“No… It’s not true!”

“Yes, you wouldn’t want to admit it!”

“Be quiet.”

Even with Raphael stepping on his head, the Emperor did not stop talking. Instead, he shouted even more desperately. The Emperor, cornered, was lying. She was Evelyn? The woman who was Raphael’s first love and was thought to be dead?

“Lies! It can’t be true… It mustn’t be…”

It was a terrible lie. Nonsense. It was so absurd that she burst out laughing. If Raphael knew that, he wouldn’t have stayed silent. How much had Amelia suffered because she wasn’t Evelyn?

“Isn’t that right? It’s not true, right?”

“Amelia…”

“Answer me! Raphael Lloyd Siegfried!”

She liked him. She couldn’t count how many times she felt despair as she fell in love with him. Jealousy towards someone who had already died and disappeared. The living cannot win against the dead. She envied the woman named Evelyn, whom she didn’t even know, while circling around Raphael.

Eventually, she gave up. She accepted that his heart wasn’t hers. She longed for the affection that surfaced on his face whenever he thought of Evelyn. At the same time, she was frustrated, knowing it was a love she would never receive.

“But… I’m Evelyn?”

If you’re going to deceive someone, you should make it more reasonable. Above all, there was no reason she could be Evelyn. In the first place, it was because she resembled Evelyn that Amelia could marry Raphael.

“I don’t know when you changed your name, but you are indeed Evelyn!”

“You’re lying because Raphael showed up!”

That’s it. He was scared because Raphael appeared and was spouting nonsense. There’s no way she’s Evelyn, right? That wasn’t even in the book. And she had no such memories.

“Right? Raphael…?”

She believed he would tell her that everything was a lie. But Raphael’s expression was somehow strange.

“No, it’s not true… Why are you acting like that! You should say it’s not true!”

“Amelia, calm down.”

“…Did you know all along?”

Amelia trembled with betrayal. She had even asked him about Evelyn once. At that time, he had calmly talked about Evelyn. He assured her that Evelyn was definitely dead. He said he had confirmed it himself.

“That’s not it.”

“You lied to me!”

She foolishly believed everything he said. She thought he had no reason to deceive her.

“Since when, since when did you know…?”

“Amelia!”

“No, what does it matter?”

Even at this moment, realizing she had been deceived, she wanted to know when he had started lying to her. It didn’t matter now that she had been deceived once. What did she want from him? Did she want to hear that he never intended to deceive her? Even in this situation, she couldn’t completely hate Raphael Lloyd Siegfried.

She felt self-pity for being so foolish and incompetent. Even in a situation where she was clearly betrayed, she still wanted to believe him.

“Did you enjoy it? Laughing at me because I liked you without knowing anything.”

“…It’s not like that.”

It wasn’t like that? She couldn’t tell what was what anymore. She was confused about whether this world she had entered was really the one from the book. What exactly was the character Amelia Seraphin?

“It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

Even if she were really Evelyn, nothing would change. She was going to leave Raphael anyway.

“Amelia!”

Ah, she had indeed forgotten to receive holy power from Enoch. They said it would be dangerous if she didn’t receive holy power for even a day, and it turned out to be true.

“Don’t pretend to worry…”

Her vision twisted, spinning. She saw Raphael running towards her, but she didn’t have the strength to stop him. She saw him crush the bars with immense force. It wasn’t a prison meant for Siegfried after all. The Emperor was indeed a liar.

***

Seeing Amelia collapse powerlessly, Raphael felt a moment of fear that took his breath away. He was not in his right mind.

“Amelia!”

It was the same as before. She closed her eyes quietly as if she were sleeping and showed no reaction.

“Damn it!”

He couldn’t approach her because of this wretched prison. The bars resisted fiercely, creating violent waves, seemingly wary of Siegfried. Raphael poured his strength into them. He needed to check on her quickly.

“Hahaha! Serves you right!”

“…I’ll kill you in a moment.”

“It’s the goddess’s prison. No matter how strong you are…”

He had no intention of losing her powerlessly like he did when he was a helpless child. There are no materials that cannot be destroyed.

“No, this can’t be…!”

He adjusted his strength to minimize the damage to Amelia and Leonel inside. The seemingly impregnable iron fortress cracked and then completely collapsed.

“It’s a prison for Siegfried! Made by the goddess…!”

“Maybe the goddess’s power has weakened.”

Right now, the biggest problem was Amelia. Raphael carefully picked her up and carried her out of the prison. Leonel would recover quickly once he was out of the prison. He was in better condition than he had been in his childhood.

“Amelia. Open your eyes.”

“…….”

“Please….”

He had never known fear in his life. But with this one woman, it was different. Even now, his hands trembled at the thought of losing her.

He couldn’t use magic recklessly. His power was harmful to Amelia. He was afraid even to touch her. He feared that even the slightest force might put her in danger.

“So it wasn’t a lie, it was real?”

He heard the Emperor muttering behind him. He seemed pleased with the situation. The root cause of all this.

“What, what is this…!”

“Call the high priest.”

“So it’s true that she can’t live without receiving holy power every day.”

Raphael’s eyebrows raised at the Emperor’s mocking attitude. He had never shown mercy to a vermin. Vermin were meant to be crushed. Otherwise, they would continue to wriggle and irritate him.

“Call the high priest.”

“What if I refuse? Even the Emperor can’t control the temple at will.”

There were still many members of the imperial family left, even if not the Emperor. Was there any need to keep them alive? Raphael lifted the Emperor with an expressionless face.

He should have killed him earlier. Leaving him alone because it seemed like things might escalate was a mistake.

“Khk! If you do this… ugh, your wife’s life will be in danger too….”

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it was true. His power was useless to Amelia. Since awakening his power, he had never felt helpless. But it was different with her. She was the only one who rendered his power ineffective.

“Your children are also part of the imperial family. You can call the high priest.”

“Ugh, but the high priest’s children… don’t listen well even to the imperial family’s orders!”

“Then drag them here by force.”

It seemed best to burn everything down at once. The restrictions on entering the temple were no longer a concern. If they didn’t listen, he could just destroy the temple. Killing and burning everyone would render those cursed restrictions meaningless.

“Did you forget that Siegfried can’t enter… the temple?”

“I’d like to kill you slowly and painfully, but I don’t have time.”

Should he capture the high priest and make him supply holy power to Amelia for the rest of his life? It would be easier to keep several of them. Amelia couldn’t die. He wouldn’t allow it.

“And Amelia will never die.”

“Y-you’re insane… you’ve completely lost it!”

“You shouldn’t have touched her.”

He wasn’t afraid of the goddess or anything else. Could he use the goddess as a source of holy power too? Just thinking about seeing Amelia smile at him again made him feel ecstatic. Raphael closed his eyes, eager to see Amelia.

“You got the order wrong. You should have killed me first, not Amelia. That’s how monsters are. Once they bite, they never let go.”

There was no time to waste. He intended to burn everything down at once if it weren’t for the desperate hand that grabbed his.

“No! You can’t kill him!”

It was Leonel, who had been lying down. He had regained his color and was now standing.

“Leonel, even for you…”

“The brooch! Just give me the brooch. After that, do as you wish.”

Leonel quickly took the brooch from the Emperor’s chest and began to infuse it with power. This wasn’t Siegfried’s power. What was it? Why did Leonel have a different power?

“That’s already broken…”

“Stop watching and come out now!”

It was the goddess’s power. The power Leonel was using now was that of the goddess.