The World Without My Sister Who Everyone Loved - Chapter 101-106
Chapter 8: The Shadow Of A Certain Time
(Note: This chapter comprises of episodes 101-106 + Highly recommended to re-read the last portions of Chapter 7. And in case anyone is confused, the following is in Ashiel’s perspective. About something I know y’all are waiting for 😉
At that time, the castle was a kingdom ruled by the grand duke.
A small kingdom revolving around the ruler. In it, everything, great or small, was related to the grand duke; it existed and was established for the grand duke.
It meant that if any little orphan did not win the attention of the grand duke, they might not be supplied with even the bare minimum that was necessary to survive.
It was Sienna’s story.
At first, when the grand duke brought in a shabby, trembling child out of the blue, the majority of opinions were as to what great qualities the child had that the grand duke showed interest in bringing her.
However, as time went on, to be exact, after the grand duke had brought in the child, people’s gaze gradually turned colder as he did not show even a fleck of interest towards her.
Or, it could be said that the originally cold gaze began to reveal its true color.
Those people talked without even needing to hide it.
“Don’t you think she looks a little pitiful, to be rolling around like a maggot in a pile of dirt?”
“It was a fickle sympathy.”
“His Majesty the Grand Duke, even if he takes the harvest and feeds her, it will not spoil his wealth.”
“Are we the only ones who got tired of her?”
That was the castle at the time.
It was particularly harsh and barren to that child.
He acted as if he was someone who didn’t even have a single ounce of sympathy that anyone could give if they had anything to do with that child.
“…….”
Perhaps the child expected fate to change due to luck that came unexpectedly.
Perhaps the child vowed to repay the grand duke for rescuing her from that hellish orphanage with all her might.
However, the child soon realized that even here, her situation was nothing more than a meaningless worm.
The fact that if a caterpillar decided to repay the favor, it would only lead to ridicule.
He thought she realized it a little painfully.
Lowell, Sienna’s tutor, said:
“His Majesty the Grand Duke knew that a teacher that grows garbage like you can’t do anything more than a ‘charity business’. If I had realized it earlier, I wouldn’t have seen you…”
She was beaten hard for not knowing how to spell, and no one gave medicine to her, even though she was sobbing with blood on her calves.
Ashiel looked at the past, which had already happened, with a helpless heart.
Strictly speaking, this scene was not his memory.
It seemed that the confusion was caused by the influence of Sienna’s purifying fire.
Anyway, he knew instinctively.
This was something that cannot be dismissed as an illusion or a delusion – it really did happen one day.
Ashiel was speechless and lost in Sienna’s memory.
(TL/N: At this point on, Ashiel will be seeing the ‘past/first timeline’ and commenting on it.)
Sienna’s memories did not allow him to see everything.
However, a portion alone was enough to understand the dire situation Sienna was in.
The castle’s employees, for example, sometimes forgot to give Sienna meals.
It wasn’t surprising. That was also what happened in this timeline when the Nacht clan said that they were paying attention to her in their own way.
But just because it wasn’t surprising didn’t mean it wasn’t terrible.
Ashiel wanted to do something for Sienna, who was dying in the scenes that quickly passed by.
He wanted to cry over her worn-out and torn calves, and he didn’t want to repeat the mistake of simply killing the person who touched that small child.
But he was just a complete observer.
He was helpless in the face of the past.
Even if he regretted it like it would break a bone, nothing could be changed.
‘No, please.’
He was out of breath. He didn’t want to see it, but he couldn’t close his eyes.
Sienna actually went through these terrible things that he couldn’t even watch…
Thinking about it, he couldn’t close his eyes.
The scene changed and Loreina appeared in Sienna’s miserable life.
At first, Loreina’s appearance seemed like something good had happened to Sienna.
First of all, Sienna was not hungry.
Ashiel watched, pale and tired, as Sienna awkwardly savored clean, complex dishes she had never even dreamed of before with Loreina.
Naturally, he remembered telling Sienna at the first dinner that she wasn’t eating right.
…He felt like he was going to die.
“Sienna, what kind of wound is that on your body?”
Finally, Loreina found the wounds on Sienna’s body.
Soon she revealed in front of the grand duke that Sienna’s wounds were the work of the tutor.
The tutor, who was called in, said, “It was an unavoidable incident that occurred during hard education.”
“She was lazy, so she skipped doing homework every time, and she even stole my stuff!”
“No!”
It was a statement that contained made up facts that weren’t true at all.
Sienna protested in a loud voice. To Ashiel, it seemed like a voice that came out of nowhere.
At that moment, Sienna’s voice resounded.
‘It was the first and the last time.’
The first and last self-defense.
Ashiel soon realized the reason.
No one, neither his father nor his younger brother, had listened to Sienna.
Fortunately, Loreina came forward to defend her. Only Loreina.
“Sienna did something wrong, but I still think these beatings are too harsh, Grand Duke.”
No, that was not a defense.
Loreina was only pretending to defend while making it Sienna’s fault, she was making something which was not true a fact.
At least this Loreina was on Sienna’s side. Since they had been stupid, even the slightest hope that this little girl would have been sane was shattered.
Even that was disastrous, but what could Sienna do?
It was so hard to see Sienna’s face. Her small, white face was as pale as a plaster statue.
But the child said nothing.
She couldn’t claim that there was nothing wrong with her.
It was because she couldn’t light the candle, saying, ‘I’ve never done anything wrong’ against the words of her older sister who seemed to be the only one who supported her.
In any case, the tutor was fired for that, and Sienna followed Loreina’s insistence to start training together.
Of course, Loreina’s tutor had never taught Sienna.
Sienna only learned how to spell a bit or get to participate when Loreina was in a good mood.
