Episode 44. The Supreme Being's Plan
"The memories Bercheria is currently tracing are all those of the previous Awakened. Your memories probably don't contain the stories of the gods, which are truly the most important."
Bercheria stared at Laurent as if she were looking at a strange person.
How on earth does he know these stories?
"Is Prince Laurent a god?"
"Haha."
Laurent looked at her with affection for her unexpected question.
"I can't tell you the details, but Bercheria, just trust me. This is all true."
"I didn't ask because I didn't believe you."
Laurent had no reason to lie.
In the first place, it made no sense for him to cross the border to find her and then continue lying.
"Yes. That's enough. Then I'll continue."
Laurent again pointed to one of the corners of the triangle on the floor.
“But then one day, this part of the world vanished, seemingly evaporating. Without warning. That would be half a century ago, the day you went missing.”
Ever since Bercheria disappeared, subtle cracks had begun to form in the continent’s balance.
Unbeknownst to even her and the mother who imprisoned her, everything had drifted out of place.
“It was a time when the Awakened still had a lot of life left, so no one could have predicted it. It was the first time an Awakened of a god had died before reaching their full lifespan.”
“...Why did they die?”
“Murdered, to be exact. By someone.”
From then on, the gods who protected the land and humans wandered, unable to find stability.
With each passing day, their protective powers weakened, and eventually, the humans, out of control, started a war.
Seeing the countless corpses dying every day, the gods themselves felt a sense of shame.
“That’s why they decided to find you no matter what. Above all, they made finding Bercheria their first goal.”
“Is Laurent in charge of that mission?”
"To be more precise, I'd say I was acting as a proxy. Right now, I'm the only red-haired human in the Der'Ansis Empire who can communicate with Beloveye."
The long-held legend of Der'Ansis held that those with red hair could communicate with Beloveye, the god of the sea, was true.
Of course, Beloveye could converse with anyone if he so desired, but the most blunt and misanthropic of the three gods would never approach humans.
He loathed humans who polluted the sea and sought to understand its depths.
"Bercheria. If you knew how much time I spent searching for you, you'd never say anything bad to me."
"I'm sorry about that."
Laurent smiled at Bercheria, then stood up and dusted off her clothes.
Then, with a grin, he slowly walked towards her, his hands clasped behind his back.
“I was in a hurry. If you marry Lacrahan right away, I’ll be completely useless in this plan.”
“...What do you mean?”
Laurent sat Bercheria on a wide rock near the river.
He knelt in front of it, bringing his eyes to her level.
“Bercheria. This is the plan of the Supreme Being, who stands above all gods.”
“Supreme Being?”
The moment she heard the name of the Supreme Being, Bercheria felt her heart drop to the floor.
The name she had forgotten, as if cutting off her memory, flared up inside her like a fire.
The Supreme Being, the master of this land and of humans, the father of gods.
Bercheria was born from him.
She wasn’t alone.
Everything living here was created by the Supreme Being.
Even the greed and selfishness of humans were all part of his plan.
Pain and happiness, hatred and love, evil and good, altruism and selfishness, all meshed like cogwheels, so that this land would live and breathe.
The Supreme Being was not a benevolent being, as humans often mistakenly believe.
All the emotions humans possess originated from within the Supreme Being.
He was at times terrifying and cruel, and at other times infinitely kind and affectionate.
"The Supreme Being, you..."
"Yes, Bercheria."
Laurent placed a hand on his left chest, where his heart was beating, and looked at her with eyes darker than the sunset.
"You must marry me."
"..."
"That's the Supreme Being's plan."
His red eyes were so fiery that Bercheria couldn't even look at Laurent properly.
'But Bercheria, the choice is yours. Not even the Supreme Being can force you to make a sacrifice against your will.'
Returning to Lacrahan's bedroom, Bercheria stared blankly out the window.
"You commanded Laurent to marry..."
The square below the window was still bustling with people preparing for the wedding.
After a long moment of deep thought, Bercheria lifted her dress and let her legs hang in the air.
The divine being engraved on her white skin remained in its place as if it were a given.
'There is nothing in this world that is not influenced by the will of the Supreme Being.'
From flowers blooming to tidal waves, nothing happened without a care in the world.
