Chapter 151
Sha—
The sound of metal scraping against rubble echoed long from the far end of the garden. Dust rose into the air, catching the sunlight.
René stopped in her tracks.
Beyond the collapsed wall, one of the pillars of the east wing tilted and then crumbled with a dull crash.
At that moment, her heart dropped.
The place where Vane had foretold a meeting—the place he had summoned René to.
“Ah—.”
What should I do?
She instinctively bit her nails. The more this precarious peace lasted, the more anxiety gnawed at her.
Would she just rot away in this mansion like this?
She had been nervously throwing things while waiting for Varun for several days.
But having received no news from outside, all she could do was wait for the day she would meet Vane.
The tangled emotions, the burden of facing him through memories—it was overwhelming, and she longed for his cold advice.
Tap, tap—
A small stone rolled from the debris and nudged her shoe. Only then did René open her eyes.
Before she could even form a thought,
Huff—. A scent, unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.
“Are you okay?”
A low, soft voice.
Her heart raced as recognition reached her before her mind could catch up.
“Ah—.”
A low, soft voice.
When René turned, Carlton was there. The clean sleeves of his shirt fluttered slightly in the wind.
“Long time no see, René.”
“Carlton…?”
René was too busy trying to comprehend the situation itself to read his eyes.
“You remember.”
Flustered, René jumped slightly at the sound of debris falling.
“W-Why are they tearing this place down?”
“Oh, the building’s old.”
He paused, then stepped beside her as if it were completely natural.
“The wind’s blowing toward you. Here.”
As he stepped slightly ahead, the smell of dust lessened a bit.
René tried to thank him but only managed a cough as her throat tickled.
“You okay? By the way, what brings you here?”
“Huh?”
“I usually walk in that courtyard, not come here.”
Though his red eyes showed no warmth, René felt a strange flutter in her chest.
“…Were you watching me?”
“Sometimes?”
No, often.
Carlton swallowed the rest of his words and simply stared at René.
It was René who lowered her gaze under that scrutiny.
Thunk… Thunk…
At the irregular pounding of her heart, René instinctively stepped back.
“Th-”
“Oh, you want to come?”
“Huh?”
“Today we’re having tea in the greenhouse.”
Carlton’s voice lowered.
“Belia, Karin, and I. You can come too.”
René’s chest thumped strangely.
The image formed in her mind like a painting—the glass greenhouse, sunlight, laughter, a round table like a family.
And herself standing outside that circle.
“Why… why me?”
Carlton’s answer was slow.
He couldn’t reveal that it was to discover the location of the Holy Grail.
“Hmm—.”
René looked up at him, unable to hide the question that burst out.
“Uh… what’s your relationship with Belia…?”
“We’re engaged.”
The short reply made René’s heart sink.
“…Ah.”
Her lips tightened.
She didn’t know what to ask next. Carlton turned his gaze toward the rubble.
Sunlight streamed along his profile.
“Surprised?”
“No.”
René shook her head, but her fingertips trembled slightly.
Seeing her like that, Carlton recalled Belia’s request: find the location of the Grail, and do not act hostile.
He hid the emotions stirring in his eyes.
“Did Vane send you here?”
René flinched.
Her pupils wavered slightly.
Carlton nodded and stepped closer to her.
“It’s okay. Don’t be startled.”
His voice was soft.
“I know what he must’ve said to you.”
“……”
“‘Go into this house.’ ‘Everything is yours.’ ‘It’s time to reclaim what’s real.’ That’s what he said, right?”
“Don’t you remember?”
The embarrassment she had felt at the banquet.
René’s fingers trembled.
“How… how did—”
“I was under him too. You know that.”
Carlton’s tone was calm, almost unnervingly so.
“Eight years ago, he told me the same thing: ‘You are chosen. The time has come to know the truth.’”
René’s breathing became uneven.
Each of his words stirred memories that had been buried somewhere in her mind.
“At that time, I believed it. I believed he knew the truth, that if I followed his instructions, everything would be resolved.”
Carlton’s gaze flickered slightly.
“But in the end, all that remained was ruins. Nothing he promised was real.”
“…That can’t be.”
René’s voice trembled softly.
“He… saved me.”
“Really?”
His tone remained gentle.
“He saved you? Or… is that just what you want to believe?”
“…Don’t talk like that.”
René stepped back, but Carlton moved a step closer.
He gestured lightly, as if brushing dust off the air.
“He told me the same: ‘Protect that child.’ ‘That child is the real one.’ I believed him and came here. But…”
He lowered his gaze.
“It turns out… he was using me.”
René swallowed hard.
“……”
“His goal has always been the same. Pretending to speak the truth, making you believe his words.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“Even now, he whispers inside you: ‘You are real.’ ‘You are right.’”
René’s lips parted.
“That’s…”
“That’s a spell.”
Carlton whispered sharply.
“A lie that sounds like truth. That’s his method.”
“……”
“I once believed it too. But in the end, all that remained was ashes.”
He raised his head and looked René directly in the eyes.
“Don’t do that. He’s not protecting you, he’s binding you.”
The wind passed by.
René’s hair fluttered, and dust collected at her feet.
Her vision blurred.
Thunk—. Again, the sound of rubble collapsing reached her ears.
Instinctively, she tried to run.
She couldn’t handle the confusion that had poured over her these past few days.
But Carlton had no reason to consider her feelings.
“René.”
At the gentle call, her legs lost the strength to run.
“If you hold on here in this mansion, his voice will weaken over time. Then, I’ll tell you.”
“…Tell me what?”
“Who you really are.”
Carlton said this and stepped closer.
René, still turned away, could not reject the touch brushing the top of her head.
The hand that had brushed off dust withdrew, and René walked forward, facing ahead.
Thump, thump—
Anxiety and excitement stirred every sense in her body.
The touch of someone she felt she had longed for once.
She couldn’t tell if it was comfort or restraint.
But in this moment—his voice felt like the entire world.
Evening, temple corridor in shadow.
A man in a black cloak handed a sealed scroll to several high priests.
“The ‘true savior’ will soon arrive. Light is an empty shell, salvation is only genuine when visible. False salvation must now vanish from our presence.”
He did not give his name, only showing a violet seal engraved with an inverted Holy Grail.
“Behold! The miracle we have performed! It is not like those who merely make promises!”
Other priests knelt and followed, performing their rites.
“The ‘true savior’ will soon arrive! Until that time, we must not be deceived by those who claim to believe in ‘God.’”
One priest opened the sealed scroll and could not hide his astonishment.
“Th-This…?”
“It refers to recent events in the royal court.”
The man standing at the front straightened.
“On the day the ‘Fragment of Abundance’ comes to this capital, we too will reveal ourselves to the world in earnest.”
His voice echoed quietly through the corridor.
“Heresy is ultimately a numbers game: those who believe in the unseen versus those who act upon what is visible. Who truly is heretical?”
The priests’ laughter rippled gently through the corridor.
At that moment, golden eyes glimpsed beneath the robe shone faintly.
