Chapter 169
“Why did you come out so late? I thought you’d already left—I was so nervous.”
“What on earth…?”
“Oh, is this your luggage? Hurry and load it onto the carriage. Here, put this on the carriage too.”
“Yes, milady.”
At Anais’s command, the Hailers’ attendants standing nearby arbitrarily moved Selina’s luggage onto the carriage.
“Oh dear, your hands are so cold. You must be freezing, right? The inside of the carriage is warm, so hurry—”
As Anais tried to pull Selina along, Selina shook her hand off.
Anais was startled at first, then turned back to Selina with a wounded expression.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Rage was evident in Selina’s low, sunken voice. It was the first time she’d been this angry since last semester. Theodore looked at Selina with concern.
“Didn’t you hear? You’ll be staying with us for a month this time.”
“Starting now?”
“Yes. It takes time to get to the marquisate, so we’ll be staying in the capital. That should be good for you too, right?”
“W-Wait a moment. Mother, what are you talking about?”
Sylvester, who had been quietly watching the situation, stepped between Anais and Selina.
He was smiling, but his blue eyes wavered aimlessly.
“Why is Selina going with us?”
“R-right. Mother. And why are you calling Selina ‘my child’…?”
Seeing the confusion on Sylvia’s and Sylvester’s faces, Selina turned her head away. Anais clasped her hands together, saying she’d been too hasty.
“Come to think of it, I never had the chance to tell you.”
“Tell us… what?”
“Actually, Selina is my daughter.”
“…What?”
Cracks appeared on Sylvester’s face, and Sylvia froze. Then Sylvia suddenly turned toward Selina.
“I couldn’t tell you until now, but before I entered the marquis’s household, I already had a daughter. But… due to certain circumstances, I had to be separated from her.”
Unable to say she had abandoned her, Anais deliberately phrased it that way. Selina looked at her with open contempt.
Sylvester couldn’t fully accept what Anais was saying.
“B-But Mother! What about Sylvia? You came into our house together with Sylvia. Wasn’t Sylvia your daughter?”
At Sylvester’s words, Anais looked puzzled.
“Oh my, is that what you thought all this time? Sylvia was adopted. Of course, she’s my beloved daughter now.”
With trembling eyes, Sylvester looked at Sylvia. She had lowered her head, her face pale.
Unable to believe the situation, Sylvester looked at Selina, but she too had her face twisted into a deep frown as she looked elsewhere.
“H… hahaha… This is ridiculous.”
A hollow laugh escaped Sylvester’s lips. The person he loved was actually his mother’s biological daughter…
From the beginning, wasn’t it a fate that should never have tied Selina to him?
“I’ll give you a more detailed explanation once we get to the estate. For now, shall we get on our carriage?”
“I’m sorry, but we cannot allow that.”
Simon and Veronica, who had been following Fraiman’s orders at Selina’s side, stepped in front of Anais.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“That’s exactly what we’d like to ask. The agreement was that from the first day of vacation, Selina would spend a month with each guardian.”
“We came personally because we were first in line.”
“Today is the closing ceremony. Vacation starts tomorrow. That means the actual start is tomorrow.”
“You’re blocking me over a single day?”
“Even if it’s just one day, shouldn’t the Apostle be given time to prepare herself? And besides—”
One of the priests glanced at the dazed Sylvia and Sylvester.
“It seems the children aren’t prepared either.”
Anais flinched. Veronica briefly turned around and gave Selina a quick wink. Selina murmured her thanks.
“…Let’s leave the decision to Selina. Selina, what will you do?”
“…I’ll rest well just for today.”
Anais, who had naturally assumed Selina would choose her, let her shoulders slump.
“Then I’ll send a carriage to your house tomorrow.”
“No. Please don’t. Are you planning to announce to the entire world that I’m your daughter?”
“But—”
“I’ll come on my own tomorrow. Please understand that. I’ll be going now.”
Selina tightly held Theodore’s hand and turned to leave. But Sylvester and Sylvia standing beside Anais bothered her.
Sylvester was staring at the floor in shock, and Sylvia was looking straight at Selina.
A chill ran down her spine.
When Selina’s eyes met Sylvia’s intense blue ones, her back shuddered involuntarily.
She had never seen Sylvia with such a sharp gaze before.
“Selina, let’s go.”
Noticing Selina hesitating, Theodore wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
The two of them boarded the carriage engraved with the symbol of the Sun Temple. Mie and Chris were already inside.
Having heard the commotion outside, they asked Selina what in the world had happened, but instead of answering, Selina buried her face in her hands.
“Miss Selina. Are you planning to go straight to Lord Theodore’s house?”
Simon’s voice came from outside the window. Selina nodded without lifting her head.
“Understood. Please rest well today.”
“We’ll meet again tomorrow at the marquis’s estate.”
At the words marquis’s estate, Selina finally lifted her head.
“Are you both coming too?”
“Yes. Since we don’t know what might happen to you, we received special permission to stay by your side even at the marquis’s estate.”
“Lord Fraiman added that clause himself.”
“I see…”
Thinking of the dreadful days that awaited her at the marquis’s estate made her feel suffocated, but hearing that eased her breathing a little.
She felt grateful to Fraiman.
After exchanging farewells with the two priests, the carriage began to move. All three people inside stared at Selina.
“I don’t know why everyone’s been picking on me so much lately. Being popular is exhausting. Right?”
She tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but instead her friends looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
If it had been someone else, she might have been annoyed, but because they were close friends, she could clearly feel their concern.
