Chapter 63: Swallowing the Grief
Chapter 63: Swallowing the Grief
“Sorry? A prophecy?”
“Yes. It wasn’t directed at me personally, but was delivered through my parents. It said that a dragon would attack our Ducal estate sometime in late summer next year.”
“Ah…”
A sigh, like a faint moan of despair.
Even with that brief reaction, Kassel sensed that Fay knew something about the matter. But he didn’t press her.
“It was such an unbelievable claim that we had the Mage Tower’s Truth-Seeker’s Stone verify it. We brought something that belonged to Dottricia and asked about it. The statue said it was ‘a relic of a forgotten past.’ It was truly strange. And then…”
At the end of the story, Kassel shared even the hallucination he’d experienced in his pain.
“It was something I’m sure I never lived through, but I was reading a letter from my father. The contents were strange, completely different from how things are now.”
“…”
“The letter said that ‘that girl, Eina,’ had returned to the monastery. But if the Dottricia you’re referring to is the one from the current reality and not Eina… Fay, does that mean you were Eina once?”
Fay didn’t immediately say yes or no. She simply met his gaze and gave him a sad smile. Sharp as ever, Kassel understood.
A ‘relic of a forgotten past’ meant something that had happened but had been forgotten by all.
‘My god…’
Fay squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she hesitated before addressing him.
“…What should I call you?”
“However you wish. Anything is fine.”
“Then, when it’s just the two of us… I’ll call you Brother Kassel. Brother… Kassel…”
Kassel reached out to caress her cheek with his large hand. His touch was careful, but warm and steady. In that moment, Fay understood why someone as powerful as Momo had clung to her, yearning for love.
A sentient being finds it hard to lead a stoic life all alone. More precisely, it’s because we know what loneliness is that we long for someone to lean on.
I’m the same.
That’s why she’d been born as a human, and that’s why she was living as one.
Now that all traces of her tears had been wiped away, Fay opened her mouth and began to tell a story, longer than what Kassel had shared.
“We’ve come back in time. To about two years ago…”
By the time she’d given a brief summary of why she’d come to be here, both in the past and now, it was already well past noon. Though she’d only given a summary, she’d had to start from when she was very young, so it took time.
Even so, Kassel called for a ‘light lunch,’ insisting that even an important story had to wait until she’d eaten.
Of course, by his standards it was light but perhaps because this was his little sister’s first proper meal since their reunion, the table was filled with nearly dozens of dishes. He had carefully selected each item himself, and there was an especially large variety of meat. It felt like they’d rounded up every well-known, tasty four-legged animal available.
Fay groaned inwardly as she stared at the enormous table.
‘Ugh… It’d be nicer if we could at least sit a little closer while we eat.’
Regardless, they began their massive meal.
Though he had little appetite, Kassel forced himself to eat for her sake. Eventually, he let out a low, smoldering expression of anger.
“Hearing what you’ve been through… it makes my teeth grind.”
Fay quickly set down her salad fork and tried to calm him.
“But Brother Kassel, truly, you bear no guilt. None whatsoever. So please don’t wear that expression like someone burdened with original sin.”
“I was too indifferent about everything. Ever since I returned to the capital, I’ve focused solely on fulfilling my duties as a knight, and in doing so, I’ve neglected much. I’m ashamed of myself. I never imagined that the price for guarding the border so dutifully would be this.”
“More importantly, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Tell me anything.”
Kassel also set down his fork, his demeanor serious. Fay swallowed hard.
“Dott committed a lot of acts to hide her former identity… from her past life. On the day she tried to kill me, she admitted it. She said she even killed her own family.”
“You mean the atrocity we witnessed in the Chionel estate.”
“Yes. Until just a few months ago, I never imagined Dott was tied to the Grand Temple in such a strange way. I mean, who would think of someone as an unknowing accomplice? Normally, you’d assume an accomplice was in on the plan from the start.”
“Then…”
Fay’s green eyes gleamed as a sharp deduction surfaced.
“It must’ve been similar back then too. She went after everyone who knew about the past, Viscount Karris’s family, the Mother Superior, Priestess Cheryl, and saved me for last.”
Kassel furrowed his brow.
“The Grand Temple must have known the Duchy’s every move but stayed silent until they could announce the search for the Saintess. Because they had their own agenda.”
“Exactly. There was a time gap between when Dott was accepted as the Saintess and when it was officially declared in the capital. So the Grand Temple waited nearly two months. But now that events and timing have diverged, we’ve deviated from the past.”
“Different shape, same disaster, is that it?”
Kassel’s sigh mirrored the heaviness in Fay’s heart.
“Yes. If time hadn’t reversed back then, Saintess Kaphia would’ve appeared in the imperial palace. Just like now.”
He fought to suppress the fury rising inside him.
“…It’s unfathomable. That the Grand Temple, of all places, would sacrifice a person’s life for personal gain? That they would manipulate and drive my sister, the empire’s one and only Saintess, to her death?”
