Chapter – 73
Part 16: Rival 1
She tried to convince herself that having her parents around would only make things harder. Because she had been so desperate, after giving up she tried not to think about anything at all.
Seeing the calmness that Dee had barely managed to muster, Kyle found it even harder to continue speaking.
But he couldn’t help but recall what had happened at the Enfer household. The timing of the birth of the child in the Enfer family and Dee’s birth were similar, their appearances somewhat alike, and even their personalities resembled each other.
Most importantly, hadn’t she immediately recognized the castle the Enfer family had previously lived in as the one she had dreamed of? Kyle said in a calm tone:
“Let’s just assume, as you said, that you came from the fairy realm. Then this is a different world, right?”
“Huh? I’ve never thought about it logically like that before.”
Dee’s genuine surprise made Kyle click his tongue. She really was unpredictable about her own matters.
Soon after, Dee spoke as if to dismiss his nonsense:
“But the idea that our parents are in this world doesn’t make sense. Then who left me in front of the orphanage? Who would take a child born here and place them in an orphanage in another world…?”
“Right. That does seem odd.”
“…You know, Kyle. I don’t know who would have the reason to do such a thing, but there’s definitely someone with that kind of power.”
“Who…? Oh, you mean Lord Roxand.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes, catching on immediately.
Dee, exhausted from thinking, flopped onto the bed.
“Even if it really were true, would anyone have a reason to do it?”
“Lying down? On my bed?”
“Huh? Beds are for lying down, aren’t they?”
“This is my bed.”
“Oh, that’s cheap.”
“It’s not about cheapness.”
Kyle’s confusion deepened.
Had this guy truly forgotten that he was a man?
He asked, irritated:
“Am I your friend?”
“You might not admit it, but at this point, yes. You’re my closest friend.”
“There’s Jedar.”
“He’s a subordinate.”
“…Rian.”
“You never see him.”
Kyle’s expression darkened.
So my closest friend is this con artist? I’ve been living pretty diligently…
Kyle flinched. His train of thought had been interrupted by Dee’s presence. But the real issue? This guy was lying on his bed!
Kyle sat up but turned his head to look at Dee lying there. His heart felt like a soap bubble about to burst—precarious and fragile. He wanted to scold him for lying there, but at the same time, this moment was too sweet to ruin.
It was pleasurable yet painful, painful yet delightful…
It felt like swallowing countless poisons, harmful to the body but sweet to the tongue.
“Diana.”
“Huh?”
Dee turned her head to look at Kyle and flinched, sitting up in surprise. She must have sensed that Kyle’s gaze was different from usual.
Seeing her move, Kyle grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.
“Stay. Lie down again.”
“Uh… you seem fine now. I was going to go out.”
Kyle realized that Dee had noticed his embarrassment. No further explanation was necessary.
“I’m still not feeling well.”
For the first time in his life, Kyle pretended to be weak. He didn’t want to let go of her wrist held in his large hand.
“Were you really that sick?”
Dee, startled that someone like Kyle would say such a thing, quickly examined his face.
Suddenly, Dee looked toward the window.
“Oh, Roxand’s here.”
“What?”
While Kyle was stunned, Dee walked to the window, drew the curtains, and as soon as Roxand jumped in after being let in, she scooped the fox up onto the bed.
“I was looking for you anyway.”
“Eeek, what are you doing to my face?”
“Because you’re cute.”
“I’ll tolerate it because I’m cute…”
Seeing that Roxand wasn’t taking revenge, Kyle said beside them:
“Beating the meat before cooking makes it tender, they say.”
Roxand shrieked at Dee:
“Eeek! Is that what this is, you con artist?!”
“No, it’s not. I just couldn’t eat it after you spoke and moved.”
Whatever the case, Dee didn’t seem genuinely upset with her. She seemed lost in thought. Kyle, on the other hand, seemed to be the one disturbing her sweet but troubled rest.
