NOVEL WEB Chapter 156
It didn’t take long to toss the fainted Dorothy into her home and return to Hong Yu-ri’s mansion.
“…Are you okay?”
“Kyaa~?!”
Baek So-yul, sensing the magic, anxiously asked if everything was alright, and I could only nod in response.
“…Yeah.”
Even so, I couldn’t spill the details of the incident to Baek So-yul. It made me feel guilty to return looking so gloomy… but I had so much on my mind.
I was doubting whether it was alright to leave her at the Square.
Especially after talking to the Butterfly of Covenant, that thought grew even stronger.
All day long, I had been lost in thought and eventually night fell, but I was still mulling things over. I was trying to tease out answers to questions that wouldn’t come, when I heard a voice calling me.
“Hey.”
Hong Yu-ri opened the door without knocking and leaned against the frame with her arms crossed. When she asked what had happened at the Butterfly Castle, I told her to hold on a minute. I couldn’t even organize my own thoughts yet.
She must have wanted to ask ever since I left Anela at the Butterfly Castle.
But her trust in me kept her from doing so. The relationships we had rebuilt made her endure a lot. Yet here we were. Even though I wanted to organize my thoughts a bit more, I had to say something, even if it was jumbled.
But then I thought about it and felt a headache coming on. Where should I even start?
How much could she actually trust me?
Thinking that I might ruin our relationship again made me even more anxious.
Could I really say to a mage from the Square that the very top, the pinnacle of humanity’s magic heritage, was actually the leader of the traitors?
For her, denying the magic heritage would likely be an insult to the path she had walked. Those thoughts floated in my mind.
How much should I adapt my story… I was pondering that, and even though I had to rest with the little magic power left, I looked at Hong Yu-ri, who was still awake, waiting for me, and made up my mind.
Let’s just speak honestly.
After all, I had come this far. I also needed to think about whether leaving Baek So-yul at the Square was the right decision. That was something much more significant for her mentor, Hong Yu-ri, than for me. I couldn’t keep silent.
Even if she couldn’t believe my words…
And so, the Wolf slowly began to share the story.
***
The Wolf and Amelia entered her room in the Butterfly Castle, where Anela was laid down, and began their conversation.
There was so much to hear.
With a voice exhausted and wishing for death, Amelia revealed everything she knew to Marang.
…She had been wrong from the very beginning.
It wasn’t that she was recruited at the original story’s timeline; she had been told to join the traitors decades ago by the Master of All Things.
As the Master of the Square, she couldn’t do that, and as a result, she lost her husband.
And yet, she probably couldn’t even muster proper rebellion against it.
Because the magic heritage had that kind of power. What was Amelia Morest thinking when she became the Butterfly of Covenant, believing she must protect at least her remaining children?
To break free from the shackles, she distanced herself from her children and ended up pushing Agail Morest, to finally cooperate with the traitors. How did she feel seeing her son meet his end?
Perhaps the reason she was recruited by the traitors in the original story was that her son was there.
I had no proof, but I felt that was a high possibility.
Yet, I couldn’t even offer a word of comfort. I was the one who killed Agail Morest.
My comfort would cut like a knife. I couldn’t apologize either. Whatever the reasons, Agail’s actions were unforgivable.
Doing so would just be a mockery of those who died without reason in the crossfire.
To the mother who had lost her child, I said nothing.
“…Just kill me now.”
Amelia, looking up with empty eyes, said that.
She wanted to die.
Only then would Anela be able to escape this cycle.
As long as the Master of All Things desired me, Anela could be targeted at any time.
She wasn’t meant to live, and she didn’t have the strength left to do so. If only her daughter could escape the cycle, that would be enough. Their family, which had become irretrievable. The last thing a mother could give was her own death. This, she believed, was the most appropriate ending.
I had no words to say.
The weight she had to carry was something I couldn’t dare to imagine. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to keep living after enduring for decades.
Knowing the resolve with which she accepted her death, left me speechless.
When I raised my head, I let out a sigh.
In truth, as she gazed up at the gray ceiling, she had been waiting for something.
