Marin's expression was more serious than ever.
She was being sincere.
'She's changed.'
The Marin who was by my side as Estio's subordinate and the Marin who is now by my side solely as my person were different, even in their eyes.
Seeing that, I realized that I was still looking at Marin with the same eyes as before.
As she said, Marin was now my person.
"Just give me any orders, Miss."
She said with firm eyes.
I blankly stared at Marin, then nodded and said,
"Then, Marin..."
While Marin was out of the room after receiving her orders, I opened the drawer of the bedside table.
'The book and the necklace? I found them inside your clothes, Miss, so I didn't tell anyone and put them in the drawer.'
That's what Marin said when I asked about the whereabouts of the book I had brought from the library.
After removing the cloth covering it for camouflage, there were The Book of Ayla and Arista and Ellesa: Hearts Across Borders, and the pendant necklace I found in the fireplace.
"Thank goodness..."
My legs almost gave way, and I nearly collapsed.
No matter what else happened, I absolutely couldn't lose The Book of Ayla.
If someone other than Marin had found it, they would have immediately handed it over to the Duke.
Feeling grateful once again that Marin was my maid, I took out the items inside.
I opened the bag and packed The Book of Ayla inside.
Next, I picked up Arista and Ellesa: Hearts Across Borders.
Seeing the book, the scene I had accidentally witnessed came to mind, and I flinched without realizing it.
To think that the owner of this book was the first Head of the Family.
'I wouldn't have thought she'd be someone who likes these kinds of books.'
Well... how should I put it?
'She felt like a different person from the legends.'
The first Head of the Family in the legends passed down—Lucrezia Rodbel—was an inhuman human.
A goddess on the battlefield and the savior of the empire.
A person full of heroism and a great person who willingly dedicated herself to the empire.
But the first Head of the Family I saw was...
"She seemed like an ordinary person."
Someone who enjoyed the peace of the day, purely believed in people only to be betrayed, and endured with the strength of her loved ones... someone who was just a little stronger than others.
'I still don't know what she wants from me.'
The more I learned about Lucrezia Rodbel, the sadder I felt for some reason.
Was it because I knew what kind of end they had faced?
"This book is probably her taste too, right?"
Thinking that way, Arista and Ellesa: Hearts Across Borders, which had felt purely lewd, looked a little different.
It was too high-level for me to read properly right now, so I quickly flipped through the whole thing.
Then, a page with a slightly folded corner caught my fingertip.
'What's this?'
I opened it.
The page was a scene of Arista and Ellesa saying a sad farewell in front of the border.
However, there was something else that caught my eye more than their sad farewell scene.
Small lines of text written on the blank space outside the letters.
It was blurry, but not unreadable.
I traced each letter with my finger and read it.
"To you, who is reading this book..."
[To you who is reading this book.
To tell you the ending first, Arista and Ellesa never end up together. They couldn't cross the border. They were never meant to be together from the start.]
A sentence with a comfortable tone.
I instinctively knew who this letter was from.
Lucrezia Rodbel's letter.
Then the recipient is...
[I thought it was just like us. You said we would be together forever, but well...
I have a feeling that we might break up someday. This letter is for you when that day comes.]
The handwriting trembled towards the end.
What was Lucrezia Rodbel feeling when she wrote this letter?
What did she foresee?
For some reason, my heart fluttered.
Was it simply because I was glimpsing her memories?
I suppressed something welling up and finished reading the letter.
[Don't miss me too much. Live your life.
If you happen to miss me once in a while, then miss me then. I'll miss you once in a while too.
You know it too. Our separation won't be forever.
We'll meet again someday. Our souls are riding on the flow of time and keep spinning around.
If we can't meet again, I'll come to meet you.
So please wait until the day we meet again.
From Lucrezia Rodbel, who loves you.
P.S. There's a sequel planned for this work. Please read it for me.]
"Lucrezia Rodbel's letter..."
To be exact, it was a farewell letter that foresaw a separation.
These two people were so affectionate...
'...Evil God.'
Questions continued to rise.
Why did he, who was human, become an Evil God?
And what must have been the feelings of Lucrezia Rodbel, who sealed her lover with her own hands... how utterly shattered must she have been?
What broke them down so cruelly?
How is Lilith involved in that?
'What does that saying of finding me mean?'
It felt like I was wandering around with jumbled puzzle pieces.
'I don't know yet, but...'
I seemed to know one thing.
If I could break the Evil God's seal, I could find the answers to all of this.
"...Does Bethel know about this too?"
The one who shares a soul with the Evil God.
The one who will become my strength in the future.
When I heard the story, it seemed like he shared some of his memories with the Evil God.
So, after seeing the scene of my contract with the Evil God, he must have believed that I was the savior who would complete his soul.
"Savior..."
It was too grand of an expression to apply to me.
I'm barely managing to do my best to keep myself alive.
Could I, who am like that, even save someone's soul?
The more I learned about 'Lucrezia Rodbel,' the more I thought she was a very diverse person.
Sometimes ordinary, sometimes lovely, and sometimes great and strong.
Of course, I can't do it like her.
But in my own way.
"I will save myself."
Completing the Crown Prince's soul, breaking the Evil God's seal, and destroying Rodbel.
It will all just be part of the process of saving myself.
"...First, let's keep this book safe."
Since it's a letter to the Evil God, it would be good to show it to the Crown Prince later.
I put the book back deep inside the drawer.
And what's left is...
My gaze turned to the pendant necklace.
I carefully picked it up.
The necklace with an unusually long string dangled below my hand.
"An item containing the magic of the first Head of the Family."
When Giles Smore took this out, the magical storm disappeared.
But now that I think about it, a new question arises.
'How did Giles Smore find this pendant?'
Back then, I just thought he was crazy about the library, so he must have found it on his own.
But after looking for it myself, it wasn't in a location that an ordinary person could find.
I wouldn't have found the pendant necklace if it hadn't been for the help of the butterfly.
'...I'll have to ask him when I see him later.'
He'll come back when he hears that the library's magical transformation has been cancelled.
'Will he tell me?'
It would have been impossible before, but I think I gained quite a bit of favor with him before, so he'll tell me if I ask.
Anyway...
"Didn't they say this pendant can't be opened?"
I recalled the conversation I had overheard hiding in the bushes.
Elbert Bedden had clearly said that this pendant was locked with the first Head of the Family's magic and that no one could open it.
Then, of course, I wouldn't be able to open it either.
Thinking that, I pulled the lid without thinking.
Click.
"...Huh?"
...It opened?
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