He was out of breath. He was nauseous.
How could such a thing happen?
How could Sienna be like that in their care?
The thing that struck Ashiel the most painfully was that Sienna was satisfied with just being treated like that.
Sienna’s voice rang again,
“Because I’m a useless being with little to no magic power.”
‘…What does this mean?’
The problem was the content, although it was also shocking that Sienna was downgrading herself.
‘What do you mean, saying that you don’t even have much magic power?’
That Sienna?
Sienna, who was the first in mankind to possess the purifying fire Hesaros, and even healed the wounds inflicted by the beasts with that fire?
‘No way.’
Ashiel swallowed nervously.
Now he couldn’t take his eyes off Sienna’s memory in a different sense.
In her memory, Sienna tried to repay the favor with the best she could in her humble position.
For Loreina, of course, and for Nacht of the Underworld.
Sienna swore.
“I want to be of some help.”
Oh please.
Please…
Ashiel wanted to kneel down and pray.
‘Don’t waste your best on those who don’t deserve it.’
He wanted to beg her to turn away from himself, this Nacht, and that Loreina.
But the sincere Sienna did not.
Towards Ashiel, who treated her like a non-existent person.
To Michael, who only uttered sharp words without hiding his contempt whenever they met face-to-face.
And the grand duke who neglected Sienna with indifference from the beginning till the end…
…Even Loreina who deceived and used her entirety.
Loreina Minangsi always sympathized and cared for Sienna with her mouth.
But if one thought about it, Sienna, portrayed through her mouth, was never the person she wanted to get close to.
“She’s really pitiful, Sienna. She might have been happier to be in the orphanage based on her abilities, but I don’t think she’s aware of that either…”
Words that made Sienna a wretched being who endured in a place that was not suitable for her abilities while saying she was pitiful.
It was ridiculous, Ashiel thought.
It was entirely the will of the grand duke that brought Sienna to Nacht. It was not the child’s choice.
But everyone nodded at that.
Even he himself agreed with that statement.
He felt that he was crazy.
In the reviving memories, he seemed to be possessed by something.
He thought he was out of his mind.
It wasn’t meant to be an indulgence.
Now, if he could, Ashiel wanted to cut off his own breath, like that scarecrow idiot, who was of no help at all.
When Sienna gave them her first self-made self-defense amulet, Ashiel found that he had only the memory of ‘I couldn’t refuse with a trembling heart’, but found himself unable to remember where and how he put it, and repeated in despair.
He treated her great efforts and devotion so trivially.
Now it was justified that no matter how much he wanted, he couldn’t have it.
He should have been punished for that.
It was something he had to endure.
However, the Nacht clan, including him, felt sad instead of humbly receiving the punishment they deserve, and harbored a gloomy heart.
How absurd was this.
However, the self-defense amulet case did not end there.
Loreina had started whispering to Asihel about Sienna’s self-defense amulet.
She said this while pretending to be embarrassed on the outside.
“Grand Prince, I think it’s better not to use it. It’s probably a ‘token’ of Sienna’s heart.”
It was ridiculous.
Ashiel saw what words Loreina placed onto the cautious Sienna.
Sienna simply followed Loreina’s words, ‘If you have a sense of shame, do a minimum sign of sincerity to the Grand Prince’.
But in Loreina’s mouth, all Sienna’s actions were distorted.
Very lightly.
“I was going to just leave it alone, but I’m telling you, because if the Grand Prince uses it, it will cause unnecessary misunderstandings and hurt for Sienna.”
Seeing that, he wanted to break his own teeth.
But rather than the vicious Loreina, he wanted to do something about himself, who listened silently without stopping her words.
At that time, the foolish him believed Loreina’s words without any doubt and even thought, ‘It’s an uncomfortable object, so I shouldn’t use it’.
He couldn’t even remember where he threw the thing he wasn’t supposed to use.
He couldn’t stand it. Ashiel groaned bitterly, knowing he shouldn’t have said that when he thought of Sienna who had actually gone through this.
But the memory went on to the most painful part without stopping.
Sienna was betrayed.
To be exact, she found out she was betrayed.
Sienna, who was thrown into the harsh reality of betrayal, did not cry.
In the face of the excruciating pain of broken bones and splattering blood, Sienna made a rather determined face.
But Ashiel could vividly hear Sienna’s heart shriek from beneath her resolute face, disguised as if she had done all she could.
‘It’s terrible, how could I be so stupid?’
‘It’s a shame that I was deceived.’
‘I want to die as soon as possible and disappear.’
‘I don’t want to play in other people’s hands until the moment I die.’
The moment Sienna drank the poison…
Ashiel closed his eyes tightly for the first time.
So Sienna died.
At the place of death, where even Loreina had left, Ashiel looked at Sienna who had collapsed in despair.
It was unbelievable that she was sponsored by Nacht of the Underworld. Her modest attire was stained with blood.
There was not even a single bit of pathetic obsession with life on the pale face with closed eyes.
Sienna left like that.
Lightly and fleetingly.
There was nothing left for her to love in this world…
A world where only the things she couldn’t love survived.
And it all started from here.
The moment Ashiel tried to think of something more, an intense pain that seemed to pierce his brain from the backbone disturbed his thoughts.
‘What…!’
So far, there were times when his limbs had rotted, and there were times when he had his body pierced.
It was the first time he had experienced such terrible pain, even though he had experienced pain many times before.
Ashiel clenched his teeth and retrieved several pieces of memory.
Disasters, prophecies, foolishness, mistakes…
…Sienna.
In the agony of head-splitting pain and through relentless digging of his brain, Ashiel managed to put this together – Sienna’s death, a terrible catastrophe for all who remained.
