The pillar of light, which had seemed to pierce the sky, grew thinner and thinner.
Soon, it became a small circle again and floated away. Everyone was mesmerized by the miraculous sight of what seemed like a moving white moon.
“It’s heading to the imperial palace?”
The new moon, which had enchanted everyone, suddenly vanished into the palace. As the light disappeared, people regained their senses as if doused with cold water.
“Why, has the goddess’s power moved there?”
The puzzled people quickly found an answer.
“Lady Leticia is in the palace!”
“The goddess is proving the birth of a new saint!”
“The goddess hasn’t abandoned us. She has given us Lady Leticia!”
Everyone shouted with joy. Leticia’s name echoed throughout the square. Even those who had refused to acknowledge her till the end could no longer deny the miracle.
“The true saint has appeared!”
“Long live the new saint!”
“Eternal glory to the empire!”
While everyone was in a festive mood, only one person, Rehir, seemed to be in another world. Feeling the dark energy flowing through his body, Rehir raised his trembling lips.
“Yes. Enjoy this moment, foolish humans. Such times will never come again for you.”
The festival ends today. All future times will be a prelude to the coming disaster. The foolish humans, unaware of the hell awaiting them, will sing and dance. Staring coldly at the humans, Rehir spoke.
“Find the perfect vessel to house Julios’s soul immediately. So that he can become the disaster that crushes everyone.”
Following his command, the dark power quietly began to spread beneath the ground. Like a single drop of ink in a tank, it moved very slowly.
The past Rehir would never have tolerated such a scene. He hated waiting. If something stood in his way, he would have broken through it. But now, he couldn’t rush.
The soul of the dethroned prince, Julios, was the final card.
To use it to reverse the completely tilted situation, he needed to be cautious, extremely cautious. Surprisingly, the dark power soon fulfilled Rehir’s desire.
“…Found it.”
A thrill passed through his bizarrely flickering dark green eyes. At his feet, the dark energy began to wriggle. Soon, the scene of the melted snow in the square disappeared, and a different landscape unfolded. It was a forest behind the castle walls. Unlike the part of the city where the festival was taking place, only the heavy sound of the wind could be heard here.
“Guide me to where the vessel is.”
At his words, the dark power quickly guided Rehir. Soon, Rehir stopped arrogantly in front of a snow-covered, protruding spot.
“Clear it now.”
With a rustling sound, the snow piled up was scattered by a dark purple wind.
Underneath was a small child, with almost white silver hair, wearing tattered clothes.
Sensing the presence, the child’s long eyelashes trembled. Soon, hazy eyes appeared.
It was a murky blue, like a misty lake.
“Hmm. Quite a coincidence for a vessel.”
A glint of interest appeared in Rehir’s eyes. It was curious that the vessel he had found resembled the owner of the soul. It seemed like a sign that things would go smoothly, making him feel pleased. Rehir grasped the child’s bony wrist. The pulse was very weak.
“The moment of death is not far off.”
He then whispered words of curse as if singing.
“Give up soon. Little one. It will be easier if you give up. Stop clinging to your worthless life and just die. I’ll make good use of your vessel.”
As if that was the signal, the child, who had been weakly shuddering, slumped and exhaled their last breath.
“Dead.”
Confirming that the heart had completely stopped, Rehir took out a fragment of Julios’s soul. He then pressed the fragment firmly onto the child’s neck. Though the soul had left the body, the body still retained a trace of life energy, making it the perfect moment to infuse the soul into the vessel.
“Open your eyes, my old toy.”
With Rehir’s whisper, the soul fragment slowly seeped into the child’s body. As the fragment half-absorbed into the skin, the frail body jerked as if convulsing. This happened because the body was rejecting the soul.
“Such futile struggling.”
Expecting this, Rehir chuckled and squeezed the thin neck tightly. His dark green eyes flickered cruelly. To completely overwhelm the soul, he infused dark power. Although the child’s expression did not change, it was as if he could hear the soul’s scream.
“Resistance is useless, Julios. Your fate is already sealed.”
The small body moved more violently. But crushed by Rehir’s hand and dark power, it couldn’t move an inch. Seeing this, Rehir burst into a jubilant laugh.
“Yes, this is it. This is it!”
No mere soul could resist his power. Yet, it still couldn’t give up. It must have sensed how it would be used.
“Yes. Keep resisting. More, more!”
Resistance would be useless anyway. It would only increase the pain. Knowing this, Julios’s inability to stop made Rehir ecstatic.
“It’s sublime. Perfect. It’s been so long since I felt this.”
The pain of Julios, a soul that shone brightest even in eternity, was disturbingly sweet.
It was far more intense than the pain of other humans.