“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”
“R-right. We can wait as long as you need.”
Starting with Theodore, Mie and Chris agreed.
Even during the academic festival, they hadn’t pried into Selina’s affairs, acting as if they understood. She was grateful to them for always trusting and waiting for her.
“No. I’ll tell you. I was planning to someday.”
As Selina stroked Luna, she revealed her secret to her most precious friends for the first time.
That she’d been abandoned by her biological mother and adopted by Stella, that Luna was actually the god Lunios, and that Sylvia had stolen her destiny—everything.
“…So that’s how things ended up.”
There was nothing left to hide from them. Sharing what she’d endured alone for so long made her feel refreshed.
But unlike Selina, who seemed lighter, the three friends looked confused after receiving so much information at once.
Especially the fact that Luna—who was loafing like a bread roll on Selina’s lap—was actually a god seemed hard to accept.
As everyone hesitated, unsure what to say, Theodore wrapped an arm around Selina’s shoulders and gently pressed his forehead to hers.
“You’ve been through a lot, Selina. It must have been really hard.”
“…Yeah.”
Selina closed her eyes and tightly held Theodore’s hand. Watching them, Mie and Chris looked at each other.
“You’re amazing, my friend! If I were you, I’d have run away because everything was too much.”
“R-right. And they say if you don’t have a destiny, dangerous things keep happening. Haven’t you been in serious danger all this time?”
“Maybe the reason I put you in danger back then was because you had no destiny.”
Chris flinched as he recalled his past mistake.
“…I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. Even if it hadn’t been you, it would’ve happened anyway. I actually almost died once when Luna and I got hit by a carriage.”
“That’s right, nya. If not for Stella, you’d be dead, nya.”
“L-Luna can talk?!”
When Luna spoke, Mie shrieked and dove into Chris’s arms.
“What’s with that reaction, nya. You heard I’m a god, didn’t you, nya?”
“S-so Luna really is a god…”
“To think a god was this close to us all along.”
“But… aren’t you lacking a bit in dignity? Ending every sentence with ‘nya’?”
“Nya?! What’s wrong with ‘nya’, nya! Doesn’t it perfectly suit this sleek, glossy black body of mine, nya?! How rude, nya!”
“S-Sorry! Lord Lunios!”
As Chris prostrated himself, Luna cackled. Selina flicked Luna on the forehead.
“It’s a joke, don’t indulge him too much. He’ll get spoiled.”
“Nya nya! You’re the rudest one here, nya!”
“Be quiet. Want another flick?”
When Selina raised her fist, Luna shut his grumbling mouth. Everyone admired how she subdued a god so effortlessly.
“Apostle or god or whatever—”
“They’re just Selina and Luna.”
“Yeah, it’s the same sight we see every day.”
“S-Still, be careful! What if he punishes you?!”
“He committed a huge sin against me, so that won’t happen. Don’t worry.”
Though he wanted to protest, everything Selina said was true, so Luna couldn’t say a word.
As the tense atmosphere eased considerably, Selina smiled.
“Looks like we’ve arrived. Let’s hurry out—people will think we’re strange.”
“Huh? When did we get here?”
“I was planning to go home, though…”
Everyone looked at Theodore’s house and glanced around. Mie, who hadn’t noticed they’d arrived either, looked flustered.
“Stay with me just for today.”
Her friends turned toward Selina.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be at the Hailers’ marquis’s estate for a month. Before that, I want to have fun without thinking about anything.”
The three exchanged glances, then grinned.
“That’s simple. That’s our specialty.”
“No complaining about being tired halfway through, okay? I won’t even let you sleep early.”
Mie and Chris boasted as they discussed what to do for fun. Watching them head toward the mansion after getting off the carriage, Theodore tightly held Selina’s hand.
“We’re always on your side. So if things get hard there, contact us anytime. We’ll come visit you—even in your dreams.”
“You’re not some psychic. Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Hey, it might be possible. They say the person you think about before sleeping appears in your dreams.”
“That’s true.”
Laughing, Selina entered Theodore’s house with him.
Naturally, Theodore’s family warmly welcomed Selina and her friends.
They were so hospitable that Selina didn’t know where to put herself. Even though they knew Selina had become the Moon’s Apostle, they asked no questions. Instead, they eagerly asked how she and Theodore had started dating.
Unlike Fraiman, who hadn’t approved of Theodore, his parents—Dies and Melissa—welcomed Selina with open arms.
The hectic time passed, and even as it neared midnight, their conversation showed no sign of stopping. As they chatted nonstop, Theodore felt a weight settle on his shoulder.
Selina had lost the battle against sleep.
Seeing her like that, the three of them all fell silent.
“She must’ve been through so much.”
“Who knows how hard it was behind that smile.”
“And now… how are we supposed to look at Sylvia and Sylvester from now on…?”
At Chris’s words, Theodore and Mie stiffened.
“Sylvia…”
“After stealing Selina’s destiny, we should hate her, but…”
“It’s not that easy.”
Agreeing with Theodore, Mie and Chris couldn’t say anything.
Memories of the year they’d spent with Sylvia flashed before them like a panorama. Though their heads insisted she should be hated, their hearts didn’t follow so easily.
“Still, I’m on Selina’s side.”
“Me too.”
“…Same here.”
Even if they couldn’t easily hate Sylvia, they couldn’t side with her. The three of them were unconditionally on Selina’s side.
Theodore gently stroked Selina’s red hair and pressed a brief kiss to her lips.
Hoping that only happiness would fill the path ahead of her.
