C191
Goddess Miella promised to convey Terence's words to Ethel.
"You said Ethel would recognize herself as a completely different person, right? Then, how exactly would she recognize herself? Won't there really be confusion about her identity?"
"Hmm, you're really concerned. Alright. I'll implant an appropriate false memory."
"A false memory?"
"It's fake, so even if she tries to remember it, she won't be able to recall it except for some parts. If there's no chance, I won't even bother thinking about it."
"Does this mean I can think about it if there's a chance?"
"Well, yes. Creatures are beings that don't follow the will of God. With just a strong will and a chance, the seal on their memory can be broken."
"..."
"Now is really the time to go back in time. Since you have some free time, at least bid farewell to this world. Goodbye, Terence. You probably won't hear anything from me in that world anymore."
With those last words, the goddess's voice ceased.
A deceptive silence filled the small temple.
Terence quietly left the temple and headed to Ethel's grave located in the backyard.
He dropped down beside the grave and carefully stroked the gravestone with one hand.
"Ethel, did I make the right decision? I'm afraid I'm imposing a heavy burden on you."
Naturally, there was no response.
"No, you can do anything. I'll be there to help make it happen. So come and see me..."
For some reason, his voice trembled slightly, and his vision became somewhat blurry.
I realized too late that Terence had tears in his eyes.
"If it's that woman's memories, I'll probably appear too. I might be an absurd villain, but, well, it's not really a lie. Even so, come see me. No matter what kind of evil person they describe me as, come to me."
Tears fell onto the word "Ethel" engraved on the gravestone.
Even as the world gradually distorted, his calm words continued.
"I swear. If you do that, I will definitely love you. I won't deny my heart like I did in this life. Even if I don't remember it."
I will definitely love you.
----------------------
Slowly, I opened my eyelids. Before I knew it, the dark-stained sky welcomed me.
It felt like I had had a very long dream.
When I looked around, the situation was calm.
The demonic energy that Liena was emitting was still alive and kicking, but it didn't expand as much as before.
"Mistress, are you awake?"
Then Lucy spoke to me.
"Lucy, how long was I unconscious?"
"Well. I also lost consciousness after being swallowed by that sphere, so I don't know exactly, but seeing that the parrot and the demon king are still fighting monsters down there, it doesn't seem like much time has passed."
"...You also saw it? That memory."
"It wasn't intentional, but yes. I apologize if it feels intrusive."
"It's okay. You didn't spy on me on purpose."
In the awkward atmosphere, I quickly changed the subject.
"But what about Liena?"
"I'm not sure because it's beyond that thick demonic energy. I covered my mistress to protect her."
"Is that so? If we don't solve this problem quickly..."
"Isn't there someone more important to my mistress than her?"
As I was about to get up, upon Lucy's words, I suddenly stopped moving.
Undoubtedly, the person Lucy said was important to me was Terence.
The man lying beside me right now. He had his eyes closed, as if he hadn't regained consciousness yet.
"I don't know..."
I really don't know how to react.
The information given to me through this soul resonance was extremely extensive and shocking.
In particular, through Terence's memories at the end, I finally learned about my identity, which I was so curious about.
I was the real Ethel. The woman Terence loved so much in both his first and second lives was me.
He loved me so much that he went back in time and even gave up the goddess's blessing.
The book, which I previously thought was a novel, was actually Liena's memories and a gift Terence left for me in his second life.
Just thinking about it made my heart beat strongly.
In particular, his love was so overwhelming and immense for me that I had no idea how to accept it.
So as soon as I regained consciousness, the first thing I did was make sure he was okay and then deliberately tried to shift my focus to other things.
Otherwise, I would collapse helplessly.
Hot tears ran down my cheeks.
How the hell could I have forced him to do that?
How could he, for a mere maid, become an apostle of an evil god, set fire to the imperial palace, and even waste the chance to start a new life without headaches? Like a fool.
If Ethel took poison and died arbitrarily, she should have been a little sad, then she would be rid of everything and live happily ever after.
