Episode 81. It's Not Over Yet
"Lawrence."
Empress Lawrence of Periat awoke suddenly to the sound of her name being called.
Judging by the darkness in front of her closed eyelids, it wasn't yet nighttime.
Not many would enter the Empress's bedroom in the middle of the night and call her name.
"You're off-topic."
The maids were forbidden from entering at night, and knights dared not cross the threshold of the empress's bedroom.
That left only one face.
Lawrence opened her eyes, picturing the beastly body of the man managing the correspondence at Lyone's side.
But what awaited her was a face completely unexpected.
"Huh!"
Lawrence's eyes widened.
The woman sitting sedately next to her waist seemed as if space had stopped, her face still.
If the breeze that filtered through the half-inch-wide window hadn't stirred her white hair, she would have mistaken it for a dream.
The woman slowly opened her lips and spoke.
“Did you just call me presumptuous?”
Before the neutral voice could finish, Lawrence abruptly sat up and knelt on the edge of the bed.
“I apologize, Supreme Being. I thought you were my subordinate...”
Her gaze involuntarily lowered, and a pressure weighed heavily on her shoulders. This wasn’t her first encounter with the Supreme Being, but every time she did, she felt suffocated.
It was an aura beyond what a mere mortal could handle.
Lawrence slowly raised her eyes to meet the Supreme Being.
The peculiar gray eyes evoked a sense of alienation every time he looked into them.
“Lawrence.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been seeing you lately, and I’m a bit taken aback.”
Lawrence’s face paled.
People sometimes mistake gods for benevolent and compassionate beings, but unfortunately, the Supreme Being had never been like that before Lawrence. He was unruly and emotionally unstable, almost like a child. He was difficult to deal with.
“What I wanted from you wasn’t that difficult.”
Lawrence swallowed.
The Supreme Being's gaze sent chills down her spine.
"Keeping Bercheria from the tower, forcing her to flee on purpose, and then banishing her from Periat, ensuring she never returns."
"..."
"Is that difficult?"
The Supreme Being straightened his back and folded his arms.
His large shoulders and round chest radiated a strange aura of femininity, yet also a sense of strength.
"I built the tower for Bercheria's sacred power, and rescued all sorts of things for her. But is this all you can do?"
Lawrence lowered her head.
"I'm still working on it. It's not over yet."
The 'Parallel Butterfly' and the 'Beyond Ideology' that created the portal were incredible objects that ordinary people would struggle to see even once in their lifetime.
"I did my best. I even tried to use Laurent and Dipper of Der'Ansis to take Bercheria out of the Periat Empire..."
"Of course, I helped with that, too. Who gave them that order?"
Damn it.
Lawrence chewed, chewing on the flesh in her mouth.
The biggest mistake in this plan was her overly simplistic view of Bercheria.
After being locked away in that tower for so long and enduring such abuse, she believed that if any man proposed marriage, Bercheria would rush into it without question.
"Lawrence."
Empress Lawrence of Periat awoke suddenly to the sound of her name being called.
Judging by the darkness in front of her closed eyelids, it wasn't yet nighttime.
Not many would enter the Empress's bedroom in the middle of the night and call her name.
"You're off-topic."
The maids were forbidden from entering at night, and knights dared not cross the threshold of the empress's bedroom.
That left only one face.
Lawrence opened her eyes, picturing the beastly body of the man managing the correspondence at Lyone's side.
But what awaited her was a face completely unexpected.
"Huh!"
Lawrence's eyes widened.
The woman sitting sedately next to her waist seemed as if space had stopped, her face still.
If the breeze that filtered through the half-inch-wide window hadn't stirred her white hair, she would have mistaken it for a dream.
The woman slowly opened her lips and spoke.
“Did you just call me presumptuous?”
Before the neutral voice could finish, Lawrence abruptly sat up and knelt on the edge of the bed.
“I apologize, Supreme Being. I thought you were my subordinate...”
Her gaze involuntarily lowered, and a pressure weighed heavily on her shoulders. This wasn’t her first encounter with the Supreme Being, but every time she did, she felt suffocated.
It was an aura beyond what a mere mortal could handle.
Lawrence slowly raised her eyes to meet the Supreme Being.
The peculiar gray eyes evoked a sense of alienation every time he looked into them.
“Lawrence.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been seeing you lately, and I’m a bit taken aback.”
Lawrence’s face paled.
People sometimes mistake gods for benevolent and compassionate beings, but unfortunately, the Supreme Being had never been like that before Lawrence. He was unruly and emotionally unstable, almost like a child. He was difficult to deal with.
“What I wanted from you wasn’t that difficult.”
Lawrence swallowed.
The Supreme Being's gaze sent chills down her spine.
