The rain seemed to be coming. The dark, overcast sky felt like it was reflecting my mood.
“….. Where is Athena?”
“Master is tired, so she’ll be in her room.”
The head maid, Roselin, spoke with her hands politely clasped together. It wasn’t just her; many people from the mansion had come to greet me.
But where was Athena? Not even a glimpse of her to be found.
Really…
Am I really just supposed to leave like this?
Caught off guard by this sudden situation, I was at a loss for words.
When I woke up in the morning, I thought I must have misheard. She told me to leave the mansion and vanished. I thought it was just a figment of my imagination.
But when Mari took my hand and led me out of the mansion, and there stood a large carriage outside the door, it hit me.
Seeing Roselin and countless others waiting to send me off made me realize that Athena’s words from yesterday were not a lie.
“Hmph. She must know she made the wrong decision.”
Sephir, disguised as a human, pouted and grumbled next to me. After realizing her mistake, she looked around a few times, confirmed Athena was absent, and sighed in relief.
Sephir turned her gaze away from me to Mari, who had been frowning all morning for some reason.
Mari had told me this morning about what Athena conveyed. And about the unbelievable amount of platinum coins she handed over to her.
With this money, I could live like royalty in the Empire.
But I was not grateful at all.
On the contrary, it made less sense to me that she would so easily cast me aside.
Didn’t she say she couldn’t live without me once?
Now she was letting me go just like that?
Was I so ridiculous it left me speechless?
I was filled with frustration.
It was indeed me who wanted to escape this mansion.
And I still wanted to leave this hellish place as soon as possible.
But… But not like this.
“… Hey! Where are you going!”
Even as Sephir called out to me, I didn’t look back.
It wasn’t just her; I turned my back on the many piercing gazes from everyone.
I ran toward the place where Athena was.
No matter how resentful I felt, it wasn’t right to part ways in an instant like this.
Surely she would think the same.
But was I mistaken in my thoughts?
“Still haven’t left?”
“…..”
Athena spoke to me with an indifferent expression.
I could only stare at her, dumbfounded.
“Did you come to say goodbye? I hope you leave quickly since I’m busy.”
I couldn’t understand it.
Just a few days ago, she had approached me desperately.
Who was this person, looking down at me so coldly?
“… Really… am I supposed to go?”
“Of course. Were you thinking I was lying?”
As I stood motionless in front of Athena for a moment, she seemed to realize something. With her eyes widening and a smirk appearing, she approached me.
“Oh. Sorry. You must have come for this?”
She placed her hand on my abdomen.
“H-huh?!”
Before long, I felt a dizzying sensation as something inside me slipped away, and my entire body weakened, swaying unsteadily.
It felt like something important was gone, leaving me empty.
When I looked back up at Athena, a brilliant golden mana swirled and vibrated around her.
“The slave contract ends here. You can leave now.”
Her tone, as if this situation was nothing, fueled my anger.
Unable to hold back any longer, I rushed to her and grabbed her by the collar.
“…..you bastard.”
“What?”
“You really like to hurt me, huh?”
I was curious about Athena.
What was I to you?
Just a toy you wanted?
Or a plaything you found easy to deal with?
How could you…
How could you make me feel so miserable?
Did you ever love me, even once?
“….”
Again, she offered no reply, and a hollow laugh escaped me.
“Forget it. I don’t want to see you anymore, Athena.”
I turned my back on her, giving my last parting words and walked back the way I came.
“Hope you eat well and live happily, you awful woman.”
One small tear rolled down my cheek.
I thought I heard her say something, but it got lost in the distance we had already created, fading into the void.
Thus, the twists and turns of our relationship came to a ridiculous and utterly empty end.
“……. Please be happy.”
I love you, Hera.
.
.
.
The carriage was surprisingly nice. Despite the bumpy road ahead, it traveled smoothly without a single jolt.
“Miss… you don’t look well.”
“Hey… are you okay? Nothing happened, right?”