Hesitantly, Fay brought out the ruby pendant she had with her.
“I mentioned it earlier. Back then it was swapped, but now, Dott never got the chance to steal this.”
“The one the Saintess supposedly gave you?”
“Yes. The researchers at the Magic Tower studied it and confirmed something new. My hair… this isn’t my original color. I don’t know if I resemble one of my parents, or perhaps an ancestor. But surely, Saintess Kaphia would know what color my hair was when I was born.”
Kassel gripped the broken ruby pendant tightly and swore silently to himself, so his pitiful little sister wouldn’t hear and be startled.
‘Kaphia! You are neither saint nor human. You are a mad demon. I will tear you apart with my own hands. I will make you suffer every torment you’ve inflicted and cast you into eternal agony. I swear it… I swear it!’
Fay finished her glass of water and gave a weary smile.
“Whew. Just this morning I was wondering how I was going to say all this, but I’ve mostly gotten it out. Honestly… it was way too long. I couldn’t do this twice.”
She placed a hand near her collarbone, panting softly, still parched, it seemed.
For just a moment, Kassel understood why she didn’t want to reveal her past to the rest of his family. He had never done anything terrible to her, then or now. Though he couldn’t forgive himself, the truth was that he bore no real guilt.
But his father… and mother. Maurice’s dangerous games, his manipulation of ‘Eina,’ were things they could never have predicted. They’d brought Morgana back to the very family she was born into, only to push her out of a burnt-down monastery based on one fake Saintess’s word. Two years of hardship, erased with a single command.
When you put it all together, wasn’t it too cruel for a single girl to endure what an entire noble household had done to her?
They’d used her, wrung her dry to serve their needs and left her with death as the price.
‘Even if Fay wept and cried, ‘I was wronged, it was unbearable,’ would they—would Maurice—ever truly feel remorse? I’m not even sure myself.’
To make her relive this painful confession once, twice, again and again… it would be too much. And for what? When no one might even reflect on their sins?
Fay, now returned to the bright and curious mage she once was, opened her mouth.
“By the way, do you still have the Potyan I gave you?”
“Of course. I’m drying it in a place with no sunlight.”
“Hehe. I brought more just in case it was lost. You’ll need it soon.”
“For what?”
After clearing the lunch table, Fay poured tea and explained briefly.
Kassel raised an incredulous brow.
“The physician gave the wrong prescription?”
“Technically, he gathered the wrong ingredient. But he picked it himself, so I suppose it’s fair to say he did. Well… it’s not a critical issue. It’d resolve itself if left alone, but Marquis Hyante missed the proper treatment window and ended up with lingering aftereffects.”
“His life’s not in danger, is it?”
“No. Whatever feud he has with House Orleans, it still feels unfair for him to fall ill for nothing, doesn’t it?”
“…Hmm.”
“Please handle it as you see fit, Brother Kassel. Dott probably remembers this too. It was a hot topic in society for months. There’s no way she wouldn’t.”
“She’s never mentioned it, as far as I know.”
“Which means she’ll likely swoop in after the incident, claim she identified the wrong herb, and use it to get a foothold with the Hyante family.”
Kassel’s perpetually cool gaze softened ever so slightly.
“If you don’t take any other herbs, just drinking water infused with dried Potyan works, right?”
“Yes. Since it was harvested in season, its potency is exceptional. Given the marquis’s age, he should drink it this year, then again in about two years. It’ll help greatly.”
“Got it. He’ll owe you a great debt.”
“A debt? Hardly.”
Fay smiled knowingly, sensing that Kassel intended to rescue the marquis.
To sabotage Dott’s plan to win the Hyantes’ favor? No… that wasn’t it.
What made her happy was that Kassel, now truly aligned with her, was still the upright man she’d believed him to be.
Fay let out a soft, drowsy sigh.
“I’m a bit tired.”
In the past, she’d hidden her feelings and even pushed through exhaustion out of courtesy in front of him. Now, that time felt like a distant memory.
“Take a nap. I used this hotel often when I stayed in the capital. The manager is discreet, and it seems you’re comfortable on this floor. Come anytime.”
“Really? That’s… nice, but…”
“Even when I’m here, don’t hesitate. Come and rest as you please.”
For the first time, a hint of boyish mischief flickered in Kassel’s crimson eyes.
“You played the piano so joyfully here, after all…”
“Y-you’re the worst! You promised not to bring that up!”
Waaah! Forget it! That performance!
Though she couldn’t yell, Fay was silently screaming in embarrassment.
“Of course I’d never tell anyone. That memory is precious to me. Just like when I took you to the Magic Tower, or more recently… when we visited the Chionel estate.”
“Me too…”
“Since returning to the capital, there hasn’t been a day without clouds hanging over me except when I’m with you. You’re like a white cloud that makes people smile.”
……
T/N: It’s great that Kassel now remembers the past! 🥳
Cctastic
🥲 kassel is the best