“Causality hate humans. The beings created to control chaos have caused even greater chaos.”
Right after awakening as Gillead, Sigmund spoke to Dietrian, who had come to know all the past.
“But we can’t just blame causality. The ‘darkness’ in the human world grew because of the greed of us transcendents as well.”
Sigmund confessed that the power used by transcendents for humans had distorted this world.
“I still think sometimes. It might have been better to ignore you from the start, no matter what happened to you. Then ‘darkness’ wouldn’t have formed. If I had stopped Dinute from interfering in the human world, things might not have turned out this way.”
“…….”
“Or, it might have been better to stay by your side like Dinute. Then my children wouldn’t have suffered so much. Josephina wouldn’t have dared to threaten the Principality. Of course, if that had happened, eventually even greater darkness would have prevailed…….”
Sigmund’s voice was very calm as he said this. But within it, traces of unhidden wounds were revealed.
“So, even knowing that leaving was the right choice, I still have regrets.”
Like a parent forced to let go of their child, there was a pain that would never be erased. Dietrian realized why Sigmund, who once left humans, was now risking the danger of annihilation to intervene in the human world.
“This is the last chance to undo everything. Therefore, I am showing you the future. Do not expect too much. What I can show you is only a very small piece. It is your job to infer the whole from the pieces.”
“What should I do after inferring?”
“You must act so that the future you saw comes true. To protect your wife, now is the time for you to step forward.”
Thus, Dietrian saw pieces of the future with Gillead’s power. In the first piece, he saw Calisto crying while holding the dead princess and the resurrected princess introducing herself as a wing.
So, he moved Callisto to make that future come true. Inferring the future and ensuring it happens exactly as seen was no easy task.
What he saw was such a small piece that he had to constantly be on edge, worrying that his choices might ruin the future. This was why he couldn’t appear before Leticia.
For some reason, in the future shown by Sigmund, there was no scene of the two of them meeting. So he suppressed his desire to seek her out. He feared that following his own desires might disrupt the future.
Unable to bear it, he watched her from afar. For a moment, the longing subsided, but as time passed, it grew even more intense. He wanted to run to her. He wanted to hold her and tell her.
He wanted to say that he had seen all her past, that he was sorry for leaving her to die alone. That in this life, he would never leave her alone, and that he would be with her in life and death. But he held back. Thanks to his patience, Leticia finally obtained the sixth wing. Also, the empire’s people began to fear and revere Leticia.
“Let’s all go to the palace! Let’s confess our sins and seek forgiveness from the new saint!”
“Right!”
He wasn’t just happy. The fact that those who had criticized her changed their attitude so quickly out of a desire to live made him furious. Dietrian suppressed all his boiling emotions deep in his heart. It was to realize the second piece of the future he had seen. There was no time to be caught up in emotions.
Irene. Thinking of the name of the girl he had heard, Dietrian stepped forward.
* * *
“Dad, are we really going?”
At the very moment when the princess and prince were wreaking havoc in the palace and the entire capital was in turmoil. The doctor, who was stuffing things into a large bag, flinched and looked up. Irene, holding a large rabbit doll, looked at her father with tear-stained eyes like a doll.
“Do we really have to go? Are we really leaving so suddenly?”
“Irene.”
“I don’t want to go……. I don’t want to say goodbye to my brothers and sisters.”
Tears quickly filled Irene’s big eyes. Tear stains began to increase on the rabbit doll that Noel had given her. The doctor, looking at his daughter’s tears with a distressed face, forced a smile.
“Irene, we are not leaving forever. We will come back once the situation is settled.”
“Then why did you tell me to keep it a secret from my brothers and sisters? Why do we have to leave secretly?”
“They are busy. They don’t have time to worry about people like us.”
“But…”
Irene burst into tears.
“Irene, we don’t have time to cry. If we don’t leave now, we won’t be able to leave this place. We have to move quickly.”
“Why, why, why do we have to leave?”
“This mansion is very dangerous. You heard earlier that the princess passed away, right? If we stay in this city, we, who are as insignificant as flies, will be swept away and die in the turmoil.”
