“You brought them with you?”
“……Yes.”
I had no choice but to admit to the words of the man who seemed to know everything already.
“I guess Estin Conler is here. Yes, he also came here to rescue you from back then.”
The man’s eyes were wistful, as if lost in memory. After his brief reminiscence, he returned to his expressionless face and gave me some advice.
“Don’t pull any stunts. If you walk out that door, Astina’s life will end immediately.”
I nodded.
And I was relieved. After all, if I went through that door, I’d be in the forest, so maybe we did not travel through space.
Still, I couldn’t believe that the man was Leo.
Despite our frequent fights and harsh words, Leo and I have a good relationship.
The day Astina was adopted and left our little world, Leo held my lonely hand as she walked out the door.
I could still hear his voice teasing me about crying.
As I saw Astina off, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was brought to the Grand Duchy.
I was worried about what would happen to Leo who would be left alone.
But the whole thing was a lie.
I had the urge to rip off the white fingers of the God of Death’s hand as it caressed Astina’s cheek.
But the thought of him really being Leo choked me, and I couldn’t say anything.
No, there must be a real Leo, and he just transformed into him to reassure me and Astina.
“Poof, Pwahaha.”
Suddenly, the God of Death burst into uncontrollable laughter.
That cheerful laugh sounded exactly like Leo’s when we were kids. The God of Death felt like a demon.
“Ah, it’s so funny..”
The God of Death smiled, his eyes narrowing. It was one of the actions that made him even more repugnant than he already was.
He was mimicking Demimore’s characteristic eye smile. Demimore’s eyes were slender, making that smile look natural and fitting. But to him, it was just nauseating.
The God of death cocked his head and stared at me intently.
The sight of his eyes upon me was so terrifying that I wanted to scream.
The color of his own eyes flickered. Purple to brown, brown to purple.
Leo’s face was overlapping his face.
“You know, Mary. I think you’re mistaken about something, so let me make it clear.”
“…….”
“I was that Leo, from the beginning.”
The God of Death whispered in a secretive manner, chuckling as he straightened his back.
The sound of his laughter filled the stark white space, but it didn’t feel bright at all.
And suddenly, a memory flashed into my mind like a lie. The first birthday I celebrated at the Grand Duchy.
I had received so many beautiful and noble gifts, and was so excited about my first birthday party. At that time, I was kidnapped by this man and he told to me,
‘You tend to get too attached to life.’
Something Leo used to say to me…….
Maybe it was because he was the God of Death, maybe this man in front of me was hinting to me that he was Leo.
“Leo was such a precious friend to me. I hope you don’t say anything like that.”
“But…”
“Mary, you forgot all about Leo.”
The God of Death, who had changed back into Leo’s form, looked at me with genuine sadness.
“How could you forget your best friend and be happy with your family?”
Leo seemed truly upset and sad.
“I’ve been lonely a lot since you and Astina left.”
Even though I knew that every word that came out of Leo’s mouth right now was some kind of performance by the God of Death, each of his lines seemed to be an arrow, piercing my heart.
Leo turned around and made his way to the altar where Astina lay.
As soon as he was in front of Astina, he reverted to his God of Death appearance.
He leaned down to study Astina’s face and clicked his tongue.
“I feel sorry for you, Astina. If it weren’t for Mary Conler, you would have lived happily ever after with Demimore Arstans.”
“That’s just in that novel you wrote…….”
“Well, it’s based on reality, and maybe Demimore would have fallen in love with Astina if he hadn’t been distracted by your work. X death was pointless”
Talking about X’s death, the God of Death looks really lonely, which gave me goosebumps.
The man who was known for mocking the deaths of countless people, was now grieving so deeply for the death of someone close to him.
I don’t want to believe that Demimore and Astina were meant to fall in love.
I hoped that such repulsive words from him wouldn’t affect me in any way.
“X wouldn’t be dead if you hadn’t done what you did to me.”
I wanted to subtly implant a sense of guilt in the God of Death, just as he cleverly sowed guilt in me.
Since he was grieving X’s death so much, he must feel some responsibility for his death.
Before I could finish my sentence, the Death God’s face turned cold.
“Yes……. You’re right, but X must be very lonely, so I’m going to give him a companion.”
The God of Death’s gaze turned to Astina.
“Please don’t touch Astina! She didn’t do anything. Just, I’ll stay here. Please let Astina go…”
I eventually fell to my knees. My desperate appearance seemed to satisfy the man, and his expression appeared rather content.
“You should have done that a long time ago, Mary.”
I made the most pitiful expression I could. He gradually moved away from Astina, saying he wanted to see my face in despair.
With clenched fists, I caressed the black amulet in my hand.
‘You can see it.’
Gilbert said, handing me the amulet. I took it and nodded.
