Episode 114. Gerard's Momentary Happiness
Lawrence woke up alone, sitting in a daze on the bed, then awkwardly stood up.
"Why did I do that?"
How did she end up sleeping with Dipper, and how did she even get caught by another god, Beloveye?
Everything that had happened so far couldn't make sense.
"Oh dear. What was I possessed by?"
No matter how much she thought about it, something was clearly wrong.
She had been perfectly rational until she became angry at Lacrahan.
Then suddenly, she heard a voice outside the window and saw Muha.
"It's all Lacrahan's fault."
It seemed like this was happening again and again because she couldn't get him.
Unable to satisfy her needs, she impulsively had affairs with other men.
It was the same with the man who managed the pigeons with Lyone.
He had tried to steal information, but ended up in bed with him.
It was always like that.
"Lacrahan."
Lawrence knew full well that unless she could fully obtain Lacrahan, she would continue to repeat this ruined life.
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her.
“If he marries Kelita, I’ll have to live under a curse in this life, too.”
She looked up again, her face a mess of tears.
Lawrence put her hand behind the headboard and pulled.
Then, a space opened, revealing the sacred objects hidden within.
“How can you be sure Lacrahan will come to me next time? The Supreme Being has always lied to me.”
At the end of each life, Lawrence had heard the Supreme Being whisper: “In the next life, Lacrahan will be your man.”
She had succumbed to that temptation, living each life without regard for the situation.
But she didn’t want to waste time like that again.
“No more.”
Lawrence began searching recklessly.
This secret space, undiscovered even by the maids, was filled with treasures enough to buy the entire imperial family if she wanted.
Sacred objects, gold, and precious stones.
While Gerard indulged his greed, Lawrence wasn't just blankly watching.
Then, a forgotten memory suddenly flashed through Lawrence's mind.
"The Twilight Ring!"
She couldn't understand how she had completely forgotten its existence for so long.
"I had a Twilight Ring!"
Around the time Lacrahan and Bercheria vanished from the world, Lawrence had secretly stolen the Twilight Ring from the Supreme Being. She had kept it in a place only she knew, so she could retrieve it in the next life, and the one after that.
If she could share the ring with Lacrahan, he would have to spend the rest of his life with Lawrence, whether he wanted to or not.
"Why didn't I think of that?"
She frantically pulled out the sacred objects.
But no matter how much she searched, the Twilight Ring remained.
"No way..."
Lawrence's eyes darted aimlessly.
Had the Supreme Being perhaps given the Twilight Ring to Kelita?
Or perhaps Dipper had stolen the ring while she was asleep.
Or perhaps Gerard, obsessed with jewels?
“No!”
Lawrence ran out of the hallway like a madman, then buried his face in Dipper’s back, who was standing before her.
“Ouch!”
Dipper had woken up just before Lawrence woke, standing outside the door, and was staring at a group of knights who had just passed him by.
“What?”
Lawrence rubbed her nose and saw all the knights in the palace, heavily armed, walking around.
It looked so solemn, as if they were about to start a war.
When her eyes met Dipper’s, Lawrence stopped one of the knights passing by.
The knight suddenly stopped, realized it was Lawrence, and immediately bowed his head.
“Your Majesty.”
“Where are you all going?”
He looked at the Empress, who was always a step behind in the imperial situation, with pity, and then kindly explained.
"His Majesty the Emperor has now declared war on the North."
Lawrence and Dipper's faces crumpled simultaneously.
"What?"
The knight repeated the words to Lawrence, clearly and distinctly.
"It is said that the Grand Duke Lacrahan has embezzled His Majesty's wealth and committed treason."
“What are you doing there? There’s no time!”
A voice shouted from the other side. The guard bowed to Lawrence and continued running.
Lawrence swallowed without realizing it, looking at the soldiers passing by.
“War with the North...”
The moment those words left her mouth, she realized with all of her heart.
The moment the war between the Imperial Family and the North broke out, she would never have any contact with Lacrahan.
“No. Never.”
“Damn it!”
Lawrence and Dipper shouted at the same time and ran after the guardsmen with pale faces.
Bercheria, who had just woken up, froze in shock at the unfamiliar sight before her.
Only then did she realize that she had just been sharing a sweet moment with Lacrahan here, did she breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Humans have probably only been here for hundreds of years.’
Just as Lacrahan had described, the sight of the mysteriously shaped trees standing densely together was awe-inspiring.
