LILIAN POV
I left Lizzie behind, and I didn't even look back at her. I have a feeling that if I do look back, things will not stop there. I walked until I was sure that I was no longer within her reach. Then I stopped in the middle of town with a confused look on my face.
Where do I have to go to find the pendant?
'Chevelure, can you hear me?'
I talk in my mind and look around to observe the place I have never seen before while waiting for Chevelure's voice.
[Child]
His voice echoes in my mind, and I smile. 'Where do I have to go to find the pendant?' she asks in her mind, but she is sure that Chevelure can hear her.
[You have to go to the west.]
'To the west? Are you sure? I was sure there was only forest in the west.'
[Did you forget about Kreios? Duke Kreios is guarding the west, so it's not fully forest, but yeah, you need to enter the forest.]
Kreios is one of the territories that is surrounded by forest. But, since it was protected by a magic barrier, the citizens that live in the west are safe and sound.
Of course, there are situations where humans open the magic barrier and let the monster enter the territory, causing someone to die, but the duke and his knights are always fast to stop the monster's attack.
Even so, how could Chevelure ask her to go there?
People in the west are always wary of the people from the North, especially Grand Duke Atara. And she's his daughter. Everyone would know immediately that she was the grand duke's daughter if they saw her eyes.
In the book, it describes how the citizens openly hate the relationship between Asher from Kreios and Luca from Atara. The citizens are being too careful because of the past. Everyone knows the history between Kreios and Atara.
About how the former heads of Kreios and Atara betrayed each other.
'Do I have to enter the forest in order to find the pendant?'
[The pendant wasn't kept in the forest.]
'Then?'
If it wasn't in the forest, then what's the point of going through trouble entering the forest on her own when she can just use her teleportation magic to go to Kreios?
[It was kept somewhere in Kreios territory, but in order to get there, you have to enter the forest.]
'I can just use my teleportation magic, right?'
[No. You have to walk and enter the forest.]
'Why do I have to go through all of that? Isn't it faster if I just—'
[It's easy and faster to use teleportation magic, but you're too weak.]
'What did you say?'
[You have a lot of mana, and you can use your power to your heart's content, but you also need to learn about monsters. Other than learning about them, you also need to have a good body. Right now, if you use too much magic, you will faint because your physical body can't keep up with your spiritual power.]
'Why should I learn about them?'
[Because, in the future, there will be a lot of monsters you need to kill, so you'll have to learn how to kill the monsters.]
"Tsk." She clicked her tongue with a dissatisfied face.
It's not like she didn't know that she held a heavy responsibility, but it's hard for her since she needs to deal with monsters. She has never dealt with anything troublesome before. This isn't easy at all, especially when she's in a child's body.
'But, is it okay for you to keep talking to me? You're still a God.'
No matter how friendly he is with a soul from another world, is it really okay for him to keep talking to her like this?
Of course, it's good to know that he's been watching and listening to them, but how long will he be doing that?
[I can't; that's why you have to go to the forest. I have assigned another divine beast to assist you.]
He has assigned another divine beast to assist her. That's more like it, since it's easier to communicate with something that can be seen with the eyes.
'So you'll be with me until I find that divine beast?'
[Urm, and you have divine power, but it's not awakened yet.]
Divine power is the power of God. God gave humans divine power that can heal people's injuries. It doesn't matter how serious the injury is, as long as they haven't died yet.
The pope of the temple is the only being who is supposed to have divine power. But who cares? If she has divine power, then she can heal the people around her.
'I can heal people using it, right?'
[Yes. You're capable of doing that.]
Our talk continues as I continue to walk. It took longer than I imagined to arrive in the west. It took about 6 hours just to arrive at the forest.
"I didn't know this place was so far away." I sighed loudly.
I'm small, so I'm more tired than usual.
I took a deep breath before continuing my journey into the forest. I rarely heard Chevelure's voice all the way west. I only hear his voice when he wants to show me the direction I should go.
"If this continues, when can I see Lizzie? It took a long time just to arrive at the forest." I sighed a little.
I don't like all of this. It's more interesting to just lay on the bed without doing anything. But it's not like I hate it. I just prefer doing nothing.
[Lizzie also faced the same situation as you.]
Chevelure's voice was heard in my mind.
I giggled softly.
I knew Chevelure wouldn't lie to me, and when Chevelure said Lizzie was in the same situation as me, then she probably did.
"Chevelure, what will happen between us with the grand duke and his son?"
Now that I think about it, the grand duke probably realised that we went missing. Is he okay? What happened to them? I really hope the relationship between the father and the son will improve.
