Episode 96. Moment of Revenge
While Lacrahan was talking to Timothy, a commotion suddenly erupted from outside.
"Wyatt. Go outside. See what's going on..."
While Lacrahan was talking to Timothy, a commotion suddenly erupted from outside.
"Wyatt. Go outside. See what's going on..."
Lacrahan looked around and realized that Wyatt, who had been by his side just moments before, was gone.
"Oh. Don't worry, Your Highness. I'll check."
Instead, Timothy jumped up and walked outside.
Lacrahan brushed a strand of hair from his forehead and muttered,
"Two days..."
But he wasn't worried about the time.
He had the forces to overthrow the imperial family even if they started a war right now, so he had nothing to fear.
Lacrahan hadn't avoided Gerard from the beginning.
He had simply endured it because he didn't want a pointless confrontation.
The important thing was that Gerard knew this too.
Lacrahan was confident that Gerard wouldn't make a rash move.
"Your Highness!"
Timothy, who had said he'd come to check on the situation, rushed back in.
His panting voice was unusually urgent.
"We're in trouble. Wyatt is being arrested for assault!"
"Assault? Assaulting who?"
"Princess Kelita."
"What?"
Lacrahan's brow furrowed.
Wyatt was the type of man who wouldn't even glance at a snickering tavern maid.
"Wyatt assaulted?"
The issue wasn't the truth.
It was the charge.
If the Royal Guard found a man mistreating a woman, they could be executed on the spot or imprisoned in the dungeons.
After that, unless it was by order of the Emperor, release was only possible through a tedious trial.
'This could drag on for months,'
Lacrahan thought as he ran outside.
Soon, he found Wyatt and the Royal Guard knights, who had thankfully stopped short of the dungeons.
Bercheria was blocking them.
As Lacrahan approached her, Empress Lawrence appeared on the other side, trailing behind her with her maids.
"Are they all gathered in one place?"
Lacrahan slowly stopped walking, looking at Bercheria.
***
Bercheria gazed calmly at Gerard's royal guard knights.
They were an organization that acted strictly under the Emperor's orders.
Therefore, while on duty, they would inevitably prioritize the Emperor's family above all else.
Even though the person before them was the goddess Bercheria, Kelita's safety was their priority.
"Lady Bercheria. Please step aside. We are currently taking a prisoner, so interfering would be inappropriate."
However, Bercheria had a reason to stop this situation.
She knew why Kelita had acted this way.
Two days later, it would be a ploy to blackmail Lacrahan into not rejecting her marriage.
Wyatt would be appropriately sacrificed accordingly.
When Bercheria looked at Wyatt, he met her with a look of injustice on his face.
Kelita, her clothes torn, followed behind, and Wyatt, who was caught in the room.
'If it's the crime of sexually assaulting a royal Princess, I have nothing to say, even if he were executed on the spot.... But that's not what's important to me right now.'
Bercheria let out a long breath without anyone noticing.
"Please move. Even if you're Bercheria, I can't stop you now. I'm sorry."
As the royal knights pushed Bercheria away and tried to walk forward, fog suddenly rolled in like smoke from the sky.
Bercheria caught their ankles in the thick fog, stopping them.
Then, alone, she walked through the fog toward Kelita.
As they drew closer, her heart pounded, blood rushing out of her body.
'Now I understand.'
Who was the person inside that shell called Kelita?
Why was she standing here?
Bercheria slowly turned her head to confirm the presence of Empress Lawrence, who had been pursuing her.
They had been talking just a moment ago, but Bercheria had rushed here alone, so she, too, must have been unable to contain her curiosity.
'Everything is clear now.'
As Kelita and Bercheria drew closer, the fog thickened. It was so thick that no one nearby could see them.
Bercheria leaned closer to Kelita.
"I know that expression."
At Bercheria's voice, Kelita tilted her head in surprise.
"What do you mean, Bercheria?"
She was perfectly portraying a woman who had just been sexually assaulted.
Her eyes were so pitiful that tears were about to fall.
"No matter how much you try to pretend, that's exactly the face I remember of my mother. Even when she beat me or cursed me, she always had a smile on her face, as if she was having fun. It's a shame I can't see that face anymore."
Kelita looked at Bercheria with narrowed eyes.
Against the foggy background, Bercheria's mysterious figure, with her blond hair and golden eyes, was now close enough to touch.
"Both faces are equally ugly to me, though."
"Such insolence..."
Kelita muttered, unconsciously.
A long time ago.
Ever since Bercheria was a child. Gazing into her eyes like this, an indescribable fear welled up deep within her.
The helplessness and awe that a mere mortal should feel when facing a god was a natural human instinct, but she refused to acknowledge it in front of Bercheria.
Just as Lawrence was entering puberty, she accidentally discovered her entire past life while playing with a sacred object.
At first, she was so confused that she couldn't even tell if it was something that had actually happened or something she had read about in a book.
A few days later, seeing the Supreme Being before her, she finally accepted the truth.
Only one man.
She understood that her life had to be lived to make Lacrahan her own.
"Mother. Is that you?"
She had no choice but to accept her life, ruined solely by Bercheria.
Kelita, lost in thought, cried out involuntarily,
"You dare ask me a question now?"
