# Chapter 33
“…The order to destroy the Maius family didn’t matter to me as much as the fact that you were here.”
Finally, Bart's eyes began to burn with anger.
For the first time, Ekian was astonished by the intense hatred he now faced. Did Bart have such reason to despise him? Ekian was kind to all the servants, and at that time, he was only seventeen years old.
Bart took a tired breath.
“Because Sarah loved you.”(Huh????????!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!)
Ekian frowned. pleasant? Why her?
“Sarah…she was only looking at you and never looking at me.”
The age difference between Bart and Sarah was over a decade. Revealing this fact made Ekyan laugh out loud.
Sarah was strikingly beautiful and intelligent. Considering the time they've spent together, it's no wonder Bart has feelings for her.
“It was unbearable for me to see her dreaming about you.”
Bart's voice became crackly as he spoke.
“I couldn't stand to see that anymore, so I fired you. And then...”
Of course, even after Ekian was gone, Sarah never looked at Bart.
“I hated the Mayos I dreamed of.”
Ekian looked silently at Bart. The quiet doctor who looked solemn at seventeen years old was now nothing more than a pathetic and foolish human being.
“In the end, I hated you and the Maius family both.”
Jealousy from seeing someone out of his reach yearning for someone else. This strange mixture of baseness, inferiority, and intense desire is revealed under the shadow of what Barthes called love.
“I wanted to kill you… but I was afraid of the priestess’ curse, so I couldn’t. That’s why I sent you away.”
After being held captive in the Mayos' dungeon, Bart was tortured to death. The same fate awaited Sarah.
"Yes, it was because I loved her. I loved her so much that I eventually destroyed myf."
They were both similar. The absurdity of destroying everything that was going well because of the motive called love.
What could this be? Really...what could this be?
After learning the horrific truth, Ekian walked away without hesitation.
Later, he visited Judith's room and found solace in her inane chatter.
Even then, he was wondering.
What is...love?
Why does this cause people to lose sight of every object and ultimately make them strange and unimportant?
That night, as he lay in bed listening to her endless chatter, he thought about love.
Even though he had discovered the most terrifying truth of his life and hated his own existence, thanks to her, the memories of that night were not entirely unpleasant.
And maybe this is why.
Even now, when he stood before the relics of his mother who had cursed him and died, she was the only one who caught his attention.
As he silently watched the small shrine and Judith, the line became shorter. Finally, it was Judith's turn.
As I cautiously entered the shrine, it happened.
Boom! A bolt of lightning struck. At the same time, the glowing candles in front of the shrine suddenly went out.
This was the first such event since the disappearance of the last priestess.
“Oh my God, what's happening?”
“Oh, my God!”
The Marquis and Marquise Sodin, who were behind Judith, fell to the ground in astonishment, and Ekian instinctively hurried towards the shrine.
However, at the same time….
With a sharp voice, Ekian exclaimed. The shrine that swallowed Judith rejected everyone, including Ekian.
“Judith!”
Ekian tried to enter the shrine again, but this time a strong wind blew, preventing him from even getting close.
Judith had been waiting in front of the shrine since dawn. She had made sure she knew the position of the Marquis and Marquis Soden and lined up in front of them.
'I will claim that I heard a revelation while I was praying and leaving.'
After getting Isabella's permission beforehand, everything seemed to be going well. Few people even knew her face, which made her actions easier.
This was Judith's first time visiting the shrine of the Last Priestess. It exuded an undeniable air of mystery, giving everything an eerie feeling.
It bothered Judith a little at the candles that burned steadily despite the wind, the out-of-season flowers, and the astonishingly clean exterior of the shrine.
For a while, I wondered if invoking the name of the last priestess was a bad idea. But she quickly gathered her courage.
'No, don't hide.'
Judith took a deep breath.
'The priestess wouldn't mind having her name used for a good cause.'
She didn't know much about the rumors surrounding the last priestess but she hoped the woman wasn't completely evil.
'Plus, I've encountered even more terrifying things.'
Judith mustered her resolve in the face of instinctive fear.
'The light is even scarier.'
She was in debt so heavy that it seemed to consume her life. And now, I imagined more terrifying and sad things to bear the fear.
The moneylender laughed when he said that her beautiful face could be sold at a high price in the back alleys… The news of her father’s death that she heard from a maid… The sight of her mother walking away after avoiding eye contact before leaving with a maid… .
When her turn came, Judith entered the shrine alone.
‘Huh?’.
When the back door closed automatically, Judith knew something was wrong.
The candles that were softly illuminating the surroundings went out in an instant.
Judith immediately fell to the ground. I thought maybe the priestess spirit was angry and spoke quickly.
“I'm sorry!”
Since she already felt guilty, she judged that the best course of action was to apologize immediately.
“You made a mistake when you dared to use the priestess's name as an excuse! I will leave immediately!”
As she pleaded, she couldn't help but add a pathetic excuse.
“But… I really wanted to do something good! I was lucky enough to learn about the future, and it wouldn’t be right for me to live a good life alone! I thought it would be good for as many people as possible to be able to be happy…”
The air filled with a whistling sound as the view through the windows disappeared. A sandstorm was covering the place.
Judith glanced out the windows, noticing the haze created by the storm. Then she swallowed hard, realizing her growing fear.
“I probably won't be able to get out of here.”
The small shrine shuddered as a voice echoed in Judith's ears.
In the midst of this frightening supernatural phenomenon, Judith remained prostrate, trembling, when a soft voice spoke to her.
[Judith Ilan.]
I knew instinctively that the speaker was the shrine's owner, the “last priestess” Chaska.
[Finally we met.]
“Huh?”
Although she was trembling, Judith looked at Chaska's photo as she answered.
“Mmm...we've never met before...”
Although she had heard a lot about the last priestess, she had never visited her or shown any interest. Survival has always been a priority.
“So...does this mean you're still alive...and if so, where are you...?”
As Judith spoke nervously, the sound continued.
[I'm not alive. As a priestess capable of manipulating time, only my malice remains entangled in the flow of time.]
This means she was talking to a deceased person. The thought of talking to a ghost sent a shiver up her spine.
In the midst of the supernatural events unfolding before her, Judith, even more disoriented, begins throwing various objects.
“I…I was wrong. Really, I was wrong. I just…well, I found out about the future by accident? And so…”
[You did nothing wrong. Doing good deeds is always a good thing. The reason you accidentally learned about the future, Judith, is because of my power.]
“...yes?”
[I told you that I'm wandering through time. I used the vision of another pure soul to show you the future.]
If this was the vision of another pure soul… Judith's mind was racing.
Do you mean the heroine? The heroine of the original story I thought I remembered?
This completely unprecedented supernatural phenomenon...
If the last priestess had the power to manipulate time, it would make sense.
[Judith.]
This was followed by a voice tinged with sadness.
[I have a son.]