episode_0081

I can’t breathe because of fear.

My mind went blank and I couldn’t think of anything.

Just seeing her face made my heart pound like crazy.

“Haak..gasp…sob..”

“Hera…!”

Athena saw me and ran over to me in a hurry, unlocked the handcuffs on my arms, placed her hand on my cheek, and looked at me with an expression full of anger.

“Who made you like this? Is that Bordin?”

Her piercing eyes stared at me.

As her hand touched my face, a strong sense of rejection rose up from within me.

“Don’t touch!!!”

“…Hera?”

I suppressed the nausea rising inside me and pushed her body away with both hands.

“Haak…gasp…ugh…ugh…”

I tried to hold it in, but the nausea rose up to my throat, so I covered my mouth and started vomiting.

It felt as if all the organs in my body had been turned upside down.

But no matter how hard I tried to vent my frustration, all that came out of my mouth was dry heaving.

Athena looked at me with her eyes wide open, as if shocked at being pushed away by me.

But soon, when he saw me suffering, he seemed to agree with me and ran back to support me.

“Hera…”

“Don’t…touch…gasp…huh…”

Every time her hands touched my body, I felt a nausea that made me feel like my insides were melting.

But my body, already so exhausted that I was on the verge of fainting, no longer had the strength to push her away.

All I could do was move my body around and pretend to get her hands off of me.

“Ugh…Mom..”

Marie, who had been sleeping soundly next to me, woke up, rubbing her eyes, wondering if she had been woken up by the noise.

Her blue eyes were fully revealed within moments.

Marie’s two eyes looked at me intently, then she noticed someone next to me and rolled to the side.

“…….you.”

Let’s find Athena soon. Like the eyes of a wild beast, the pupils narrowed sharply vertically and became ominous.

“You…Mom…”

A strong mana surged around Marie, and soon, with a bang, she threw Athena away from me.

Athena, who had been flying to the end of the room in an instant, looked at Marie with a dumbfounded expression.

“..What is this?”

As ominous energy swirled around Athena, Mari’s blue mana also began to viciously stir in response.

“Ugh…..Mariya…No..”

After taking in as much air as possible, he pulled Marie around the waist and hugged her.

“Uh..Mom?”

Marie, who came into my arms, seemed surprised and confused for a moment.

It worked. Her rampant mana gradually subsided.

He quietly placed the calm Marie next to him.

Staggering with a trembling body.

I walked to Athena.

One step.

My heart started beating faster as I took a step closer to her golden eyes that were staring at me intensely.

One more step.

Pingdu swallowed his tears and took a step closer to her, suppressing his emotions as much as possible.

Like a death row inmate being dragged to the gallows.

These steps towards her were so burdensome and scary.

Still, I have to go.

To hold on to my last desperate hope, which may be foolish.

I arrived in front of Athena without realizing it. I raised my head and looked at her.

When I looked into her dazzlingly bright eyes, a tear that I had been holding back flowed down my cheek.

“….Hera?”

Was it because she was surprised by my tears? Her two eyes looking at me were shaking slightly.

“….Athena.”

The last hope I don’t want to give up.

In fact, I hope that everything was a misunderstanding.

I already knew it in my head.

The words she spoke were so damn clear in their meaning.

But my heart wanted to deny all these facts.

I wonder if Athena misspoke.

Wasn’t that what someone said in the form of Athena?

Or maybe Bordin really was up to some trick.

But they were all just absurd and impossible words.

Still, I tried to maintain my sanity by writing down my fantasies, desperately trying to grab onto even a shred of hope.

I didn’t want to believe it.

I didn’t even want to think about it.

I couldn’t accept that Athena had done that to me.

Forcing open her heavily closed lips.

I asked her in a trembling voice.

“….Is…it true..?”

Athena looked down at me with a questioning expression, as if she didn’t hear me well.

“Hera. What are you talking about?”

you are.

me.

“Is it true that you gave the order to…ruin me..?”

“…..What?”

Her eyes widened at my words.

I noticed her bewildered look, as if she didn’t understand what was being said.

Her expression was filled with confusion, but hope was stirring in a corner of her heart.

Please, Athena.

Tell me no.

Get mad at me and ask me what the hell I’m talking about.

This is how I became like this.

Because I’m stupid.

Because it’s pathetic.

Because I’m such a fool that I can’t do anything on my own.

Please hurt me by saying that it’s only because I’m that kind of person.

