Chapter 51
“Help me!”
“I don’t want to.”
Phileal hated touching low-level offerings that could not be offered even as burnt offerings. But he had no choice but to touch the death mark on the back of his hand to them.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Stay still. That way you die easily.”
“S-Save…!”
Phileal had no intention of saving them. After all, weak creatures are eaten by strong ones. It existed both in nature and in society.
That’s why he didn’t think it was that bad for him, who was close to the God of Death, to kill these weak women. Even so, he remembered his mother who tried to protect him when he was young even with a weak body.
“Hu-ugh…!”
Also, the image of Anais trying to save him continued to flicker in front of his eyes like an afterimage, which made him feel strange.
“It won’t hurt if you die at once.”
“Sa, sa, sa… save, ugh…!”
“It will hurt more when you move. If I misuse my abilities and you just rot, it will be a problem.”
Phileal said so without any emotion. He immobilized the legs of the other three who were about to run away. They couldn’t move their legs because of the power of the God of Death. As if all the energy in their legs had been exhausted, they could not move.
“I did wr, kgghk…!”
“No, you did wrong. It was wrong to be weak.”
“Ugh…!”
Phileal didn’t feel better even when he said that. He knew that he had to suck the vitality out of Emilia but he hesitated as he tightened the hand on her neck.
“Don’t sleep! I’ll save you soon, so stay there! You can’t faint!”
He suddenly couldn’t understand what Anais had said when she saved him. Why did she save him even when it hurt so much that the gloves on her palms fell off? Then why is her crying so annoying to him?
“Huaaahhh…!”
Phileal saw Emilia, who had started to cry in a messy redness. Unfortunately, he had no sympathy.
Anais does not take the life of a stranger lightly. If she was like that, wouldn’t she be sad when these women died?
“Why don’t you like that?”
“Huwaa…! I, I was wrong…!”
Emilia was weeping and holding Phileal’s arm tightly with both hands. He somehow couldn’t kill her. It would be easy to just absorb all the vitality and then mummify her. Then, all he has to do is hand over the increased strength and energy to Anais.
“Is it because you think it’s a sacrifice?”
“Hu-ugh…!”
When his thought got up to that point, he thought it made sense.
“Is that so? A maid?”
“Yes! Th, that’s, ri, right…!”
Emilia didn’t even know what Phileal was talking about, she just replied. With her firm answer, Phileal somehow understood the situation. An affection for something. It must be like that. There is no sacrifice that the God of Death would be satisfied with other than the saintess of the Goddess of Life. He smiled thinking about it.
Anais hadn’t fully recovered so her cheeks were still severely swollen. Her eyes were swollen, and her lips were all chapped. But what’s worse was.
‘You guys… What’s wrong with your hair?’
Anais was unable to make a sound because of the restraints hanging from his throat. Even so, she did say something to Emilia who was looking at her.
“Let’s sweep quickly, guys.”
“…Yes.”
“…….”
“…….”
The four of them were sweeping the floor very obediently. Anais looked at them again in puzzlement. The maid outfit was the same as before. On the contrary, it seemed more neat and well-polished.
Only the hairs of all four maids had been cut off. Their hair was shaved very short, like a recruit who joined the Knights. It was also jagged and not neatly cut in the middle, as if it had been forcibly cut. Because in some parts there were bald patches.
Anais couldn’t figure out how the hairs of these four people had become so disastrous. Still, she didn’t bother to ask. She had a vague idea.
Phileal was one who coveted her hair. Now, fortunately, her hair has grown back, but the hair that was forcibly cut has returned to its original color as if all the divine power had been taken out. That would mean that the power he wanted was drained. It might be something like anger for making these hair useless.
Even the strange favor shown to her there. Maybe that favor came from a sense of debt for saving him.
Anais didn’t think this was the right thing to do, but she was frankly feeling inwardly refreshed. If she recalled what she went through because of her hair being cut… Would the situation be better than now if she had her heart for Phileal rather than Kylian?
Anais thought so, but she hoped that she could meet Kylian and resolve the current situation and leave this place quickly. Because she didn’t even want to feel this way.
She swept the floor without speaking. As the maids did so, they slowly swept across the marble floor. Because they had to divide the area, they didn’t talk to each other much.
Anais swept for a long time and then prepared to mop. She carefully set the bucket of water on the floor and wiped the floor with a damp cloth. The white marble, in fact, was so clean it didn’t even need to be polished. That’s because they’ve already finished cleaning in the morning, and they were doing it again.
There were rubbing noises all over the place. The maids were silent, perhaps because their severed hairs were so miserable, and Anais could not speak too, so she quietly wiped the floor.
