CHAPTER 91………………………………………
The moment I recognized that voice, a strange sensation of floating washed over me. It felt as if I were suspended alone in a place where up, down, front, and back could not be clearly distinguished.
“Idel?”
At that call, something tugged at me. My consciousness snapped into clarity, and my eyes flew open.
“Idel.”
Beside me, Terence was studying me with a worried expression.
“…Tae?”
“Are you all right? Your prayer seemed to be going on for quite a while.”
“Ah, just now, there was a strange voice….”
“A strange voice?”
“You didn’t hear it? A voice saying it had finally reached me.”
Terence shook his head.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
I looked around. Aside from us, there were only a couple of other people in the temple, and none seemed likely to have approached me while I was praying.
What was that voice just now? A simple hallucination? But it had sounded far too clear for that. Then the statue of Goddess Miela came into view.
Could it be a divine revelation?!
After asking Terence for a moment, I clasped my hands again and prayed as I had before.
The content of my prayer was the same as earlier. But instead of a revelation, nothing happened.
Miela. I thought about the goddess. Having read the novel, I knew that in this world, gods truly existed.
The protagonist, Liena, received the goddess’s blessing, and near the end of the novel there was even a scene where she met the goddess face to face.
Most likely the being who made me possess this world.
I had long suspected that the goddess sent me here, based on how my “mental original” ability resembled Liena’s power to almost perfectly recall memories from before her regression.
Yet after possessing this body, I had never once felt the goddess’s presence.
When I was bored, I’d even tried speaking to her in my mind a few times—but there had been no response.
To begin with, even if the “mental original” truly was something Miela had given me, it was no more than a half-baked blessing.
Unlike Liena, I possessed no mysterious power to captivate others.
“Shall we head back?”
Terence, still wearing a worried look, spoke to me.
“I believe that’s enough of a walk. It would be better to go inside and rest.”
He probably thought my condition wasn’t good and that I’d heard things because of it. Even I couldn’t confidently deny the possibility.
I haven’t been sleeping well lately.
Previously, I had stayed up all night worrying about the Iver Merchant Guild’s specific methods of tax evasion. Recently, I’d been losing sleep from the pressure of having to persuade Elliot.
But it felt like a shame to leave just yet.
“I’m perfectly fine. Let’s walk a little longer.”
“But….”
“I said I’m fine! You took the time to come out, Tae. It would be a waste to go back already.”
“If you insist, then gladly.”
And so we headed toward the temple exit to continue our walk. I cast one last look at the statue of the goddess.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the serene face gazing down at us looked as if she had something she wanted to say to me.
Before leaving the Empire, I should come here once more, I thought. Who knows? I might hear that mysterious voice again.
After leaving the temple, we strolled through Wanderer’s Forest. Terence explained why it bore that name.
“You mentioned earlier that there’s a legend saying the goddess sleeps in this forest, didn’t you? According to that legend, perhaps because she rests here, the forest possesses a strange power.”
“What kind of power?”
“The power to draw in wanderers who drift through the world without a place to belong. It’s said that the goddess calls them to embrace them.”
“She must be compassionate.”
“Perhaps. That’s how people commonly speak of her. But my view differs somewhat.”
“I’d very much like to hear it.”
Terence gave a faint smile and continued.
“The legends recorded by people tend to emphasize her benevolent side. But in lesser-known tales, the goddess is depicted as one who inflicts unreasonable violence upon humans, or who finds amusement in watching them squabble among themselves.”
“I see. I’ve learned something new.”
“Furthermore, there’s no certainty that Miela is strictly a goddess. In some legends, the deity appears before people as a god—or even as an animal. Why are you laughing?”
“It’s just… the way you explain things so enthusiastically—you look just like a child.”
“Ah. I suppose I became too immersed.”
“No, not at all. It suits you. But I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable about the goddess’s legends. You must like them quite a bit?”
“I do. But when I was young, my mother told them to me often. She was fond of old stories.”
“Ah….”
For a moment, I didn’t know what expression to wear. It was the first time he had mentioned his mother.
Terence’s mother—the Marchioness of Molo. The emperor’s former fiancée, who had loved him but, tragically, passed away before they could be together.