At that moment, the joy was so overwhelming that he almost forgot he had lost all his wings in just a few days.
And finally, the cheeks of the child, who had clearly died, started to regain color.
As the silver eyelashes got wet with tears, the frail body slumped. Confirming the faint pulse like a fluttering baby bird, Rehir burst into laughter.
* * *
Shortly after the pillar of light appeared, the inside of the imperial palace was also thrown into chaos. Everyone in the palace trembled with fear, just like the people in the square.
“Goddess, please, spare our lives!”
They were more fearful of a greater disaster as they had witnessed the mad deeds of the prince and princess up close. In the midst of this, the pillar disappeared, and a white light shot towards the palace. It then quickly flew into Leticia, seeping into her body.
Leticia, who had been helping to restore the palace with the goddess’s power, looked down at her body in confusion.
“…Ah?”
“Lady Leticia! Are you alright?”
“Lady Leticia! Are you hurt anywhere? Let me check you!”
“Lady Leticia!”
While Leticia was in a daze, the wings around her were in an uproar.
Kailas wanted to check Leticia’s condition with her healing powers, Noel had dragged the palace physician by the collar, Ahwin was sharply observing the palace physician as he examined Leticia, and Calisto, arms crossed, supervised everything.
Even amidst all this commotion over her well-being, Leticia couldn’t grasp reality.
She felt very strange.
It felt like something very important was waiting for her.
She just didn’t know what it was.
“The saint’s body is in perfect condition. In fact, she is very healthy!”
As the palace physician concluded his examination, Leticia snapped back to her senses. The first thing she said was,
“Where did this light come from?”
“From the temple next to the square. The pillar of light appeared there, turned into a sphere, and then entered the saint’s body.”
“I need to go there.”
“What?”
“I need to go to that temple right now. Something very important is there.”
“But, saint, you should rest and monitor your condition for a bit longer…”
“I know my body well. I need to go now. We must act before it’s too late. There’s no time!”
She didn’t know exactly why she had to go to the temple, but she knew she had to. It was an instinctive feeling.
Feeling urgent, she rode a horse and sped off. People made way as soon as they saw her approaching, sticking to the walls to clear a path. Despite this, many people cheered for Leticia.
“Long live Lady Leticia!”
“Long live the new saint!”
Leticia felt no joy from the cheers directed at her. Instead, she felt anxious and restless. She was afraid of missing something truly important.
“Greetings, saint.”
As soon as she arrived at the temple, the royal knights deeply bowed.
“The princess is inside. This way, please.”
The knight quickly led Leticia inside. Following him, Leticia pressed her rapidly beating heart.
‘Why am I feeling like this?’
Her heart was pounding as if it would burst. She felt like she might suddenly burst into tears.
“Sniffle! Irene! You’ve become a wing! How could you become a wing!”
“This way.”
The first thing she saw was the Doctor hugging Irene and wailing.
“It’s a good thing that you’ve become a wing, but Daddy is so sad! A wing! I’m happy that you’ve become stronger, but I’m so sad! Boohoo!”
“That guy, really can’t be helped.”
Next was the princess, shaking her head with her arms crossed.
“What can we do? He’s the man who even ran away because he didn’t want to get involved with Her Highness. Accepting his daughter becoming a wing must be difficult.”
Passing by Julia, who was smiling brightly, there stood Dietrian, her husband. The man she loved was right before her eyes. Leticia froze in place. It was as if time in the entire world had stopped. Dietrian, who had been watching the crying Doctor, furrowed his brows.
“We need to inform Leticia about the birth of a wing.”
“Someone went to the capital… they should arrive soon, right?”
“I’m worried she might have been startled by the pillar of light.”
“Oh, come on. It’s less surprising than seeing Your Highness here.”
“…I’m not sure.”
“Are you really going to leave before Leticia arrives?”
“For the time being.”
“My goodness. What are you hesitating about so much?”
“Because I can’t bear it.”
“Bear what?”
“There might come a moment when I need to endure for the future, but I can’t bear her.”
“You’re worrying too much. Even if Her Highness feels upset with you later, that’s not my problem. I can’t always take your side now that I’ve become a wing.”
Had the spirit of the wind sensed her desire? It carried their conversation to her. Unable to bear it any longer, she quickly moved towards Dietrian.
“I would actually prefer that. Anyway, I must leave this place first…”
Dietrian suddenly stopped talking. Leticia quickened her pace. Julia, who was standing opposite, looked at Leticia and exclaimed.
“Wow, perfect timing…”
Perceptive Julia stopped there and quickly stepped back. Leticia rushed to Dietrian and hugged him tightly, bursting into tears.