[It will be okay. After you enter the library, everything will be okay again. Your relationship with them won't change.]
"Why are you so sure about that? Not everyone can accept the fact that we were souls from another world."
It would make sense if they refused to acknowledge us as his daughters and sisters.
[The moment they saw you, it was the moment when you became their family. No one can change it.]
I didn't reply to his words and kept on walking. Chevelure also didn't say anything to me.
It would be good if they didn't know about their identity. Then everything won't be so awkward.
[Child, do you want to be happy?]
"Happy? Is something like that available to us? We're immortal... We'll live while others die. How can that be considered happy?" I asked out loud.
Since I have entered the forest, it will be no problem to talk out loud since no one will think she's crazy.
[Do you hate the idea of not dying that much?]
"It's not like I hate it... But if Lizzie and I were destined to live and watch our loved ones die one by one, who would be happy?"
[Is that reason enough to say that you will be unhappy? If you live your life to the fullest and are happy and end up losing them, is that a bad thing?]
"If you love someone, the pain of losing them will never be easy to heal. Just like Lizzie. Just because she didn't show doesn't mean it didn't hurt. She loves Anthony so much that she's willing to sacrifice everything for him."
[Even though they didn't deserve something called love and affection?]
"Everyone deserves it. Of course, if those people had already been twisted from the start, that would be different, but many people were mistreated to the point they misunderstood the meaning of love."
[You sure know a lot. I thought you hated humans?]
"It's not like I hate them. It's just that if I was too close to them, I would end up sympathising with them."
[Why would you do that?]
"Because they are humans. Sometimes they become twisted because of their surroundings or because of what has happened to them. The trauma. The pain. The memories."
[It looks like I still have a lot to learn.]
"It's good to know you're interested in human behaviour, but it's impossible for you to fully understand it. They're difficult beings. Every person has a different way of thinking."
[Don't you find it amazing? How humans look the same but are different at the same time.]
"There were times when I found it amazing, and there were times when I found it just disgusting."
She lived for more than 20 years. She has seen a lot of humans all these years. Some of them are amazing, but some of them are just disgusting.
Like how an old man rapes a young girl. Or like how a woman rapes a boy. Like how a man is obsessed over one woman and willing to kill or hurt them if they ever fall for someone else. Or when they got pleasure from seeing someone in pain.
Or when a woman was jealous over the smallest things and didn't hesitate to use dirty methods to get them. Or when they betrayed each other for their own benefits. Or when a woman throws a baby away because she doesn't want it. Or when a man left a woman after making her pregnant.
Sometimes it's just disgusting and overbearing.
It's not about personality anymore.
It's about how they just didn't want to be responsible for what happened, or they just felt powerful to the point where they weren't scared of anything and did whatever they wanted as they pleased.
Chevelure didn't say anything, as if he understood what she meant.
When Chevelure keeps quiet, I hear a human voice talking. Why would humans be in the forest? Isn't this forest full of monsters? I walked carefully and hid behind a big tree as I observed a group of men wearing all black talking to each other.
They look suspicious. Then I saw a carriage like a prison that showed a kid inside it. There's a chain around his neck, leg, and hand. What the hell?
"What the f—ck. Isn't this situation worse than when I encounter a group of children being held captive inside the cave?"
That kid looks younger than me. And what is this? Why do they chain him as if he were a beast and not a human being?
[The moment you choose to help him, your fate and his fate will change.]
Chevelure said it as if he knew what I was thinking.
"If I help him, what will happen to him?"
[All you have to know is that the moment you choose to help him, his fate and your fate will change.]
I knew that Chevelure had no intention of telling me how his fate would change, so I chose to take the risk and help him.
I feel the gentle flow of mana inside me gather as I reach out my hand towards them. A bolt of lightning appeared from my hand and struck those men. As if shocked by my sudden interruptions, two of the men succeeded in avoiding my attack.
Three of them fell to the ground after being attacked by me. It looks like they have died.
"What the hell is this? Who is it? Show yourself!" One of the men shouted loudly.
I came out of the tree and approached them. The boy in the cage looked at me with blank eyes. Those pink eyes looked like he had given up everything.
"Huh? It's just a kid?" The man looked surprised that the child had appeared. Did this child attack them?
"Kidnapping is bad. What you did was bad." I said that while extending my hand towards them.
Fire came out of my hand, and it swirled around my small body. The two men looked surprised by that. The fire swirling around me went towards the two men and burned their bodies.
They didn't have time to dodge or run away because they were surprised by the abilities of the kid in front of them.
"Arghhhh! It's hot! My body is on fire! Arghhhh!"
