Irene Decided to Die - Chapter 108

The feeling was different from the red-haired child she had seen before she collapsed.

“See, she’s a child, isn’t she?”

“You’re a madman.”

“Living through life, a person might go a bit mad, don’t you think? I’ll leave Diana here with you.”

“What if I take the child and run?”

“It’s fine. There’s more than one child. Besides, Diana has a special device. If you’re caught running away, it’s her loss.”

If only she could reach him, she would slap him.

“Now, really, get some rest. Diana, make sure to keep an eye out.”

“…Yes.”

With that, Luciel finally left. Only Irene and Diana remained.

“Your name is Diana?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

Irene bit her lip and then released it.

“Do you really have a sister?”

“Yes.”

Diana answered briefly and buried her face between her knees. She seemed exhausted even by speaking.

“Is your sister’s name Adlen?”

“Yes. But why do you keep asking?”

“No reason, really.”

Diana didn’t seem to be lying.

It made sense; the ominous symbol could appear unexpectedly, unrelated to the parents’ hair or eye color. Even siblings could have different eye and hair colors.

“But can you tell me what you meant by the device?”

“He means poison. If I don’t take the antidote once a week, I’ll die. And some people have curses placed on them too.”

Diana seemed to be one of those affected. Irene’s heart ached at the child’s calm demeanor.

“But are you really the Saintess?”

“Yes. Don’t I seem like it?”

“A little bit.”

“A little?”

“No, actually, quite a lot. You have red eyes and black hair.”

“Is it strange?”

Diana nodded.

“I thought all Saintesses had blonde hair and blue eyes. My mom said I looked like the Saintess. She believed in the goddess a lot, very much.”

In such a household, Adlen was born.

“So she hated my sister very much. If my sister even tried to touch me, she would get angry.”

“What did you think of your sister?”

“I liked her.”

For the first time, a smile appeared on Diana’s face.

“My sister was good at hunting, could fight better than men, and was very smart. But I couldn’t do anything. My sister praised me for being good at picking mushrooms, but anyone can do that easily.”

“I don’t know how to pick mushrooms.”

“Have you never picked mushrooms before?”

“I haven’t.”

“Oh. But that’s okay. You’re good at other things. Actually, my sister sometimes couldn’t tell the difference between poisonous mushrooms and edible ones.”

Irene thought that might be true for Adlen. The only dishes she ever cooked were vegetable salt stew and mud-baked pigeon.

“But she was good at making mud-baked pigeon, you know?”

“Yes. But how do you know that?”

Irene gently placed a finger on her lips.

The clever child seemed to understand from that small gesture. She nodded slightly, her eyes sparkling.

“How many people are captured?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes they bring in more. They seem to try to keep us alive as much as possible, but if the situation gets bad, they just abandon us.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yes. I want to go back to my sister.”

Diana spoke softly and then buried her face back into her knees.

‘P-Poison.’

She thought she could heal that if she could just remove the bracelet. The problem was figuring out how to remove the bracelet and reach the other hostages.

She knew that letting Adlen continue her double-agent role meant leaving these people as they were.

But she couldn’t do that.

‘I want to save them.’

A new desire welled up in her. She wanted to give Diana freedom and Adlen stability.

* * *

Luciel left the Saintess and went up to the surface. Using a chemical to change his hair color and donning a servant’s uniform, no one paid him any mind. With many outsiders attending the Saintess’s welcome party, few questioned the presence of an unfamiliar servant.

Even so, he was briefly stopped for inspection, but mentioning his supposed affiliation got him through.

‘Quite useful.’

Luciel thought of Shah-Naz, who had provided what was needed for this plan. He didn’t know where Shah-Naz had been or what he had done to earn Mileka’s favor, but it had made things easier.

Convincing the half-brainwashed king wasn’t difficult. Thanks to that, they had successfully kidnapped the Saintess and could now proceed with their next plans.

Even if Shah-Naz regained his senses later, Luciel wasn’t too worried.

‘No one in their right mind would admit to being involved in the Saintess’s kidnapping.’

That was the reason.