No one would be unaware of the countless coincidences and connections that overlap before something great happens.
'If Laurent is right, the divine being couldn't have been engraved separately for Lacrahan and me. It doesn't make sense.'
Now, everything was out of whack, and Bercheria's choice would change the future and bring stability to humanity.
But would she abandon Periat and follow Laurent to Der'Ansis?
She could picture the events that would unfold.
How much suffering would the people of this land endure because of Emperor Gerard?
'Are you testing me?'
Bercheria watched the preparations for her wedding with a calm gaze. She was lost in thought for a long moment when, bang!
A loud noise rang out, and a blunt stone tumbled down in front of Bercheria.
"...?"
Amidst the wedding preparations, a child appeared, running through the crowd.
"Who is it?"
It was unfamiliar.
Bercheria turned and picked up the stone the child had thrown.
Untying the white cloth tied to the round stone, she unfolded it and saw crooked writing.
[ Emperor Gerard will arrive in the north soon. Come find Muha before he does. That's how you survive. ]
After reading those few short lines, Bercheria clutched the paper tightly in her hand.
'Not only do you know about Emperor Gerard, but you also know about Muha. How on earth do you know about Muha?'
Bercheria looked towards the study where Lacrahan was working.
"It's most likely a trap set by my mother."
But...
'What if it's not that? What if it's someone else?'
Bercheria rubbed the rough spot of the note she held tightly in her hand with her finger.
Was the sender her mother, or someone who knew of her mother's existence?
Emperor Gerard and Mucha. Who on earth could so effortlessly move between these two unrelated entities?
Does that person truly want to help her, or does he want her dead?
Does he want her to survive by joining forces with Lacrahan, or does he want her to separate him and come to the trap he set?
Her head was spinning.
"...Ha."
Bercheria, who had been rubbing her eyes, burning with fever, suddenly stopped moving.
“...?”
Suddenly, loud noises poured into her ears.
She raised her head in surprise, and a hellish battlefield unfolded before her.
Dust-covered knights roared, swinging their swords here and there, and barbarian horses charged, splashing puddles of blood.
Inside, Lacrahan, clad in armor, had a youthful face.
His lips were split as he held his rusted sword askew.
He swung his sword through the air, and another man died before him.
As Lacrahan watched the barbarian fall, an arrow from behind flew into his back and lodged itself.
He let out a ragged breath, swung his sword in midair, caught it upside down, and cut off the arrow lodged in his back.
Lacrahan, his body as thin as lead, pulled the sword from the corpse lying on the ground and threw it in the direction the arrow had come from.
Haa.
Covered in blood, he let out a long breath. He removed his helmet, tossed it to the ground, and wiped away the blood that flowed from his head and soaked his eyes.
His eyes, revealed through the red bloodstains, were empty and devoid of light.
Slowly scanning the fierce battlefield, he suddenly looked at Bercheria.
The moment his empty eyes met hers, her heart felt like it had suddenly dropped.
And then, she realized something.
From the moment we first met, why couldn't I take my eyes off Lacrahan?
'We look alike.'
She thinks she instinctively knew that his dark eyes concealed the same things as hers.
As she endured the arduous times atop a tower no one could ascend or descend, Bercheria, too, grew empty.
Just like Lacrahan now.
But she never once gave up on life.
She persevered, somehow.
Because she wanted to survive.
Because she had to survive.
Just like Lacrahan now.
"Haa..."
The degree of faith Lacrahan had in Bercheria differed from the degree others believed in her.
When he told her he would restore her strength, he must have felt a different resolve.
Telling Bercheria about marriage must not have been an easy decision for him either.
Laurent had spoken of marriage at the command of the Supreme Being, but Lacrahan had decided on marriage out of his own judgment.
She knew better than anyone what had been in his mind throughout that entire process.
Because she must have felt the same way.
"..."
Bercheria slowly opened her eyes, and the noises of war vanished from her ears in an instant.
Someone's laughter, along with the noise of those preparing for the wedding, flooded back in.
Bercheria clutched tightly to the letter from the stranger she was holding in her hand.
The confusion from a moment ago vanished from her face as she gazed out the dark window.
"I can put everything back where it was."
Bercheria turned away from the window, seemingly determined.
