting for the sake of the world, now I’m moving solely for Eric’s sake. But even so, I can’t just leave him like this. No, I won’t let that happen.”

Blind affection and concern are worse than distrust.

Yet Cecilia’s vision was already too clouded to realize even that simple truth.

“If we follow your plan, we’ll have to confront and neutralize Fairchild before Oppa does. Do you really think that’s possible?”

“Chris? Are you saying—”

“Don’t misunderstand, Unni. I haven’t decided to help you yet.”

Despite her words, Kristin’s eyes were already wavering violently. She wasn’t thinking about stopping Cecilia anymore—she was already considering how to avoid Eric finding out. The fact that she was even entertaining the idea was proof enough that something was wrong, though Kristin herself didn’t realize it yet.

“Haha, is that so?”

“Oppa already knows the future, doesn’t he? If we want to get ahead of him, we’d have to act without his knowledge. Do you really think that’s possible? Even if we lie, he’d see right through us.”

“Ah.”

“You hadn’t thought of that, had you?”

Kristin sighed softly and stared at Cecilia, who looked utterly lost. And this was supposed to be the Saintess?

She almost wished the people who blindly worshipped Cecilia could see her like this—the so-called Saintess and savior of all, reduced to helplessness over the life of a single boy. It was a far cry from nobility.

Saving Eric was all well and good, but Cecilia hadn’t even prepared a concrete plan. She was missing a few screws, Kristin thought.

Of course, even if Cecilia had come up with a proper plan—one that could outmaneuver Eric’s foresight—Kristin would still have been skeptical.

“I completely forgot about Eric’s prophecies. To think I overlooked something so obvious…”

“Hey, Unni. Oppa’s prophecies—maybe they’re not as absolute as you think.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. Oppa told us before, didn’t he? Prophecies only show the most likely future based on the current situation. So depending on how we act, the prophecy itself could change, right?”

“That’s true.”

In previous cycles, she had dismissed such prophecies as useless, but now they might be the key to turning the tables.

“Then all we have to do is move faster than Oppa can foresee, don’t we? If we act so quickly that the prophecy he sees isn’t us approaching Fairchild, but the aftermath of everything already being resolved.”

“That won’t work.”

This time, it was Cecilia’s turn to object.

“Why not?”

“It’s simple. If we rush things like that, we won’t be able to properly deal with Fairchild. If we fail to subdue them or accidentally free them too soon, that would be a true disaster. One so great that even Eric wouldn’t be able to stop it, no matter how hard he tried.”

“You thought that through, but didn’t spare a single thought for Oppa, huh?”

“W-Well, what else could I do?! In the previous world, I… didn’t pay much attention to Eric, so… I guess I just unconsciously excluded him from my plans…”

“Idiot.”

Kristin sighed again, watching Cecilia fumble for words.

“Hmm.”

“Chris?”

“Wait a second. I’m thinking—how we can bypass Oppa’s prophecies.”

The Eric of now wasn’t the naive, kind Eric Grave that Cecilia knew.

Of course, the Eric Grave that Kristin herself knew wasn’t much different. Unlike the simple prophet of the previous world, this Eric stood on the same level as them.

Even if his memories hadn’t fully returned, he undoubtedly carried fragments of the past.

Haha… Why is this happening? Wait a minute—

The coughing fit he’d had during the meeting wasn’t a side effect of prophecy, but the burden of regression itself. Though Eric hadn’t revealed the exact conditions, it was clear enough that the ordeal was tied to Kristin and the others.

Every time Eric coughed up blood, it happened in front of her. After the first incident, Kristin, worried for his health, had secretly assigned watchers to keep an eye on him—but there were no reports of further episodes or illness.

At first, she wondered if she was the cause, but that thought was quickly shot down by the obvious question:

Who do you think you are?

The suffering Eric endured could never be entirely her fault. She wasn’t that significant to him.

Once she accepted that bitter truth, all that remained was objective analysis.

Comparing the conditions of the first incident to the one just now—

Only five people, including Eric, knew about the existence of the regression artifact. And among them, only Eric, who had used it, understood the trials it entailed. How much did he remember? Were his prophecies in this world the same as before? How would he act based on them? Nothing was certain.

“Chris? If it’s too much, just forget it. Even I can’t ask you for something like this.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Unni. You already know I’m in. Don’t act considerate now—it’s just disgusting.”

“Having a sharp-witted ally is something to be grateful for, I suppose.”

Even after being caught in her deception, Cecilia spoke shamelessly, her expression unchanging. Kristin let out a dry laugh, realizing she was agreeing with Cecilia despite her attitude.

The phrase “saving Eric” was just that compelling.

“Sigh… So, did you come up with any plans while I was thinking?”

“It’s not much of a plan, but I did find one hopeful point.”

“Hopeful point?”

“Eric’s prophecies only show fragmented glimpses of the future—and never perfectly. Not to mention, all of them are about dire, world-altering events.”

“Right. That’s why the problem is Oppa might notice us making a move against Fairchild.”

“Then we just have to make it so it doesn’t matter if he notices.”

“What?”

“We ask Elia for help. She’d definitely be able to stop Eric from acting, no matter what he tries. I also considered asking the Church, the Academy, or even Lucilla, but the first two would be too hard to keep secret, and Lucilla is… well, I can’t even guess what she’s thinking, so she makes me uneasy.”

“Unni, are you insane? Weren’t you just badmouthing Elia for being willing to abandon Eric without hesitation?”

“That was only when his life was on the line. If that’s not the case, Elia would definitely help us. She must feel some guilt toward Eric too.”

“And what if Elia Unni refuses, saying it’s too risky? If we fail, we’d have to evacuate all the imperial citizens near Fairchild’s location. Do you really think she’d agree to such an inefficient task?”

The Elia Kristin knew was a monster of cost-cutting and efficiency.

“Of course, I’d have to offer something in return. That’s my job as part of the Church, so don’t worry about it. Even if Elia is on the verge of becoming Empress, she’d still want as much leverage as possible, right?”

“I see. Then what’s my role? Couldn’t you just ask Elia Unni for help directly?”

“What I need is a companion to face Fairchild—not to do it alone. Honestly, if I had to pick the two least essential members of the hero’s party…”

“It’d be you and me? Ha, Oppa really should’ve seen you say that.”

“I’ve been biting my tongue so much it’s a miracle I haven’t bled. So, what do you think? If we convince Elia, cutting off information to Eric would be easy. Even if he receives a prophecy, we just have to move fast enough that he can’t do anything about it.”

“And what if the prophecy is for tomorrow? What if Oppa rushes to us right now after suddenly foreseeing something?”

Cecilia widened her eyes as if it were obvious and said:

“Then we’ll just lock him up by force until it’s all over. The Church has plenty of empty rooms.”