Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She remembered Miriam as a scary and vicious being when she was a child, but looking at her now as a person who already lived eighteen years, she was an easy-to-handle adult. She didn’t even think of poisoning her when she was angry with Leticia—she could only vent her anger by dropping snacks on the floor.

She was naïve compared to Sujin, who poisoned her because she was annoyed by her.

There has never been a separate high-quality snack for her before, but the snack now has a clean outside appearance without any speck of dust, as if the snack itself was a joke.

“I’ll forgive you without charge, then.”

Since Miriam had never hated anyone this extreme, she must have felt stupid to say something like that without any hesitation.

“I know it was my grandfather who committed a crime, though I was told to forgive him if I didn’t want to be called a brat.”

It wasn’t the head maid who was talking nonsense, but the High Priest Gamal who said that he would come the next day to see Leticia in person. That guy who was lucky enough to become a priest told her in a straightforward manner.

He even threatened a young child.

If she were the one who received the blind hatred of other people to the point that she wanted to die, she wouldn’t even be able to say such a thing.

“The priest said that you’re a good child if you forgive, and you’re a selfish and mean little girl if you don’t…?”

Leticia left the head maid with a gaped mouth. It doesn’t matter to her if she tossed the high-quality refreshments on the ground or trampled them with her feet.

Anyway, wouldn’t it be all right to eat it?

She then brought the snack to her mouth with a bored face.

“Indeed, this is dirty-sweet much to that bastard’s taste.”

The snack was extremely sweet, just as Phillip’s taste. It was said that when you already lived your life once, snacks tasted bitter yet sweet enough to make one feel bad.

Leticia’s doll-face was still expressionless despite the sweet taste.

“Hmm, it doesn’t taste like dirt as usual. I guess you didn’t spit on it.”

The day before she was taken to the state, the expression on her face as she drank the poison and ate sweets, even with the fact that she knew it would fail, was surprisingly the same.

Leticia reflected on what had happened later that evening.

‘How did I come back to life?’

She gathered her thoughts as the red hue outside the window went down. Leticia glanced down at the table in the silence with no one around.

Above the iron table lay an opened fairy tale book with an ink garden pen and an unenthusiastic person. Even though she already died once, was it only a coincidence that she woke up inside the same room she stayed in until she was eleven years old…?

There was only one possibility if this wasn’t a dream…

There was an old book she read when she was still the successor. It was 『 Hebron 』 that recorded the phenomena the occurred when the great wise man Abraham, who built the tower, was called a miracle.

It was when Leticia was sixteen years old and the successor that she read 『 Hebron 』, which has no interpretation. Her family, Maner, was a pioneer in the establishment of the Picenae Empire.

In the beginning, when the kingdom was still in its founding state, relics were excavated from the ancient kingdom, and those relics were stored in an underground facility within the mansion. The relics varied from when they started to exist—higher relics that invoke miracles, and lower relics that were treated as antiques.

Among them was the Named Relics, and in order for her to perfectly use it, Leticia had to be able to speak a new language in order for her to use the [ Named ] Relics among all those that were excavated, though she couldn’t. It was something she could not acquire through effort and learning.

“What’s so great about you being lucky enough to be born as father’s daughter? It wasn’t something that could be seen even if you wore pretty clothes. Rather than you, my good-for-nothing older sister, I am the one whom father needed.”

These were the words of Sujin, who became the head of the family a year later after overtaking Leticia, who turned adult at the age of seventeen.

While Sujin was chosen as the new head because she spoke a new language, the Duke used Leticia as he pleased.

Though the Duke was also fluent with the ancient language, it wasn’t as much as Leticia who worked harder than her father. That was why he always asked her to read and interpret the ancient language until he threw her away.

The ancient book she saw at that time was the 『 Hebron 』

It was different from the original copy in the tower. Before New Year’s Eve in December, miracles occur when sacrifices are made. She remembered seeing the record of ‘that present life’ in that book 『 Hebron 』

‘This may not be a dream, if I follow what was written in Hebron…’

Leticia recounted the first chapter of 『 Hebron 』 which was written in the ancient language. Then she wrote down the contents of the book in ancient language on the blank page of the child’s book. She summarized the myth of 『 Hebron 』 in order for her to better understand the phenomenon she experienced.

There were two great beings mentioned in the book—the Great Saint Hildegard, carrying the power of the seven sins; and, Ivlis, the primordial demon with seven names.