Dee said to Roxand:
“You said you couldn’t interfere in human matters. You can’t answer anything about that, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you can answer questions about yourself, right?”
Roxand’s light green eyes glimmered as she nodded.
“Yes. I can answer questions about myself.”
“Good. There’s something I want to know.”
Her spiritual gaze made Roxand grin.
It seemed her priestess had guided her well.
While Roxand waited for Dee’s question, Dee first asked Kyle to clarify something for her.
“So, Kyle. Did you have a reason to suspect I was born in this world?”
“Yeah.”
Kyle nodded and continued.
“Seeing the Enfer couple, I thought about it.”
“Hmm.”
“The timing of your birth was close to when the couple lost their child. Your personality is similar to theirs, even your taste for meat is alike. And the most suspicious thing… your… um…”
Kyle shook his head mid-sentence.
“Anyway, you said that the moment you saw the Quildsak Castle, you knew it was your castle. That was the strangest part.”
Dee giggled.
“So, are you saying they might be my real family?”
“I’m just speculating.”
“I was moved to another world as a baby. I’ve never even lived in that castle.”
“You might have known it through your divine power,” Kyle said reluctantly, offended. Dee covered her mouth and laughed, pleased.
“So, in the end, you have to acknowledge my divine power. You really are a Petten native.”
“Shut up.”
Blushing, Kyle sighed while Dee giggled and asked one more thing.
“Then one last thing. About the southern sect. They say there’s no Roxand deity and that the Catiline goddess decides the emperor. Was the sect originally spread across the south?”
“No. I know there were very few followers originally. But… my mother revived it.”
Kyle’s face went cold speaking of his mother and Sian, and Dee tilted her head.
“That’s strange. It should be the opposite. Roxand chose your father over Jason. Shouldn’t your mother have believed in Roxand more desperately?”
“Yeah. That’s strange to me too. Maybe she didn’t like my father…”
This vague answer made Dee’s decision clear.
The first time she had such doubts was when she saw the mural of Priestess Diana at the Phoenix Gambling Group.
Priestess Diana founded the gambling group and met the Phoenix. On the cave wall, she and the Phoenix were depicted…
What Dee questioned wasn’t the cave but Helena’s response—the genius of geniuses who had seen the mural.
The genius Helena couldn’t answer Dee’s questions at all.
Dee was puzzled.
‘Why does a genius know so little?’
‘It’s not in the books,’ came the thought.
It was strange. Helena could remember everything she overheard casually, yet she knew so little here. The mural seemed drawn as if it was watching her, perfectly.
Later, Kyle had said that the part about Diana Estrella in the Priestess records disappeared, and priests had to reconstruct it from memory.
The strange thing was that records were missing, yet the existing records were accurate—but no one knew when they had been written.
Dee considered two possibilities:
-
Someone erased the records of Priestess Diana.
-
Or such records never existed.
She then thought of the legend:
Roxand chose a priestess who loved a man who was killed before becoming emperor. And the man who became emperor was not chosen by Roxand.
The sect in the south denied Roxand’s existence. Everything mirrored the current situation.
Dee realized she might be the second Diana Estrella reincarnated.
Then she had the most probable hypothesis:
‘Could this be the future, not the past? Could Roxand have returned in time to the past?’
It fit many things imperfectly but still coherently.
Roxand was a deity, not just a talking fox. Considering her ability to move Dee from Seoul to Petten in an instant, it didn’t seem impossible.
Even if Roxand reversed time, people might not perfectly erase their memories.
Just like Dee had faint memories of Quildsak Castle even though she was moved to Seoul at birth, or how some priests could reconstruct Priestess Diana’s life, or how someone in the gambling group could perfectly depict Dee, or how Kyle felt déjà vu at the ranch while resolving to save Quildsak Castle…
It wasn’t because they’d heard the legend—they had experienced it themselves, vaguely remembering it.
So Dee had one question for Roxand:
“Roxand…”
She whispered to Roxand so Kyle couldn’t hear.
“Do you have the ability to reverse time?”