A spell pattern that only I could see was engraved on his amulet.
‘You just have to rub it hard.’
The amulet that Gilbert, who was unable to come with me to protect Conler castle, gave me was engraved with a summoning spell.
The amulet soon summoned a bow and arrows into my hands. The God of Death stopped in his tracks as he approached me.
Fortunately, he had gained some distance from Astina.
“Don’t move! I’ll shoot you if you do.”
I shouted, my desperation reaching him. The god of death looked at me with an intrigued expression, then transformed into the appearance of Leo.
“Really?”
“…….”
“Mary, are you going to shoot me?”
Leo was the God of Death, and everything about the way he treated me was a lie. He didn’t mean it.
Even as I said it over and over, tears welled up in my eyes. My faltering heart was reflected in the hand that held the bow and arrow. My hands were shaking.
I fixed my gaze on him and steadied my breathing.
My father, who had slashed the cursed beast for me, and Demimore, who had killed X for me, not knowing what danger lay ahead. And my precious family out there.
I would be betraying them all if I allowed myself to be swept up in the memories of the past.
“Mary, you are…”
I heard a thud behind me. It sounded like something was splitting. Leo’s expression hardened.
I didn’t have to turn around to realize what the sound was.
Just as Leo was about to turn around to face Astina, I threw my bow to the ground and lunged at him with only an arrow.
I stuck the arrow in his back.
“Miss!”
The moment I put the arrow in his back, I thought I heard Hestia’s voice behind me. But the voice was not close.
Rather, it sounded distant, like it was coming from beyond a thick wall.
The God of Death slowly turned his head to look at me, bewilderment written all over his face.
“……you.”
“You wouldn’t say something like ‘Leo was your precious friend’ right?”
“You, what did you do to the arrow…….”
The arrow has been sprayed with laminaicho. As Demimore had suspected, laminaicho seemed to be fatal to him.
Smoke billowed from his back where the arrow had struck.
It seemed like they hadn’t broken through the door yet; there were still thumping sounds coming from behind.
Leo pulled a dagger from his waistband with a grim look on his face. I looked at it and smirked.
It was the dagger Cameron had used to frame me.
Grimacing as though the arrow-pierced back was causing him pain, he swung the dagger wildly at me.
Ah, I should have summoned a sword instead of an arrow.
Arrows are too small.
His dagger poked me in the shoulder. A sharp pain pierced my shoulder.
“You brought them with you?”
“……Yes.”
I had no choice but to admit to the words of the man who seemed to know everything already.
“I guess Estin Conler is here. Yes, he also came here to rescue you from back then.”
The man’s eyes were wistful, as if lost in memory. After his brief reminiscence, he returned to his expressionless face and gave me some advice.
“Don’t pull any stunts. If you walk out that door, Astina’s life will end immediately.”
I nodded.
And I was relieved. After all, if I went through that door, I’d be in the forest, so maybe we did not travel through space.
Still, I couldn’t believe that the man was Leo.
Despite our frequent fights and harsh words, Leo and I have a good relationship.
The day Astina was adopted and left our little world, Leo held my lonely hand as she walked out the door.
I could still hear his voice teasing me about crying.
As I saw Astina off, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was brought to the Grand Duchy.
I was worried about what would happen to Leo who would be left alone.
But the whole thing was a lie.
I had the urge to rip off the white fingers of the God of Death’s hand as it caressed Astina’s cheek.
But the thought of him really being Leo choked me, and I couldn’t say anything.
No, there must be a real Leo, and he just transformed into him to reassure me and Astina.
“Poof, Pwahaha.”
Suddenly, the God of Death burst into uncontrollable laughter.
That cheerful laugh sounded exactly like Leo’s when we were kids. The God of Death felt like a demon.
“Ah, it’s so funny..”
The God of Death smiled, his eyes narrowing. It was one of the actions that made him even more repugnant than he already was.
He was mimicking Demimore’s characteristic eye smile. Demimore’s eyes were slender, making that smile look natural and fitting. But to him, it was just nauseating.
The God of death cocked his head and stared at me intently.
The sight of his eyes upon me was so terrifying that I wanted to scream.
The color of his own eyes flickered. Purple to brown, brown to purple.
Leo’s face was overlapping his face.
“You know, Mary. I think you’re mistaken about something, so let me make it clear.”
“…….”
“I was that Leo, from the beginning.”
The God of Death whispered in a secretive manner, chuckling as he straightened his back.
The sound of his laughter filled the stark white space, but it didn’t feel bright at all.
And suddenly, a memory flashed into my mind like a lie. The first birthday I celebrated at the Grand Duchy.
I had received so many beautiful and noble gifts, and was so excited about my first birthday party. At that time, I was kidnapped by this man and he told to me,
‘You tend to get too attached to life.’