"Keeping Bercheria from the tower, forcing her to flee on purpose, and then banishing her from Periat, ensuring she never returns."
"..."
"Is that difficult?"
The Supreme Being straightened his back and folded his arms.
His large shoulders and round chest radiated a strange aura of femininity, yet also a sense of strength.
"I built the tower for Bercheria's sacred power, and rescued all sorts of things for her. But is this all you can do?"
Lawrence lowered her head.
"I'm still working on it. It's not over yet."
The 'Parallel Butterfly' and the 'Beyond Ideology' that created the portal were incredible objects that ordinary people would struggle to see even once in their lifetime.
"I did my best. I even tried to use Laurent and Dipper of Der'Ansis to take Bercheria out of the Periat Empire..."
"Of course, I helped with that, too. Who gave them that order?"
Damn it.
Lawrence chewed, chewing on the flesh in her mouth.
The biggest mistake in this plan was her overly simplistic view of Bercheria.
After being locked away in that tower for so long and enduring such abuse, she believed that if any man proposed marriage, Bercheria would rush into it without question.
But Bercheria remained unmoved by any temptation.
She fixed her eyes solely on Lacrahan.
The man she'd called Adkins in his godhood, and Murk in his mortal world.
The one man who had been everything to her.
"You're the one who wanted Murk."
The Supreme Being had visited Lawrence when she was living in her home kingdom of Contana.
He poured her a glass of wine.
"Drink this and you'll remember your past life. You'll know what you're meant to live for. But you don't have to drink it. Just live like that. Remember, choices always flow according to human will."
Lawrence drank the wine and belatedly remembered Bercheria, Murk, and the fate that surrounded her.
The two who had secretly enjoyed a secret affair while she was in love.
Murk, who had ignored her.
That excruciating time she had to endure alone.
The Supreme Being stretched out his legs on the bed and stood up.
Lawrence snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the Supreme Being.
The gray eyes looking down at her held no emotion.
“Lawrence.”
Lawrence fell back to her stomach, her forehead pressed against the floor.
“Yes, Supreme Being.”
“Don’t you want to take Lacrahan away?”
“I do.”
“Then move as you wish.”
“Don’t worry. You awakened Kelita, too. So this time, I will definitely...”
“I hope you don’t fail.”
The Supreme Being considered for a moment and added,
“At least if you want to be reborn as a human again in your next life.”
“I promise. Please trust me.”
Lawrence, lying face down on the floor, gritted her teeth as he thought of Bercheria, who had left her tower.
***
Lacrahan was looking down at Bercheria, who was lying on the bed.
Just moments ago, Bercheria had been dying from the surging power, but now she lay on the bed with a look of absolute calm.
The golden hair that spilled over the blanket and the body that lay atop it were unreal. She looked like a doll, not a person, but a doll sculpted from pure white snow.
Even her neatly arranged eyelashes sparkled gold, and every time she tossed and winked, it felt like sunlight was streaming through her.
“Are you alright...?”
Leaning forward to examine her, Lacrahan realized something was off about her clothes and raised his arm. She was clearly wearing the same shirt and pants, but they felt strangely different.
The material was strange, and the colors, including the buttons, were of a type he had never seen before.
Come to think of it, the scenery inside the room felt strange as well.
It wasn’t worn, but it felt incredibly old.
“Huh.”
Bercheria, on the bed, shook her head in agony.
Only when he saw her lying on the bed in similarly unfamiliar clothes did Lacrahan realize.
This wasn’t a present memory. It was a memory from a long time ago, older than any time Lacrahan could recall. It was a memory from a previous life.
“Your Grace Murk. ”
A knock on the door startled Lacrahan, and he turned his head.
“Murk?”
The first man of the Adkins family.
“Your Grace Murk.”
Princess Lilian wishes to speak.
Lacrahan furrowed his brow and asked again.
“Who?”
—Princess Lilian. His Grace’s fiancée.
His gaze slowly moved from the door to the bed.
Lacrahan strode briskly, his long legs lifting Bercheria’s skirt slightly.
There was no trace of the divine substance on her legs.
He quickly rolled up his arms.
There was no trace of the divine substance there either.
Lacrahan carefully grasped Bercheria’s slender ankles with his fingertips.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the warmth still passed through him.
And in the next moment, the surrounding scenery transformed into a forest.
He was running somewhere, holding Bercheria’s hand tightly.
“We must hurry.”
Bercheria’s face, running ahead of him, was drenched in sweat.
“Bercheria.”
She, panting, turned her head toward him, her blonde hair flowing.
Then, tightening her grip, she spoke.
“Murk. Hurry. The Supreme Being will find us soon.”
A gust of wind wafted Bercheria’s distinctive scent into his nostrils.
