As I was resting in my room, I looked out the window and saw knights riding out of the castle in a hurry.
It seemed like they were going to catch Andrew.
Guessing that the meeting was over, I heard that Callius was in his office, so I went there.
Callius was looking at a map and talking seriously with Brentian and Hawick when he saw me entering his office.
“Yes, then, each to their positions.”
"Yes."
"All right."
Callius sent out Brentian and Hawick.
“You weren’t able to say everything you wanted to say because of me, were you?”
“No. Chloe came in just as the story was ending.”
“Is that so?”
“What’s going on?”
“I was waiting for Callius because I wanted to ask him about Sernia earlier.”
Callius offered me a seat.
As soon as I sat down, I asked about the Holy Grail.
“Didn’t Callius once say that if you had the Holy Grail, you could have completely broken the curse?”
“Yes, I remember.”
"Sernia also spoke about the Holy Grail earlier. What exactly is this Holy Grail? It seems like something important."
Callius paused for a moment, not knowing where to begin.
After gathering his thoughts, he began to speak with a face that seemed to recall the past.
"The Holy Grail is the reason Arrental has been constantly attacking Ronheim. It's why Kavala is obsessed with Ronheim."
Callius spoke in detail about the relationship between the Holy Grail and the Saintess, the endless wars that began when rumors about the Grail spread throughout the world, and the defeat of Ronheim.
Among them were stories that I thought were legends of Ronheim, and others that connected with stories I had seen in Arrental's history books.
Some of what I knew was true, some was distorted, and some was completely false.
I now finally understand why Kavala was so obsessed with Ronheim.
Also, the real reason why I was sent to Ronheim.
'You're doing all this just to stay young.'
I was amazed.
I shuddered at the baseness of Kavala, which did not hesitate to sacrifice others for its own desires.
Callius continued speaking.
"When I first lost the Holy Grail, I was convinced it had fallen into the hands of the Kavala. So I went to the palace to retrieve it..."
As I listened to the story of his efforts to find the Holy Grail, I felt a strange sense of foreboding.
'Strange... This sounds familiar?'
The story of how he went into hiding in the palace of Arrental in search of the Holy Grail, which holds the legend of immortality.
This is clear.
'Karl said the same thing.'
Callius, noticing that I was lost in thought, stared at me.
“Chloe?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I remember hearing a story similar to Callius’s story...”
It was confusing.
Callius, who had been watching me closely, asked cautiously.
“Is it by any chance that he told me that story... Karl?”
“How did you know?”
“I guessed because most of what Chloe says seems to involve your friend Karl.”
Well, since I only had one friend, not three or two, the 'someone' in the 'story of someone' I'm talking about can only be Karl.
I confessed it to Callius without hesitation.
"When I first met Karl, he said he'd sneaked into the palace to retrieve a precious object. Kavala had taken it, and he needed to retrieve it. He also said he was searching for the Holy Grail, a mysterious object with mysterious powers."
“...”
I could see Callius' expression growing darker.
His expression looked so serious that I forced a smile and spoke brightly.
"Isn't it really strange? I-I might have misunderstood something. Don't take it too seriously. It was a long time ago, so my memory might be distorted... I'll ask Karl again when I see him again."
Only then did Callius look at me and smile.
"Legends are often filled with similar stories. Not wanting to die or grow old are fundamental human desires. To create a story that appeals to everyone, elements like immortality or mystical relics are essential. I think it's possible that Chloe heard a similar story somewhere."
It was a tone that seemed to soothe me.
“Oh, is that so...”
"Yes. And if there are multiple items with such legends in the world, Kavala wouldn't have targeted just one. It's not like I'm the only one who's experienced something similar because of Kavala."
I nodded, convinced by Callius' words.
'Yeah, maybe I was confused, maybe Karl and Callius had similar pasts...'
I brushed off the fact that Karl and Callius had an unusually large amount in common.
'It can be. It can be.'
At first, I thought it was strange that Karl resembled Callius, but now I don't want to think about that anymore.
I just don't think that's right.
I changed the subject a bit.
"But didn't Sernia clearly say earlier that 'Kavala is seeking the Holy Grail'? If Callius is right, then the Holy Grail should be with Kavala..."
“I think she was probably trying to say that Kavala was looking for the key to the Holy Grail.”
Callius insisted firmly.
“The Holy Grail is definitely with Kavala. She must have stolen it.”
The expression on Callius' face as he spoke thus revealed a firm belief that the Kavala could never have lost the Holy Grail or had it stolen by someone else.