Alina and Sephir, sitting across from me, looked at me with worried expressions.
Mari, quietly sitting next to me, seemed to be deep in thought, still frowning.
We were on our way to the Empire.
Originally, it was supposed to be just me and Mari, but Sephir, who had stepped down as brigade commander, followed me as she claimed she had nowhere else to go. Alina also asked to come along.
Honestly, I wanted to be alone.
But knowing how much they had cared for me, I accepted them.
“Hera..?”
Sephir called out to me again, sensing my silence.
“… Sorry.”
I apologized to Sephir.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer.
I had no thoughts at all.
No, to be precise, I could only think of her.
It felt like she had changed so suddenly.
Just moments ago, I had hurled insults at her out of frustration before turning to leave.
Yet as I sat quietly in the carriage, thinking it over, her actions felt incredibly odd.
I gently caressed my lower abdomen.
It felt strange not to sense anything there.
Surely, being freed from slavery was a good thing.
But my body, now devoid of her mana, felt too empty.
“…. Mom.”
While I was lost in thought, Mari came and hugged my waist tightly.
Her worried expression was apparent to me.
“It’s okay, Mari.”
I patted her head and gave her a slight smile to reassure her.
“…..”
But Mari looked far from reassured, her lips moving as she fidgeted restlessly.
Feeling guilty for worrying her weighed heavily in my chest.
This couldn’t go on. I shook my head vigorously to clear the thoughts of Athena from my mind.
Right.
Now I needed to forget.
My relationship with her was already over.
Thinking about her any further would be meaningless.
In truth, I didn’t have the courage to erase her from my memory.
She was that significant to me.
But if I tried not to think about her, perhaps as time passed, I would be able to forget her indifferently.
I quietly leaned my head against the carriage window and closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, the world would surely look different.
Not that suffocating mansion that felt like hell, but a new home to find.
Should I find one in the Empire?
Living in a forest with no people wouldn’t be too bad either.
Anything would be better than that mansion.
I opened my eyes to gaze at the dim sky.
The rain seemed to be coming. The dark, overcast sky felt like it was reflecting my mood.
*
“…. You came to die, didn’t you?”
Her enormous wings spread wide within the castle, showing off her magnificent stature.
The surrounding demons cheered and began to praise her one by one.
This place, filled with blood and screams.
The very center of the Demon Realm: the Demon King’s Castle.
Here, countless demons were gathered, all staring at a single human.
If it had been an ordinary person, they would have fainted from sheer terror.
Yet, surprisingly, it was the demons who trembled in primal fear.
Standing confidently, she reached out her hand towards the red-haired woman seated on the throne, wiggling her finger.
“Well, isn’t it you who will die?”
“Hahaha, how absurd.”
The red-haired woman with a pair of massive wings began laughing mockingly.
“Do you really think you can stand against me in this realm without even a smidgen of the goddess’s power?”
As she stepped down from her throne, all the demons kneeling inside the castle bowed in respect.
The red-haired woman who referred to herself as “my lady” was Arbes.
She was commonly known as the Demon King.
“Power of the Goddess? Why would I need that to kill you?”
At her provocation, the Demon King’s brows furrowed, but she soon began to laugh heartily.
“Hahaha! Very well. If you wish to die so badly, I won’t refuse.”
Dark and dense mana, both destructive and bloodthirsty, began to swirl around her.
“I hope you entertain my lady.”
The glowing red eyes of the Demon King, speaking these words, shone ominously, as if ready to devour the woman before her.
But the woman showed no fear, stretching her hand into the air, murmuring,
“Shine brightly, Rukete.”
As soon as her words finished, a blinding light erupted from her hand, forming a sword shaped from pure light that landed in her grasp.
She swung the sword once, and with a loud whoosh, all the demons around her were cut down, leaving behind nothing but a sea of corpses.
“It’s been a while since I held a sword.”
She said to the Demon King while presenting the sword.
Her eyes were ablaze, shining as brightly as the sun itself in golden flames.
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