‘Yes, that’s what happened.’
At that time, as soon as Sienna died, everyone was talking about Sienna’s sin and ending it with her death.
“To take her own life. At least she had a last conscience, didn’t she?”
“What conscience. She must have been afraid of being punished.”
“I still get goosebumps. She tried to steal Lady Loreina’s own magic power with magic, and she tried to poison her for fear of being found out…”
“I’m glad Lady Loreina won, if it wasn’t for her, that evil girl would have taken it and claimed she was superior, right?”
“It’s really pathetic that she could only do that much even after using magic. By the way, the orphan who was sponsored by Grand Duke Nacht committed such a great sin against the young lady of Minangsi… The Grand Duke should also show his sincerity to the Count of Minangsi.”
“Well, what fault did the Grand Duke have… She’s really a shameless girl who didn’t help the underworld at all.”
Loreina also cried.
“Sienna’s betrayal is so shocking, but I will try to overcome it.”
While everyone was unanimously criticizing Sienna, the members of the Grand Duke’s family remained silent.
It was not meant to hide anything shameful.
The Grand Duke, Michael and Ashiel.
He couldn’t explain it, but he thinks they started noticing it little by little from then on.
‘Something… Something is wrong.’
The moment they found Sienna dead within the boundaries of the deep prison, they didn’t share a word, but they all knew it at the same time.
That something irreversible had happened.
In his memory, Michael asked.
“Do you also think she committed such a sin and died because she was afraid of punishment?”
Ashiel did not answer.
Michael muttered as he wandered around the room with a confused look on his face.
“I… I keep having strange thoughts. It seems like everything is going wrong.”
Ashiel was not that honest, but he was thinking the same thing.
But at that time, the pathetic man could only reply like this.
“…All the evidence and testimony are certain.”
“Are you serious, Brother?”
It couldn’t have been the truth.
At that time, he didn’t even have the courage to admit that he had committed the worst, irreversible mistake.
“It was a terrible mistake to let her go until she died like that. Brother, I’m not the only one who thinks this way.”
An intuition that cannot be dismissed as a baseless foreboding.
That intuition soon became a reality.
Why not? Sienna was the first owner over the flames of purification.
She was a very powerful Terraformer that had never been seen before in history.
Even though she lost her magic powers, Sienna was able to suppress fraud and drive out unclean things just by being alive.
They did not know of such a Terraformer, and the cost of losing her in the end was terrible and horrendous.
The castle of the Underworld was slowly engulfed in fraud. People suddenly went crazy or, in severe cases, became magical beasts.
Cursed castle.
That was the new name used for Nacht’s castle.
But even so, for a long time it was not made clear that all these disasters were due to Sienna’s unjust death.
There was doubt, but there was no physical evidence. The direction the intuition was pointing to was clear, but it took time to prove.
While they were pathetically wondering, the disasters were not limited to Nacht’s Castle, but they spread all over the world.
Countless people died.
Some became crazy.
Some became beasts and trampled the world they loved while they were still alive.
Only when those remaining wished they had gone crazy, did they manage to come to the truth.
All these misfortunes were designed even before Sienna set foot in the Underworld.
Sienna had never stolen Loreina’s magic power.
Sienna never tried to poison Loreina.
Everything was false.
Still, the child simply died without even trying to explain a word.
They were foolishly deceived, and Sienna died because of her willingness to play the part.
In front of the revealed truth, Nacht said nothing for a while.
“Why… why?”
Barely, Michael spit out his first words with a feeling of vomiting blood.
“Brother, why didn’t she explain anything? Why, why didn’t she say it was unfair?”
“Michael.”
“……”
Ashiel’s voice was normal at first glance, but his eyes were dazed and out of focus.
“If you were that child… do you think you would have thought that we would trust you if you complained about the injustice?”
“…….”
Those were words that stabbed the core to the point of being cruel.
When Sienna protested, did they listen to her then?
Perhaps the more she protested, the more blame they threw, and the more miserable Sienna’s situation could be.
No, it certainly would have been.
Everyone would have accused her of being a monster with no sense of guilt.
So, Sienna would rather end everything by taking her life and leave neatly.
Because she couldn’t trust the stupid them.
At least she had chosen a path that didn’t make her miserable.
“Proving her innocence, we’re not worth it…”
Michael hid his distorted face in his hands and cried bitterly.
“Stop, Brother… please stop!”
“…She wouldn’t want to waste anymore of herself.”
“Ashiel.”
The grand duke opened his mouth. His voice was also terribly quiet.
Ashiel then lifted his dazed head and looked at his father.
Neither his father nor himself, reflected in his red eyes, had an unfamiliar face he had never seen before.
A pale, weary, and tired face.
But Ashiel could not stop condemning them all.
“…Father, she wouldn’t have expected anything.”
“……”
“Because… that’s how we treated her.”
So nothing could be expected.
* * *
Memories poured into Ashiel’s mind at once.
“Grand Prince!”
Sienna grabbed his chest and unwittingly supported Ashiel as he was about to fall.
Ashiel’s eyes were trembling without mercy.
He thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if these memories that came to mind were just nightmares?’.
But it was reality.
‘Now I know.’
If he expressed himself with the words that he missed her…
He would sin.
Water pooled into Ashiel’s red eyes, which had become clear enough to be transparent, as if a glass film was applied over them.
In an instant, the pool of water ran over his eyelids and down his cheeks.
One drop.
A single drop of tears falling slowly and falling apart.
But at that moment, Sienna had a gut feeling. Intuition that transcended logic clearly penetrated her brain.
Ashiel…
He remembered.
