episode_0087

There was still time left after everyone had fallen asleep.

I still couldn’t sleep. I stayed up all night looking out the window.

The sight of the beautiful full moon floating in the sky softly illuminating the night was quite pleasant to see.

After patting Marie’s head who was sleeping soundly next to me, I turned my head and spoke to her.

“…..Let’s leave?”

Sephir nodded calmly at my words.

“It’s annoying. Being here.”

“….”

That’s not wrong.

This place was hell for me.

That he had become ruined.

This place where only unfortunate memories remain.

I’ve been holding on here all this time, thinking about the love I shared with Athena.

But, cruelly enough.

He who believed in her love ended up falling into an even deeper pit of hell.

As Sephir said, it was painful to be here.

It would definitely be better for me to leave.

But I shook my head at her to show my denial.

Then Sephir looked at me with an expression of incomprehension.

“Hey! If you keep going like this, you might really die!!”

As she said, my health was getting worse day by day, to the point where I could feel it myself.

It really wasn’t strange at all if I suddenly collapsed one day.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t want to leave because I want to be here.

Me too. I want to get out.

I wanted to run away from this hellish mansion, go somewhere where no one was, and just relax and be at ease.

As for me, who thought so, the reason I rejected Sephir’s proposal was simple.

“…Athena won’t let you go.”

I looked down at my body.

Although it is not visible due to the clothes, the bright pink shackles are definitely still there underneath.

That’s not all.

He no longer had the strength to even move his body properly.

Can I, like you, escape from here and avoid Athena?

“…..ugh.”

Sephir, who couldn’t refute my words, groaned for a while and then started stomping the floor as if to vent his anger.

“It’s all because of that monster bitch!! That devil bitch. How the hell-”

dripping-

– Hera. It’s me.

“How can a person do that- Heeek?!!”

At her unexpected voice, Sephir opened his eyes wide and was startled.

Like a squirrel struck by lightning, her body began to tremble violently.

And it was the same for me.

I held back my breathing, which was gradually getting faster, and spoke to her outside the door in a cold voice.

“I have nothing to say to you, Athena.”

– I’m not going in. I just want to hear your voice.

“……”

– If it’s too hard…you don’t have to overdo it.

…what?

Athena’s voice was different than usual.

Her voice, which had been strong no matter what the situation, had become weak and deeply depressed.

I didn’t want to talk to her, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her changed mood.

In the end, he closed his eyes tightly and tried to calm his trembling body as he spoke to her.

“..What do you want to say?”

– I wish that insolent succubus next to me would go away.

“Hiyaak?!”

At Athena’s words, Sephir began to jump like a frog, biting his fingernails and shuddering.

“It’s okay, Sephir. Can you step out for a moment?”

As I spoke, holding her hand, she snorted and blushed.

“Huh..uh. Well..if you ask me like that, I can’t help it.”

– Aren’t you going out quickly?

“Eek?! Ah..Okay, I’ll go out now..!!”

At Athena’s urging, Sephiroth hurriedly flew out the window as if escaping.

As soon as she disappeared, silence fell over the room.

It was Athena who finally broke the silence that had been maintained for a while.

– ….Is it very difficult?

Athena’s words made me angry.

It’s amazing that she, of all people, would say something like that.

In my absurd state, boiling words burst out of my mouth.

“Are you saying that now..?”

– Okay, sorry.

When I heard Athena’s voice apologizing meekly, my body trembled.

It’s been strange since a while ago. It’s a tone of speech that’s not like Athena at all.

It was as if I had become a completely different person.

I was momentarily worried by her completely changed mood.

‘I wonder if something is going on..?’

But that was only for a moment.

He slapped himself in the face and scolded himself.

Please come to your senses, Hera.

What am I supposed to do if I still give my heart to her?

“….you lied to me.”

– that’s right.

“You played me to pieces.”

– That’s right.

“Laughed. Ridiculed. Thoroughly destroyed.”

– okay.