They screamed and ran back and forth while trying to put out the flames that were raging in their bodies.
However, no matter what they did, the fire did not go out but instead grew and burned. They screamed for help, and they did not stop howling in pain.
After a few minutes, they fell to the ground and stopped moving. They are dead. As soon as they stopped breathing, the fire just disappeared.
Only burned human bodies remained.
I look at my hand. These powers are so terrifying. It's unbelievable to think that I would kill a human with my own hand.
I immediately came back to my senses and ran towards the boy, who was staring at me with blank eyes. I took the key out of the man's pocket and opened the cage.
"Are you okay?" I asked while trying to open the chain that was in his leg, hand, and neck.
"Who?"
I look at him and smile softly. "My name is Lilian." He stared at me as if he were trying to eat my whole existence.
The pink eyes that looked empty began to shine.
"Why do you help me?"
"I need a reason to help people in need, huh? You're kid. How am I supposed to turn a blind eye and just ignore you when you're being treated like you're not human?"
He's a human being. Why would an adult treat him like he was a dangerous beast that would kill people without blinking?
"There are no people who help others without any motives. What do you want from me? Threaten me?"
"What do I get from threatening you? You're so weak. You can't even protect yourself. You're no use to me."
Well, it does sound a bit heartless, but what can I do? It's reality. He's so thin and weak. I'm afraid a single punch would break him to pieces.
"You will gain nothing by helping me out."
"I don't wish for you to repay me."
He looked speechless at her, but then he said, "I'm bad. I'm not a good human."
I frowned at his words.
Why would he say those words?
"A bad person never said they were bad. A good person never said they were good."
"I'm not lying. You'll regret doing this. You'll regret saving me."
I stopped, opened the chain, and looked at his pink eyes. He has such beautiful eyes and a flawless face. But his face is somewhat cold and frightening.
"Why would I regret doing this?"
He's absolutely right. I would regret it. I would regret it if I didn't help him today.
"You don't know me. Once you do, you will find me disgusting."
He keeps saying it as if he wants me to hate him like others do. But I have no intention of doing so. I open the chain and release him from the cage. I took his hand and got him out of the cage. I don't know how old he is, but he's smaller than me.
"We will know about that once I know you. At that time, I will decide whether I regret it or not."
I hold his hand and look at his bloody hand, face, and everything. His clothes soak up his own blood. I don't know how many times these adults beat him to the point where he got seriously injured.
I could clearly see that his hand was starting to change colour. It got darker and darker. It's clear that this is the beast's poison.
"If you don't stop now, it will be too late."
"I don't care."
He was staring at me as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.
"Are you an angel?" He asked me in a quiet voice, as if he were dreaming about being saved.
"You can think of me like that. I can be an angel if that's what you want."
Then I looked over at the kid's body. Due to the beast's poison, his condition was rapidly worsening.
'I can't save him?'
"I will die." He said it as if he was sure that he would really die.
In the novel, it is described that if human were exposed to the beast or monster poison, they would turn into one and then die like that.
'No, that can't be. I can't give up now!'
That's what I thought. I held onto my shaking heart as that boy struggled to breathe. This little boy is about her age. He probably struggles to fight the pain inside him too. He struggles to live, but his condition seems to get worse.
He's still breathing, he's still conscious, and he can look me in the eyes, so I can't give up here. No, not like this. But how do I help him, then?
"Even if you succeed in freeing me from those people, this poison has already spread throughout my body. I will die."
His pink eyes are so pretty that I felt lost for a while. But then I came back to my senses. It's really dangerous because he's so pretty and cute.
I could never forgive myself if I just let this kid die in front of me like this.
"I can't let it happen."
I closed my eyes as I tried to think of how to awaken the divine power.
[Pray to me. Think about how much you want this child to live.]
I heard Chevelure's voice in my mind again. 'Pray? How to do that?' I didn't know how to pray.
[Pray so that I can hear your plea.]
I put my hands together and closed my eyes tightly as I prayed. I didn't know how to pray with my whole heart or put my whole self into prayer, but I begged, begged, and continued to beg.
"Oh merciful and holy god, this weak soul is looking for you desperately. Please lend me your power; please save this child in front of me. Please give him his warm breath again and let him live in your world again. Please save this child."
BOOM!
My surroundings suddenly turned bright.
A huge beam of light engulfed the forest. It was an intense, blinding light that made the boy close his eyes too. All the corpses have disappeared with the appearance of the light.
The light turned golden. In the golden light, Lilian was sitting and clasping her hands. It was a holy scene that looked like a masterpiece honouring an angel.
