“You are tired because you eliminated all of Rozantine’s water. Having expended such tremendous divine power, it’s inevitable that you would feel exhausted.”
Leticia still felt bewildered.
‘What does using power have to do with celebration?’
Dinute’s eyes sparkled.
“Of course, it’s something to celebrate! Awakening the power of water and then accomplishing such an incredible feat right away!”
“Ah… I see.”
Leticia felt relieved but also somewhat embarrassed. She was embarrassed to say out loud that she was happy to have become stronger.
“But it’s been quite a while since I used my power. Seeing my condition worsen, I wonder if it’s because of my lack of ability?”
At least half a day had passed since they left Rozantine.
She had used her power right after leaving the city gates, but instead of recovering, her energy kept draining.
“That’s natural. You are still using your power at this very moment, aren’t you?”
“Me? Using my power right now?”
“The droplets of Rozantine’s water are still hidden in the subspace. So, of course, you are continuously using your power.”
Dinute said with a sly smile.
“Countless droplets are desperately borrowing power from you, and even the distance has grown farther. Your energy would inevitably drop.”
It was natural for her to feel increasingly exhausted, especially since she kept talking without knowing how to rest.
“Don’t feel too upset. Everyone wants to help you because they like you.”
“…I see.”
Leticia blushed as she spoke.
Something inside her felt ticklish. She always felt this way when someone said they liked her.
Seeing her embarrassed, Dinute burst into laughter and then hugged her tightly.
“Ah, how can you be so adorable!”
“…Thank you.”
Leticia hesitated before hugging Dinute back.
Dinute had a very pleasant scent. It wasn’t as strong as perfume but was comforting.
Suddenly, she thought.
‘Is this what people mean by the scent of a mother?’
Dinute said kindly.
“Don’t worry about the lost divine power. Once you restore Rozantine’s water to its original state, it will return to its place. No, it will probably become even stronger. Your power is growing even at this moment. That’s why I can appear before you now.”
As Dinute spoke, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
“Then, perhaps, because I awakened the power of water this morning…”
“Yes. Just like when you restored the power of the elixir, and I was able to meet you, your power has grown stronger, allowing me to appear.”
Dinute looked at Leticia with satisfaction.
“That’s why I’ve come to present you with an oracle today.”
“An oracle?”
“Yes. Sig might nag again, but it’s okay. After all, I’ll be sleeping for a while.”
Dinute chuckled. Leticia tilted her head in confusion.
“Sig… Who is that?”
“There, the foul-tempered lizard. He’s smitten with you even though he’s never met you.”
“…What?”
Leticia blinked in bewilderment.
A lizard smitten with her was hard to imagine.
‘A dragon beast that’s friends with Lord Dinute, maybe?’
Dinute’s laughter deepened. She noticed Leticia’s misunderstanding but didn’t correct her.
Suppressing her laughter, she cupped Leticia’s cheek and declared.
“Leticia, my daughter.”
Leticia flinched.
Golden eyes gazed steadily at her.
“You will surely overcome the curse that the fake has placed on you. Because a fake cannot defeat the real.”
The oracle continued.
“As you once wished to me, you will protect all those dear to you and achieve everything you desire.”
“…!”
“This is, the first oracle I bestow upon my true daughter.”
The look in Leticia’s eyes wavered like waves as she looked at Dinute.
Even though the oracle had ended, she couldn’t say anything.
It was too perfect.
She wanted to believe in Dinute’s oracle, yet part of her was afraid. She wondered if Dinute was telling a lie to comfort her.
“I know. It might be hard to believe me right now.”
Dinute, guessing Leticia’s heart, glanced down at her body.
“I wish I could explain more so that you could feel at ease, but…”
Already her legs were starting to fade away.
“It seems I won’t be able to return until you gain your next wing.”
Fortunately, there was someone else who could tell her the truth. Before her body completely disappeared, Dinute quickly said,
“Check Gilead’s dream, Leticia.”
With those words, everything in front of Leticia turned white.
* * *
Leticia slowly opened her eyes.
Quite some time seemed to have passed, but the scenery before her was almost unchanged.
Enoch was drawing water from the well in the same posture as the last time she saw him.
In the distance, knights could be seen hunting magical beasts.