Athena, who accepts everything calmly.

Seeing her like that, my emotions burst out and I burst into tears.

“Why on earth…!! Why are you doing that? Why!! You said you loved me… But how could you do something like that?”

Once the tear ducts I had been holding back burst, no matter how much I wiped them away, tears would immediately flow down and cover my face hotly.

“I hate you to death, Athena… But you know what makes me the angrier…?”

– …What is it?

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t forget you, and that makes me the angrier and more resentful.”

– …….

“Ugh…really….I hate you…..sob….sob…”

I couldn’t bear it any longer and began to cry bitterly. Athena didn’t say anything.

I was so frustrated and upset that I yelled at her in anger.

“At least say something in reply..!!!”

– Get out of the mansion.

The answer that came back was something completely unexpected.

“….what?”

– Then sleep well.

“Okay..wait a minute..”

Feeling embarrassed, I jumped out of bed, opened the door, and went out.

But Athena had disappeared without a trace. Only her own figure was left standing blankly in the empty hallway.

It seemed that he could no longer suppress this feeling that was flowing out of his throat.

So he ran away from Hera, because he didn’t want her to see him.

He dragged his heavy body, which had sunk deep into the ground, and threw it onto the bed.

As I covered my eyes with one hand, what I had been holding back finally burst out.

In my entire life, I have never shed a tear.

Even when my father abandoned me and left me. Even when my mother cried tears of blood and resented me. I was able to overcome it.

But now, it seemed like I couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Ha….”

A drop of clear dew ran down his cheek.

I frowned at this feeling that was so unfamiliar.

I hated this feeling that weighed heavily on my chest so much.

“Sigh…Fuck…Heh…Heh…”

But deep down inside, a sad and intense feeling continued to rise.

Like a baby who has burst into tears for the first time, he just can’t stop crying.

“I’m sorry…Hera……I’m sorry..”

A person who was called invincible could never be said to be so.

It was such a weak appearance.

* * *

When I looked at her face, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

“….you..”

It seemed as if the sun had not yet risen. Only pitch-black darkness covered the outside.

It’s still too early in the morning to wake up.

Athena had secretly woken up and called out to her mother, who was sleeping soundly next to her.

At first I was annoyed, but when I realized that the atmosphere was not good, I eventually had no choice but to follow her.

“Leave the mansion with Hera tomorrow morning.”

As she said this, she handed her a heavy pouch lined with brown cloth.

I looked at the bag that had come into my hand, and it was filled with many brightly shining golden coins.

“All platinum. It’s enough to buy a small kingdom, so it won’t be too much.”

A huge amount of money that would make an ordinary person’s eyes pop out.

But he himself. He just stared blankly at her without even looking at the shining purse.

“Are you…okay..?”

I hated her from the beginning.

When my mother suffered so much because of her that she almost died, I really felt like killing her.

But still, the reason I expressed my concern to her was.

It wasn’t because of her deep, penetrating voice, of course.

It was not because of her reddened eyes or blue lips.

The color of her soul.

This was because it had changed from black to a transparent, colorless color.

And that meant only one thing.

“Phew. Are you worried?”

She sent herself a mocking sneer that was almost like a mockery.

But that only weighed down on his heart even more.

It looked so good.

Her face was mocking herself.

It’s the appearance of someone trying to hide their feelings and somehow making themselves smile.

“……”

I shook my head to shake off the thoughts.

‘It’s all your own fault.’

All of this was of her own making.

How sad my mother was because of that woman.

How much I cried, vomited, and suffered.

When I thought of my dying mother, the worry I had for her disappeared without a trace.

okay.

There was no reason for him to be concerned about her.

“…..I won’t say hello separately.”

“Yeah.”

As if that was all she wanted to say, she turned around and walked away without a care.

He also turned his back on her and walked towards his mother, who was still sleeping.

As I walked step by step, my mood began to sink.

Just like this heavy bag of money in his hand.

My heart just felt so heavy.