The boy opened his eyes again and looked at her with a disbelieving face. He looked at his hand. There's no dark trace, and there's no pain in his body. The beautiful girl in front of him showed him a miracle that he never expected.
He was about to give up as the poison spread, but the moment this girl was surrounded by light, he knew his little hope would be granted. He wanted to live, and he did. It's all because he encountered this girl. The girl who gave him an absolute new life.
Then Lilian opened her eyes. She stared at the boy's face and smiled lightly as she saw that his condition had gotten a lot better. Before she could move her lips or say anything, she lost all her strength and collapsed.
The boy was faster. He caught her body in time. After confirming that Lilian was okay, he began to look around. The light purified everything it touched.
He has realised something. He's lucky because he got to meet this girl. She was a light that shone brightly in this era where the priests who serve God were drying up.
It was a huge and miraculous light that made it hard to believe that it came from a kid like her.
"My miracle."
He smile.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
"Your grace! It's an emergency! The twin disappears!"
The mansion suddenly turned upside down the moment the news about the twin disappeared, filling the entire mansion. It's not even been a week since Lark found them.
Lark's expression changed at Gilbert's words. Blue veins appear on his forehead, and he feels panic the moment he knows that his child has gone missing again.
What happen?
What went wrong?
Is it because their secret has been exposed?
Is it because they didn't believe in him?
Or is it because he is incompetent for not being able to guard his children carefully?
"We found a letter inside the twin room. One is for you, and one is for the young master. We have informed the young master about this, and he is probably in the twin rooms." Gilbert said it with a careful voice.
Lark didn't wait any longer.
He walked out of his study and immediately went to the third floor, where the twin room was located. He opened the door aggressively, and it made a loud sound. He saw that Luca was already there and was reading a letter that seemed to have been left for him.
He went to the table beside the bed and took the envelope that seemed to have been left for him.
He opened the envelope and read the letter with uneasy eyes. He can't describe how he feels the moment he touches the letter.
{Hello, grand duke. I'm sorry, because the moment you read this letter, we are not here anymore. I know you must have had a hard time searching for us, but we suddenly disappeared again. We're very sorry for the problem we caused.
We're from another world with another name. The world we used to live in is completely different in this world. I think it's fair for us to tell you about our original world since you already know that we're not originally from here. In our world, we were known as Julia and Helina. We didn't have family. In short, we're orphans. Both of us have known each other since we were little.
Without knowing it, we grew up together and ended up being each other's families. We grew up alone without knowing what family love was. We have no father, no mother, no brother, no sister; we have no one.
We live a very lonely life. I don't know how to love, but I know that everyone deserves to be loved. The same goes to your son, Luca. I know you care about him, but why have you never paid attention to him? Look at him and praise him at least once. He's your son.
You probably wonder what I know about the two of you, right? In our world, there's a book that describes it. There are two main characters, and you and your son Luca are the side characters. It's about your relationship with each other.
That's why I feel sad. If you love your son, why are you being so stubborn and not showing that you love him properly? You make him misunderstand the entire situation for the rest of his life.
If you love, then don't hesitate to show that you love. What's so embarrassing about loving someone? Just show it. Show that no one can replace his place in your heart and that you treasure him. I believe it's going to be hard, but believe me, you would regret it if you didn't do it now.
In our lonely lives, we were hoping that we would have someone that we could call family, and we wanted to rely on them. We want to be spoiled and loved. We want to know how it feels to be protected. So I hope you know that my brother, Luca, is the same. He's still a 12-year-old child. No matter how mature or brilliant he is, it won't change the fact that he's just a kid who wants some love.
And we leave this place, not because we hate any of you. Just like you know, we are from another world, and we have memories from our original world. We also know about this world. That's why we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, but we're definitely older than we look. We're adults in a child's body. So you don't have to worry. This body won't be damaged.
We probably won't come back to the mansion. Well, it didn't belong to us in the first place. We're strangers, aren't we? Our existence is so confusing, but you don't have to bother yourself with us. We will live without bothering you.
And I was serious when I said I wanted you to put some effort into your relationship with your son. Give him the attention and love he deserves. He's still a kid.
I think that's all I have to say. If we meet again, I hope you won't hate us that much.
From Lilian.}
He just found them, and then he has to lose them again? It really doesn't matter, even though they're from another world! They're his children!
In the letter written by Lilian to him, it was said that he should put some effort into his relationship with Luca. The fact that no one ever told him that before makes him feel weird.
"Find them. Search, my daughter!" He said this as the blue vein appeared in his face.
Luca turned his face towards his father and looked at the letter again. The moment he heard his sisters had gone missing, he felt guilty. Is it because of him? Is he the reason they ran away?