"How could it be stolen? I'm sure it's being kept in the safest place possible."
His words made sense.
“I guess so, I guess.”
Callius saw Chloe out of the office with a smile.
But immediately after Chloe left the office, his expression hardened.
'I was wondering why I couldn't find Karl.'
Just hearing Chloe's story cleared up all his doubts.
He hopes it's not true, but it can't be.
'Karl... doesn't exist.'
His heart felt like it was going to burst.
Someone with a similar name, appearance, and speech. It even has a similar past.
And a mysterious boy who is invisible to anyone but Chloe, who no one can find, and who does not grow up over time.
'It was me.'
Chloe seemed confused, so he made a joke about how there might be someone with a similar past, but he didn't mean it.
'That boy is me.'
His mouth was wide open in despair.
'He was an imaginary friend created based on me.'
His eyes turned red.
It was shocking that in all the time she had spent in the Arrental Palace, the only person Chloe could rely on and comfort was him.
Even if he is a character in an imaginary world.
He only spent a few days with her.
But for her, the memories of those few days were too good.
So much so that she didn't want to admit that he had left for Ronheim again.
'I returned to Ronheim that time and didn't think about Chloe.'
All this time, Chloe had been missing herself every moment and creating a version of him in her imagination.
When he first met her, he thought she looked lonely.
But he didn't know it would be this bad.
Callius's heart broke.
How hard could it have been?
Was there really not a single person who could rely on her?
What on earth did Andrea and Kavala do to Chloe?
How thoroughly did they isolate and corner people?
'How could someone have gotten to that point? How did no one reach out to her? No one protects her?'
It felt like his blood was rushing to his head.
His throat was choked, and his heart was pounding.
He felt like going crazy when he thought of her relying on imaginary friends for over a decade to soothe her loneliness and ease her emotional pain.
The breath Callius exhaled shook with sorrow.
'Oh, Chloe.'
He thought she had forgotten him, and that was why he was upset, but she had never forgotten him for even a moment.
'What on earth was I upset about?'
He regretted not being the one to reach out to her first before she approached him.
Callius was angry that he couldn't save her sooner.
At every moment, Chloe was relying on him.
"Ha..."
Tears flowed from his tightly shut eyes.
My beloved wife.
My most precious person.
Callius couldn't stand the thought of her being so sick alone in his absence.
It seemed like they were going to catch Andrew.
Guessing that the meeting was over, I heard that Callius was in his office, so I went there.
Callius was looking at a map and talking seriously with Brentian and Hawick when he saw me entering his office.
“Yes, then, each to their positions.”
"Yes."
"All right."
Callius sent out Brentian and Hawick.
“You weren’t able to say everything you wanted to say because of me, were you?”
“No. Chloe came in just as the story was ending.”
“Is that so?”
“What’s going on?”
“I was waiting for Callius because I wanted to ask him about Sernia earlier.”
Callius offered me a seat.
As soon as I sat down, I asked about the Holy Grail.
“Didn’t Callius once say that if you had the Holy Grail, you could have completely broken the curse?”
“Yes, I remember.”
"Sernia also spoke about the Holy Grail earlier. What exactly is this Holy Grail? It seems like something important."
Callius paused for a moment, not knowing where to begin.
After gathering his thoughts, he began to speak with a face that seemed to recall the past.
"The Holy Grail is the reason Arrental has been constantly attacking Ronheim. It's why Kavala is obsessed with Ronheim."
Callius spoke in detail about the relationship between the Holy Grail and the Saintess, the endless wars that began when rumors about the Grail spread throughout the world, and the defeat of Ronheim.
Among them were stories that I thought were legends of Ronheim, and others that connected with stories I had seen in Arrental's history books.
Some of what I knew was true, some was distorted, and some was completely false.
I now finally understand why Kavala was so obsessed with Ronheim.
Also, the real reason why I was sent to Ronheim.
'You're doing all this just to stay young.'
I was amazed.
I shuddered at the baseness of Kavala, which did not hesitate to sacrifice others for its own desires.
Callius continued speaking.
"When I first lost the Holy Grail, I was convinced it had fallen into the hands of the Kavala. So I went to the palace to retrieve it..."
As I listened to the story of his efforts to find the Holy Grail, I felt a strange sense of foreboding.
'Strange... This sounds familiar?'
The story of how he went into hiding in the palace of Arrental in search of the Holy Grail, which holds the legend of immortality.
This is clear.
'Karl said the same thing.'
Callius, noticing that I was lost in thought, stared at me.
“Chloe?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I remember hearing a story similar to Callius’s story...”