Meanwhile, the voices inside the throne room grew louder and quieter.
Kylian became the emperor who unified the entire continent. It was an achievement that will be recorded in history, and his appearance of being the ideal monarch he has shown so far will be well recorded in history.
Anais knew that if she could correct his misdirection and make him realize that the woman beside him covering his eyes wasn’t the real Anais, everything would work out.
The reason Kylian wanted to become a good monarch was because he wanted to live differently from his father. Like the one she saw in the original story. To protect those who are weaker than him, not to embrace any woman like his father and live a prodigal life.
What he wanted to be in the original story was such a monarch. It was clear that the reason why he tried to find his ex-wife again, who had been bothering him—actually, she was pretty nice—stemmed from such a determined personality.
But there are times when he has to let go. Anais thought so. Death is everywhere. As long as Kylian and her are human, they will die one day. Then the real problem is the attitude of accepting death.
Unlike him who had to let her go without preparation, she was thoroughly prepared. That’s why there was a difference between the two, so they couldn’t understand each other’s feelings.
Anais thought, maybe things would have been different if she had given him time to prepare for her own death as well.
‘Ha.’
She was getting sick of cleaning. As she was silently cleaning, useless thoughts continued to fill her head. It is useless to regret what has already happened. Anais had always lived looking forward, but after she came back to life, she regretted everything.
Squeak.
She was still hearing rubbing noises from inside, but she was startled when the door suddenly opened. The government meeting should have lasted for at least two hours, but now it only started less than thirty minutes ago.
“Looks good.”
Kylian looked at her with a sneer. Anais recalled that she had fallen from the tower while trying to get away from Kylian. Afterwards, while she was seriously ill, Anais seemed to know how Kylian had reached the Magic Tower in one fell swoop.
The emperor, Kylian, must know the gate to the Magic Tower. It was also connected to the room of the Lord of the Magic Tower. And there was a high probability that the Tower Lord’s room would even contain a magic tool that would send a signal if someone entered the tower.
Anais regretted that she hadn’t even thought about it because she was so out of her mind when she ran into Kylian at the time.
From Kylian’s point of view, she was Lilith now. Anais didn’t know how much or how the other Lilith had tricked him, but she thought it might have been because she really loved him.
The bad relationship between the two seemed to have more things that she didn’t know. Kylian may have acted like that because he was afraid that his wife, who he had brought back to life, would die again because of him. If he firmly misunderstood his current feelings. Maybe it’s because he was afraid.
“Make sure your goal is clear.”
Suddenly, she recalled what Lewarren had said. She wanted Kylian to return to his original self. She hoped he really finds his place and returns to his original state, not the broken state he is now. And to make that happen, she came to the imperial palace in Lilith’s body.
She thought so and opened her eyes.
“You are exceptionally calm today.”
He looked at her with a sarcastic attitude. Anais made eye contact with him, and she felt exceptionally good when she stared into his starry golden eyes.
How much time does she have left? Anais knew that she had no time left to resent and hate him. She could be kicked out of this body tomorrow, or even an hour from now. If so, Kylian, who had been destroyed by the guilt she arbitrarily placed on him, would not be able to return.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Maybe that’s why Lewarren brought her here. But now she doesn’t know why he would just leave her like this.
“Be polite in front of the Emperor.”
“…….”
Anais stood and looked straight at Kylian, who spoke in an overbearing voice.
Compared to when she saw him from the Magic Tower, he seemed to have softened up a bit. Anais looked straight at him and said.
‘Is that all you have to say, Your Majesty?’
“Ha.”
Then he laughed and glared at her, amused by her defiance.
“Did you get yourself together after the Magic Tower?”
‘Then why did you panic when I fell?’
“I have never panicked. Rather, I thought it was good that you fell.”
‘Your Majesty looks people straight in the eyes whenever you lie.’
Perhaps because of Anais’ words, Kylian changed the subject.
“It’s obvious why you stopped by there. You must have tried to kill the Tower Lord.”
‘…….’
“Having done that a few times already, now you’re using your hair as an excuse. How shameless.”
Why did Lilith want to kill the Tower Lord, Lionel? Anais felt frustrated because the wall she had to overcome was too high whenever she tried to do something.
‘Why would I kill the Tower Lord?’
“That is what I want to ask. Why did you want to kill someone in hibernation? Did you want to stop my wife from coming back to life?”
Anais didn’t think Kylian was lying.
“Smile like you did back then. Just smile and pretend to be nice.”
Kylian said coercively.
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