“But Dad, everyone has been so nice to me. They said they would protect us.”
Seeing his daughter struggling to hold back her tears, the doctor felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew why his daughter was especially attached to the wings.
“Irene, if you keep crying, I’ll tell your mom. Do you want to make your mom in heaven sad?”
His wife died right after giving birth to Irene. The child, always starving for maternal affection, had been completely won over by the wings who took care of her.
The doctor felt both pity and frustration for his daughter. He was a patient with a deep distrust of humans. His wife had died because of the high priests. Burying his wife in the cold ground, he learned a painful lesson. Those in high places never see those below them as humans. You shouldn’t trust them or go against them. You shouldn’t be deceived by their kindness.
Their kindness was merely the act of petting a pet or exploiting a target. Living quietly without drawing attention was the key to longevity. Despite his excellent medical skills, he lived in hiding in a shabby clinic because of this. But that life had been shattered. It was because he had let his mouth run in a tavern.
‘I should have kept my mouth shut about who the saint was.’
He had taken Leticia’s side, gotten beaten up by a thug, and dragged Kailas into it. In the end, he ended up living with the crazy wings under one roof.
“Congratulations! She is indeed pregnant!”
For a very brief moment, he had felt hope when he found out about Leticia’s pregnancy. He had hoped that the news would calm the crazy wings, but…
“Doctor, you must keep the results of Leticia’s examination a secret. Do not tell anyone until the saint gives the order. Not even the wings.”
As soon as he left Leticia’s bedroom, he was threatened by Kailas. Despite being the Wing of Healing, the pressure was immense. Even thinking about that moment still made his legs tremble.
‘There is no hope in this place. Even if there is hope, it has nothing to do with me. The only answer is to leave here as soon as possible.’
While plotting to leave the mansion, the opportunity finally came. All the wings had left the mansion. Although Principality knights remained in the mansion, he didn’t care.
“Irene, we are leaving for just a short while. Once things are resolved, we will come back. Okay?”
“Will we really come back?”
“Of course. We are not leaving forever. So, don’t be too upset. Okay?”
The doctor consoled his daughter half forcibly and opened the window on the first floor. After confirming that no one was around, he climbed out the window.
“Irene, hold onto Dad tightly. Don’t let go of my hand. Got it?”
“Uh-huh.”
Holding his daughter, the doctor closed the window. He tiptoed and moved quietly.
“Irene, from now on, we’re going to play a game of climbing over the wall. You have to hold on tightly to Daddy…”
The doctor, who was getting into position to climb the wall, stopped. The daughter who had been crying and throwing a fit about not wanting to leave had fallen sound asleep.
“Well, I’ll be darned. She can sleep at a time like this.”
The doctor looked at his daughter with a puzzled expression and let out a helpless laugh.
“Well, it’s good that at least you’re sleeping well.”
Recently plagued by severe insomnia, the doctor patted his daughter’s back and got into position.
“Oh, my… huff, huff.”
He managed to climb over the wall with his sleeping daughter in his arms, but his poor physical condition left him utterly exhausted. The doctor, his entire body scraped and covered in scratches from the wall, panted heavily.
“Irene? Wake up. Hold Daddy’s hand and let’s walk. Okay?”
“Ugh…”
It seemed Irene was in a deep sleep, as she did not wake easily.
“Irene, you have to wake up. Irene!”
“Daddy…?”
The doctor, breathing heavily, lifted his daughter.
“What kind of dream were you having… phew. That kept you from waking up… huh. Anyway, let’s go. We have to leave before the wings come back.”
“Uh-huh…”
In a daze, Irene took her father’s hand and started walking. The doctor found it strange that his daughter was so unusually tired, but he had no time to dwell on it. The priority was to leave the capital as quickly as possible before the wings returned.
Because of this, he didn’t even suspect.
Why his daughter had suddenly fallen into such a deep sleep.
What kind of dream Irene had been having. Whose voice she heard in that dream.