Goosebumps ran all over her body. Sienna couldn’t stand it and pushed Asiel, who she had been supporting.
However, the difference in physique and strength was so stark that Ashiel merely shook for a moment; it was Sienna who was actually pushed back.
“Sienna…”
“Don’t come close!”
Sienna cried out in a terrified voice.
Ashiel’s fingertips, which had instinctively stretched out into the air, faltered and lost strength.
Sienna mumbled as she stepped back.
“Don’t touch me…”
“Sienna, I won’t touch you, so calm down…”
There was nothing more to hear. No, she didn’t want to hear more.
Siena turned away from Ashiel, who was dissuading her, and mercilessly left the terrace.
‘Hurry.’
Sienna thought that if she went back to the party quickly, she could mix in with the strangers and pretend nothing had happened.
She believed that if she pretended not to know, Ashiel would soon come to his senses and match her rhythm.
‘He has to be aware of that.’
She wanted to cover it up like that.
First, she wanted to run away.
Contrary to expectations, however, the party hall was in a state of turmoil.
People were chattering.
“What happened?”
“His Majesty the Grand Duke just stumbled. His Highness the Second Prince has collapsed.”
“Both of them at the same time? Where does it hurt?”
“I guess, it’s just a coincidence.”
Was it really a coincidence?
Sienna clenched her teeth. And through the space where elegant words fluttered like hummingbirds, she arrived in front of the grand duke and Michael.
“Sienna…!”
And at the moment she made eye contact with the two, she noticed it at once.
‘They remembered too.’
Unlike when she was with Ashiel, this time, she was strangely calm.
‘This is not the time to be flustered and scared.’
As if in the face of death, Sienna tightened the reins of her heart to not scream.
‘Don’t whine like a fool.’
‘Now is not the time.’
“Let’s go home first.”
The grand duke, who was staring blankly at Sienna, managed to nod his head.
“…Yes. I guess so.”
There was much to be said between them.
But not here.
* * *
The Nacht family hastily decided to go home.
There was no need to lie.
“…Actually, the child has been ill with a magic overuse fever since morning.”
It was a relief. Neither of them could afford to come up with a creative lie.
“Oh.”
Not just the emperor, but also everyone in the venue admired that she got the illness that only a considerable model student would suffer from.
The emperor, completely unaware of the circumstances, was delighted, but did not forget to give a warning.
“It’s a commendable thing, but don’t push the child too hard.”
At the emperor’s innocent advice, the grand duke’s cheeks were slanted. It was because he was trying to hide that he was gritting his teeth.
‘Don’t push the child.’
He never pressured Siena when it came to studies or performance.
In the present, where the memories of the past remain like afterimages, just staring at Sienna made his heart simmer.
People thought that the grand duke had recognized Sienna’s qualities from the beginning and brought her in, but in fact, he had never really measured what qualities the child had.
From the moment he discovered the tiny back of the head that had been crouching in the gap between the many children at the orphanage, he had no choice but to bring Sienna out of that harsh environment and put her to sleep, feed, and dress her.
But what about in the past?
In the past, the grand duke instinctively recognized the Terraformer the moment his eyes landed on Sienna, who had fallen in front of him.
But at that point, he and his family were already misled by judicial law.
A clever, subtle law that prevented them from thinking deeply about or having a good perception of just one child.
It was a form of judicial law never found in human history.
Until now, the beasts had only used laws to spread epidemics and destroy things.
It wasn’t impossible to change people’s minds, but it was known that only a ‘wide explosion’ that overwhelms and drives people crazy was possible.
It was not known that it was possible to cleverly change the way one thought about a person.
In any case, the deceived grand duke followed his instincts to bring back and support the child of purification, but as soon as he arrived at the castle, he almost forgot about Sienna.
Even if I thought about her, I couldn’t come up with something good.
‘So that child, like that…’
He felt a sense of shame towards himself rather than anger towards the unknown figure who had raised the law.
It was actually his fault that he was subjected to such a technique, and that she suffered so much because of that technique.
He wanted to put down all the grand titles of being the master of the underworld and the guardian of Feyenoord.
He was an idiot who could not protect even a single child he had raised on his own.
The world and Nacht were lucky enough to get a second chance, but was that really a chance for Sienna too?
The face of Sienna, who quietly died under his foolish jurisdiction, did not leave his mind.
The memory would probably never leave his mind like a stigma for the rest of his life.
‘Of course, it has to.’
He should never forget it again.
He could have regretted letting Sienna go alive, but Sienna had to die for his folly.
His castle was a place where Sienna’s blood was slowly dried up, and eventually killed.
Everyone’s hands were wet with Sienna’s blood. Among them, it would not be an exaggeration to say that his hands were stained with the most.
The emperor told him not to push the child.
Grand Duke Nacht thought.
‘Isn’t holding the child in his castle pushing her away?’
The green eyes that looked at him with a strange expression in front of the sudden pouring of favors came to mind.
It was as if they were strangled by their own foolishness, thinking that they were doing it for the child by putting her into the room Loreina Minangsi had used.
Seeing his nephew who had turned pale without a word, the emperor raised his eyebrows as if puzzled.
“Why isn’t this guy answering?”
The emperor clicked his tongue, speaking as if he was very captivated.
“Was it that embarrassing when you fell down earlier?”
At that time, something unusually shiny from the decorations on the emperor’s belt caught the grand duke’s attention.
It was the purifying self-defense amulet that Sienna gave to him.
It was. In this life, Sienna only presented her self-made self-defense amulet to the emperor.
It was a gift from the child that he had already coldly thrown away once.
The right to receive it was given up by himself a long time ago.
On such a subject, to think that he thought it was disappointing to see the self-defense amulet being handed to the emperor.
