16. Before the end – 07
The sky was very high and blue today.
Together with Bianca, I leave behind a forest that has become a mess as if it had been bombed. I wanted to follow Kyrie right now and head to the great forest, but I gave up in the end because there was no point in trying to chase with such a battered body. Also, there were some facts that had to be confirmed personally.
“Well. Judging from your clumsy appearance like a defeated soldier, it seems that you are one step behind.”
…And then, I raised my head at the nasty sound that sounded like scratching my insides, not paying the slightest attention to how people were feeling at the moment, and a very familiar woman came into my field of vision.
It was Iris. Unlike us, he wore a sword on his waist, fully armed.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re one step behind. Everything has already been done.”
In response to my words that bruised her somehow, Iris bowed her head as if she was genuinely sorry and apologized to me.
“Right. Looking at it like this, I’m thinking that I’m very sorry right now. It’s because I didn’t accompany you, so it seems like you came back after being beaten to the point of death. Really, it seems clear that you’re a man who can’t let his guard down. I was relieved to think that I had become strong enough, but to say that I was getting hit somewhere else.”
“…..”
No matter what the causal relationship was, it was true that I went to a place where Iris couldn’t reach and came back beaten up, so I had nothing to say even with ten mouths.
“And looking at her staggering steps, like 10,000 tails, it seems that not only was she beaten by someone, but her work also failed. What happened?”
“…Aria has been kidnapped.”
“To whom?”
“…that.”
Even thinking about it once again, I can’t believe it at all, and it’s also a stomach-turning thing. However, nothing would change if I turned away from the situation, so I managed to answer Iris’s question while holding back the dizziness that came over me.
“…To Kyrie and Ariel.”
“Kyrie. Is that so too?”
Unexpectedly, Iris doesn’t look too surprised. If I had to make an analogy, I wondered if he would finally come, he was just making this kind of expression, and the rest kept the same calm expression as usual.
“I wish I could explain a bit more. Kyrie, I had already guessed that she was a woman who could do such a thing, but I think it would be better to have an explanation from the person who was present at the scene.”
Accepting Iris’ request, I carefully explained what had just happened. About the fact that he first sensed the collision of two great forces and jumped into the middle of the forest with Bianca. About the fact that upon arriving at the scene, there was an unconscious Arya, and the figures of Kyrie and Ariel right in front of her. And about how, while trying to save Arya, he was beaten by Kyrie and was able to hear about their destination as if it were a enemy ship.
Over about 10 minutes, everything was said.
Iris didn’t open her mouth much. Just quietly listen to what I have to say.
“…To be honest, I don’t know anything.”
After confiding everything to Iris, I felt relieved and was able to sort out what had happened so far.
“The reason why Ariel joined hands with Kyrie, why Kyrie was aiming for Arya, and what Kyrie’s ultimate goal is. It just feels like the front and rear are completely blocked. Kyrie and Ariel know me very well, but I don’t know anything about a woman named Kyrie.”
As I sighed softly and spoke weak words, Iris looked up and clicked her tongue.
“I don’t have any information about anything else, so even so, I don’t know why that Ariel woman turned her back on you and joined hands with Kyrie. Wasn’t that woman’s wish to have a child with you? I expected that he would have been satisfied in his own way, since I had been whining with you a while ago, but it really is a big deal. Or was it that he couldn’t satisfy Ariel in bed? If so, it seems clear that it is a serious matter.”
“…..”
It was downright embarrassing. Why is the story suddenly going in that direction? And how did Iris know about the fact that I had a fling with Ariel? Could it be that he was spying on me?
“…What? Did you do it with Ariel’s girl? When did you sneak up on me?”
On the other hand, Bianca, unlike Iris, seems not to have been very informed, but as soon as she hears the story, she looks at me and reacts with an absurd expression.
“What a naive idea, Bianca. Could it be that Cain should at least entrust your permission to bed with another woman? With what qualifications are you?”
“Then are you saying that I should cheer you on quietly from the side when my man is tangled up in bed with another woman naked? At least I have no intention of looking at it with my eyes open.”
“…Well. When I heard it, it seemed to be true. To be honest, I was quite uncomfortable with you, who was only a concubine, idling around next to Cain. In that sense, you and the concubines are thinking of sleeping with him on the bed holding hands only once a month. What do you think?”
“As you said, if I am the concubine, then who is the concubine? No, it’s the first time I’ve heard today that there is such a thing as a cheating room or a cheating room.”
“Sounds natural. I am the princess of the empire, and at the same time stand above all the subjects of the empire, so what woman do you think is more worthy of a royal family than me? In terms of status, Cain also exists below me.”
“Didn’t you say that the status of the princess was cumbersome last time? Why do you keep changing your words?”
