Chapter 77
“By the way, why were you so late earlier?”
“Earlier? Ah.”
“I thought you’d come right away.”
The carriage slowly began to move, and belatedly, the Grand Duke nodded.
“I was going to come straight away, but I received a message from Saintess Melodia. She said she had something to tell me. She asked that I be sure to stop by her place when I came today.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. It seems she heard rumors about the children’s mother.”
“The twins’… mother?”
At that moment, Lohen flinched slightly. But to Lohen, parents were not very welcome beings. In the book, Lohen once said something like that—after letting him be born as they pleased, how could they then call themselves parents as they pleased? After making him be born according to their own will, were they going to wound him again in the end?
He had never wished for a mother who had gone mad. If only she had abandoned them instead—if she couldn’t protect them, she should at least have lived well. Why had she become like that?
The image of his despair was vivid.
But there was something strange. In the original novel’s progression, the twins’ mother does appear.
‘But the one who finds the twins’ mother isn’t Saintess Melodia—it’s the female lead.’
She had been half out of her mind. That was why I had intended to find her first this time. At the very least, I didn’t want to give them that kind of future. But why… is Saintess Melodia appearing here?
“Yes. She said she heard rumors about the twins’ mother.”
“I see…?”
The twins’ mother mentioned in the novel had been imprisoned just like the children. Children who grew up without parents. Children who grew up abused. Yet the twins’ mother had her children—who were her entire world—taken from her the moment she gave birth.
She begged for her children back, saying she would do anything if only they would return her children. But the Grand Duchess, who had locked her up, lied that the children had been killed. Because of that, she gradually began to lose her mind, and one day, when everyone let their guard down, she escaped from the Grand Duchess’s grasp.
However, by then she had already gone mad. She didn’t even know her own name, who she was, what she had lost, or what she was searching for. She ended up being protected at the temple. That was why the Grand Duchess could not find her. Until the female lead—who was closely connected to the temple—found her and brought her before the twins, she never regained her senses.
‘But at this timing, is it even possible for Saintess Melodia to have learned about the twins’ mother?’
Is it really her? Or is it someone else?
“I can’t quite believe it… but since she says she’s certain… I suppose I should try believing it.”
“I see….”
“It’s very strange. No matter how hard I tried to find her, I never could. Yet she appears so easily like this… I truly can’t understand it.”
Considering the past, it wouldn’t be strange for Saintess Melodia to have found the twins’ mother, since she had been discovered at the temple. While investigating the twins’ mother, the Grand Duke’s suspicions eventually reached the Grand Duchess. So she drastically reduced the number of people watching the twins’ mother—and failed to notice her escape.
‘But… all of that was in the future.’
It doesn’t match the current timeline at all.
“Still, I hope it’s good news. In the past… I couldn’t protect her, but now….”
Even if the Grand Duchess caused a scene again, he might still fail to protect that woman—but his mindset was different from before. Now, the twins were with him as well. If he couldn’t protect her, there was no way he could protect the young twins either.
As if saying exactly that, the Grand Duke’s eyes were firmer than ever.
“Don’t overdo it.”
That was when it happened.
Lohen, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, made a displeased expression.
“Hm?”
“No. I mean… uh… ah….”
“Ah?”
“No! I meant you. Don’t overdo it.”
Lohen, who had repeated “ah, ah” several times as if he were about to say “Dad,” suddenly snapped irritably instead.
“Ah. Were you talking about me? I’m not overdoing anything.”
“At times like that, you’re supposed to say, ‘Thank you for worrying. I won’t overdo it.’”
I had wondered where Lohen’s personality came from—it was exactly like the Grand Duke’s.
“Ah… I see. Thank you, Lohen. I won’t overdo it.”
“Uh… yeah.”
Acting as though he had more to say, Lohen suddenly turned his head away, perhaps out of embarrassment.
Because of that, the inside of the carriage became even colder than before. The Grand Duke was smiling as if pleased, but Lohen’s face had turned unbearably red.
Watching the two of them, I then looked at Lari, who was held in the Grand Duke’s arms. The child was sleeping softly. Today… I intend to wake Lari.
