There was nothing that lifted Deborah's spirits.
“Oh no, we’re going to be late.”
Hazel looked up from her spot picking wild flowers in the garden.
Deborah, who had promised to show Hazel some wildflowers, realized too late that she had been delaying picking various things.
Deborah hurried to Hazel, brushing the dirt off her skirt.
Just as she entered the annex.
“Deborah.”
An unfamiliar male voice grabbed her ankle.
Then, a man who seemed familiar from somewhere was making an example.
“Who are you?”
“Lord Carsis sent you from the palace.”
Ah.
Deborah let out a short sigh at the familiar name coming from the man's mouth and took a step back.
She wonders if he's trying to take her back.
While she was letting her imagination run wild, the man looked around and quietly muttered.
“There will be a bookshelf in the room on the far right of the annex on the third floor. The second from the top. There is something there that you should see.”
"Yes?"
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Before Deborah could ask what he was talking about, the man disappeared as if he had finished what he was doing.
Deborah muttered as she blankly stared at the empty space left by the man who had appeared without a sound, blurted out random words, and disappeared.
“What the heck?”
She tried to pass it by without thinking much, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
Deborah hesitated for a moment, as if conflicted, and then took a step forward.
“Ues, let’s just check and go.”
Eventually, Deborah went to the third floor instead of the second floor where Hazel was and entered the room the man had mentioned.
In the corner of the room, where there was no trace of human presence, there was an old bookshelf against the wall, just as the man had said.
“I think he's talking about here.”
As she was looking through the books on the second shelf, as the man had said, there was one book that caught her eye.
Deborah took out the old sheepskin-covered book, feeling instinctively that this was the book he was talking about.
“This is...”
Then, a familiar name was engraved on it.
“...Charlotte?”
It was a diary with her mother's name engraved on it.
“Why is this here?”
This diary was something she had never seen before, even when she was in Lytskal.
Why is her mother's diary here when it's not even in the Oroz mansion?
Deborah's heart began to flutter at the strange situation.
But that was only for a moment.
She couldn't hide her joy at finding traces of her mother.
It didn't matter to her why the diary was there.
Because this was also a part of the mother she longed for.
Deborah opened the diary with a pounding heart and excitement.
The diary contained anecdotes that Hazel had told her, as well as her honest feelings when she first met her father.
Deborah began to immerse herself in the diary, forgetting even her promise to go to Hazel.
As the sun gradually set and the day grew dark.
As Deborah turned the pages of the diary, she felt something strange.
“Why is it thick only here?”
Deborah felt that the paper on one page was thicker than the others, and she gently scratched the corner.
Then, she realized that the two pages were stuck together.
“It looks like it was put there on purpose.”
She wondered if there was a secret story that they wanted to hide.
Deborah quickly tore off the paper out of curiosity.
But on the piece of paper that she had torn off with difficulty, there was something written in a handwriting that seemed a little emotional.
And in that diary was written the story of 'the prophecy' that was the starting point of all of this today.
The truth of the prophecy that Deborah didn't know.
"What's this...?"
Deborah's hands began to tremble as she read the text.
The prophecy written in her mother's diary was different from what she knew.
There.
The young thorns of the red rose will prick the Emperor's neck.
There were words written that should never be mentioned.
Young thorns of a red rose.
It meant the successor to the Oroz family.
“No.”
The child of prophecy who would kill the Emperor was not Bellona of the House of Jupiter.
The real protagonist of the prophecy is...
“...Really me?”
The child of prophecy who will kill the Emperor.
The diary Deborah was holding fell to the floor with a thud.
“No way...”
Is it because she's been standing for too long?
Deborah suddenly lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground.
The mind that used to grope for memories of her mother had long since become a blank sheet of paper.
She picked up the diary that was strewn across the floor, wondering if she had seen it wrong.
The diary that was picked up again had the back page of the prophecy written on it open.
And on top of it was Charles' letter to Deborah, written in the same calm and composed style as before.
My dear daughter, Deborah.
Just as there are no eternal secrets in the world, there will come a day when you will read this diary.
And by the time you see this diary, many things around you will have already changed.
Charles was placating her as if he had expected Deborah to see this diary.
Before she died, she calmly recited about the innocent people she had pushed into the hot pit of fire.
You may not understand me. You may even resent me a little. But remember, Deborah.
You will soon find out why I had to make that choice.
Deborah lowered her head as she read the last sentence of the letter.
“There’s no way I could know.”
There was no way she could have known how it felt to betray a friend she had been with since childhood to save her daughter.
“Mother, what the...”
What have you done?
