Gasp…
Thump… thump…
Huff… huff…
“Hera…!”
As Athena sees me, she rushes over and quickly removes the shackles from my arms. Placing her hand on my cheek, she looks at me with a face full of rage.
“Who did this to you? Was it that bastard Bordin?”
Her fiery gaze pierced through me.
As her hand touched my face, a strong sense of rejection surged from within.
“Don’t touch me!!!”
“…Hera?”
Holding back the nausea that was rising, I pushed her away with both hands.
Gak… Ugh… Ugh…
I tried to hold it back, but with the sensation reaching my throat, I covered my mouth and began to retch.
It felt like all my insides were turned upside down.
But no matter how hard I tried to bring it up, all that came out was dry heaving.
Athena, shocked by my pushing her away, stared at me with wide-open eyes.
But seeing my suffering, she didn’t seem to care much and rushed back to help me up.
“Hera…”
“D-Don’t touch me…!”
Every time her hand touched me, a disgusting sensation made me feel like my insides were melting away.
But my already exhausted body was too weak to push her away any longer, and I could only awkwardly try to move my body to shake her off.
“Mmm… Mom…”
Maybe the commotion had woken her. Mari, who was sleeping beside me, rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Soon, her beautiful blue eyes fully opened.
As Mari’s big eyes stared at me, she rolled over and noticed someone next to me.
“…….You.”
Once she spotted Athena, her pupils narrowed like those of a predator, changing into a fierce glare.
“You… you did this to Mom…”
A surge of intense mana erupted around Mari, and with a bang, it threw Athena away from me.
In an instant, Athena was sent flying to the far side of the room, looking utterly baffled as she glared at Mari.
“What is going on?!”
As a dark energy surged around Athena, Mari’s blue mana responded violently.
Huff… Mari, no…
After inhaling sharply, I pulled Mari close and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Uh… Mom?”
As Mari found herself in my embrace, she seemed a bit more shocked, but…
Maybe it was effective. Her rampaging mana gradually started to calm down.
With Mari settled beside me, I wobbled my way toward Athena.
Step…
My heart raced violently as I stepped closer to her golden eyes staring intently.
Step…
Swallowing my tears, I suppressed crying and took another step toward her.
Moving closer felt like a condemned prisoner walking to the gallows.
No matter how difficult and scary it was, I had to go.
To grasp whatever last shred of hope I might still have.
Before I knew it, I arrived right in front of Athena. Lifting my head to meet her gaze, a single tear dropped down my cheek upon seeing the radiant brightness in her eyes.
“….Hera?”
Maybe startled by my tear, her eyes flickered ever so slightly.
“…Athena.”
The last hope I didn’t want to let go of.
I wished for everything to be a misunderstanding.
I already knew in my head.
The words she had spoken were painfully clear in their meaning.
But my heart wanted to deny all these truths.
Could it be Athena had misspoken?
Was someone using her appearance to say those things?
Or was Bordin genuinely twisting something?
All those thoughts were possibilities woven from a desperate denial, but still, I clung to the hope, trying to keep my sanity intact.
I didn’t want to believe it.
I didn’t even want to think about it.
I could never accept that Athena had done such a thing to me.
Forcing my tightly shut lips to part, I quivered as I asked her.
“…Is it… true?”
Athena seemed not to hear my words well and looked down at me with a questioning expression.
“Hera, what are you talking about?”
You.
You did this to me.
“Did you… give the order to break me…?”
“…..What?”
Her eyes widened at my words.
She looked confused, as if she couldn’t comprehend what I was saying.
Her bewildered expression carried hope in a small corner of my heart.
Please, Athena.
Please tell me it’s not true.
Get angry at me for what I said.
Tell me how I became like this.
That it was all my fault for being foolish.
For being pathetic.
For being unable to do anything on my own.
Go ahead and scold me for shifting the blame onto others.
Please…
Please don’t say you did that!
However, the last desperate hope I had seemed to shatter in an instant as she said,
“…..Bordin told you, didn’t he?”