The Great Sage Abraham was the author of 『 Hebron 』, as well as the one who studied the two beings and the one who built the tower. His study began with Ivlis, who stole time from Hildegardt, the master of time.

The Great Saint Hildegardt slept at the center of the axis of time. There was a being that aimed for the time the Great Saint was ruling from time to time. It was the ancient demon Ivlis with golden wings and the master of seven sins, who stole time from Hildegardt and gave it to young human children.

One had to have divinity to use a relic containing the power of the Great Saint. Nevertheless, if one borrowed a name from the Golden Demon King Ivlis, even those who didn’t possess the ‘Holy’ in their names considered to be Hildegardt’s blessing, could turn back time.

Aiming for the high Hildegardt was asleep, she blindfolded the Saint.

That was then that they corrupted the relic and interfered with the realm of time. Therefore, it was called ‘regression’—the use of relics to turn time from the future to the past.

‘Regression’ was an act of breaking Hildegard’s sacred sanctuary and interfering with the absolute God of time.

There were only two kinds of beings who could use such powers without being given the divinity from Hildegardt.

The first one was the Demon King Ivlis who ruled the seven sins and possessed the power of [ arrogance ]. The second was the six children who made a contract with the Demon King Ivlis in order to inherit her other six names.

Each of them received cuteness from Ivlis and her other six names, with the exception of < pride >. Only the children who escaped Hildegardt’s domination and surveillance were able to turn back time with the relics, which eventually corrupted and became great demons themselves.

There were two ways to turn back time.

One was with the ‘holy’ power. In order to use the Relic of Time in a legitimate way, Hildegard’s blessing was the Holy Power. And, the other was to corrupt the relics by using the taboo ‘power of the Demon King.’

Although the interpretation of archaeologists was divided as to when the annular solar eclipse occurred, there was a pirate that everyone agreed within 『 Hebron 』

When the golden moon created by the Demon King blocked the sun created by the Great Saint.

According to the Hildegardt calendar used in the empire, it wasn’t New Year’s Eve when Leticia died. So, it could be said that it was only her theory, though Leticia thought more profoundly.

“Ivlis’ time…”

Pondering on her thoughts, her fountain pen scribed the name Ivlis.

According to the Great Saint’s calendar. The last day of December, when the year ended, was New Year’s Eve. It was a day when families lit a light as they expressed gratitude to the Great Saint.

However, Ivlis’ New Year’s Eve was the first day of June.

‘A day when miracle works.’

On that day, it was said that curses were a thing of the past, so everyone turned off all the lights in the house and lit a blue candle to drive out demons. This was the standard for subjects with common customs and traditions.

Conversely, for a family that worships demons like Nervad, ‘Iblis New Year’s Day’ was the day of the festival. He would open a window, a gate, or any door, and snort and lit the candle louder, snoring, “How can the serving devil be afraid of candles?”

Leticia wrote the day she died in the corner of the fairy tale book.

June 1st.

A day to avoid having an affair with the Holy Family Maner. And, for Eli, who prayed for her rest, it was a family festival.

‘Why did you come to my execution without going to the festival…?’

She had her doubts, but Leticia didn’t think that Eli had come just by chance.

‘I wanted to ask him right now. Him, who believed in the demon… Why did he pray earnestly for my rest, me, who came from the holy family’s bloodline…?’

But, no one answered.

According to the theory of the ancient book 『 Hebron 』, it might have been a second life.

‘No, it was a second life,’ Leticia was sure.

She then grabbed the pen with trembling hands.

The fountain pen’s black ink smeared across the yellowed paper.

Though there was no circumstantial evidence that Hebron’s theory was correct, there was also no evidence that the theory of the Great Sage Abraham wasn’t heard by many.

‘If I had returned, what would have happened to Eli, who saved me?’

At that time, Eli, at age twenty-one, was the lord of the Magic Tower and the Marquis of Nervad.

However, Marquis Nervad must’ve only turned fourteen now. He wasn’t recognized by his master at the Magic Tower, let alone be the master there, and he can’t be the same person she admired and feared…

‘Would it be possible for us to meet?’

Because of that, Leticia still wanted to meet Eli after knowing all of this.

It didn’t matter to her if he was the same man before her return. It was the future Eli that saved her, so she wanted to visit him.

Most importantly, she wanted to ask, ‘Why did you save me…?’