Bercheria stared at her with a blank expression, as if she had already known everything.
"When I left the tower, I made up my mind on one thing."
Outside the fog Bercheria had brought, a murmur of voices could be heard.
The thick fog not only obstructed vision but also thoroughly prevented anyone from entering.
The royal guards were frantically trying to find Kelita, but it would be impossible.
No one could penetrate the barrier created by the weather goddess and enter.
“I was hoping that after I regained all my powers, Mother would come find me. Then at least I wouldn’t have to tremble in fear.”
A smile spread across Kelita’s lips.
“I’m glad you know the subject. How dare someone like you...”
“But that was a needless worry.”
Kelita’s smile vanished.
She glared at Bercheria with a fierce gaze.
“What did you just say?”
“If I had known you were such a nobody, I wouldn’t have thought of such trivial things.”
Bercheria’s expression remained calm, unperturbed.
This fact only infuriated Kelita—or, more precisely, Lawrence within her.
“No, nobody? You arrogant bitch!”
She raised her hand out of habit and struck Bercheria.
There wasn't a whip or sharp weapon like in the tower, but this was enough for now.
Bercheria had never resisted her before.
But her hand was caught mid-air by Bercheria, frozen helplessly.
"You, you!"
Bercheria asked with a blank expression before Kelita, whose face was flushed red.
"How much did you pay for me from Lyone?"
Kelita's face instantly turned pale.
Her eyes trembled in bewilderment.
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Bercheria recalled the conversation she had just had with Lawrence, now a mere shell.
She had planned everything.
To obtain "something" Bercheria possessed.
It was obvious then.
Lawrence, who had been fixated on Lacrahan since her past life, knew better than anyone what she desired.
At first, she thought she was acting under the command of the Supreme Being, but that was not true.
There was another, more plausible reason why she had allowed her to escape from the tower.
"With the help of the Supreme Being, I was imprisoned in the tower, but Mother wanted something greater."
"...What?"
"There's no way a mother so greedy could be satisfied with just one Lacrahan."
Bercheria's transparent golden eyes pierced Kelita.
"When you acquired Lacrahan, you also wanted my power. If you did, this continent would be yours."
Kelita suddenly burst into a bright laugh, as if she hadn't understood a word.
"Bercheria. What nonsense are you talking about? How absurd."
Kelita tried to smile, but her eyes glared at Bercheria.
It was a truly pitiful outburst.
"My mother's life was truly unique. How frustrating and difficult it must have been to be born again and again as an Empress."
"Shut up. It was all my choice. The Supreme Being gave me a chance to choose, you know?"
"So this time, you defied the Supreme Being and wanted to become Emperor yourself."
Kelita's eyes widened.
She had never imagined that Bercheria, who had always been hit by every blow, could see through everything to this extent.
This was too dangerous.
Every card she held was exposed before Bercheria.
“I can’t understand what Bercheria is saying.”
Kelita, flustered, shifted between two faces.
She looked around the fog-filled surroundings, a sudden, sly smile playing on her lips.
“Bercheria. Even if you’re a goddess, this is too much. Even if you want to protect Wyatt, you wouldn’t make up such a preposterous story.”
Kelita smiled brightly and tried to pass Bercheria, but Bercheria grabbed her arm and forced her to stop.
“I followed Lawrence after breakfast this morning. I was curious to see what she would say after she used the Parallel Butterfly, a mere shell.”
“...”
“Since you confirmed it, I guess I’m right.”
Bercheria’s eyes turned cold.
“Is that why you’re running away? Without even a single apology to me, the victim of your greed?”
This time, Kelita’s face changed noticeably.
“Are you crazy? Why should I apologize to someone like you!”
Do you know about the Parallel Butterfly?
At best, Bercheria thought Lawrence was using magic or trickery to impersonate Kelita. She never expected her to even know about the Parallel Butterfly.
“Get out of here!”
Kelita shook off Bercheria’s hand and tried to escape the fog.
But no matter how much she looked, she felt like she had completely lost her sense of direction, unable to figure out where to go.
“Running away is useless anyway.”
At Bercheria’s voice, Kelita froze and awkwardly turned her head.
Then, at the sight she saw, her legs gave out and she collapsed.
“Open, the Parallel Butterfly...”
At best, Bercheria thought Lawrence was using magic or trickery to impersonate Kelita. She never expected her to even know about the Parallel Butterfly.
“Get out of here!”
Kelita shook off Bercheria’s hand and tried to escape the fog.
But no matter how much she looked, she felt like she had completely lost her sense of direction, unable to figure out where to go.
“Running away is useless anyway.”
At Bercheria’s voice, Kelita froze and awkwardly turned her head.
Then, at the sight she saw, her legs gave out and she collapsed.
“Open, the Parallel Butterfly...”
Bercheria stood looking down at her, holding the silvery Parallel Butterfly in her hand.
Behind her, her beautiful blond hair was flowing, the Parallel Butterfly fluttering its delicate wings.
“Mother.”
Bercheria asked with a faint smile on her lips.
“What would happen if this divine substance were destroyed while your body was switched?”
“Huh!”
“Have you ever heard of it?”
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