In the novel, that was all she had been described as. Yet now, another facet of that woman flowed from Terence’s lips.
“When I couldn’t fall asleep at night, Mother would often tell me various old tales, including legends about the goddess.”
He sank into hazy memories.
“Some of the content wasn’t exactly suitable for a child, but I loved the sound of her gentle voice explaining them. I would fight off sleep and beg to hear just a little more. In truth, there were many times I wasn’t sleepy at all but claimed I couldn’t sleep just so I could go to her.”
“You must have been an adorable child.”
“If you had actually seen me, you might not think so. I was hardly what you’d call good-natured.”
“Really? You’re kind now.”
So long as you don’t turn dark, I thought. Terence gave a faint, unreadable smile and changed the subject.
“My name, Terence, was taken from the hero of one of Mother’s favorite tales.”
“I didn’t know that. What kind of story?”
“It’s simple. A boy who suffers misfortune endures many trials, but in the end succeeds and lives happily ever after with the woman he loves.”
“So she named you hoping you’d become as happy as the boy in that story.”
“Perhaps. That’s why I quite like my name.”
As he said that, he looked at me steadily.
“Which is why, Idel…”
His gaze was deep.
“I would like you to call me Terence.”
“…Pardon?”
“I do like the name Tae. It feels special, since you are the only one who calls me that.”
But, he added,
“My true name is Terence. I would prefer you to call me that.”
I was slightly flustered, but soon understood. It was his given name, bestowed by his mother with such meaning behind it. There was no need to stubbornly cling to an alias.
“All right.”
After a brief pause, I tried the name aloud.
“Terence.”
Perhaps because I had called him Tae for so long, Terence felt oddly unfamiliar despite being his real name. To erase the awkwardness, I spoke again.
“Shall we head back, Terence?”
His face lit up.
“So this is what it feels like—to be called by name by someone other than my parents.”
Come to think of it, he had said he had no friends. Jack and Vineta, as his subordinates, had once addressed him as Marquis and now as Your Highness.
With his mother gone, is his father the only one left who calls him Terence?
But his relationship with the emperor was far from that of an ordinary father and son. I felt a pang of pity. I would call him Terence often, at least.
“Oh—but I can’t just call the Crown Prince by his name in front of others.”
“Then you may call me so when we are alone.”
Perhaps because the walk had been enjoyable, the road back to the Guard Annex felt shorter than usual.
The next morning, Count Miloam arrived early, just as he had said he would.
“Miss Idel isn’t coming in?”
“No, I have something else to attend to today. You’ll have to meet Elliot without me. You remember the precautions, right?”
“I do. However pitiful his circumstances, I have no intention of aiding a criminal, so do not worry.”
“And you can’t open the bars for him, either.”
“I—I told you I won’t hit him anymore!”
“Haha. Elliot is probably waiting. You should go in.”
“Very well. See you later.”
I watched the door the count had entered through for a while. The claim of other business had been a lie.
I simply wanted those two—who had shared a connection in my previous life—to have time alone for once.
They’ll find it easier to speak honestly without me there.
Count Miloam remained in Elliot’s room for quite some time.
When I peeked in under the pretext of delivering a meal, the count would speak twenty sentences while Elliot reluctantly responded with one or two.
Most of it concerned the Miloam territory. It was clear how deeply the count cherished his land.
That evening, after Count Miloam had left, I went to see Elliot. It was time for a final interview before his last choice.
In my mind, there were two Elliots.
The one who had praised Liena with a crazed face—and the one who had looked confused upon hearing the count say Liena was not a good person.
Which was closer to the real Elliot? It was time to find out.
I had planned to throw out various topics and gauge his reactions. But Elliot spoke first.
“I know it’s shameless, but I have one request.”
“….”
“What is it?”
“No, it’s just—I didn’t know you even understood what shamelessness meant. Or that you could say the word ‘request’ to me.”
“What do you take me for—… No. In times like this, an apology comes first.”
Elliot lowered his gaze.
“I’m sorry for how I treated you before, when I acted rudely while trying to uncover whether you were colluding with Tara.”
An apology, too? Was he about to die or something?