So easily.
Her words broke my final ray of hope into countless pieces.
“Hahaha…”
With my eyes losing their last glimmer of hope, tears flowed endlessly.
Crunch–!!
With a ripping sound, my head whipped violently to the side.
A taste of iron filled my mouth as the pain coursed through me.
But I had no time to feel the pain.
Turning my head back, I looked at her.
Hera was crying.
Her lips were bitten and bloodied as she desperately tried to hold back her voice.
Her red, puffy eyes and tears flowing down her cheeks.
Her despair-filled gaze that seemed devoid of light.
Seeing her pitiful state pierced my heart.
But what drove me even more insane was the fact that the one who put Hera through that was none other than me.
“Why… why did you do that!!!”
Hera screamed in anguish.
Her voice was trembling, overtaken by tears.
“I believed in you!! I loved you!!! Why… why!! Ugh…”
As if she could no longer hold it back, she covered her face with her hands, starting to sob pitifully.
“…….I…”
I could say nothing.
There wasn’t a single lie in saying I had broken her.
How could I show my face after what I’ve done to her?
I had thought about it before.
If only I could turn back time.
I wouldn’t hesitate to utterly destroy the me who gave the order to break Hera.
At that time, I didn’t know what love was.
All I had was a possessive desire to own Hera, treating her like an object.
But by the time I realized my feelings, I had already committed an irreparable sin against Hera.
So I had desperately hoped.
That Hera would never learn of my ugly past.
I had silenced her with the lives of the servants.
And shamelessly made love to her as if nothing was wrong.
But there’s no such thing as an everlasting lie.
Eventually, everything was revealed.
What right did I have to comfort Hera?
I could only hesitate, unable to say anything, and tried to reach out to her.
Smack-
Hera’s hand struck my arm hard.
“D-Don’t touch me…”
As she stepped back from me, shaking with fear, she tripped and fell onto the ground.
“Hera!”
“Stay away!!!”
I instinctively ran towards her, but Hera screamed in terror at my advancing form.
“D-Don’t… leave me alone… Ugh…”
She knelt on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself and trembled.
I could only gaze at her with shaking eyes.
“…..Hera…”
“Ugh…”
…This didn’t seem like a good time to talk.
My presence would only bring her more anguish.
When she calms down, I would surely be able to talk to her again.
“….I will come back when you’re settled… Take care of yourself.”
No answer came.
I eventually turned my body and stepped out of her room.
The guilt of making her cry.
The foreboding sensation that our relationship was drifting apart.
Torrential needles were stabbing my heart.
*
“….Is that all?”
“Yes.”
The brown-haired maid lowered her head as she replied.
Her name was definitely Alina.
I remembered her smartly since she had been friends with Hera.
And it haunted me to recall how I had jealously ordered her to betray Hera.
“Enough. You can go back now.”
“…Are you letting me go?”
She looked baffled, clearly not expecting I’d let her leave safely.
She confessed to obeying Bordin all this time.
Was she assuming I was planning to kill her?
“….I will let you go. Thanks to you, Hera could be safe.”
“…..”
I listened to the maid’s story from beginning to end.
How Bordin betrayed her, how he met his end, and the royal seal I found in his office.
And I learned about the magical device that had stored the numerous commands I once issued.
After hearing all that, Hera fell unconscious.
Finally, I heard that she had attempted to end her life out of shock.
Thump-thump…
I couldn’t endure the excruciating pain in my chest any longer, so I bit my lips hard, tasting blood once again.
“Make sure to look after Hera, so she doesn’t get hurt. It seems like you can be trusted.”
I gestured for the brown-haired maid to leave.
She seemed to have a lot to say, opening her mouth several times before finally closing her eyes tightly and stepping outside.
“Ha…”
Left alone in the room.
I fiercely wiped my face with both hands, trying to suppress the emotions spilling out.
“Time… time will pass…”
Someday.
Maybe the day will come when Hera smiles at me again.
I prayed fervently for that.
But the piercing pain in my heart showed no signs of fading.
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