Her mother suddenly passed away, leaving her with this heavy karma that suffocated her and weighed on her shoulders.
“If my mother had not told the Emperor the false prophecy..”
She might have died, but everyone else could live.
It felt like someone was squeezing her heart. A groan escaped Deborah's mouth as she struggled in an inescapable swamp.
“I, I...”
What should I do?
“How could I... that man?”
Are you saying that I can kill the Emperor?
Deborah turned her gaze back to the page that had just made her shiver.
The handwriting in which the prophecy was written was so distorted that it was hard to believe it was written by her mother.
The force with which she wrote was so great that the back of the paper was slightly torn.
As Deborah swept it over with her fingertips for a while, memories of the past flashed through her mind.
"The power of Oroz family can be said to be the closest to the power of God among the five families. In some ways, it is an ability that can be boldly called representative of God. Therefore, God was concerned that the Oroz family would abuse this power, and placed one restriction on it."
Her teacher and the elder of the Oroz family spoke to young Deborah.
One limitation on using the power.
"If a person falsely prophecies the future by claiming to have seen it when he or she has not, or manipulates the content of the prophecy, the caster..."
“You will definitely die.”
A fatal restriction that could easily result in death.
The restriction made it impossible for the Oroz family to ever lie about a prophecy.
Deborah took a deep breath as if realizing something as her thoughts reached that point.
"No way."
Her mother died in a sudden carriage accident during her childhood.
They said the accident was an unexpected event that shocked everyone.
“That day, my mother did it for me...”
"Father. How did Mother die?"
Deborah dug up a dusty memory she had buried deep in her heart.
"...That day, Charles, who had left for the capital to deliver an important message to the Emperor, was on her way back to the mansion. And it was a rainy day and the roads were very slippery. And when the carriage Charles was riding in passed Cathar, suddenly..."
Her father turned his head away as if he could no longer continue speaking.
Ah.
Only then did all the puzzle pieces seem to fit together.
The correlation between the sudden death of the mother and the true prophecy is written in the diary.
“...for me.”
Clearly, the prophecy that the mother had told the Emperor was that a child from the House of Jupiter, not her, would kill the Emperor. And she would have lost her life in return for telling a false prophecy.
"Mother..."
So much was sacrificed to save someone who couldn't even walk properly.
The mother she always longed for. And...
“Oh no, we’re going to be late.”
Hazel looked up from her spot picking wild flowers in the garden.
Deborah, who had promised to show Hazel some wildflowers, realized too late that she had been delaying picking various things.
Deborah hurried to Hazel, brushing the dirt off her skirt.
Just as she entered the annex.
“Deborah.”
An unfamiliar male voice grabbed her ankle.
Then, a man who seemed familiar from somewhere was making an example.
“Who are you?”
“Lord Carsis sent you from the palace.”
Ah.
Deborah let out a short sigh at the familiar name coming from the man's mouth and took a step back.
She wonders if he's trying to take her back.
While she was letting her imagination run wild, the man looked around and quietly muttered.
“There will be a bookshelf in the room on the far right of the annex on the third floor. The second from the top. There is something there that you should see.”
"Yes?"
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Before Deborah could ask what he was talking about, the man disappeared as if he had finished what he was doing.
Deborah muttered as she blankly stared at the empty space left by the man who had appeared without a sound, blurted out random words, and disappeared.
“What the heck?”
She tried to pass it by without thinking much, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
Deborah hesitated for a moment, as if conflicted, and then took a step forward.
“Ues, let’s just check and go.”
Eventually, Deborah went to the third floor instead of the second floor where Hazel was and entered the room the man had mentioned.
In the corner of the room, where there was no trace of human presence, there was an old bookshelf against the wall, just as the man had said.
“I think he's talking about here.”
As she was looking through the books on the second shelf, as the man had said, there was one book that caught her eye.
Deborah took out the old sheepskin-covered book, feeling instinctively that this was the book he was talking about.
“This is...”
Then, a familiar name was engraved on it.
“...Charlotte?”
It was a diary with her mother's name engraved on it.
“Why is this here?”
This diary was something she had never seen before, even when she was in Lytskal.
Why is her mother's diary here when it's not even in the Oroz mansion?
Deborah's heart began to flutter at the strange situation.
But that was only for a moment.
She couldn't hide her joy at finding traces of her mother.
It didn't matter to her why the diary was there.
Because this was also a part of the mother she longed for.
Deborah opened the diary with a pounding heart and excitement.
The diary contained anecdotes that Hazel had told her, as well as her honest feelings when she first met her father.