…His eyes were dizzy at the unreasonable heart that he had.
He felt like his heart would break, but this was not the right time nor place.
Above all, Sienna did not fall, and they could not be the first to shamelessly collapse.
The grand duke managed to break free from the thoughts that were deepening.
“…I’ll be careful. Of course.”
“If you’re going to be so distracted like that, leave our Dame Sienna with me. I’m afraid that something might happen along the way.”
Even though he knew the emperor was joking, his heart pounded.
Not only that, the faces of his two sons were also pale.
Perhaps…
No, for sure, that would be a way to ease Sienna’s heart.
In fact, from the moment they regained their memory, it was something they all thought.
Sienna was the owner of the Named Hesaros, and was a Terraformer worthy of being treated as ‘equivalent to the royal family’.
A child of purification who could protect the world just by breathing and being alive even if she lost all her magical powers.
No one would refuse to take this child.
Was he just not rejecting it?
If Nacht was willing to make concessions, everyone would be eager to line up to take Siena with them while pouring out good conditions.
Just thinking about it made him feel like he was drowning in fear.
Perhaps such people could be refused on the grounds that it was not ‘safe enough’.
However, the emperor in front of him was not an opponent that could be avoided with such a petty and flimsy excuse.
If anything else, the emperor, the most powerful Terraformer on earth, probably wouldn’t be so helpless against the judicial law that the Nacht suffered from.
Besides, he really liked Sienna. Sometimes, to the extent that he thought, ‘Even if His Majesty gets back his lost grandson, I don’t think he will be more affectionate towards him than Sienna’.
What would the emperor say if he saw the memories they had regained?
Even though he wouldn’t kill this stupid and pathetic person because he was his nephew and one of the pillars of the empire, the right to raise Sienna would surely be taken away.
He didn’t know if Sienna would want it more than anyone else…
Although the emperor was half serious, it was a provocation mixed with jokes, and so he frowned once more at his nephew, who was not easily responding.
‘Isn’t this guy being really weird?’
It was at that moment when the emperor wanted to seriously, not jokingly, tell him to leave Sienna behind.
“Your Majesty.”
Sienna called out to the emperor softly.
“Yes, baby? Oh, now that I see you, your face looks really bad. Shouldn’t you have a rest here?”
Fortunately for the three people who could not say anything, who were guilty over her death for their own reasons, Sienna shook her head.
“No, it’s probably better to go to a place I’ve been before than to a place that I’m unfamiliar with.”
The emperor also agreed with Sienna’s words.
“Come to play when you’re well. Okay?”
“Yes.”
The three hurriedly left the venue, including Sienna.
They didn’t say anything, but they knew they were all reassured she had rejected the emperor’s offer.
* * *
Loreina watched from the corner as the four disappeared.
‘No way… I didn’t get caught writing that magic?’
As she didn’t know what was going on inside, she could only speculate like this.
‘No, I guess the magic wouldn’t have been found out. He assured me that I wouldn’t be caught.’
However, even if the use of magic was not discovered, the words she had said to Ashiel did not disappear.
If the grand duchy considered Loreina’s words as an ‘insult’…
Loreina couldn’t stand it and chewed her lips.
It was then.
“You look impatient, Lady Minangsi.”
A distinctive voice that sounded like a soft melody.
“…! Sir Tesius!”
He was the Duke of Euros.
The man who approached without putting up much airs was smiling quietly with his blue eyes shining.
“You’re too surprised. Did anything happen?”
“Oh, no…”
Without realizing it, Loreina instinctively replied with a lie.
But she immediately regretted it the next moment when she saw Duke Euros smile with his blue eyes curved.
“Really?”
“Y-Yes, Sir…”
“I’ll ask you one more time, Lady Minangsi.”
The Duke of Euros asked the question in the same tone and breath once again; it was without any difference.
“Did anything happen?”
There were times when Loreina, who was not afraid of anything in the world, felt creeped out by this man.
Just like right now.
‘Y-Yes,, there is no reason to hide.’
What would she hide? The Duke of Euros was the one who taught Loreina the magic of healing and the magic of mind control.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I was so surprised that I answered wrongly. Actually…”
Loreina confided what had happened on the terrace.
To be exact, she pretended to be honest.
She confessed that she had used magic on Ashiel, but pretended she had no choice but to use it for unavoidable reasons.
“Hmm.” said Duke Euros, listening to Loreina’s lies without restraining her.
He seemed to be having fun somehow.
“Today’s work is really unavoidable…”
“No. That’s not the only thing we’re going to talk about, is it?”
“Ah…”
It was then that Loreina remembered today that she and her mother were supposed to blend into the crowd as much as possible.
‘I should have avoided this person…’
After seeing Ashiel, she mistook it for a golden opportunity and forgot everything.
“That…”
The Duke of Euros began to make a regular sound by moving his foot at a constant beat.
“You’ve forgotten what I told you. To wait until the time is right, but you have hastily become a ‘saint’.”
“I, I…”
A regular sound, like the second hand of an elaborately crafted watch, seemed to tighten the whole body.
“Well, I thought it would be helpful to you by doing that.”
“By breaking my orders?”
Tap.
The tapping stopped.
In the silence, Loreina gulped and swallowed her saliva.
The blue eyes did not blink even once, and he looked at Loreina with a gentle gaze.
‘I might die…’
But the very next moment.
“Haha, don’t be so nervous. I’m not going to kill you.”
The Duke of Euros laughed. As bright as a lie.
“Because, from my point of view, it would be more painful for you to be alive.”
“…….”
“With today’s events, the prospect of entering the Nacht of the Underworld has disappeared. The reputation as a saint is also a house of cards.”
