Chapter 86
Noxia stared at Promeon endlessly. That gaze, so desperate it almost seemed pitiful, the eyes like the deep sea, pleading for what she longed for most.
Noxia—Hermane had seen that exact gaze only once before. Not in this world, but in the afterlife.
The ancient hero, who had come to paradise unable to endure loneliness, had worn exactly that expression when facing a lost old love.
“…Prince Elenon. Are you going to erase his memories too?”
She asked in a faint voice. Promeon solemnly nodded.
“If you choose to leave with me, then it must be done. You can’t erase everyone else’s memory while leaving only the prince’s intact.”
Indeed. How painful it would be if everyone else in the world acted as if Noxia Decan never existed, while she alone clung to that memory.
“What about Carnen?”
Noxia asked gently. Unexpectedly, Promeon laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Ah, Hermane. You still don’t know, do you? Seems that one kept his promise well.”
“What promise? What am I missing?”
“I cannot erase Carnen Holby’s memories.”
“Why?”
“No matter that I now have divine power, I cannot touch the soul of one who was originally a god.”
“Wh-what… does that mean…?”
The color drained from Noxia’s face. Promeon, wearing a bitter, cigarette-ash-like smile, spoke softly.
“It was the punishment of reincarnation, Hermane. The debt that Pelene paid.”
At the moment the lie she had never known in her life was revealed, Noxia’s body sagged to the side helplessly.
Again, Promeon reached out and caught her in his arms, handling her as carefully as fragile glass.
“Hermane, will you come with me?”
Promeon whispered. Noxia only stared at him with a weary face, saying nothing. Her cheeks were wet with silent tears.
Promeon gently wiped her tears once more. Then, with a face both joyful and sorrowful, he held her close and lightly turned, disappearing into the darkness.
A cold wind swept through the lonely space left with only ashes.
Chapter 13: Isolation
Long ago—far in the past, though not so ancient as to be untouchable—there lived a girl who was showered with the love of her entire family.
Before she was born, people worried about the health of the fetus and the mother. Doctors had said the woman’s body was too weak to handle childbirth.
But in the end, the child was born safely, and despite frequent childhood illnesses, she grew up with a spirited and cheerful personality, relieving everyone’s fears.
No one could have known that this child had already died once in her mother’s womb, that some divine being had forcibly implanted another’s soul into the corpse of the dead fetus.
The baby grew quickly into a girl, running around the grand garden of a palace-like mansion.
One day, while the nanny was momentarily distracted, the girl ignored the adults’ warnings and struggled to climb the massive tree in the garden.
From a high branch, she hung and looked down at the garden below, proud of the view. She straightened her small shoulders proudly.
“Uh-oh?”
But the pride did not last. The branch she held snapped with a crack, and her light body fell.
“Ah…!”
Would I die like this? At that young age, with little understanding of death, she felt a strange calm realization at the moment she faced the possibility of falling to her death.
If I fall and break my neck here, my soul will return to paradise…
“Be careful, miss.”
“Uh…?”
Yet there was no collision. The fleeting thoughts of death, paradise, and the soul disappeared as suddenly as they had come, leaving her completely oblivious.
A boy, previously unnoticed, appeared and caught the girl as she fell from the tree. Judging by his clothing, he seemed to be a servant of the house.
“Th-thank you.”
The girl stammered. Her voice still trembled from the fall. Then she frowned.
“But… who are you?”
A stranger. Did this house even have such a servant? Seeing the suspicion rise on the girl’s face, the boy smiled gently—a deep, calm smile that didn’t match his youthful appearance.
“I am a servant of this house, serving you and your family. Don’t you remember me?”
“…No, I remember.”
The girl’s pupils blanked for a moment before refocusing. The boy with black hair and deep blue eyes continued to smile.
“I’m glad you’re safe, miss. But it’s best not to climb trees from now on. Who knows, you might fall again?”
“Tch, fine. Don’t tell Mother or Father, got it?”
“Of course, miss. Or…”
The boy hesitated, then softly suggested with gently curved eyes:
“It might be better if you only climb trees when I’m with you. If you fall again, I will catch you. How about that?”
