CH 60

Though I had thought it would turn out like this, but still…

“You’ll basically be leaving your string that’s tying you to life with me; is that really alright with you? Even if I might suddenly change my mind and decide to kill you?”

“Then I’ll just accept it.”

Although my eyes were round, he smiled rather faintly. “If that happens, although the Duchy might be worried, at least I’ll be able to walk hand in hand with my younger sister on her final road.”

“…”

“I couldn’t even be by that child’s side and hold her hand as she took her first step because I drowned in grief over that selfish reason. I even made her attend her debutante by herself since I had mistakenly placed my trust in the crown prince.”

“…”

“I thought that I’d at least be able to walk by your side at your wedding, but now, even that’s impossible. So if I could walk hand in hand with that child, even if it’s her final road in this life, wouldn’t that be a death I’d be content with?”

It was pure sincerity. Just why would such a person leave their younger sister to be lonely by herself for such a long time? The more I got to know him, the more I felt that the situation was regrettable. 

I let out a sigh and handed him the poison. “Still, you should at least sign a waiver before drinking it. Since I’d hate to have the blame be shifted on the Lunar religion.”

“Gladly.” 

He unhesitatingly wrote a waiver and signed it at my light words and gulped down the poison. 

“Keurgh!” He vomited blood not even a minute after he had drank it, perhaps going to show just how lethal the poison was. 

—B-Brother…

His younger sister, Meliara, began to pace around beside him with a restless look on her face. 

I kneeled beside him, who was breathing heavily and seizing intermittently. I covered his eyes with my hands and whispered, “Go and have a good meeting.”

At that moment, his soul escaped from his body like a lie. Though I was momentarily surprised, I slowly began to infuse my divine power into his body.

t/n: alion’s dialogue as a soul will now be in bold

—This…

“I won’t be able to hold this for more than five minutes.”

Alion, who was looking down in bewilderment at his own body, quickly came back to his senses at my words. 

—So you really can see souls.

“I don’t think this is the right time for you to admire me.” I pointed with my chin at the area next to him. 

Turning around, he spotted his crying younger sister. Then he stiffened on the spot. His eyes that were looking at her shook violently. Though it was an absurd story, his gaze was different from the way he had looked at me when I had told him that I was occupying his younger sister’s body.

—Mel…iara.

He called out awkwardly, as if he had never said her name before. A faint smile spread across the lips of Meliara, who was looking at him.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Alion was filled with complicated emotions upon seeing the appearance of his younger sister, who was smiling at him. Turns out his little sister had become this skinny… He felt as if his heart was about to be torn apart.

—Meliara, I…

He opened his mouth once again, but couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Staring at Alion, who only bit his lips for a long time, Meliara opened her mouth instead. 

—I’m sorry, Brother.

—…What?

What she had said was so shocking that Alion’s whole face stiffened up.

—Why are you…

—Just because I wanted to marry His Highness the Crown Prince… I never knew that you had been pushed to the front lines of the subjugation in order to satisfy my greed.

—That’s…

It hadn’t been for her. It had been a selfish step that he had taken in an effort to make up for the past mistakes he had committed. 

—Brother had been taking such good care of me, yet all this time, I thought that you hated me… Yet you were such a good older brother…

—Stop. Please, just stop.

Alion’s face distorted, as if he couldn’t bear to hear anymore.

—I wasn’t a good older brother.

—But…

—I hated you. Because I thought Mother had died because of you.

He spoke honestly about his feelings.

—But… you…

His face twisted up once again as he winced. It hurt so much it felt as if his heart was being split in two whenever he recalled the thought of his younger sister, who at the age of nine years old, regretted ever being born into this world.

—You didn’t take Mother away—rather, it was Mother who risked her life to bring you into this world.

—…

—I realised that too late.

The relationship between the two of them had already become estranged. And Alion, who had never learned how to love, didn’t even know how to correct it. He didn’t know how to apologise, nor did he know that he had to apologise. Since he was also young, and no one had ever taught him to. He just wanted to hide from his feelings of remorse every time he saw her increasingly uncomfortable and wary gaze. So he simply avoided her.

—But Brother, you were young back then as well…

—You were even younger though.

—…

—I…

Alion’s throat started to close up as he choked out. 

—I should’ve let you know that you were never alone.

He always only thought by himself. He did whatever the empress and crown prince wanted since she seemed eager to marry the crown prince. Always obtaining a losing hand. 

On the premise that the marriage had already been set in stone, he even departed on a subjugation expedition. Not even knowing that when he returned, his younger sister’s engagement had been annulled and she had been kicked out of their family. If he had known that she would be in such pain and loneliness, then he would never have gone on the subjugation expedition in the first place.  

—Everything became ruined because I made a cowardly choice and acted foolishly. 

It all went wrong. And it became too late for him to fix it. 

—Meliara. I know that words alone won’t be enough, but…

He let out a long sigh.

—For making you feel lonely… and for pushing you away because of my own pain, I am truly sor…

Alion, who had been sincerely trying to apologise, suddenly had his words stuck in his throat.

—…!

It was because of the sudden warmth that had dashed into his arms. His younger sister, who was in tears, had run into his embrace. And hugged him with all her might. 

—Thank you, Brother. Thank you for letting me know that I was also loved.

Alion’s eyes became as round as saucers. He froze, as if he were genuinely filled with shock. His pupils trembled violently as his face gradually scrunched up. He seemed as if he were in more pain now than when he had consumed the poison earlier. 

—I think I can finally leave happily now. Thank you so much, Brother. 

As if to prove what she had said was true, her appearance was becoming even fainter than before.

—Meliara.