"The memories Bercheria is currently tracing are all those of the previous Awakened. Your memories probably don't contain the stories of the gods, which are truly the most important."
Bercheria stared at Laurent as if she were looking at a strange person.
How on earth does he know these stories?
"Is Prince Laurent a god?"
"Haha."
Laurent looked at her with affection for her unexpected question.
"I can't tell you the details, but Bercheria, just trust me. This is all true."
"I didn't ask because I didn't believe you."
Laurent had no reason to lie.
In the first place, it made no sense for him to cross the border to find her and then continue lying.
"Yes. That's enough. Then I'll continue."
Laurent again pointed to one of the corners of the triangle on the floor.
“But then one day, this part of the world vanished, seemingly evaporating. Without warning. That would be half a century ago, the day you went missing.”
Ever since Bercheria disappeared, subtle cracks had begun to form in the continent’s balance.
Unbeknownst to even her and the mother who imprisoned her, everything had drifted out of place.
“It was a time when the Awakened still had a lot of life left, so no one could have predicted it. It was the first time an Awakened of a god had died before reaching their full lifespan.”
“...Why did they die?”
“Murdered, to be exact. By someone.”
From then on, the gods who protected the land and humans wandered, unable to find stability.
With each passing day, their protective powers weakened, and eventually, the humans, out of control, started a war.
Seeing the countless corpses dying every day, the gods themselves felt a sense of shame.
“That’s why they decided to find you no matter what. Above all, they made finding Bercheria their first goal.”
“Is Laurent in charge of that mission?”
"To be more precise, I'd say I was acting as a proxy. Right now, I'm the only red-haired human in the Der'Ansis Empire who can communicate with Beloveye."
The long-held legend of Der'Ansis held that those with red hair could communicate with Beloveye, the god of the sea, was true.
Of course, Beloveye could converse with anyone if he so desired, but the most blunt and misanthropic of the three gods would never approach humans.
He loathed humans who polluted the sea and sought to understand its depths.
"Bercheria. If you knew how much time I spent searching for you, you'd never say anything bad to me."
"I'm sorry about that."
Laurent smiled at Bercheria, then stood up and dusted off her clothes.
Then, with a grin, he slowly walked towards her, his hands clasped behind his back.
“I was in a hurry. If you marry Lacrahan right away, I’ll be completely useless in this plan.”
“...What do you mean?”
Laurent sat Bercheria on a wide rock near the river.
He knelt in front of it, bringing his eyes to her level.
“Bercheria. This is the plan of the Supreme Being, who stands above all gods.”
“Supreme Being?”
The moment she heard the name of the Supreme Being, Bercheria felt her heart drop to the floor.
The name she had forgotten, as if cutting off her memory, flared up inside her like a fire.
The Supreme Being, the master of this land and of humans, the father of gods.
Bercheria was born from him.
She wasn’t alone.
Everything living here was created by the Supreme Being.
Even the greed and selfishness of humans were all part of his plan.
Pain and happiness, hatred and love, evil and good, altruism and selfishness, all meshed like cogwheels, so that this land would live and breathe.
The Supreme Being was not a benevolent being, as humans often mistakenly believe.
All the emotions humans possess originated from within the Supreme Being.
He was at times terrifying and cruel, and at other times infinitely kind and affectionate.
"The Supreme Being, you..."
"Yes, Bercheria."
Laurent placed a hand on his left chest, where his heart was beating, and looked at her with eyes darker than the sunset.
"You must marry me."
"..."
"That's the Supreme Being's plan."
His red eyes were so fiery that Bercheria couldn't even look at Laurent properly.
***
'But Bercheria, the choice is yours. Not even the Supreme Being can force you to make a sacrifice against your will.'
Returning to Lacrahan's bedroom, Bercheria stared blankly out the window.
"You commanded Laurent to marry..."
The square below the window was still bustling with people preparing for the wedding.
After a long moment of deep thought, Bercheria lifted her dress and let her legs hang in the air.
The divine being engraved on her white skin remained in its place as if it were a given.
'There is nothing in this world that is not influenced by the will of the Supreme Being.'
From flowers blooming to tidal waves, nothing happened without a care in the world.