It was true.
“Maybe if it goes on like this, you will only remain as a corn healer.”
(TL/N: 티눈; Corns and calluses are areas of thick, hardened, accumulated dead skin cells that are caused by repeated rubbing, friction, or pressure.)
Loreina clenched her teeth.
“Your Excellency, don’t forsake me. You’ll regret it if you leave me.”
“No.”
The Duke of Euros denied it with a single blow.
“I only need cards that are useful to me.”
“I’ll do anything!”
Loreina raised her voice desperately. She really didn’t want to be just a corn healer.
“Shhh…”
The Duke of Euros raised his index finger over his smiling lips.
“If that’s the case, then here…”
The duke bowed his back towards Loreina, who was approaching him. And whispered something.
By the time the duke finished speaking and straightened his back again, Loreina’s complexion had turned white.
“But, Your Excellency.”
“What.”
“If that happens… I’m going to kill people.”
“You will, but…”
The Duke of Euros asked innocently.
“Is that something you’ve never done before?”
He was talking about Marquis Parvis.
‘But it wasn’t my intention to kill her…’
The Duke of Euros laughed. He held the card to blow away Loreina’s hesitation.
“If you don’t like it, you can fall here.”
Loreina clenched her teeth.
She would rather die than remain a corn healer.
And she would rather kill others than die herself.
“I’ll do it. Your Excellency, I can do it. I will do it!”
“Of course you can.”
That was why he chose her.
A long smile hung on Duke Euros’ lips. Loreina had a fleeting but reassuring moment…
The Duke of Euros grabbed Loreina’s jaw harshly.
“Ah, ha…!”
“Well, I will cast a warning on you who has been under my authority. You’ll remember what I’m saying from now on, but you can’t tell anyone.”
“Ugh, it hurts…!
“Remember, Loreina. I waited a hundred years to make the human world the way I wanted it to be, and I prepared ten years for this day.”
Loreina’s pupils dilated.
Now, this meant…
“You ruined my decade. I advise you not to do it again.”
Loreina was silently startled.
Now, these words were not human words.
These were the words of a being from outside the world, covered in human skin.
* * *
No one dared to speak out on the way back.
Of the three people who were strangled by guilt, Michael plucked up the courage to say something.
“Sienna…”
“…Excuse me.”
Instead of answering, Sienna headed to her room first.
She didn’t want to say anything yet. Sienna barely stopped walking and gave a clue like this.
“If we can exclude each other’s emotions and only confirm the things that need to be confirmed… I hope we can talk about it then.”
It wasn’t now.
She couldn’t stand the fact that those few pages of her life had been magically cut off, and that someone other than herself remembered those miserable days.
No one dared to stop Sienna, who turned away coldly.
A living nightmare where they could not sleep at night began.
But none of the three men could call the memory a nightmare.
It was because they had no right to say that they were suffering.
* * *
[Sienna.]
“Yeah.”
[Hey, I didn’t know this kind of trouble would happen… Are you okay?]
“Well, of course I’m not okay.”
[Ugh…]
Sienna smiled immediately.
It was the worst night in many ways, but she was glad that Hesaros was back.
The Named, who read the heart of its owner, was thrilled and said;
[Sienna…!]
Pak, and a fireball hit Sienna’s cheek.
[What a wonderful girl you are! I won’t leave those people who hurt my wonderful and pretty owner alone!]
“Hesaros, I really missed you. A lot.”
[Yes, yes. This Named was insensitive and made my owner wait for a long time.]
This Named, who was proud of himself, never once thought that he was insufficient or lacking.
In fact, purifying the great fraud of the emperor would have been impossible without Hesaros.
But the moment his young master said, ‘I miss you’, Hesaros gave up thousands of years of principles and pride at once and replied,
[It’s all my fault! It’s nothing. I should’ve just taken a bite and come back!]
When her unconditional support, who had never done anything wrong to her, pampered her, Sienna also gained a little more courage.
“Actually, I was a little nervous because it seemed something had happened.”
Hesaros’ heart fluttered.
[Yes, I guess so. Why not? It’s all my fault.]
“Hesaros…”
[Owner!]
The emotional reunion came to an end only after he promised over and over again, ‘I won’t make you wait again!’.
[By the way. How did they gain their memories?]
“I don’t know either.”
Even if it was possible that what happened between Loreina and Ashiel put him in a strange condition from the beginning, it was impossible to guess why the grand duke and Michael found their memories at the same time too.
[There is only one possibility I can guess at this point…]
“What?”
[It’s possible that they made you go against time after you died.]
“…Ah.”
[I think it would make sense to have that kind of magical connection to be able to recover memories.]
“I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… Is it possible to go back in time with human magic?”
[Well. I don’t know exactly either… It seems like the calculation is possible if those who are the owners of the Named pay a huge price. Especially the castle…]
“What?”
In response to Sienna’s interruption, Hesaros declined to comment, saying that this was still speculation.
[Actually, it would be more accurate and faster to ask them than to make guesses between us.]
“…I think so too.”
She was unwilling, but the conversation could not be delayed.
‘It is also a situation where we’re under threat from outside forces.’
The memory of the future that had not yet come would be a significant hint.
“I’ll have to talk to them right away tomorrow.”
Hesaros nodded without saying a word.
[If you can, that’s best.]
Sienna stared at Hesaros like that.
[What’s wrong?]
“No, it’s just…”
She had never really thought of being happy about going back in time.
Treating Nacht as if they were criminals.
Unpleasantly seeing Loreina reveal her true colors.
Now that she lived again, she didn’t want to live like she did back then. That was it.
