Chapter 159
The method was simpler than she thought.
The moment Sia truly wished from the depths of her heart to leave this world and go to the other one, a bright light burst forth from the screen and engulfed her.
Just as Melissa had explained, since they could no longer summon her from their side, only her own will could open the passage connecting the worlds.
Thud, thud, crash!
Just like when she was ‘Cynthia Obel’, she opened her eyes inside a dressing room, smashed open the dressing room door with her fist, and tumbled out, entangled in a heap of clothes.
Looking around, she realized this was the room she had used when she lived with Segleninde in the mansion.
Checking the mirror first, she saw crimson red hair, almost like a deep vermillion, falling in curls down her back. Her pale gray eyes were clear.
It was ‘Cynthia Obel’s’ body. The body, so well preserved, was the only one in the mansion that remained beautiful and uncorrupted even as everything else rotted away.
Segleninde had left her final body untouched in the room rather than hiding it away in the basement. Even though her consciousness had been transferred to the dressing room as the starting point, she didn’t mind.
She ran straight out of the room. Though she saw creatures weakened and collapsed throughout the hallway, there was no time to greet them. She needed to restore the mansion to its original state so they could regain their strength.
There was no need to search for Segleninde. His true form rose up from the basement of the mansion, piercing through every floor all the way to the Sky Garden.
‘So this is Segleninde’s real form…’
The sheer size was impressive, but what really shocked her was the fact that his true form was a gigantic tree. Of course, as she ran up the stairs and glimpsed the white, vine-like tentacles and the dozens of red gem-like eyes embedded all over the trunk, she could tell it was different from any real tree.
Even those tentacles were rotting away. According to Melissa, only the upper part of the main body in the Sky Garden was still intact, so while she was out of breath, she flung open the doors to the Sky Garden.
Under the bright sunlight pouring from the sky, the massive white tree stood tall, letting countless tentacle branches hang down.
The closer she got, the more clearly she could see it.
Strictly speaking, it was not a tree, but rather a mass of vine-like tentacles shaped into a tree’s form. Just as she’d seen running up from below, even those tentacles hung limp or were partly rotten.
Panting, she walked closer to him.
Even now, Segleninde must be endlessly repeating death in his world of consciousness. For atonement, knowing he would never be forgiven, suffering the same pain she endured. She spoke honestly.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Who said he could atone on his own?
She absolutely could not accept it. To decide, without the victim’s permission, to fall into hell and repeat suffering for eternity. How could that be allowed?
She had never dictated the punishment he should receive. For him to arbitrarily repeat such horrific deaths without her permission was unacceptable.
At that moment, as soon as Segleninde heard her voice, he escaped his world of consciousness and opened his eyes.
He couldn’t believe Sia, whom he had longed for so desperately, was really standing before him. Wasn’t this the very woman who’d sworn never to forgive him? Surely the creatures must have forced her to come. Otherwise, there was no way Sia would come here of her own will.
Yes, it must be that, for some reason, his memories had been erased again. Otherwise, there was no other explanation.
If so, could they start over from the very beginning?
[…Hello. My name is Segleninde. If you’d like, you can call me Sellie.]
“……”
[It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. I won’t put you in danger. I won’t frighten you. What do you like? Flowers, bright things, beautiful and cute things, delicious and soft things. You like those, right? All those things are here. Everything you like is here.]
Segleninde spoke with a sorrowful, quiet voice. It almost sounded as if he were crying.
[If there’s something else you like, tell me. What do you like? What should I do so you’ll stay here? What should I do so you… won’t leave me?]
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