Deborah began to immerse herself in the diary, forgetting even her promise to go to Hazel.
As the sun gradually set and the day grew dark.
As Deborah turned the pages of the diary, she felt something strange.
“Why is it thick only here?”
Deborah felt that the paper on one page was thicker than the others, and she gently scratched the corner.
Then, she realized that the two pages were stuck together.
“It looks like it was put there on purpose.”
She wondered if there was a secret story that they wanted to hide.
Deborah quickly tore off the paper out of curiosity.
But on the piece of paper that she had torn off with difficulty, there was something written in a handwriting that seemed a little emotional.
And in that diary was written the story of 'the prophecy' that was the starting point of all of this today.
The truth of the prophecy that Deborah didn't know.
"What's this...?"
Deborah's hands began to tremble as she read the text.
The prophecy written in her mother's diary was different from what she knew.
There.
The young thorns of the red rose will prick the Emperor's neck.
There were words written that should never be mentioned.
Young thorns of a red rose.
It meant the successor to the Oroz family.
“No.”
The child of prophecy who would kill the Emperor was not Bellona of the House of Jupiter.
The real protagonist of the prophecy is...
“...Really me?”
The child of prophecy who will kill the Emperor.
The diary Deborah was holding fell to the floor with a thud.
“No way...”
Is it because she's been standing for too long?
Deborah suddenly lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground.
The mind that used to grope for memories of her mother had long since become a blank sheet of paper.
She picked up the diary that was strewn across the floor, wondering if she had seen it wrong.
The diary that was picked up again had the back page of the prophecy written on it open.
And on top of it was Charles' letter to Deborah, written in the same calm and composed style as before.
My dear daughter, Deborah.
Just as there are no eternal secrets in the world, there will come a day when you will read this diary.
And by the time you see this diary, many things around you will have already changed.
Charles was placating her as if he had expected Deborah to see this diary.
Before she died, she calmly recited about the innocent people she had pushed into the hot pit of fire.
You may not understand me. You may even resent me a little. But remember, Deborah.
You will soon find out why I had to make that choice.
Deborah lowered her head as she read the last sentence of the letter.
“There’s no way I could know.”
There was no way she could have known how it felt to betray a friend she had been with since childhood to save her daughter.
“Mother, what the...”
What have you done?
Her mother suddenly passed away, leaving her with this heavy karma that suffocated her and weighed on her shoulders.
“If my mother had not told the Emperor the false prophecy..”
She might have died, but everyone else could live.
It felt like someone was squeezing her heart. A groan escaped Deborah's mouth as she struggled in an inescapable swamp.
“I, I...”
What should I do?
“How could I... that man?”
Are you saying that I can kill the Emperor?
Deborah turned her gaze back to the page that had just made her shiver.
The handwriting in which the prophecy was written was so distorted that it was hard to believe it was written by her mother.
The force with which she wrote was so great that the back of the paper was slightly torn.
As Deborah swept it over with her fingertips for a while, memories of the past flashed through her mind.
"The power of Oroz family can be said to be the closest to the power of God among the five families. In some ways, it is an ability that can be boldly called representative of God. Therefore, God was concerned that the Oroz family would abuse this power, and placed one restriction on it."
Her teacher and the elder of the Oroz family spoke to young Deborah.
One limitation on using the power.
"If a person falsely prophecies the future by claiming to have seen it when he or she has not, or manipulates the content of the prophecy, the caster..."
“You will definitely die.”
A fatal restriction that could easily result in death.
The restriction made it impossible for the Oroz family to ever lie about a prophecy.
Deborah took a deep breath as if realizing something as her thoughts reached that point.
"No way."
Her mother died in a sudden carriage accident during her childhood.
They said the accident was an unexpected event that shocked everyone.
“That day, my mother did it for me...”
"Father. How did Mother die?"
Deborah dug up a dusty memory she had buried deep in her heart.
"...That day, Charles, who had left for the capital to deliver an important message to the Emperor, was on her way back to the mansion. And it was a rainy day and the roads were very slippery. And when the carriage Charles was riding in passed Cathar, suddenly..."
Her father turned his head away as if he could no longer continue speaking.
Ah.
Only then did all the puzzle pieces seem to fit together.
The correlation between the sudden death of the mother and the true prophecy is written in the diary.
“...for me.”
Clearly, the prophecy that the mother had told the Emperor was that a child from the House of Jupiter, not her, would kill the Emperor. And she would have lost her life in return for telling a false prophecy.
"Mother..."
So much was sacrificed to save someone who couldn't even walk properly.
The mother she always longed for. And...
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