‘But…’
If she hadn’t gone against time, if she hadn’t come to Nacht again, she would never have met Hesaros.
[?]
“It’s nothing. I thought it was good to have Hesaros.”
[What a strange thing to say.]
Naturally, as if breathing, Hesaros raised his nose. Sienna smiled more clearly this time.
* * *
The very next day.
Sienna, who had been working hard for a while to spread her purification power inside the mansion, and more crucially, tried to purify Ashiel, could not wake up easily.
Michael was standing in front of Sienna’s tightly closed door.
The boy could no longer freely sprint through this door as he had before.
In the end, an employee stabbed him like this.
“Now that the young lady has to eat something, I think it’s okay to wake her up.”
Michael nodded his head involuntarily, and said, “Okay.”
“Wait…!”
However, it was after the swift employee had already knocked on Sienna’s door.
Cold sweat was dripping down his back while he waited for an answer.
‘Will Sienna want to see my face as soon as she wakes up?’
‘…It can’t be!’
Even if she didn’t want to see him for the rest of her life, he was in a situation where he had nothing to say.
Thinking about it from the opposite perspective, he wished Sienna would slap his shameless cheek this morning.
…She wouldn’t though.
“She’s asking you to come in.”
Even though the permission he had been waiting for fell, he couldn’t smile. Michael brought his hand to his face and made up his mind.
“What are you here for?”
“I… I, so…”
Obviously there was a purpose. He had something to tell Sienna.
However, it was right that he dared to show his face using this business as an excuse, so the boy could not raise his head.
“Father announced it. That Nacht of the Underworld of this generation will not have any other ward other than you…”
When he spat it out of his mouth, it didn’t seem like a business.
‘Does this kid really want to know that?’
The ward card was a card that Nacht could use to exert a powerful influence on the aristocratic society.
The grand duke gave up that right purely to reassure Siena.
It was a promise never to make her die so miserable again.
But at the same time, the reason for not conveying that fact was also clear.
How dare they show off something like this to Sienna.
His mouth was dry at the thought of making a mistake. It was then.
“…It’s okay.”
Michael knew. It wasn’t a forgiving word.
That said, it didn’t matter.
“It’s fine. I was just about to find you anyway.”
It was time to exchange information.
* * *
Unfortunately, it was concluded that it would be impossible to fully understand the circumstances even if the pieces of Nacht’s memories were put together.
Of course, the gist was clear.
Sienna was framed, and the culprit was Loreina Minangsi; and in the whole process, the Nacht clan was a thorough bystander or cooperated unwittingly.
And after Sienna’s death, a terrible disaster struck the world.
“This was planned from the beginning.”
Even before Sienna entered the underworld, the castle of Nacht was under a judicial law.
However, what was the identity of the outside force that placed the law on them?
And as to when and how this subterranean castle was invaded, nothing came to mind as if it was enveloped in fog.
Sienna simply listened to all the explanations in silence.
“But we can guess a few facts using the memories as clues.”
It was difficult to see Loreina or the County of Minangsi doing something like this alone.
Sienna also silently agreed to the assumption.
Fortunately or unfortunately, after traveling back in time, their hearts turned to Sienna.
The judicial law in them was not as powerful as when it was covert.
The experience of losing Sienna once remained implicit, and they were able to protect their hearts from the delusions of the law.
They were able to protect it now, but everyone swallowed up the bitter regret once again that they really didn’t.
This time, the grand duke gave Sienna a pomegranate. Those who ate the pomegranate were able to receive rights equivalent to those of Nacht’s blood relatives to the underworld.
The magic was combined with Sienna’s purification power, and the castle of the underworld was subordinated to Sienna’s realm.
Simply put, it meant that it became an environment that was easy for Sienna to spread the purification power.
Moreover, when possessing Hesaros, the flames of purification even swept through the castle.
The law, which had been secretly hidden, was thus destroyed.
So the second time could be different.
But…
“…For now, I know what you’re talking about.”
The grand duke anxiously followed Siena’s calm eyes, which showed no wounds.
At one time, he thought that child was like a small box that had lost its keys and could never be opened.
But now he knew what was inside.
How well Sienna hid her emotions in the terrible moment, what screamed in her heart…
They all knew now.
“We ourselves know better than anyone that we can’t get an indulgence from that.”
The grand duke added nervously, but Sienna did not answer.
She lowered her eyes, seemed to think for a moment, and then asked again.
“…What about the circumstances of going back in time?”
“I don’t remember anything about that part yet.”
Sienna nodded her head calmly.
No matter what anyone in Nacht said, it seemed that there would be no ripples in the lake called Sienna.
Silence fell across the four of them.
Sienna’s eyes, which had been blinking slowly, momentarily paused. Sienna muttered.
“…At least, there is no need to persuade you to not bring Loreina Minangsi into this house.”
“If you told us, we would have done that sooner.”
Michael, who was restless, could not bear it and intervened.
“There is no need to persuade us, obviously…”
“I’m sorry, but I…”
Sienna sighed for a moment.
“Could I have believed that?”
They all turned white at once and stopped breathing.
Sienna thought she shouldn’t have said anything.
It wasn’t that she was sorry. It was because she didn’t want to see them being sorry yet.
“Now I know. If I died, the world would be sentenced to death.”
‘Now I know’, Sienna thought.
Although they could be emotionally sorry for Sienna who died unfairly, they wouldn’t be so desperate to turn back time because of her.
But if, unbelievably, the world was on the verge of extinction because of Sienna’s absence, the story would be different.
Strictly speaking, she must have come back to life out of necessity.
She wasn’t disappointed at all.
Because of that, she met Hesaros.
“Sienna.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to hear any more.”
A resolute refusal silenced the three of them.