Untouched by human hands, nature flourished in its natural form.
Bercheria approached the nearest tree and placed her palm on its rough surface.
Just that touch, she could feel the overflowing energy of life.
“It’s just like him.”
As if she were touching Lacrahan, her warmth was palpable everywhere.
She longed to see him more.
“Lacrahan.”
Bercheria called his name and began walking.
But there was no trace of Lacrahan.
Then, suddenly, she realized that even Muha had disappeared.
Muha, larger than any tree in the area, should have been visible everywhere, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find even a single nose.
“Muha!”
Bercheria ran impatiently toward the hill where Muha had been.
There, she found only the trail of a condor that had kicked off the ground.
Only when she raised her head and looked far above did she finally realize.
Lacrahan had brought her here to prevent her from leaving.
“No.”
“You want to go back to the old days? Back when you were a god?”
“Maybe.”
Bercheria looked up with a despairing expression.
“Lacrahan.”
Her heart felt like it was plummeting to the floor.
In front of the portal leading to the north.
Late afternoon. The weather was overcast from the drizzle that had fallen all day, but the portal was brighter than ever.
This was because, on Gerard’s orders, all the mana in the imperial palace had been drawn to activate the portal.
Gerard gazed with a calm expression at his royal guard knights, who were reorganizing their lines.
He hadn’t been a fan of war, but this time, he couldn’t hide his excitement.
“A Supreme Being?”
Gerard shook his head and muttered to himself.
If you were to pick the luckiest person in the world, it would be none other than Gerard himself.
When his father lay ill, he had briefly, if fleetingly, dreamed of becoming Emperor.
He knew it was a hopeless fantasy.
His eldest brother was already designated as the next Emperor, and if anything happened to him, his second son, skilled in all martial arts, would stand firm.
Then, suddenly, Lyone appeared.
Everyone else dismissed Gerard as nothing special, and Lyone whispered that he would make him Emperor.
For Gerard, who had no particular ambitions, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Her face was quite his style.
After becoming Emperor so effortlessly, he lived solely for his own greed. He would seduce Princesses from warring empires to obtain whatever he wanted, and he didn't hesitate to embrace any woman he desired.
"Ha. An Emperor who possesses two goddesses?"
Gerard's shoulders shrugged.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor."
Dylan was approaching him from the other side, calling out to him.
In his bestial grasp hung the blond Groovy, flailing his limbs.
"Let me go!"
Despite Groovy's protests, Dylan dragged him to Gerard with a brutality that seemed almost inhumane.
Groovy, resentful of being dragged here, gasped and screamed.
“Didn’t you hear what Lady Bercheria said back then? Have you forgotten that I no longer have the authority to do this in the imperial court?”
Gerard chuckled, finding Groovy cute.
“I haven’t forgotten. But you know, all that stuff is useless now.”
“Yes?”
The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched as he laughed viciously.
“We’re going to war.”
Groovy's eyes widened, momentarily unable to grasp what she meant.
“...With the North, you mean?”
Instead of answering, Gerard twisted his lips into a smile, and Groovy felt a cold sweat run down his spine.
“You’ll have to make a sacrifice to open the portal.”
Groovy thought of the people he’d met at the northern castle.
And the knights who’d followed Lacrahan and stayed with him here.
A war between them and the imperial court?
How many could survive it all?
“...What if I say I won’t open the portal?”
“It’s okay.”
Gerard's expression softened, and a question was met with a remarkably calm reply.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
Gerard glanced behind him, as if to tell him not to worry, at the Northern Knights who were being dragged away, defenseless like Groovy.
This morning.
They hadn't even imagined a war would break out, and they were caught by the imperial guards while washing, eating, or sleeping, and dragged here.
"I feel like I could grind you up and throw you into the portal right now."
"...!"
"Well, if you don't, I'll kill the Northern Knights one by one. If that doesn't work, then I'll hang Bercheria at the top of the portal and kill her..."
"Understood! If you do... then I can..."
Just as Groovy let out the breath he'd been holding and grumbled,
"Ugh!"
"Careful!"
As if on cue, a huge gust of wind poured down from the sky.
"Damn it!"
Gerard frowned, thinking Bercheria had played the weather again.
But when he looked up, he saw the same giant condor he'd seen before, fluttering its wings, covering the sky in pitch-black.
"Lacrahan!"
"His Royal Highness!"
And above him stood a man whose mere sight made Gerard swell with irritation, gazing down at him with a confident air.