Alion called out her name urgently, but Meliara only donned an even prettier smile for him.

—I’m truly happy now. So don’t worry about me too much as well, Brother.

—Meliara, please.

He spoke urgently, as if he instinctively knew what would happen next, but Meliara was more knowledgeable about this space than he was. She slipped away from him before he could say anything or react properly. 

—You’ll have to live a healthy life and live out my share as well, alright?

Smiling beautifully, she pushed him back by his chest. It was obviously only a weak push since she herself also had a small stature, yet Alion, who was a knight, stumbled backwards.

—Wait…!

—Goodbye, Brother.

His younger sister’s happiest and most radiant looking smile that he was seeing for the first time was also the last thing he saw before Alion’s world was turned upside down.

“Melia…! Keurgh!”

He hurriedly stood up and shouted as soon as he came to his senses, but it was blood that came out instead. 

“Your body has been wrecked by the poison.” It was a voice he had just heard, yet a voice filled with completely different emotions reached his ears instead. 

Clutching at his sore chest, he turned his head to see a woman sitting down with the same face as his younger sister.

“Although I’ve finished neutralising the poison, you’ll still need to recuperate and take some medicine in order to repair your ruined body.” She was quite expressionless, but she wasn’t able to conceal the worry and pity in her eyes…

“It’s definitely… different.”

It wasn’t his younger sister. He could see it clearly after meeting his younger sister. It was the same face, yet two different people. 

Saintess Ara smiled painfully at his words. “You can see it because it’s you. Because you truly love your younger sister.”

“…”

Unable to say anything, Alion turned to where Meliara had been standing. “I couldn’t say anything in the end.”

Saying he was sorry, as well as saying that he loved her. His tolerant younger sister didn’t bother to listen to him and left after receiving an understanding of it. As if she understood his true feelings, she left after embracing him. 

“I thought it’d be better if I told her my true feelings before she left, but… I still have my own regrets.” He laughed at himself in self-mocking. Because of the poison, his anguish came with it, his smile twisting.

“Every death leaves lingering regrets. From the one who is leaving, to the one who is sending them off.” Ara said quietly. 

There was a brief silence afterwards.

Getting up shakily, Alion wiped the blood from around his mouth with a handkerchief and asked, “Have you heard that Father is going to proceed with the engagement between you, the saintess, and Prince Linden?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any intention to?”

“No.”

“Alright. Then I’ll proceed with that in mind. I thought you wouldn’t, but I just wanted to make sure.” Alion bowed his head toward Meliara, who was looking up at him from where she was kneeling. “Then I’ll take my leave now. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.”

“No, all I did was give you the power to do what you already had in mind.”

It was Alion who decided to take the poison in order to meet his younger sister. Ara seriously didn’t think she had done much herself. 

“No, that power made that invaluable time possible.” But on the contrary, Alion thought that Ara had done everything. “Thank you.”

“Alright. Take care of yourself too.”

Alion said his farewells and left. As he opened the door and left, the sound of the knights who were waiting outside making a fuss at the bloodstains on his clothes sounded. But the door soon slammed shut as silence returned to the prayer room once more.

“Is it really fine to leave it like this?”

—Yes, this is more than enough.

Ara raised her head and turned her gaze toward Meliara, who was smiling. She had already become visibly fainter to the eyes. The light along the faint outline was getting brighter and brighter. 

Both Ara and Meliara knew what that meant.

—Don’t be sorry. You’ve done more than enough. 

Meliara said after reading Ara’s expression.

—You cleared me of all my false accusations and prejudices. You helped me feel my older brother’s love for me, and even got me the revenge that I never once could’ve imagined getting.

“But…”

I couldn’t help but think of the thought, ‘If only I hadn’t taken over your body in the first place’.

Meliara thought differently.

—I don’t blame you. The one who gave up first was me anyway.

The one who had given up her body first was her after all. This was the result of her own choice while she had only been the one that got caught up in it. 

—Rather, you are a person who has bloomed beautifully, and brought life to what I had given up on.

Meliara squatted in front of Ara. She smiled as she tapped her heart with her index finger. Though she naturally couldn’t feel it, Ara felt it somehow and thought she had been mistaken. 

—The person sitting here isn’t Ara, who became Meliara, but rather, wholly you, just Ara.

This place no longer had a ‘Meliara’ remaining.

—That’s why you should live. Beautifully, boldly, and exactly like you would.

“Meliara…” A faint smile hung from Ara’s mouth. It was a smile full of gratitude. “Thank you.”

—I should be the one saying thank you.

The two smiled at each other. And in that manner, Meliara’s body was also enveloped in light and disappeared. With the only thing she left behind her being a gust of warm air. 

“Goodbye.”

It was a final greeting that would be eternal.

* * *

“Goodbye then.” Lydia sent us off with a smile.

“I’ll trust in the words of Lydia and come back safely.”

“Yes.”

I also responded with a bright smile, turning my head to see Lecht standing on top of the teleportation circle that was departing to the demon realm. The teleportation circle was glowing softly, as if declaring that it was ready to go. 

I placed my hand in his outstretched hand as he grabbed it, enveloping it in his large hands. I was pulled helplessly into his arms. His refreshing scent made my heart race. 

“It’ll be troublesome if you fall behind in the middle, so hold on tightly.”

No, to think that I could fall behind in a teleportation circle with a fixed departure and destination. I laughed at Lecht, who was hugging me tightly under the excuse of such a ridiculous reason. I hugged his waist, pretending not to know either.

“Let’s go!”

To your world. 

I closed my eyes and buried my face in Lecht’s arms as the bright light from the teleportation circle engulfed me.