It was confusing.
Callius, who had been watching me closely, asked cautiously.
“Is it by any chance that he told me that story... Karl?”
“How did you know?”
“I guessed because most of what Chloe says seems to involve your friend Karl.”
Well, since I only had one friend, not three or two, the 'someone' in the 'story of someone' I'm talking about can only be Karl.
I confessed it to Callius without hesitation.
"When I first met Karl, he said he'd sneaked into the palace to retrieve a precious object. Kavala had taken it, and he needed to retrieve it. He also said he was searching for the Holy Grail, a mysterious object with mysterious powers."
“...”
I could see Callius' expression growing darker.
His expression looked so serious that I forced a smile and spoke brightly.
"Isn't it really strange? I-I might have misunderstood something. Don't take it too seriously. It was a long time ago, so my memory might be distorted... I'll ask Karl again when I see him again."
Only then did Callius look at me and smile.
"Legends are often filled with similar stories. Not wanting to die or grow old are fundamental human desires. To create a story that appeals to everyone, elements like immortality or mystical relics are essential. I think it's possible that Chloe heard a similar story somewhere."
It was a tone that seemed to soothe me.
“Oh, is that so...”
"Yes. And if there are multiple items with such legends in the world, Kavala wouldn't have targeted just one. It's not like I'm the only one who's experienced something similar because of Kavala."
I nodded, convinced by Callius' words.
'Yeah, maybe I was confused, maybe Karl and Callius had similar pasts...'
I brushed off the fact that Karl and Callius had an unusually large amount in common.
'It can be. It can be.'
At first, I thought it was strange that Karl resembled Callius, but now I don't want to think about that anymore.
I just don't think that's right.
I changed the subject a bit.
"But didn't Sernia clearly say earlier that 'Kavala is seeking the Holy Grail'? If Callius is right, then the Holy Grail should be with Kavala..."
“I think she was probably trying to say that Kavala was looking for the key to the Holy Grail.”
Callius insisted firmly.
“The Holy Grail is definitely with Kavala. She must have stolen it.”
The expression on Callius' face as he spoke thus revealed a firm belief that the Kavala could never have lost the Holy Grail or had it stolen by someone else.
"How could it be stolen? I'm sure it's being kept in the safest place possible."
His words made sense.
“I guess so, I guess.”
***
Callius saw Chloe out of the office with a smile.
But immediately after Chloe left the office, his expression hardened.
'I was wondering why I couldn't find Karl.'
Just hearing Chloe's story cleared up all his doubts.
He hopes it's not true, but it can't be.
'Karl... doesn't exist.'
His heart felt like it was going to burst.
Someone with a similar name, appearance, and speech. It even has a similar past.
And a mysterious boy who is invisible to anyone but Chloe, who no one can find, and who does not grow up over time.
'It was me.'
Chloe seemed confused, so he made a joke about how there might be someone with a similar past, but he didn't mean it.
'That boy is me.'
His mouth was wide open in despair.
'He was an imaginary friend created based on me.'
His eyes turned red.
It was shocking that in all the time she had spent in the Arrental Palace, the only person Chloe could rely on and comfort was him.
Even if he is a character in an imaginary world.
He only spent a few days with her.
But for her, the memories of those few days were too good.
So much so that she didn't want to admit that he had left for Ronheim again.
'I returned to Ronheim that time and didn't think about Chloe.'
All this time, Chloe had been missing herself every moment and creating a version of him in her imagination.
When he first met her, he thought she looked lonely.
But he didn't know it would be this bad.
Callius's heart broke.
How hard could it have been?
Was there really not a single person who could rely on her?
What on earth did Andrea and Kavala do to Chloe?
How thoroughly did they isolate and corner people?
'How could someone have gotten to that point? How did no one reach out to her? No one protects her?'
It felt like his blood was rushing to his head.
His throat was choked, and his heart was pounding.
He felt like going crazy when he thought of her relying on imaginary friends for over a decade to soothe her loneliness and ease her emotional pain.
The breath Callius exhaled shook with sorrow.
'Oh, Chloe.'
He thought she had forgotten him, and that was why he was upset, but she had never forgotten him for even a moment.
'What on earth was I upset about?'
He regretted not being the one to reach out to her first before she approached him.
Callius was angry that he couldn't save her sooner.
At every moment, Chloe was relying on him.
"Ha..."
Tears flowed from his tightly shut eyes.
My beloved wife.
My most precious person.
Callius couldn't stand the thought of her being so sick alone in his absence.
Comments
Post a Comment