"Young master! They're gone! The twins disappear!"
Gilbert probably went to his room first since it is on the second floor. At the moment he said it, Luca's heart shattered into a million pieces, and his whole world turned black.
That's why he immediately went to the twin room. He saw two envelopes on the table. One has his name, and another has his father's name. The twins wrote the letter to both of them.
How should he react to this?
He hesitated to open the envelope, but then he did. He read the content inside the envelope. And it's clearly not something he expected. It's shocking.
{This is the letter I wrote exclusively for 'my brother', Luca.
First of all, we have to say we're sorry for leaving all of a sudden. All of you might be frightened by now. It was such a good day, but then we suddenly went missing.
I don't know how to call you.
If I called you brother, would you be mad at us?
I hope you won't get mad.
You probably didn't know, but we're older than our looks. We have lived in another world for 25 years. And suddenly we were brought into this world. In terms of age, we're far older than you, but since we're going to live in a child's body, I personally think it would be better if we called you brother.
We were also confused about our existence, so we genuinely didn't blame any of you. But we can say for sure that we're from another world. If you hear the story about Velma and Daphne, then you will understand. Our lives are practically the same as theirs.
We will live, and we will not die.
I guess it will be a long and lonely life.
Isn't it just like a curse? It's going to hurt a lot because we were able to live forever but now have to watch every single person that we love die one by one.
We have a terrifying power because the responsibility on our shoulders is very heavy. We won't blame you if you hate us. You can think that we are not family since our souls are basically from another world.
You don't know us, but we know you. Even when we didn't arrive in this world, even when we were still living in our original world, we still knew you. Perhaps we knew you better than you knew yourself.
In our original world, whenever life was hard on us, we read a book. Book that describes everything about this world. Whenever we were sad, angry, disappointed, or even happy, we always had time to read a book about you.
About this world.
When we had a bad day, we distracted ourselves by reading. You make our black-and-white world colourful. We read, and we know the pain that you keep in your heart. You don't have to lie, since we're not stupid.
But, brother, I really want to let you know this. You're amazing in everything you do. You shine in your own way. You are you, so don't ever compare yourself to others. You should look back at yourself and be proud of how much you have grown to be a wonderful human being.
Don't ever let the world take control of you. Don't let someone's words destroy you. You are better than you were yesterday. It's something you should be proud of. Just because you're having a bad day doesn't mean you won't be happy.
You'll be happy as long as you give yourself a chance. Learn to appreciate yourself, and please don't be too hard on yourself. You're not a God. You're just a kid who will make a lot of mistakes. Learn from those mistakes. That's what you should do.
Open your eyes and give yourself a chance to see how this world works. Humans have different personalities. You can't fully understand them, but if you try, you can understand half of them. The same goes for your father.
You might not believe me, but he truly loves you. You're his son. He might not have shown it, but he really did. He was just a bit stupid and didn't know how to treat you properly.
Even so, I want you to give him a chance. You should also try to communicate more with him. No one deserves to be alone. And you deserve to be loved.
Then I'll stop writing here. When we meet again, I hope you won't get mad because I call you brother.
From Lizzie.}
He didn't accept them as his siblings, but that didn't mean that he hated them. He was a bit jealous because his father seemed to like them more than he liked him, but he never really hated them.
The fact that they're from another world is shocking, but he didn't mean he wanted them to leave the grand duchy.
"Luca." Lark called his name.
"Yes father."
"I want you to tell me. If I find them, are you going to allow them to live in the mansion with us? Because if you don't want to, then I will send them to our mansion in the capital. Tell me. What do you want?"
Lark wants to consider what his son wants. In this situation, where the twin souls have been swapped, he needs to make a decision so that no one gets hurt. How could he have the heart to let his children live like orphans when they have a father?
He's their father.
He didn't care whether the soul had been swapped or not. It never changes the fact that he's willing to take care of and love them.
"Father."
"Yes, Luca."
"They're my sisters."
Lark stared at Luca's cold and serious face with wide eyes. As if he didn't expect those words to come out of his son's mouth.
"Huh?"
"They're my sisters, so it's normal that they should live together with us. Find them. And bring them here. We're family." He said.
Lark was confused for a moment, but then a smile appeared on his face.
"I understand."
It seems like the letter left by the twins has changed Luca completely. He didn't know what Lizzie wrote for Luca, but it was probably a good one. Since Lilian wrote a letter for him, Lizzie must be writing the letter to Luca.
"Father, please call the magic tower master. There's a trace of magic in this room." Luca said as he observed the room.
Lark smiles and does as he says.