It’s okay to get upset and ask why you’re blaming others for your own problems.

please…

Please, don’t just say that you did it.

But my last hope, which I had been desperately hoping for.

“…..Bordin said it.”

So easy.

Her single word shattered me into pieces.

“Haha……”

My eyes lost the light that was the last hope.

I just kept shedding tears without stopping.

.

.

.

Crack–!!

With the sound of flesh being torn.

My head turned sharply to the side.

I could feel the taste of blood in my mouth along with the sensation of my flesh bursting.

There was no time to feel pain.

I turned my head forward again and looked at her.

Hera is crying.

To the point where blood is coming out. I’m biting my lip and trying hard to keep my voice in check.

Her reddened eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Her eyes were covered with despair and had lost their light.

Her pitiful appearance made my heart ache.

But what was even crazier was…

The person who made Hera like that was none other than himself.

“Why….why did you do that!!!”

Hera screams and cries out.

I could feel her voice trembling with tears.

“I trusted you!! I loved you!!! Why…Why!! Sob…sob…”

Couldn’t stand it any longer.

She covered her face with both hands and began to sob sadly.

“…….I..”

I couldn’t say anything.

There was not an inch of truth in what I said about ruining her.

How could I open my mouth in front of her with such contempt?

I’ve been thinking about it for a while.

If only I could turn back time.

He would have kneaded himself without hesitation, having given the order to destroy Hera.

At that time, I didn’t know what love was.

He only had a possessive desire to have Hera, and treated her like an object.

But by the time I realized my own mind.

This was after he had already committed an unforgivable sin against Hera.

So I’ve been hoping for this so desperately.

May Hera never know of her ugly past.

He shut his mouth by taking the lives of his servants as collateral.

In front of Hera, he made love to her shamelessly and without any hesitation.

But there is no such thing as an eternal lie.

In the end, everything was discovered.

That kind of me.

Am I qualified to comfort Hera?

I just hesitated. In the end, unable to say anything, I tried to reach out to her.

slap-

Hera’s hand strongly struck my arm.

“Don’t…touch…”

Hera steps back from me with a trembling body.

But his legs gave out and he fell flat on the floor.

“Hera!”

“Don’t come!!!”

I instinctively ran to her.

Hera screamed in horror at my approaching appearance.

“Leave me…alone…gasp…huh..”

He is kneeling on the floor with both arms wrapped around himself, shaking.

I could only look at her with my eyes shaking violently.

“…..Hera..”

“Sob…sob…sob…”

…now didn’t seem like a good time to have a conversation.

My being here now will only make her suffer more.

If Hera calms down a bit, we can definitely talk again.

“….I’ll come back when I calm down..Take care of yourself.”

No answer came back.

I finally turned around and walked out of her room.

Feeling guilty for making her cry.

There was an ominous feeling that our relationship with her might drift apart.

The sharp needles were piercing his heart.

* * *

“….No more?”

“Yes.”

A brown-haired maid bows her head to answer.

I’m sure her name was Alina.

I remembered it clearly, as she was a woman who was like a friend to Hera.

And he was jealous of that, and the memory of ordering her to betray Hera still vividly lingered and tormented him.

“Okay. Go back now.”

“…Are you saving me?”

A look of bewilderment appeared on her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to send her off safely.

She confessed that she was someone who had been following orders under Bordin.

Until he betrayed him at the end.

So you thought I was going to kill you?

“….I’ll let you go. Because of you, Hera was able to stay safe.”

“…..”

I heard the whole story from the maid.

From the reason why Bordin betrayed.

How he met his end.

And the royal seal found in his office.

A magical tool that records and stores the numerous orders he has given.

Hera fainted after hearing all that.

Finally, she attempted suicide due to the shock.

Boom-boom-

I can’t stand this pain that feels like it’s going to burst in my chest. I bite my lip hard and a fishy taste comes to my mouth again.

“Please take good care of Hera so she doesn’t get hurt. I think you trust her.”

He motioned for the brown-haired maid to step aside.

She must have had a lot to say. She mumbled for a while, then finally gave up, closed her eyes tightly, and retreated outside.

“Sigh…”

So I was left alone in the room.

He swept his face hard with both hands, blocking the emotions flowing out of his expression.

“Time….As time passes….”

Someday.

Will there ever come a day when Hera smiles at him again?

I wished for it so desperately.

But this pain that keeps stabbing his heart.

There was absolutely no sign of it abating.