And so my heart grew complicated. Am I doing the right thing? What even is the right thing? Even so, I cannot afford to stand still.
Perhaps because Liren was with us, once we arrived at the temple, we were immediately guided to where the High Priestess was.
Although we had spoken before, I had still worried that the temple people might dislike our frequent visits and our meetings with the High Priestess, who rarely had contact with outsiders. But we did not encounter anyone like that at all—we were led along a path in the back where no one else came. There, holy knights were blocking the entrance to a small garden.
“First, Lady Aisha will go in alone. After that, we will enter.”
“Why must it be done that way?”
“The High Priestess said she wishes to see Lady Aisha first. We would appreciate it if you could wait a moment, even if it is inconvenient.”
Liren spoke in a calm yet firm tone.
“……I don’t like sending only Aisha.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“It’s strange that she keeps asking to see only you. Why would the High Priestess do that?”
Lohen voiced his displeasure, but the Grand Duke stopped him.
“The High Priestess must have her own thoughts. She would never do anything bad. So Lohen, let us wait just a moment.”
“I really don’t like it here.”
Though Lohen grumbled irritably, he seemed to listen quite well to the Grand Duke and stepped back. Only then did I nod, and the path into the garden opened.
A place even Liren did not enter. I walked alone down that secluded path.
Unlike last time, we met outside this time. Of course, more people were guarding than before, but the small garden was still full of lush green trees and flowers. The High Priestess, who had been looking around the garden in her wheelchair, shifted her gaze as I passed the knights and stepped inside.
“Aisha.”
“High Priestess!”
Meeting the High Priestess made peace settle in my heart, as if I had returned to my hometown. I ran to her as though greeting a grandmother. But I didn’t actually hug her. Her body was like a dry branch that could crumble at any moment, so I hurriedly stopped in front of her.
“You won’t hug me?”
“I was worried that if I hugged you, you might fall or get hurt, High Priestess.”
Smiling awkwardly, I gently held her hand.
“I’m sturdier than I look.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Have you been well? I thought you would come right away, Aisha, but you didn’t, so I was a little disappointed.”
“I was a bit busy!”
“I see.”
The High Priestess raised her hand and signaled to someone behind her. The nun who had been pushing the wheelchair quickly disappeared, and soon only the High Priestess and I remained in the small garden.
“Um… first, High Priestess.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve come to ask for your help. I think it’s time now. Please… wake Lari.”
Instead, the High Priestess tilted her head as if puzzled by my words.
“Even though nothing has been resolved yet?”
“I thought about it. Originally, I planned to ask you to wake Lari only after everything was settled, or after we found the culprit, or after we had enough evidence to punish them. But… I began to wonder whether I have the right to control a child’s time as I please.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s a chance for her to wake up. And I’m the one blocking that chance. So I think it’s wrong.”
“Aisha.”
The High Priestess gave me a faint smile.
“There is no right or wrong. It is merely a series of choices. This, too, is simply a choice made to move toward the future. It may be a shortcut that leads quickly to the path you desire, Aisha—or it may be a road that circles round and round.”
“Ah….”
“I pray it will be the quicker path.”
“Yes! That’s what I’ll do. I… will definitely change the future.”
“I could not change it, but you will be able to, Aisha.”
Looking at the High Priestess, I nodded.
“Then we should call them in. The Grand Duke, the Grand Duke’s son, and the Grand Duke’s daughter.”
“Yes! Shall I call them in?”
“Before that. There was something you asked Liren to investigate, wasn’t there?”
“Yes!”
“I looked into it separately. And I found out what it is.”
Were we already able to find out? I looked at her in surprise.
“Before you say it… do you perhaps know where it was located?”
“Ah… do you have a guess?”
“Yes. Wasn’t it somewhere unusually hot and humid? A place where it could remain damp and hot.”
“Ah…!! Could it be that while quilts or pillows wouldn’t work, a doll could—because it needed to be humid and hot?”
“Yes. When it is a seed, it poses no major problem. But the moment it sprouts, it becomes something dangerous.”
