Chapter 134
“Ugh, aaah……!”
Startled beyond belief, Remil tumbled backward.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
The space was entirely covered in hard minerals.
She braced for her head to crack open, but strangely, she felt a soft, cushiony sensation.
“Uuu……?”
Remil cautiously opened just one eye, the one she had squeezed shut so tightly.
Large clusters of flower petals were gathered beneath her, supporting her back.
Perhaps it was thanks to the floral scent.
The nausea that had been churning in her stomach just moments ago subsided all at once.
As Remil drew the flower fragrance deep into her lungs, Cheshire was toddling around on the pattern.
The blue pattern, which had been turning a vivid red, seemed blocked by something, halting its change with only the outer edges dyed red.
The small baby, enveloped in a soft glow, waddled along, examining the pattern.
An unfamiliar scene unfolded in a space that had always been nothing but horrifying.
It felt so unreal that Remil stared blankly at the baby.
Then, hesitantly, she sat up properly.
“Ah…, Cheshire…….”
As her dry, chapped lips moved, Cheshire approached Remil.
The dizzyingly pleasant fragrance made her feel even more hazy.
“I came because I have something I wanna ask Remi!”
This was a secret place located deep underground in the temple.
She should shout as loud as she could to alert the priests outside about this.
Or at the very least, demand to know how she had gotten in here.
But Remil couldn’t say what she should.
No, she didn’t.
She was afraid of being left alone if Cheshire left.
Originally, she had to be locked in here alone for a full day.
When the pattern turned completely red, a crushing pain would assault her entire body.
It was like being pulverized by some enormous entity, the agony making her black out, and when she opened her eyes again.
She would be lying on the pattern that had returned to blue.
But regaining consciousness didn’t mean the door would open right away.
In this dark, gloomy place, she had to wait endlessly, and wait some more, before the door would open.
When Remil didn’t behave well, the time until the door opened would be delayed.
That’s why Remil always tried to be an obedient child.
A good child who didn’t cry or throw tantrums.
‘I don’t want to be alone. I hate the pain, and losing my memories too.’
Remil gazed quietly at Cheshire.
If Cardinal Milliord found out about this right now, he would fly into a rage.
However, the moment of committing her first sin was sweet.
Feeling even a hint of thrill, Remil asked as a bad child.
“…What are you curious about?”
With Cheshire out of the picture, the most likely winner of the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly was Remil Hebaton.
The prince of the Hebaton Kingdom possessed all the conditions to win.
Rather than Cheshire forcing her way to victory with desperate efforts, it would be easiest to push Remil to win.
And then snatch the crown from behind.
‘And to give the Holy King and the Cardinal a real blow while I’m at it, I need to expose the Holy Empire’s secrets first.’
The most sacred sanctuary of the gods, Hilderd—already, the Holy Empire’s reputation had plummeted just from demons emerging there.
But that alone was far from enough.
She wanted to unearth every ugly aspect in detail.
‘Especially, I need to find out what exactly happened to Hailon.’
From Remil, who had undergone the same education, she could sense a faint but distinct fairy power.
It seemed like fairies were involved in the education, so she intended to investigate thoroughly—not because she was worried about Hailon or anything.
When she asked Aran to help Remil, Aran promised without question, readily agreeing.
“I’ll follow anything you say!”
Aran even abruptly gifted Cheshire an expensive pearl brooch.
“In return, let’s become really, really close friends.”
She ended up accepting the bribe unwittingly, but Cheshire had wanted to befriend Aran anyway.
Hoping to get even closer through this opportunity, she set out to find her next target, Remil.
She never expected it would lead her into the underground caves of the Holy Empire, though.
‘I was just going to catch her on her way to morning prayers, ask what I needed, and leave.’
Somehow, she ended up hiding her body as a butterfly, secretly following her all the way to the basement, and Cheshire parted her lips at the sight unfolding before her.
It was a white space made of sacred minerals.
Yet, for some reason, she could feel a subtle fairy power…
‘Ugh.’
The fairy power mixed with divine power was grotesquely nauseating.
Clearly, there was no particular problem with it.
As the mingled power surged, turning the blue pattern red, she stopped it for now.
Then she approached Remil, who was slumped in the center of the pattern.
‘Is this how they inject divine power?’
Since it wasn’t her own divine power, she must be suffering side effects from the injection exceeding her limits.
‘That’s why she almost went berserk last time…’
After roughly surveying the pattern, she approached Remil with her dazed gaze.
Having lived under the Cardinal for so long, there was a high chance he wouldn’t cooperate willingly.
And since they were alone in this sealed space.
If necessary, she sauntered over with the intent to give him a few smacks.
But unexpectedly, Remil was extremely compliant.
He seemed ready to spill everything.
‘Why is he acting like this?’
Maybe because she winked at him last time, creating some inner rapport.
She wasn’t sure, but Cheshire decided to throw out a question anyway.
“Is this the education?”
Remil slowly nodded.
“What happens if you do this?”
“I gain divine power.”
When Cheshire exhaled with a hum, Remil quickly blinked his eyes.
As if desperate to hold Cheshire’s attention longer, he blurted out everything he knew.
“I heard Sir Hailon received education too. Directly from the Holy King.”
Thanks to the Holy King personally conducting the education and blessing him, he obtained stronger divine power than anyone else.
Cheshire, who had been listening quietly, hesitated before asking.
“…Does it hurt?”
Remil’s eyes wavered for a moment.
As if this was the first time someone had asked him such a question.
“…Yes.”
The child sitting on the cold floor clutched the hem of his clothes with his hands and said softly.
“It hurts a lot… I don’t want to receive education. When I do this, my memories disappear too…”
“Memories?”
“After I pass out, my divine power increases… But my memories always vanish.”
And yet, he said he felt some indescribable unpleasant sensation that words couldn’t fully explain.
It wasn’t just losing memories from blacking out; it was like wandering through endless darkness.
“It’s like holes keep forming in my head…”
“I’ll find those memories for you.”
“…!”
She firmly grasped the hand of the wide-eyed Remil.
Remil’s neck turned bright red.
“I can do it.”
Due to the excessive injection of divine power beyond what he could handle, mixed with fairy power, it seemed the side effect was memory loss.
If she could just skillfully organize the fairy power that had entered Remil’s body, his unstable condition would stabilize, and his memories might return.
‘I’ve done it once before.’
She had already suppressed Remil’s energy once.
This shouldn’t be too difficult either.
“In return, when you remember, tell me everything.”
Got it? She emphasized, and Remil bit his lip tightly before nodding quickly.
Cheshire slowly infused her power.
Carefully moving her power so as not to accidentally damage Remil’s body, tangled with conflicting forces—that was when it happened.
Remil’s small chest heaved.
He was breathing heavily.
“Ah, aaah…”
Suddenly, Remil began to sweat profusely, his entire face drenched in cold sweat.
It wasn’t pain from the fairy power.
The returning erased memories were tormenting Remil.
‘What on earth did they do to this kid!’
As Cheshire recoiled in horror and tried to withdraw her power first.
Her vision distorted, and the view shifted.
Connected through their powers, Remil’s memories began to appear to Cheshire.
In Remil’s lost memories…
There was Hailon, drenched entirely in blood.
