Chapter 123
Translator: Lunarise
Editor: Larkspur
An hour within God’s territory was akin to a day of the outside world. When Lustian brought Guinev with him out of God’s territory, it was already after Viola left his side.
The shock was… beyond words. The pain and agony were indescribable.
He gathered all of the palace staff that stood by Viola and interrogated them himself. Like a crown prince that had gone mad, he interrogated them for even the smallest clue, and as a result, found someone who saw her come out of God’s forest. It was around the time he was inside God’s Forest.
Lustian was devastated. Blood rushed to his head thinking of Viola who would’ve seen Guinev running into his arms.
She told her to wait… she told her that if she waited for a little, God’s Companion would be sent over to Him and we would be happy…
He wasn’t given a chance to explain himself. Ever since Viola left, he was not right in the head. He refused to accept his position to open the door to the new world. The most pressing matter to him was not finding God’s Companion nor was it fulfilling his duty as the crown prince.
Finding Viola was the most pressing matter.
It was about time that he suffered the wrath of the emperor. The emperor detained him. He wouldn’t let him set foot out of the palace and even stopped him from looking for Viola.
Lustian was in so much despair that he could no longer tell right from wrong. He felt like his heart was ripping apart every time he looked at the ring that she left behind. The more his resentment for Viola grew because of leaving without a word, the more his duties weighed heavily on his shoulders. He felt like he didn’t need anything. He hated everything including his status as the crown prince, his ambition to be Emperor, and even his love for his mother.
“I swore an oath to the Emperor. He told me that if I waited there, His Highness would come find me and marry me!”
“Don’t act like a little girl that was born yesterday. Did you think I wasn’t aware of your lust for me?”
Guinev looked at him with pitiful eyes, but it didn’t work. She had been fooling Lustian from the start.
The emperor found out about how she passed through God’s barrier before he did. Since she passed through the barrier, they had skipped the six months of the training process and flipped around the steps to get to the final gateway.
However, it seemed that even the emperor knew that he hated these duties to death.
“I don’t trust these words coming from someone who fooled me and schemed behind my back with Father to give me an aphrodisiac. There are limits to your lies. You were acting upon your desires for me and the will of Father. Is that not so?”
Guinev looked at him while crying. A one-sided love was not the kind of love that Lustian wanted. Her tears were detestable. The fact that at the same time she lured him to that place and got the emperor to witness it, and the fact that Ivan helped Viola escape enraged him.
Why? Why is that? I don’t know why she would twist my fate around like that!
The overwhelming energy that flowed out of Lustian grabbed the attention of everyone that came out to the garden. Guinev was so surprised, she slipped and fell down. Viola grabbed her right away and helped her stand, but she could see even from far away that she was shaking.
I may have been someone that she wanted, but it was different now. She was most afraid of me. Lustian gave a wry smile.
Your usefulness ended there. If you want to resent anyone, resent God. But even so, maybe this was a blessing for you, after all, considering you lost your memories of those times…
The maids took Guinev inside and Viola went up to him. Since she was gone, Lustian felt way more at ease.
“Make sure she’s out of my sight. Why on earth do you want that woman to live here?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? I want to fix her eyes.”
“I can’t tell if you’re just generous or if you harbor no jealousy….”
Even while knowing full well that she was a concubine, Viola was not jealous in any way. She would have felt like she was robbed of those eight years of being apart from him, but she did not blame Guinev for it.
“It’s all in the past. I don’t intend to be wrapped up in the past. I think the present is what’s important. More than anything, didn’t she lose both her sight and memories because she was mistaken to be God’s Companion and forcibly sent to God? The responsibility lies within the imperial family. It is also the duty of the imperial family to cure her.”
“——”
Unlike Viola who had clear answers and knew the root of the problem, Lustian had no form of rebuttal. He had a childishness that was similar to when he used to get caught up in his emotions.
During the war, the empire lost a valuable individual. It was the previous emperor. Instead of him, who cracked open the continent to find Viola, he passed away in the midst of performing a ritual. Ever since he lost his father, he had been wrapped up in guilt. He was regretful of his childishness instead of having a little more objectivity and clairvoyance.
And then he made a decision in his heart.
I am determined to protect this woman who may be another Companion of God. Viola doesn’t know this. Passing through the barrier isn’t contingent on God’s Companion, it would just mean that it would end with the curing of my illness…
…Even if you ended up being God’s Companion, you must not become that. I will ensure it.
Lustian hugged Viola tightly. The silk touching her skin was soft. He ran his fingers through her hair and touched the edge of her cloak.
“This is more suitable. Is this the dress of that country?”
“Since the sleeves are wide and loose, I feel like I have become a butterfly. Look over there. It seems that Wendy is also enjoying it.”
Wendy really did look like a butterfly, spreading those wide wing-like sleeves apart and flapping her arms around. The colors, mixed with yellow and pink, formed a beautiful drawing beneath her chest.
It was the happiest feeling. Wendy’s smile calmed her anxieties and Viola felt like she had the world in her hands every time she hugged her.