Chapter 121
“Liam.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Liam stepped one pace closer to Pope Anacheto and bowed his head.
“Do you know why the lower classes can never escape the gutter they were born into for their entire lives?”
“……I’m not sure.”
“Those born lowly spend their lives only looking up at the sky.”
“…….”
“And they pray that the sky will save them. They never think of surpassing that sky. That’s why they can never escape.”
Pope Anacheto turned away from the window and looked at Liam.
“But I am different.”
“……You intend to surpass the sky?”
“Would that alone be enough?”
For a brief moment, the pope’s eyes flashed. At that faint glint of light, Liam swallowed without realizing it.
“I will become the sky itself.”
The pope was well aware of the arrows of criticism that all the imperial citizens were currently aiming at him.
No one understood human psychology—especially the psychology of the insignificant masses—better than he did.
All it took was throwing a single spark, and the masses would pour oil on it themselves and fan the flames.
Hadn’t the pope used exactly that to keep the imperial family in the palm of his hand all this time?
That was why he was confident. Confident that he could turn this crisis perfectly into an opportunity.
‘Ungrateful wretches.’
He found it deeply displeasing that the very people he had protected until now had branded him a traitor in an instant.
But if he merely displayed his power in a situation like this, there was no doubt that even greater trust and reverence than before would be poured upon him.
‘Who says a fallen hero can never rise again?’
“I will surely be reborn, and I will enjoy even greater glory than before. Because I am this nation’s sky—and its god.”
“…….”
“All heroes in mythology suffer hardship at least once. Thinking of all this as a trial to become a true god actually calms my anger.”
Liam remained silent, his head bowed.
No matter what he said here, it would never reach the pope.
Hoo—
The pope let out another deep sigh and slumped down into the chair behind his cluttered desk.
After closing his eyes for a moment and thinking deeply, he spoke in a low voice.
“Spread ‘that.’”
It was the beginning of yet another calamity.
Perhaps thanks to Barkville’s antidote injection, Diasi recovered quickly and rose from his sickbed.
While he had been unconscious, Daniel had stayed by his side at all times.
The moment Diasi opened his eyes, without sparing a thought for his own body, he asked Daniel, whose eyes were dark with exhaustion,
“My wife.”
Daniel couldn’t answer.
Even after several days, Ella was still suffering from a dangerously high fever.
Her condition was so poor that it felt as though she might leave this world at any moment.
There was no way he could convey that truth directly to Diasi.
“Th-that is……”
Avoiding his gaze and trailing off, Daniel made Diasi sense something was wrong. He immediately rose from the bed.
“D-Duke…! You mustn’t get up yet. You need to rest!”
Daniel’s words didn’t reach him. Diasi simply hastened his steps toward Ella’s room.
He had woken up in his own bed, and the ducal estate was intact without a single sign of collapse.
It was clear they had won the battle against the ancient beast. And that meant Ella had handled everything alone while he lay there uselessly.
A hollow laugh escaped him at the absurdity of it all.
Reaching Ella’s door, Diasi flung it open without even knocking.
“Duke…?”
Startled, Rose and Ariane, who had been keeping watch, jumped to their feet.
“Are you feeling all right…?”
They looked even more haggard than Daniel, but Diasi didn’t spare them a glance.
His eyes were fixed solely on Ella, lying on the bed.
He trudged toward her and stared down silently.
Her face was pale, like a cold corpse; her lips were dry; her hands were neatly folded—there wasn’t a single place that wasn’t drained of color.
He didn’t need to ask. He could tell how dreadful her condition was.
‘There don’t seem to be any visible wounds… Did she simply push herself too far?’
Tsk—
Clicking his tongue sharply, Diasi ordered Rose,
“Bring Barkville.”
Ever since Diasi and Ella had been injured, Barkville had been staying at the Myers Ducal Estate.
No one knew when an emergency might occur.
Thus, Rose immediately went to find him, and it didn’t take long for Barkville to arrive at Ella’s room.
“You called for me, Duke.”
Barkville bowed to Diasi, all the while examining his condition with his eyes.
He wanted to scold him for not lying back down immediately, but knowing how deeply he cared for Ella, he couldn’t bring himself to speak easily.
Fortunately, aside from looking pale, Diasi seemed fine at a glance.
“My wife’s condition.”
At the firm tone, Barkville hesitated, rolling his eyes.
“……It’s difficult to say. It seems like backlash from using a large amount of mana, but as you know, I have no knowledge in that field……”
Naturally so, given he was a citizen of a country that rejected magic. Still, admitting his incompetence before Diasi was embarrassing.