Leticia breathed out slowly.
‘My energy… has returned.’
Leticia clenched her fist for a moment and then stretched her back.
‘The goddess must have helped.’
The droplets of Rozantine’s water were still hidden in subspace. Yet, her energy had returned, presumably because Dinute had exerted her power.
‘It must not have been easy for the goddess either.’
Leticia felt a warmth in her heart.
‘I wish I could become stronger quickly.’
Dinute seemed to grow stronger each time she awakened. Her desire to gather the nine wings quickly and confront Josephina grew stronger.
‘But what is Gilead?’
Before disappearing, Dinute had clearly said that.
It was a word she was hearing for the first time, but given that Dinute had mentioned it, it must hold significant importance.
‘Gilead’s dream.’
Gilead, and dream.
She etched the two words into her heart.
At that moment, a black whirlwind suddenly swirled in front of her. Enoch, who was drawing water, turned around in surprise.
“Your Highness!”
With a desperate voice, the black wind suddenly grew larger.
A man emerged from within it.
The man looked down at her with a smirk. His snake-like yellow eyes flickered ominously.
“Long time no see, princess.”
He was Tenua, Josephina’s second wing, who had tormented her most cruelly.
* * *
[How do you feel?]
A long time ago, after tormenting Leticia, Josephina always used to ask that.
[Do you feel anything? Like a strange energy flowing through your body. Anything like that?]
[Did you see the goddess by any chance? Did she say she was going to give you anything?]
Back then, Leticia had no idea what Josephina’s intentions were with such questions.
[I don’t know. Mother, I did wrong. I’m really sorry.]
All she wanted was to live. If only she could avoid further pain, she felt like she could do anything.
[Please save me, Mother. I’ll do anything.]
Surely, Josephina wanted something from her. She thought the torment was because she couldn’t fulfill that desire.
So, she desperately tried to ‘feel’ something, anything that Josephina spoke of.
But she felt nothing. Despite praying to the goddess every day, the goddess did not appear.
Then, one day, an unbearable moment came.
In the end, she lied without even realizing it.
[Mother, I think… I feel something.]
[…You felt power?]
[Yes. Just now, I had a strange feeling.]
She thought that by saying so, she would not be hurt anymore. Josephina’s face twisted like a demon’s, proving her belief naive.
[Do you really claim to have felt the goddess’s power?]
[The goddess’s power?]
Leticia then realized something was terribly wrong and desperately pleaded.
[No, I felt nothing. I was lying. Really.]
That day, much changed.
Until then, there had been hope in her heart. The hope that someday her life might improve.
But after that day, hope began to crumble slowly.
And finally, completely disappeared right after she heard from Tenua about Yulios’s death.
Fear filled the void left by hope.
She was afraid of everything in this world.
And so, she even became afraid of Yulios’s brother, Dietrian. She couldn’t open her heart to him until the very end because of her fear.
Thus, she let go of the only man who had shown her warmth, in vain.
Only after his death did she realize her love for him.
Confined in the palace, she spent three years alone, longing for him until she died lonely.
That was her first life.
* * *
Much changed in her second life.
But some things remained the same.
She was still afraid of Tenua.
That’s why she trembled when she saw Tenua standing beside Ahwin before leaving the capital.
She tried to shake off the fear, but it wasn’t easy. Especially when Tenua contaminated the well. The fear engraved in her soul felt suffocating as if she was about to die.
“I really missed you, Princess.”
Surprisingly, unlike before, Leticia was not affected at all.
‘It feels strange. I’m not scared of Tenua at all.’
Leticia found her own change unfamiliar yet so natural because.
‘I am the true one recognized by the goddess.’
Now, she could even freely use the powers of water and wind.
‘On the other hand, he is a fake.’
For the first time, she saw it. The peculiar purple aura swirling around Tenua. Something she had never seen around Noel and Ahwin.
The purple aura creeping towards her like smoke disintegrated into dust the moment it touched her.
The aura recoiled as if startled, retreating as if in fear.
Tenua, oblivious, chuckled.
“Are you scared, Princess?”
He couldn’t even imagine that Leticia was suppressing her own energy.
Quietly observing him, Leticia slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and slowly rose from her seat.
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