“I don’t know what will happen if I get caught. Now that I’ve learned the secrets of the gods, we won’t be safe.”
Bercheria gasped and looked at Lacrahan.
“Murk. Are you really still going to leave me now that you know everything?”
Lacrahan reached out and cupped Bercheria’s cheek.
“There’s nothing greater than love in this world. My Bercheria.”
“I know. I love you too.”
Bercheria closed her eyes, rubbed her face against Lacrahan’s palm, and began running again.
Watching her blond hair fluttering behind her, Lacrahan remembered everything that had happened.
How he had descended to this world as a god, and how he had met Bercheria and fallen in love.
None of this was something anyone could have predicted.
“Murk. Hurry this way.”
Long ago, only gods lived in this world.
The Supreme Being is the oldest and most primordial god among them.
Adkins and Beloveye were born after that.
Most of the principles and providences existing here were established by the Supreme Being together with the gods.
They decided to create humans and acted, but not as they had hoped.
While they resembled the gods in form, they were weak inside like animals.
Nevertheless, for a while, the gods enjoyed their actions, oblivious to the passage of time.
The Supreme Being also cherished the humans.
Then, one day, they began to act as they pleased, straying from the divine. With the human will added, the gods could no longer control them.
Variables upon variables arose.
The Supreme Being sent the gods down to restore order, emphasizing a single prohibition: "Do not fall in love with a human."
However, Adkins fell in love with Bercheria, and the very thing the Supreme Being feared happened.
The union of god and human created variables beyond what he had anticipated.
"Haa."
Lacrahan let out a long sigh.
"The Supreme Being will not give up."
The two had arrived in a small village.
"Murk."
"So that the Supreme Being doesn't find out. Secretly."
"Yes, I'll do as you say."
They embraced each other passionately, kissing each other hastily, sharing each other's warmth.
"But don't worry. We'll meet again eventually. I'll make sure that happens."
Lacrahan furrowed his brow and asked again.
“Who?”
—Princess Lilian. His Grace’s fiancée.
His gaze slowly moved from the door to the bed.
Lacrahan strode briskly, his long legs lifting Bercheria’s skirt slightly.
There was no trace of the divine substance on her legs.
He quickly rolled up his arms.
There was no trace of the divine substance there either.
Lacrahan carefully grasped Bercheria’s slender ankles with his fingertips.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the warmth still passed through him.
And in the next moment, the surrounding scenery transformed into a forest.
He was running somewhere, holding Bercheria’s hand tightly.
“We must hurry.”
Bercheria’s face, running ahead of him, was drenched in sweat.
“Bercheria.”
She, panting, turned her head toward him, her blonde hair flowing.
Then, tightening her grip, she spoke.
“Murk. Hurry. The Supreme Being will find us soon.”
A gust of wind wafted Bercheria’s distinctive scent into his nostrils.
“I don’t know what will happen if I get caught. Now that I’ve learned the secrets of the gods, we won’t be safe.”
Bercheria gasped and looked at Lacrahan.
“Murk. Are you really still going to leave me now that you know everything?”
Lacrahan reached out and cupped Bercheria’s cheek.
“There’s nothing greater than love in this world. My Bercheria.”
“I know. I love you too.”
Bercheria closed her eyes, rubbed her face against Lacrahan’s palm, and began running again.
Watching her blond hair fluttering behind her, Lacrahan remembered everything that had happened.
How he had descended to this world as a god, and how he had met Bercheria and fallen in love.
None of this was something anyone could have predicted.
“Murk. Hurry this way.”
Long ago, only gods lived in this world.
The Supreme Being is the oldest and most primordial god among them.
Adkins and Beloveye were born after that.
Most of the principles and providences existing here were established by the Supreme Being together with the gods.
They decided to create humans and acted, but not as they had hoped.
While they resembled the gods in form, they were weak inside like animals.
Nevertheless, for a while, the gods enjoyed their actions, oblivious to the passage of time.
The Supreme Being also cherished the humans.
Then, one day, they began to act as they pleased, straying from the divine. With the human will added, the gods could no longer control them.
Variables upon variables arose.
The Supreme Being sent the gods down to restore order, emphasizing a single prohibition: "Do not fall in love with a human."
However, Adkins fell in love with Bercheria, and the very thing the Supreme Being feared happened.
The union of god and human created variables beyond what he had anticipated.
"Haa."
Lacrahan let out a long sigh.
"The Supreme Being will not give up."
The two had arrived in a small village.
"I know Him. So the best we can do is bury our memories here."
"So that the Supreme Being doesn't find out. Secretly."
"Yes, I'll do as you say."
They embraced each other passionately, kissing each other hastily, sharing each other's warmth.
"But don't worry. We'll meet again eventually. I'll make sure that happens."
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