No one would be unaware of the countless coincidences and connections that overlap before something great happens.
'If Laurent is right, the divine being couldn't have been engraved separately for Lacrahan and me. It doesn't make sense.'
Now, everything was out of whack, and Bercheria's choice would change the future and bring stability to humanity.
But would she abandon Periat and follow Laurent to Der'Ansis?
She could picture the events that would unfold.
How much suffering would the people of this land endure because of Emperor Gerard?
'Are you testing me?'
Bercheria watched the preparations for her wedding with a calm gaze. She was lost in thought for a long moment when, bang!
A loud noise rang out, and a blunt stone tumbled down in front of Bercheria.
"...?"
Amidst the wedding preparations, a child appeared, running through the crowd.
"Who is it?"
It was unfamiliar.
Bercheria turned and picked up the stone the child had thrown.
Untying the white cloth tied to the round stone, she unfolded it and saw crooked writing.
[ Emperor Gerard will arrive in the north soon. Come find Muha before he does. That's how you survive. ]
After reading those few short lines, Bercheria clutched the paper tightly in her hand.
'Not only do you know about Emperor Gerard, but you also know about Muha. How on earth do you know about Muha?'
Bercheria looked towards the study where Lacrahan was working.
"It's most likely a trap set by my mother."
But...
'What if it's not that? What if it's someone else?'
Bercheria rubbed the rough spot of the note she held tightly in her hand with her finger.
Was the sender her mother, or someone who knew of her mother's existence?
Emperor Gerard and Mucha. Who on earth could so effortlessly move between these two unrelated entities?
Does that person truly want to help her, or does he want her dead?
Does he want her to survive by joining forces with Lacrahan, or does he want her to separate him and come to the trap he set?
Her head was spinning.
"...Ha."
Bercheria, who had been rubbing her eyes, burning with fever, suddenly stopped moving.
“...?”
Suddenly, loud noises poured into her ears.
She raised her head in surprise, and a hellish battlefield unfolded before her.
Dust-covered knights roared, swinging their swords here and there, and barbarian horses charged, splashing puddles of blood.
Inside, Lacrahan, clad in armor, had a youthful face.
His lips were split as he held his rusted sword askew.
He swung his sword through the air, and another man died before him.
As Lacrahan watched the barbarian fall, an arrow from behind flew into his back and lodged itself.
He let out a ragged breath, swung his sword in midair, caught it upside down, and cut off the arrow lodged in his back.
Lacrahan, his body as thin as lead, pulled the sword from the corpse lying on the ground and threw it in the direction the arrow had come from.
Haa.
Covered in blood, he let out a long breath. He removed his helmet, tossed it to the ground, and wiped away the blood that flowed from his head and soaked his eyes.
His eyes, revealed through the red bloodstains, were empty and devoid of light.
Slowly scanning the fierce battlefield, he suddenly looked at Bercheria.
The moment his empty eyes met hers, her heart felt like it had suddenly dropped.
And then, she realized something.
From the moment we first met, why couldn't I take my eyes off Lacrahan?
'We look alike.'
She thinks she instinctively knew that his dark eyes concealed the same things as hers.
As she endured the arduous times atop a tower no one could ascend or descend, Bercheria, too, grew empty.
Just like Lacrahan now.
But she never once gave up on life.
She persevered, somehow.
Because she wanted to survive.
Because she had to survive.
Just like Lacrahan now.
"Haa..."
The degree of faith Lacrahan had in Bercheria differed from the degree others believed in her.
When he told her he would restore her strength, he must have felt a different resolve.
Telling Bercheria about marriage must not have been an easy decision for him either.
Laurent had spoken of marriage at the command of the Supreme Being, but Lacrahan had decided on marriage out of his own judgment.
She knew better than anyone what had been in his mind throughout that entire process.
Because she must have felt the same way.
"..."
Bercheria slowly opened her eyes, and the noises of war vanished from her ears in an instant.
Someone's laughter, along with the noise of those preparing for the wedding, flooded back in.
Bercheria clutched tightly to the letter from the stranger she was holding in her hand.
The confusion from a moment ago vanished from her face as she gazed out the dark window.
"I can put everything back where it was."
Bercheria turned away from the window, seemingly determined.
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