The unsealed doors of the high castle and the neatly organized rooms of her children might have remained in her mind that way.
Now, with a son that would never return and a daughter who wouldn’t come back, the butterfly longed for her own death in the lonely castle.
Turning my back to her desperate voice, I did nothing.
What choice she would make afterwards, I didn’t know.
But she probably wouldn’t die right then.
She was the only one who could take care of Anela, who had collapsed in this Butterfly Castle.
…I couldn’t change her decision.
The only thing I could do was offer a faint and weak hope.
In that moment, the Wolf etched a resolve in his heart.
***
“…What.”
Upon hearing the details, Hong Yu-ri frowned. That reaction was exactly what I had expected. But her next words made me perk up, thinking I had misheard.
“This is messed up. Seriously.”
Despite her irritation, there was no doubt in her words. I was rather surprised that she took it so straightforwardly. I thought that no matter how tangled things got, her magic wouldn’t be directed at herself…
Her scarlet eyes held no suspicion. It felt like the fog clouding my mind was lifting. Of course, I couldn’t discuss the lost ones—the system and the end—so I had to fumble over how I survived, but even that felt easier.
The red-haired girl next to me, who was also deep in thought, looked a little different now.
“So, what do you plan to do? Even if you say that person did that, no one will believe you.”
…That was the problem. Who would believe that the founder of magic was a traitor? There was no persuasive force to the story. Some of the dawn heroes might believe me, but most would just say I was crazy.
After all, she had contributed more to humanity than the Seven Heroes.
Though Europe had fallen, it was because she raised the Square that we could halt the plagues and diseases, allowing us to resist the suddenly changed world for so long.
In other words, if the Master of All Things hadn’t existed, humanity would have fallen or be in a state close to it long ago.
Of course, if she wanted, she could easily remove such a threat. She could certainly handle diseases and plagues with ease now.
Thus the contradiction. The founder of magic, who was the foundation preventing destruction, is a devourer of humanity.
In truth, not many even knew of her existence. An elusive enigma. Even with her achievements, she never flaunted them as if she had no interest. Ironically, that attitude seemed to garner support from those who knew her.
Though I may have strayed from the topic, ultimately, no matter what method I employed, there was no way to defeat the Master of All Things.
“……”
I was well aware of that. At the very least, to plead that, I had to achieve something of that caliber.
What I wanted to tell Hong Yu-ri right now wasn’t how to take her down, but whether leaving Baek So-yul here in the Square was wise.
Of course, the Master of All Things was showing me an unknown kindness.
But I couldn’t trust a favor that might vanish on a whim. After all, the organization that turned Baek So-yul into a witch was, of course, the traitorous organization she created.
There was a thought that Baek So-yul’s resolve and determination might get shattered. No, simply having such thoughts here was a testament to her grace, which felt frustrating.
If the Master of All Things wanted, killing me would be easy even now.
Yet, I had fought to ensure that didn’t happen, but I was still far from it. The wall was much higher than I thought… I still had to become much stronger.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“At the very least, we should have at least one method of preparation.”
“A method of preparation?”
Her question, as if doubting whether such a thing existed, made me nod. I couldn’t promise it was certain, but it was the only thing that came to mind.
“…Yeah. Maybe.”
***
Why didn’t she say anything to me?
Weakness, insufficiency, youth… I had to admit it. Right now, I was just a hindrance. I was nothing but a burden. Hence why I couldn’t stand beside her.
That was why I decided to come to the Square.
This might take years. Still, I hope that even if I part for a while, I can stand confidently beside him someday.
I don’t know what had happened outside.
Still, I hope that I could be no one other than myself at his side.
If only I had the power like my teacher, I could have been by his side. If only I had talent similar to Euna, I could have shortened that time…
It was all so foggy and confusing.
The thought that my teacher was hearing stories I couldn’t.
The thought that my teacher was being told stories I couldn’t say.
That… I really hated.
And more than that, I hated that I couldn’t be there for him whenever something happened.
In that moment, Baek So-yul quietly vowed.
That she would become stronger. So that she could stand proudly beside him.
—It was the moment the troubled girl decided on the Square she would head toward.