Lawrence woke up alone, sitting in a daze on the bed, then awkwardly stood up.
"Why did I do that?"
How did she end up sleeping with Dipper, and how did she even get caught by another god, Beloveye?
Everything that had happened so far couldn't make sense.
"Oh dear. What was I possessed by?"
No matter how much she thought about it, something was clearly wrong.
She had been perfectly rational until she became angry at Lacrahan.
Then suddenly, she heard a voice outside the window and saw Muha.
"It's all Lacrahan's fault."
It seemed like this was happening again and again because she couldn't get him.
Unable to satisfy her needs, she impulsively had affairs with other men.
It was the same with the man who managed the pigeons with Lyone.
He had tried to steal information, but ended up in bed with him.
It was always like that.
"Lacrahan."
Lawrence knew full well that unless she could fully obtain Lacrahan, she would continue to repeat this ruined life.
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her.
“If he marries Kelita, I’ll have to live under a curse in this life, too.”
She looked up again, her face a mess of tears.
Lawrence put her hand behind the headboard and pulled.
Then, a space opened, revealing the sacred objects hidden within.
“How can you be sure Lacrahan will come to me next time? The Supreme Being has always lied to me.”
At the end of each life, Lawrence had heard the Supreme Being whisper: “In the next life, Lacrahan will be your man.”
She had succumbed to that temptation, living each life without regard for the situation.
But she didn’t want to waste time like that again.
“No more.”
Lawrence began searching recklessly.
This secret space, undiscovered even by the maids, was filled with treasures enough to buy the entire imperial family if she wanted.
Sacred objects, gold, and precious stones.
While Gerard indulged his greed, Lawrence wasn't just blankly watching.
Then, a forgotten memory suddenly flashed through Lawrence's mind.
"The Twilight Ring!"
She couldn't understand how she had completely forgotten its existence for so long.
"I had a Twilight Ring!"
Around the time Lacrahan and Bercheria vanished from the world, Lawrence had secretly stolen the Twilight Ring from the Supreme Being. She had kept it in a place only she knew, so she could retrieve it in the next life, and the one after that.
If she could share the ring with Lacrahan, he would have to spend the rest of his life with Lawrence, whether he wanted to or not.
"Why didn't I think of that?"
She frantically pulled out the sacred objects.
But no matter how much she searched, the Twilight Ring remained.
"No way..."
Lawrence's eyes darted aimlessly.
Had the Supreme Being perhaps given the Twilight Ring to Kelita?
Or perhaps Dipper had stolen the ring while she was asleep.
Or perhaps Gerard, obsessed with jewels?
“No!”
Lawrence ran out of the hallway like a madman, then buried his face in Dipper’s back, who was standing before her.
“Ouch!”
Dipper had woken up just before Lawrence woke, standing outside the door, and was staring at a group of knights who had just passed him by.
“What?”
Lawrence rubbed her nose and saw all the knights in the palace, heavily armed, walking around.
It looked so solemn, as if they were about to start a war.
When her eyes met Dipper’s, Lawrence stopped one of the knights passing by.
The knight suddenly stopped, realized it was Lawrence, and immediately bowed his head.
“Your Majesty.”
“Where are you all going?”
He looked at the Empress, who was always a step behind in the imperial situation, with pity, and then kindly explained.
"His Majesty the Emperor has now declared war on the North."
Lawrence and Dipper's faces crumpled simultaneously.
"What?"
The knight repeated the words to Lawrence, clearly and distinctly.
"It is said that the Grand Duke Lacrahan has embezzled His Majesty's wealth and committed treason."
“What are you doing there? There’s no time!”
A voice shouted from the other side. The guard bowed to Lawrence and continued running.
Lawrence swallowed without realizing it, looking at the soldiers passing by.
“War with the North...”
The moment those words left her mouth, she realized with all of her heart.
The moment the war between the Imperial Family and the North broke out, she would never have any contact with Lacrahan.
“No. Never.”
“Damn it!”
Lawrence and Dipper shouted at the same time and ran after the guardsmen with pale faces.
***
Bercheria, who had just woken up, froze in shock at the unfamiliar sight before her.
Only then did she realize that she had just been sharing a sweet moment with Lacrahan here, did she breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Humans have probably only been here for hundreds of years.’
Just as Lacrahan had described, the sight of the mysteriously shaped trees standing densely together was awe-inspiring.
Untouched by human hands, nature flourished in its natural form.