Sienna continued immediately without a change in her expression.
“Information is shared. I hope we can cooperate well. Because there is someone we have to deal with together.”
I don’t blame you. But that was it.
Their memories, their regrets, their atonement.
Sienna had no intention of carrying it with her.
At that moment, a knock rang through the drawing room.
“Sir, may I come in for a moment?”
It was Devon.
“I… my God, the children are here too.”
“If it’s a report about what I told you in the morning, it’s okay to do it here.”
In the morning the grand duke had announced Sienna as his sole ward, and had ordered Devon to keep an eye on the County of Minangsi.
“It’s…”
Devon looked at them slightly and said,
“Euros of the Heaven has stepped up as the guardian of Loreina Minangsi.”
“……”
None of the people that were here would not understand what that meant.
‘The outside world.’
“Devon, get out of here.”
“Okay, Grand Duke.”
As Devon closed the door and left, Ashiel spoke, “If it’s Euros of the Heaven.”
“It must have been when the imperial son-in-law died.”
“Well.”
The grand duke explained the situation to Sienna, who was puzzled.
The former owner of the Heaven, the former head of Euros, had a son.
He was the husband of Crown Princess Arandier.
(TL/N: Please take note. All along, the author used ‘황태자’ for Arandier, which directly translates to crown prince, and thus I thought Arandier is a man and went with it. But when I’m tling this portion, I suddenly see words like ‘husband’ and ‘imperial son-in-law’. I figured that it’s more likely for the author to have simply used ‘crown prince’ because Arandier is the heir to the throne, rather than the author mixing up wife/husband and son-in-law/daughter-in-law. We’ve changed the affected portions!)
He and his sister were attacked and killed by a beast while patrolling the eastern region according to the treaty of protection.
His younger sister also lost her life, and the imperial grandson, Ruslan, also disappeared at that time and his whereabouts remained unknown until now.
The former Duke of Euros, who lost all his children in the wake of the attack, went into seclusion and never showed his face to the world again.
“The current Duke, Thesius Euros, was said to be from a branch of the Euros family.”
It was Michael’s words. Having found his memory, he was no longer a simple boy, and was able to read the situation without difficulty.
“It must be complicated. It may be difficult to tell His Majesty. Our Nacht of the Underworld has been at odds with Euros of the Heaven for many years.”
No matter how much the emperor’s heart was inclined to this side, the emperor was the emperor.
“It is impossible to accuse a family with our history of not being harmonious from generation to generation, and even one of the three great guardians without evidence. But…”
“I think…”
Ashiel opened his mouth.
“I think I can speak to the Crown Princess.”
After losing her husband and son at the same time, the crown princess did not quietly stick her butt in the capital.
There must have been a reason for the behavior of the crown princess, who had been wandering different battlefields across the country, going back and forth again as soon as she received her awards.
Perhaps she had detected the strange smell long before they did.
The grand duke nodded his head. Then he pulled out a piece of black paper engraved with a geometric pattern.
The grand duke pronounced every word carefully.
“The silver deer of Feyenoord, Arandier Pervischach Ruslan Kainosia.”
At the same time, black smoke arose and the letters were engraved as if stirring the fireplace where only ashes were left.
Soon after, the paper floated up and disappeared like melting into the air.
“The news will be delivered, and a reply will come soon.”
Sienna nodded her head. She thought she didn’t need to be here anymore.
“…I’ll get up first.”
After saying that, no one dared to stop Sienna as she left.
* * *
What should she say?
Sienna thought after leaving her seat.
The grand duke said he had no intention of receiving indulgences, and Ashiel and Michael seemed to agree with that…
In fact, Sienna thought that the fact that the outside world trick in the beginning of everything could be unexpectedly an indulgence.
But…
Sienna stopped walking. The place where she stopped suddenly was the corridor.
Instead of the early spring that she once called, the real spring had come at some point.
The sun was warm, the petals were not enough to cover the entire garden; they were dotted to cover the floor of the corridor.
But the wind blowing the petals was still cool.
Yes, it was still cool.
‘So not yet.’
Maybe one day it would be an indulgence.
When it’s admitted as a heartbreaking happening, it might be possible to unravel the core.
But not now.
Sienna shook her head. The sun was clear. It shone brightly between the new shoots that had raised their heads.
It might not be the time, but…
Sienna hummed involuntarily.
A long time ago;
She had five dreams.
Dreams that fluttered like a bird and left like wings.
…It was the end of early spring.
「Volume 1 of The World Without My Sister Who Everyone Loved, END.」
If anyone is wondering what the ‘five dreams’ Sienna was talking about at the end, please take a quick glance at Chapter 1 – Prologue ^^ With the completion of Volume 1, here are some love notes from the team who worked on it:
「Heya, Ame here! Initially, I wasn’t the biggest fan of any of the 4 main (human) characters. But this was a novel that grew on me the more I translated it. I truly adored how hints and pieces of information of ‘What really happened during the first timeline’ was dropped throughout the first 7 chapters, and eventually ‘confirmed’ in this chapter. Well, there’s more in volume 2.
What twists will the author surprise us with next? Whatever it is, we’ll find out before this year ends! Until then, please give a lot of thanks and love to ZZZZ and Tassie for their amazing patience and talent. I really, really couldn’t do it without them.」
—Ame ✨ Translator
「WOW, can I just say? I did NOT expect them to regain their memories at the ball. And the end of this chapter was a real eye-opener for all the behind the scenes we missed in the beginning. I can’t wait to learn more and dig into the nitty gritty of this whole time reversal~
Much love to Ame for taking this up and Tassie for picking up my slack XDD ❤」
—ZZZZ, proofreader
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