“Okay, great! From now on, I’ll always call you when I want to climb a tree.”
The girl’s innocent eyes sparkled as she laughed, and the boy’s lake-like eyes brightened with a gentle smile.
“Thank you, miss.”
It was their first meeting in her second life.
The girl grew into a young woman, and the black-haired servant remained by her side faithfully.
No one seemed to remember ever hiring such a servant in this house, as if someone had subtly tampered with their memories. Everyone accepted his presence naturally and even grew fond of him.
He was polite, kind, intelligent beyond his station, and beautiful. Fellow servants followed him, and even his superiors were captivated.
The lady he served was no different. Having grown from a girl into a young woman, she treated the servant who had long served her as a friend, even sharing the first secret to make her heart flutter.
“You know, I might get married soon.”
“Huh?”
The servant, gently combing her long hair, paused. The woman, oblivious to his stiffness, blushed and babbled happily.
“Remember the gentleman I met at the debut ball? I’ve been seeing him since then. He’s going to speak to his father first. If things go well, there will be a marriage proposal between our families.”
The woman’s eyes sparkled with the blush of first love. She asked innocently:
“If I marry him and move to his family, you’ll come with me, right? You’ll still serve me there, won’t you?”
She whispered tenderly. The servant looked into her pure eyes and replied respectfully:
“Of course, miss.”
That was their last conversation as lady and servant.
That very night, the man abducted the woman.
Promeon had thought he could be satisfied just watching the child, Hermane’s soul, grow from afar.
But it was his arrogant illusion. He overestimated his patience and underestimated loneliness.
Even watching the child toddle sparked desire, and seeing the girl laugh brightly pricked his heart.
When he saw the girl recklessly climbing a tree alone like a squirrel, avoiding the nanny’s eyes, he cast aside all restraint.
I’m acting for the child’s sake. If I leave her, she’ll fall—so it’s only natural I intervene, he justified.
Promeon immediately transformed into the form of a young boy and caught her in his arms. If he were an ordinary human, his body might have trembled slightly—but he remained steady and firm.
“Be careful, miss.”
Your body contains the soul of the one I love. You must be careful. You must live long so I can stay by your side and protect you—Hermane within you.
“Th-thank you. But… who are you?”
“I am a servant of this house, serving you and your family. Don’t you remember me?”
“…No, I remember.”
Though the girl spoke the implanted lie, she thought she was telling the truth. Promeon, casually manipulating memory, smiled kindly in the boy’s face.
“It might be better if you only climb trees when I’m with you. If you fall again, I will catch you. How about that?”
“Okay, great! From now on, I’ll always call you when I want to climb a tree.”
Even as he looked at the innocent, sparkling girl, he felt no guilt for deceiving her, and even more, his old love. He was too worn and broken for that.
“Thank you, miss.”
This was the beginning of the lie.
Afterward, Promeon remained near Hermane’s reincarnation, pretending to be a servant.
Though it might have been suspicious for a mere servant to serve the noble lady so closely, centuries of carefully honed charm and subtle memory manipulation erased any doubts.
No one in the house questioned Promeon’s presence or role. He blended naturally into her life like air, and he believed himself satisfied.
“Hey, I might get married soon.”
The innocent lady, who remembered nothing of her past life’s passionate love, spoke this delightful nonsense with charming lips.
“Remember the gentleman I met at the debut ball?”
He remembered. Just hearing her speak his name made him want to kill the man; no one knew the struggle he endured suppressing that murderous intent.
“If things go well, there will be a marriage proposal between our families.”
Marriage proposal? By whose permission?
“If I marry him and move to his family, you’ll come with me, right? You’ll still serve me there, won’t you?”
Not knowing she remembered nothing of her past life caused him unbearable pain. Pain turned to anger, anger to resolve.
“Of course, miss.”
He lied again. This was the last moment when the great hero Promeon assumed the humble servant’s role.
That night, the lady disappeared. Her family and friends never saw her again.