Bercheria approached the nearest tree and placed her palm on its rough surface.
Just that touch, she could feel the overflowing energy of life.
“It’s just like him.”
As if she were touching Lacrahan, her warmth was palpable everywhere.
She longed to see him more.
“Lacrahan.”
Bercheria called his name and began walking.
But there was no trace of Lacrahan.
Then, suddenly, she realized that even Muha had disappeared.
Muha, larger than any tree in the area, should have been visible everywhere, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find even a single nose.
“Muha!”
Bercheria ran impatiently toward the hill where Muha had been.
There, she found only the trail of a condor that had kicked off the ground.
Only when she raised her head and looked far above did she finally realize.
Lacrahan had brought her here to prevent her from leaving.
“No.”
“You want to go back to the old days? Back when you were a god?”
“Maybe.”
Bercheria looked up with a despairing expression.
“Lacrahan.”
Her heart felt like it was plummeting to the floor.
***
In front of the portal leading to the north.
Late afternoon. The weather was overcast from the drizzle that had fallen all day, but the portal was brighter than ever.
This was because, on Gerard’s orders, all the mana in the imperial palace had been drawn to activate the portal.
Gerard gazed with a calm expression at his royal guard knights, who were reorganizing their lines.
He hadn’t been a fan of war, but this time, he couldn’t hide his excitement.
“A Supreme Being?”
Gerard shook his head and muttered to himself.
If you were to pick the luckiest person in the world, it would be none other than Gerard himself.
When his father lay ill, he had briefly, if fleetingly, dreamed of becoming Emperor.
He knew it was a hopeless fantasy.
His eldest brother was already designated as the next Emperor, and if anything happened to him, his second son, skilled in all martial arts, would stand firm.
Then, suddenly, Lyone appeared.
Everyone else dismissed Gerard as nothing special, and Lyone whispered that he would make him Emperor.
For Gerard, who had no particular ambitions, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Her face was quite his style.
After becoming Emperor so effortlessly, he lived solely for his own greed. He would seduce Princesses from warring empires to obtain whatever he wanted, and he didn't hesitate to embrace any woman he desired.
"Ha. An Emperor who possesses two goddesses?"
Gerard's shoulders shrugged.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor."
Dylan was approaching him from the other side, calling out to him.
In his bestial grasp hung the blond Groovy, flailing his limbs.
"Let me go!"
Despite Groovy's protests, Dylan dragged him to Gerard with a brutality that seemed almost inhumane.
Groovy, resentful of being dragged here, gasped and screamed.
“Didn’t you hear what Lady Bercheria said back then? Have you forgotten that I no longer have the authority to do this in the imperial court?”
Gerard chuckled, finding Groovy cute.
“I haven’t forgotten. But you know, all that stuff is useless now.”
“Yes?”
The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched as he laughed viciously.
“We’re going to war.”
Groovy's eyes widened, momentarily unable to grasp what she meant.
“...With the North, you mean?”
Instead of answering, Gerard twisted his lips into a smile, and Groovy felt a cold sweat run down his spine.
“You’ll have to make a sacrifice to open the portal.”
Groovy thought of the people he’d met at the northern castle.
And the knights who’d followed Lacrahan and stayed with him here.
A war between them and the imperial court?
How many could survive it all?
“...What if I say I won’t open the portal?”
“It’s okay.”
Gerard's expression softened, and a question was met with a remarkably calm reply.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
Gerard glanced behind him, as if to tell him not to worry, at the Northern Knights who were being dragged away, defenseless like Groovy.
This morning.
They hadn't even imagined a war would break out, and they were caught by the imperial guards while washing, eating, or sleeping, and dragged here.
"I feel like I could grind you up and throw you into the portal right now."
"...!"
"Well, if you don't, I'll kill the Northern Knights one by one. If that doesn't work, then I'll hang Bercheria at the top of the portal and kill her..."
"Understood! If you do... then I can..."
Just as Groovy let out the breath he'd been holding and grumbled,
"Ugh!"
"Careful!"
As if on cue, a huge gust of wind poured down from the sky.
"Damn it!"
Gerard frowned, thinking Bercheria had played the weather again.
But when he looked up, he saw the same giant condor he'd seen before, fluttering its wings, covering the sky in pitch-black.
"Lacrahan!"
"His Royal Highness!"
And above him stood a man whose mere sight made Gerard swell with irritation, gazing down at him with a confident air.
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