Ethel, who was dying in pain, no, what I envisioned was a future where he would be happy.
It was a future where he would successfully take power, be free from headaches, and rule the country easily.
"Fool, fool, fool..."
A few days ago, I said I would like to see Terence cry at least once because I had never seen him cry compared to the many times I've cried in front of him.
But I didn't want to see him like that anymore.
I didn't want to see him cry or be sad ever again.
"...I'm sorry."
It was then.
A deep voice sounded in my ears.
"I'm sorry, I made you cry again."
Terence opened his eyes and looked at me.
When I saw his eyes, I knew.
The fact that he, like Lucy and I, saw all those memories through soul resonance.
"Why does Terence say he's sorry...?"
I looked at him with a restrained voice.
When Terence woke up, he had a lot to say.
I wanted to ask for the reason or ask why he did that.
I also wanted to apologize for being shameless in making him live a painful life full of headaches because of me.
I regretted visiting him after being married to Leandro for two years.
But when I saw the face looking at me with concern, nothing came out of me.
While still shedding tears as he looked at me, Terence lifted the upper part of his body.
"Ethel, I'm so sorry. I was selfish..."
I hugged him before he finished saying those words.
"I love you, Terence."
As expected, this was all we had to say for now.
Terence immediately wrapped his arm around my back and gave me the response.
"I love you too."
We enjoyed a brief hug and then stood up.
Although we couldn't talk for long, we felt the same.
In my heart, I wanted to stay alone in a place with no one around and talk all night.
But unfortunately, the situation is not favorable.
Because she was trapped in soul resonance like us, she only calmed down for a while, but Liena remained a threat to this world.
I squinted to look at Liena beyond the wall of demonic energy.
The person chosen in this life to destroy the world by a god who is also an evil god and a goddess.
After a while, the demonic energy that had gathered in one place slowly dispersed, revealing Liena's appearance.
"Do you remember what I just saw?"
"Yes."
Terence stood near me as he responded.
Lucy also climbed onto my shoulder as before.
The power of the two passed to me.
Liena laughed and said.
"Oh, my God. Goddess Miella and the evil god were the same being, so was I just a toy of god?"
"..."
"I'm jealous, Ethel. There are people who love you and go back in time. Someone was carried away by that love and lost everything they had worked for, their precious people, and even their life."
She seemed to refer to the moment she died at the hands of Terence, who became the apostle of the evil god, in her second life.
"I have no intention of defending Terence's actions. But if you hate him for that, let go of your resentment towards the world right now, Liena."
"What?"
"If you saw his memories, you would know that as long as there is the slightest desire in your heart for the world to be destroyed, a monstrous wave will occur."
"... so?"
"All life in this world experiences the pain that you experienced in the second round."
"What?"
Liena sneered, her expression twisted.
"Let go of resentment? It's easier said than done. You can say that because you lived your life being loved."
"Of course, I have received a lot of love in my three lives. But that doesn't mean you aren't loved. I also appreciated you as a friend, and the people of the Cassius family..."
"Noisy! Stop talking nonsense!"
The concentration of demonic energy in the air quickly increased.
"It doesn't matter if you're an evil god or anyone else! Take all my life except for one day!"
Liena seemed to want to deny it even at the cost of her future.
"You preach as if you're proud! I don't understand, I don't understand!"
Does that mean she can't understand anything about me?
After the final soul resonance occurred, Ethel's memories gradually returned to me.
Among them, of course, was the memory of being friends with Liena.
I was disappointed and hated Liena for betraying me, but I also wanted to understand.
But we had gone too far, and it seemed like I would never understand my old friend.
The time to say goodbye had come.
"Ethel."
Terence and I faced each other and held hands in front of the vicious demonic vortex.
Interestingly, there was no fear or worry at all.
Because I was sure that as long as I was with this person, there was no way I could lose.
Soon, divine power spread from my body.
It was the power to overcome any adversity that came our way, just like our love.
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