“I told you, tell me how mean I can be.”
Atha was not just looking for verbal confirmation from the ruler.
Rather, she wanted to obtain certainty from his facial expressions, his tone, his words and his actions.
Can she trust him?
Well, if he was determined to deceive her, she would inevitably be deceived, but...
The ruler let out a sarcastic laugh as he saw Atha's insistence, but answered obediently: "It's okay even if you are so mean that the world wonders how a child could exist so bad.
I will not erase you, so don't worry..."
As he spoke, his laughter gradually began to fade.
The ruler stopped speaking, and stared into Atha's brown eyes, which were watching him blankly and without any smile.
They were expressions and looks he had seen before.
Two eyes that doubt, worry, and demand trust at the same time.
Atha always made this face when she was afraid.
“Are you worried?”
The mean girl nodded.
He added a question in a denouncing tone: “Are you afraid that I will kill you?”
The mean girl nodded her head this time as well.
The ruler felt very upset.
How can your heart, every time time goes back and you lose your memory, forget your trust in me too?
How can I, every time I go back in time and face the same situation, never get used to it?
Maybe because the time cycle this time was a bit long.
He felt... tired.
***
Alisto did not intend to completely prevent the revelation from being made public.
The risk is too high.
From the moment of the revelation, the number of those who knew its content had reached eight; Counting the high priest, four high priests, the oracle priest, and the scribe.
To prevent the revelation from being announced, he had to silence at least these eight temple leaders.
The surest way to silence them, in his view, was simply “death.”
But killing all the temple leaders was something that weighed heavily on even him.
So the original plan was as follows: First, to protect the Saint within the Imperial Palace, while discovering the exact conditions and mechanisms by which she could return time to control her.
But for the saint herself to be the tool?
All of Alisto's previous plans were thrown into the trash.
Now that the order had grown, he needed a partner.
And the person he thought of as a partner was definitely Jerrold Prince.
His beloved brother.
If he had to turn his back on one person in this world, it would naturally be him.
Although it is an extreme idea, he trusts him to the point of trusting him to his wife and children if he is about to die.
Hiding the Saint's ability from Gerold previously was not out of mistrust.
Rather, it was because the way he chose to use her ability so easily was love and marriage.
But his brother, a man who looked rough and tough, valued love as the highest value, unlike his appearance.
If Gerold had known the real reason behind his marriage to the Saint, he would have opposed it with all his might.
anyway-
The way to use the Saint's ability is now almost non-existent.
And since his falling in love with her had become a reality, there was no longer any need to hide it from Gerold.
Of course, it is not necessary to tell him all the details.
He also realizes that the fewer people who know about the saint, the better.
But her ability was too great, and protecting her alone was indeed a difficult task.
The best way now was to share the secret of the Saint's ability with Gerold alone, and prevent the revelation itself from being announced.
Gerold would be a completely reliable sword and shield.
Alisto made various plans as he headed to the fourth floor office to look for Gerold.
What should be done to ensure that the content of the revelation does not leak out.
Who should be killed, how to deal with the consequences, etc.
When he arrived at the fourth floor office and entered his own room in search of Gerold—
Caster informed him of his absence: “The Empress has summoned the Vice-Chancellor, and he is now in the Palace of Roses.”
Alisto paused as he took off his coat.
My mother was the one who summoned him first?
Realizing what this meant, Alisto immediately left the office.
***
“Don’t you know how many long years I spent with you?”
The ruler's voice was quite low.
His eyes were looking at Atha, but he was not just seeing the present Atha.
He saw Athas that were in the distant past, and Athas that were in an older past, and other Athas that were older and older.
“You lose your memory after you die and it ends, but the time that repeats itself to you again continues with me always.”
His voice carried reproach, regret, and some longing.
While he was speaking quietly, as if muttering, he let out a long sigh, then suddenly furrowed his eyebrows as if he was overcome with anger: “No, thinking about it, I feel angry again.
What?
Worried that I will kill you?
Oh, this one!
I am constantly worried that you will die again!
So how could I kill you!
You mean girl!”
As he continued speaking, his voice rose to the point that it almost touched the sky, and this time Atha succumbed to his strength: “No, it’s just me, I didn’t mean anything bad...
You know, I lost my memory, and this world is completely strange to me, so I have many fears.”
She began to use her tongue skillfully to calm the ruler, but suddenly an idea occurred to her.
Okay.
I realized that the Governor would not kill me for any fleeting reason.
Because I feel so keenly how worried he is about me, that it confuses me.
I felt so sincere that I…
I thought if this was an act, it would be okay for me to be fooled and die.
“But, you know—”
Then, the ruler’s pupils, who were looking away with angry features, moved towards her: “What?
Say.”
Atha hesitated a little and bit her lip, so he clicked his tongue while watching her.
“Tch, you started doing that again.”
He got up from the small sofa and approached Atha with long strides, then grabbed her chin with his thumb and lowered it to save her lip, which she was biting.
He said words that sounded exactly like a sentence from a fantasy romance novel: “I told you not to bite her.”
Atha couldn't take it anymore and asked: "What kind of relationship were we having?"
At that moment, for a fleeting time, she thought that his eyes were shining blue.
Was that just an illusion?
Atha’s voice trembled slightly: “Can you tell me what kind of relationship we had?
From what I heard, it seemed like… it wasn’t normal.”
She couldn't complete her sentence, so she started pointing her finger at him alternately.
The ruler looked at her fingertip and her urgent face, then asked annoyed: “What.
Are you wondering if we are lovers?”
Atha urged him to answer: “Yes.
Were we… like that?”
He looked at Atha silently with a complaining expression as if he didn't like something.
“Hmm—”
“If I told you, what would you give me in return?”
Wow.
Atha closed her mouth completely.
What can she say?
She got herself into trouble with her previous words.
She smiled awkwardly and asked cautiously: “Is there something you need?”
She wasn't really expecting much.
“Among what you have?
Is there any?”
When he coldly and flatly replied that there wasn't, I felt frustrated.
“No, I just asked if there might be something.”
While the distressed Atha pursed her lips, he straightened his sleeves.
“I have to go now”
So fast?
Haven't heard the answer yet?
“What?
No, wait a minute.
Just tell me what kind of relationship we had before you leave.”
Atha got up hurriedly and tried to get out of bed, but he said: “Think carefully about yourself.
What kind of relationship we might have.”
“Wait, wait...”
He left suddenly without looking back.
Atha felt weak in her body after being alone.
She had a bad feeling.
The ruler’s words and actions, the feelings he showed, and his hand that touched her chin without hesitation...
Ah, I don't know.
Her feeling that the relationship with him was anything but ordinary became almost a reality.
Even the reason for his visit in the middle of the night; Although he made an excuse as weak as baby socks, she clearly felt that he came to spy because he was upset about her dating Alisto.
The more she thought about it, the more strange she felt.
Were we really lovers?
A human being fell in love with a sacred being...
Something like this?