“Would it be a big deal if I could put you under me?”
“…Hey, my head is complicated, so it’s better to refrain from talking about such strange things-“
No matter how close you are to each other, isn’t it a little strange to talk about such strange things at times like these? Slightly angry, I looked at them with a slight frown on my brow-
I was able to see it then Bianca and Iris, who seemed to be arguing as usual, were actually not arguing, but were joking around at each other.
And I realized That the moment before was a kind of consideration that Bianca and Iris had uttered to make me feel free and comfortable in their own ways.
As I quietly watch the two of them bickering, I feel as if my mind, which seemed about to burst full of various facts about Arya and problems about Kyrie and Ariel, clears up a little bit.
“Are you calming down now? It might be stuffy at this moment, but take it easy. Nothing will change just because you are impatient.”
When Iris said that while holding my hand tightly, I was also able to organize my thoughts more calmly than before. After a brief contemplation, I try to derive my opinion by synthesizing what just happened and my personal thoughts.
“This is just my personal opinion, but I don’t think Ariel turned her back on me.”
“Why?”
In response to Iris’s curious question, I made a clear assertion.
“…She, Ariel, is not a person like that.”
…I know what kind of person Ariel is. Even though it’s a fact that I can’t recall now only in a vague memory, I’m still confident that I know more about her than other people.
Ariel is called a saint in the world, but in reality she is a woman whose personality is not so good. To borrow Bianca’s expression for a moment, ‘a woman as sinister as a snake’, and to borrow Iris’s expression, ‘a woman with a different front and rear’ could not be a really appropriate word for her.
But at the same time, she was a saint. A saintess who has mercy on the poor, who cannot overlook those who are in pain, and who always prays to heaven for peace and well-being for all people in the world.
And she promised. The scene of making a promise to someone, promising to live a better life than anyone else in the world, is one of the memories that remain vivid in my head.
There was no way she would sacrifice anyone else for her own sake. Because the oath she made had a weightier and heavier responsibility than anything else in the world.
So I can boldly say. A woman called Ariel Thiers is not that kind of woman.
“You fool, Cain. Originally, when a person puts another person in his field of vision, he only sees one side of it. Even if the Ariel you know isn’t that kind of woman, there is a possibility that the ‘Ariel’ you don’t know has extremely rationally judged that she is turning her back on you. So it would be best not to make hasty judgments.”
At Iris’s words, I stubbornly shook my head from side to side.
“no. I trust her She is not like that.”
When she expressed her intention not to listen to anything more about this, Iris only gave a bitter smile and said nothing more.
“…Stubborn. I get it. Then we can now condense the topics we need to discuss into one.”
“…You mean the problems related to Kyrie.”
Yes, she must be the woman at the center of all the problems that are happening right now.
Why the hell did she attack Arya? And how was it possible to subdue Arya, who had a power close to her prime? What is the purpose she ultimately pursues? What else could have brought Arya to the vicinity of the World Tree?
If we go to rescue Arya without solving these questions, we will have no choice but to play in Kyrie’s grip until the last moment. He did not even know what kind of stage he was on, and to overthrow the enemy was an absurd story.
“So, any clues?”
At Iris’ words, I quietly nodded.
“Yes, I think there are two of them.”
Saying that, I took out my ‘engagement ring’ from my pocket and showed it to Iris.
“What is this?”
“Two years ago, when Sarah and I met in the Islands, this is the ring she entrusted to me. If you listen quietly, did you say that it is an heirloom of Count Sernard’s family?”
Actually, I forgot the existence of this ring and stuck it somewhere on my desk, but Kyrie stole it.
“Sarah Cernard? That woman’s ring?”
As soon as she heard Sarah’s name, Iris frowned at herself for some reason.
“As far as I remember, the woman was in a state where she was under a curse or something, so she couldn’t open her mouth.”
“Yes, obviously it was. But I guess not anymore.”
I continue my conversation while fiddling with the ring in my hand.
“During the battle earlier, Ariel told me secretly. Go find Sarah. She has clues to explain the whole situation.”
That was one of the reasons I trusted Ariel even now. If she really betrayed me, there was no way she would give me a hint as an enemy.
“So I can say for sure. That she is not someone who would lose my trust.”
In response to my answer, Iris looked at my face with somewhat gloomy eyes. Her eyes were just full of concern for me.
“…What if she really betrayed you? What would you do if you were thinking only of yourself, having lost the trust you are giving?”
“…Then, at that time, I will have no choice but to admit it.”
I murmured softly, clenching my fists until my nails dug into my palms.
“I was in a relationship with her in the past, and I was an idiot who didn’t notice the trouble she was having in the end, on the subject that I had mixed bodies with her just yesterday.”