Something Leo used to say to me…….
Maybe it was because he was the God of Death, maybe this man in front of me was hinting to me that he was Leo.
“Leo was such a precious friend to me. I hope you don’t say anything like that.”
“But…”
“Mary, you forgot all about Leo.”
The God of Death, who had changed back into Leo’s form, looked at me with genuine sadness.
“How could you forget your best friend and be happy with your family?”
Leo seemed truly upset and sad.
“I’ve been lonely a lot since you and Astina left.”
Even though I knew that every word that came out of Leo’s mouth right now was some kind of performance by the God of Death, each of his lines seemed to be an arrow, piercing my heart.
Leo turned around and made his way to the altar where Astina lay.
As soon as he was in front of Astina, he reverted to his God of Death appearance.
He leaned down to study Astina’s face and clicked his tongue.
“I feel sorry for you, Astina. If it weren’t for Mary Conler, you would have lived happily ever after with Demimore Arstans.”
“That’s just in that novel you wrote…….”
“Well, it’s based on reality, and maybe Demimore would have fallen in love with Astina if he hadn’t been distracted by your work. X death was pointless”
Talking about X’s death, the God of Death looks really lonely, which gave me goosebumps.
The man who was known for mocking the deaths of countless people, was now grieving so deeply for the death of someone close to him.
I don’t want to believe that Demimore and Astina were meant to fall in love.
I hoped that such repulsive words from him wouldn’t affect me in any way.
“X wouldn’t be dead if you hadn’t done what you did to me.”
I wanted to subtly implant a sense of guilt in the God of Death, just as he cleverly sowed guilt in me.
Since he was grieving X’s death so much, he must feel some responsibility for his death.
Before I could finish my sentence, the Death God’s face turned cold.
“Yes……. You’re right, but X must be very lonely, so I’m going to give him a companion.”
The God of Death’s gaze turned to Astina.
“Please don’t touch Astina! She didn’t do anything. Just, I’ll stay here. Please let Astina go…”
I eventually fell to my knees. My desperate appearance seemed to satisfy the man, and his expression appeared rather content.
“You should have done that a long time ago, Mary.”
I made the most pitiful expression I could. He gradually moved away from Astina, saying he wanted to see my face in despair.
With clenched fists, I caressed the black amulet in my hand.
‘You can see it.’
Gilbert said, handing me the amulet. I took it and nodded.
A spell pattern that only I could see was engraved on his amulet.
‘You just have to rub it hard.’
The amulet that Gilbert, who was unable to come with me to protect Conler castle, gave me was engraved with a summoning spell.
The amulet soon summoned a bow and arrows into my hands. The God of Death stopped in his tracks as he approached me.
Fortunately, he had gained some distance from Astina.
“Don’t move! I’ll shoot you if you do.”
I shouted, my desperation reaching him. The god of death looked at me with an intrigued expression, then transformed into the appearance of Leo.
“Really?”
“…….”
“Mary, are you going to shoot me?”
Leo was the God of Death, and everything about the way he treated me was a lie. He didn’t mean it.
Even as I said it over and over, tears welled up in my eyes. My faltering heart was reflected in the hand that held the bow and arrow. My hands were shaking.
I fixed my gaze on him and steadied my breathing.
My father, who had slashed the cursed beast for me, and Demimore, who had killed X for me, not knowing what danger lay ahead. And my precious family out there.
I would be betraying them all if I allowed myself to be swept up in the memories of the past.
“Mary, you are…”
I heard a thud behind me. It sounded like something was splitting. Leo’s expression hardened.
I didn’t have to turn around to realize what the sound was.
Just as Leo was about to turn around to face Astina, I threw my bow to the ground and lunged at him with only an arrow.
I stuck the arrow in his back.
“Miss!”
The moment I put the arrow in his back, I thought I heard Hestia’s voice behind me. But the voice was not close.
Rather, it sounded distant, like it was coming from beyond a thick wall.
The God of Death slowly turned his head to look at me, bewilderment written all over his face.
“……you.”
“You wouldn’t say something like ‘Leo was your precious friend’ right?”
“You, what did you do to the arrow…….”
The arrow has been sprayed with laminaicho. As Demimore had suspected, laminaicho seemed to be fatal to him.
Smoke billowed from his back where the arrow had struck.
It seemed like they hadn’t broken through the door yet; there were still thumping sounds coming from behind.
Leo pulled a dagger from his waistband with a grim look on his face. I looked at it and smirked.
It was the dagger Cameron had used to frame me.
Grimacing as though the arrow-pierced back was causing him pain, he swung the dagger wildly at me.
Ah, I should have summoned a sword instead of an arrow.
Arrows are too small.
His dagger poked me in the shoulder. A sharp pain pierced my shoulder.
