Chapter 152

“Secret?”

“You were curious earlier, weren’t you? About when I started thinking of you as the Sun.”

“…!”

Angelina’s eyes wavered.

And so did Ante’s.

Silence fell.

“…Alright.”

Angelina gave her consent.

“Mmph! Mph!”

Ante struggled violently.

Once again, he couldn’t properly resist because of the red power binding him.

Although it was uncomfortable and heartbreaking for Angelina to see, she forced herself to focus on the Empress.

“Hmm… where should I begin?”

The Empress, seemingly enjoying this situation, stroked her cheek with her long fingers and smiled pleasantly.

“Did you know that the Order wasn’t trying to create a Saint from the beginning?”

“There must have been times when they tried to find a Saint rather than create one.”

“Yes. And unexpectedly, they had a child with the qualities of a Saint.”

“…?!”

“And that was just 18 years ago.”

“….”

“She was a truly beautiful child raised in the temple. The priests always blessed her, and she was loved by everyone in the temple.”

The Empress continued her story in a gentle voice, as if reading a fairy tale.

“But one day, such a child… became isolated due to one unfortunate incident.”

The Empress lowered the corners of her eyes as if in regret, but her lips were smiling.

“A boy who came to the temple for treatment erased everyone she loved and who loved her from this world, all to monopolize her blessing.”

Angelina’s brow twitched.

Temple? Treatment?

These were all strange stories.

But suddenly her heart began to boil and her throat tightened.

There was a ringing in her ears…

Angelina was now familiar with what this sensation meant.

‘My memory…?’

The moment she realized this.

Clang-!

It felt like something snapped in her head.

The headache disappeared, and the stuffiness vanished.

Suddenly, as if experiencing enlightenment, her eyes and mind became clear. And everything became distinct.

The Empress rolled a crystal ball toward Angelina standing before her.

Angelina picked up the crystal ball.

When she tapped it and applied some force, the voice contained inside began to play.

-Kwagwang!

Although the quality was poor due to the age of the object, it was sufficient to hear the sound.

“Mph! Mmph!”

And as soon as the sound started playing, Ante began to convulse.

He twisted his entire body, trying to break free from his restraints.

But no matter how violently he struggled, it was useless.

Besides the Witch’s power, there were double and triple layers of restraints, so all he could do was struggle.

In fact, the more he struggled, the more pain was added to his heart.

“Mph!”

Regardless, Ante’s face turned pale as he shook his head vigorously.

He begged Angelina not to listen.

But his desperate wish was not granted.

-Capture Angelina…!

–BOOM!

The recording continued.

-No…! Child, you…!

–THUMP! Crumble…

Many people trying to protect a child.

But each voice disappeared with an explosion.

A continuous scene of chaos.

A series of chilling screams.

How long did the noisy commotion continue?

Then came a sudden silence.

The silence was long.

Just when it seemed that this might be all that was recorded…

-Tak.

A sound like something being pushed aside. And then.

-…Lina, hello?

A young boy’s voice rang out.

It was clear, not yet having gone through puberty, and it wasn’t properly audible as it was recorded from a distance.

But the owner of the voice was immediately recognizable.

Angelina’s gaze fell on Ante.

Ante’s face, tightly bound with magic suppression devices and restrained by soldiers, had turned pale.

He couldn’t even breathe properly, and his eyes were shaking violently like a candle in the wind.

“Huhu.”

The Empress laughed, clearly relishing this destruction.

Then, with a look that dared him to offer any excuse, she lowered Ante’s gag.

“Li, Lina.”

Ante’s pitiful voice immediately filled the void.

“Sister can, I can explain. I…”

He spoke urgently with a trembling voice like someone being chased by death.

“I, Lina, that was… I mean.”

But not a single proper word came out.

Like someone whose excuses had all become tangled.

His lips moved, but no words came out.

Watching this, the Empress blurted out.

“An explanation…”

Slowly supporting her chin, she made a long nasal sound. Her smile was eerie.

“I didn’t know that killing a child’s parents right in front of her, slaughtering and destroying everything she loved with twisted madness… could be ‘explained’ away for forgiveness?”

Her words were full of mockery.

The blood drained completely from Ante’s already pale face.

He began to tremble.

The Empress’s attack didn’t end there.

“If you had taken her away like that, it would have been nice if you had at least let her be loved by fake parents… But you threw even those parents to the monsters as food? My, how hideous.”

“N-no. No, I…”

“And then you erased from the world anyone who had even the slightest doubt about her existence. Phew… If I hadn’t been the Empress, I would have already bid farewell to this world too.”

Her pretense of being scared, shuddering her shoulders, was disgusting.

But Angelina wasn’t looking at the Empress.

With a frowning face, she was only looking at Ante.

As if waiting for an explanation.

“Lina, I… I…”

But having fallen into extreme panic, all his thought circuits had become tangled.

Since everything the Empress said was true, he couldn’t refute it.

Completely consumed by fear and despair, he couldn’t even attempt to make excuses.

Angelina, who had been looking at him with a complicated expression, eventually bowed her head, pressing her forehead firmly.

“Haah…”

At the sound of her long sigh, Ante’s heart sank.

His mind turned white.

It felt like the world was slowly being erased with an eraser.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The words that urgently came through his teeth were artificial, like a parrot repeating newly learned words without understanding their meaning.

“Don’t do this, Lina.”

Ante’s face contorted miserably.

“Look at your brother, okay? Please, bro…”

Ante’s pleading voice suddenly stopped.

…Brother?

Do I deserve to be called her brother?

When I took away all her happiness?

The chance to be loved, the opportunity to grow up warmly with a family, the time to spend with her parents, I took it all away… How dare I?

“Ah…”

This realization deleted even his remaining hope.

His head dropped lifelessly.

The result of a moment of madness.

What was more chilling was that even now, if he went back to that time, he would make the same choice.

A product of obsession and proof that he was a monster.

Saying he was sorry, saying he was wrong, they were all just empty words spoken in this moment to avoid being abandoned by her.

The filthy excuse of a monster who felt no regret.

That’s why he couldn’t look at her.

Although he knew it was terrible, he also knew it wasn’t a mistake.

This is why… this is why he had so desperately prayed that this would remain a secret for life.

His eyes, having lost even a glimmer of hope, became dull.

Lina, my Lina.

My little god.

This is why he had hoped she would never know…

Everything was over.

Would she forgive him if he knelt and begged?

That he was wrong. That he was sorry.

…No.

Since there was no sincerity in the apology, it would be deception.

Even these tears flowing now were nothing but disgusting hypocrisy.

If he begged and clung to the hem of her skirt, would she at least pity him?

Please don’t let go of this hand.

Don’t leave me alone on that cold floor.

…No, that too would be wrong, a desperate attempt to escape the situation.

In the end, being abandoned by her was the natural course.

But…

Could I endure her hatred?

‘Please.’

Ante, having imagined Angelina’s contemptuous gaze, shut his eyes tightly.

Seeing this, the Empress’s eyes flashed.

‘Now!’

Red energy shot out sharply from the Empress’s fingertips.

It flew toward Ante, toward where Zeplictus’s heart was.

It was just as she was about to thrust the sharply raised energy into the heart that had been blackened by despair.

Kaang-!

There was a clear, metallic sound as light flashed.

“What…!”

The Witch’s energy was blocked by a soft barrier of light surrounding Ante.