Just as Barkville braced himself for whatever harsh words might come—
“I see…….”
“……?”
Diasi said nothing more.
At the unexpected response, Barkville’s eyes widened.
“You’ve done all you can.”
“……Yes, I have.”
“Then that’s enough. Go attend to your duties.”
Diasi said this as he sat down in the chair Rose had been using.
Though it sounded as if it were directed only at Barkville, everyone present understood—
It was an order for everyone but him to leave.
Unable to defy their lord, Rose, Ariane, and Barkville exited Ella’s room after paying their respects.
In the silence that settled over the room, Diasi raised a hand toward her.
It was a simple gesture—to brush back her sweat-soaked hair.
Then he suddenly realized how incredibly light his body felt.
‘?’
He lifted his arm and examined himself.
The moment he regained consciousness, he had rushed straight here, thinking only of Ella’s safety, without sparing a thought for why he had collapsed in the first place.
‘I clearly took an attack that pierced my entire body from the beast…’
Stopping there, a hollow laugh slipped from his lips.
Only then did he understand why this foolish woman had used such an overwhelming amount of mana.
And why he could rise without a single wound after taking so many attacks head-on.
“……How ridiculous.”
How many times had his life been saved by the same woman?
Diasi had always been the one saving others. He could count on one hand the times he had received help from someone else.
Especially when it came to matters of life and death.
Yet this fragile woman before him had saved his life multiple times.
He was convinced that it had also been Ella who saved him when he was injured during the war with the Kingdom of Kmisot.
He had never asked her directly, but all the circumstances pointed to it. The thought was absurd.
At the same time, a sharp sensation pulsed through his palm.
Unfamiliar with the feeling, he reflexively clenched and unclenched his fist.
He didn’t know why he had to feel such emotions when looking at Ella.
They were emotions he had never wanted, emotions he believed he shouldn’t feel.
Yet what was even more baffling was that the feeling wasn’t unpleasant at all.
“If you had enough mana to heal me, you should have taken care of your own body first.”
Though his words sounded reproachful, his eyes as he looked at Ella were filled with warmth.
The sunlight filtering through the window was warmer than it had been on the day Diasi collapsed.
Time passed quickly. From the day Diasi awoke, Ella lay ill for a full additional week.
Throughout that week, Diasi personally cared for her.
He ate all his meals in her room and handled all his work there as well.
For some reason, letters from nobles wishing for Ella and Diasi’s recovery were pouring in like madness.
Noticing Diasi’s confusion, Daniel quickly explained.
He told him how the empire’s public opinion had changed while the two of them were unconscious.
“It’s not just the reputation of you, our family, and the imperial family. Even the pope and the Great Temple—public opinion about them has completely flipped!”
“……I see.”
“And most astonishing of all is magic! The magic everyone despised and persecuted their entire lives as something evil—now they worship it as a holy power.”
Hah—listening to Daniel, Diasi twisted the corner of his mouth cynically.
He found it irritating how easily they changed their attitudes—after despising it for so long, now revering it just because it saved them once.
If they were going to change so easily, then what about Ella’s life, spent suffering because of that very prejudice?
His brow furrowed on its own.
Diasi had declared that he would refrain from all external activities while Ella lay ill.
As a result, routine inspections of the territory and even the volunteer work he had personally handled were all left to Daniel.
“Ah, it’s already this late. Then I’ll head out for volunteer work at the orphanage.”
“All right.”
Seated by Ella’s bedside, Diasi replied after taking a sip of tea.
Click—
The door closed behind Daniel, and once again, Diasi was left alone in Ella’s room.
It was a room he had stayed in for an entire week.
The room, once filled with Ella’s sweet, peach-like scent, was now also infused with Diasi’s own clean fragrance.
Setting the teacup down with a soft clink, Diasi reached out to change the damp cloth resting on Ella’s forehead.
“Mm……”
A faint moan—one he might have missed had he not been focused on her—reached his ears.
His hand froze in midair.
Soon, Ella’s sky-blue eyes came into view.
“Duke…?”
“Oh… you’re awake.”
Though it was the moment he had hoped for, Diasi hurriedly withdrew his lost hand, flustered.
Watching his movement, Ella slowly pushed herself up.
“Are you… feeling all right?”
“Are you feeling all right?”
They asked at the same time.
He had thought they shared nothing alike, yet in strange ways, they were exactly the same.
Chuckling softly, Diasi smiled faintly and answered first.
“I’m fine. What about you, my lady?”
