Chapter 3

“Um… Lady Heine?”

A young voice reached me.

It was a cautious voice, gently trying to wake me.

Oh. I must have fallen asleep.

I blinked sleepily and slowly lifted myself from the doze I’d slipped into.

A comfortable room came into view, so cozy that it felt as though it had always been mine.

It was a neat room filled with the sort of things ordinary young ladies would probably like.

This country is called Ainz, right?

I had somehow become the benefactor whom the young master of this magnificent mansion had brought home.

Quickly organizing what little I knew, I glanced out the window.

The sky beyond the tall window was still dark.

“I thought you might want to change into something comfortable before going back to sleep.”

A maid with black hair politely held out a pair of silk nightclothes in both hands.

They were for me, since I had apparently fallen asleep without even changing out of my dress.

“My name is Bonnie. If you need anything, please tell me right away. I’ll prepare it for you…”

Bonnie’s voice grew smaller, as though she were frightened.

I wondered why the girl was trembling for no apparent reason, but soon understood.

My eyes were red like a beast’s.

Even when my face was expressionless, their color was enough to make anyone looking at me feel afraid.

I hurriedly rubbed around my eyes, pretending that I was still groggy with sleep.

Then I gently took the nightclothes from Bonnie’s hands.

“Thank you for taking care of me. I’d like to wash up now. Is it too late?”

“Oh, no! Of course not! If you wish, we can prepare everything for you even in the middle of the night.”

A single easy smile from me made Bonnie’s face bloom.

The way she brightened so quickly was almost like that of a pet.

“Then could you show me to the bathroom?”

“Yes, this way… Ah, wait a moment. I’ll come back and escort you as soon as everything is ready!”

The moment Bonnie left the room, I quickly erased the smile I had been pretending to wear.

All right. I’m grateful that he at least covered for me by pretending I’m his benefactor. But what am I supposed to do from here?

I couldn’t simply stay here indefinitely.

I had barely begun worrying about what to do with myself when someone opened the door without permission.

A man with pale green eyes whom I had never seen before walked in.

Before I could even ask who he was, he entered without hesitation and locked the door behind him.

The click of the lock made a cold sweat break out across my skin.

It was a fear my body remembered even though my mind did not.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Heine.”

The man’s hair was a dull beige, like a neglected wheat field.

The messy, lifeless color was strikingly different from Ian’s noble black hair.

Like an animal sensing danger, I instinctively became wary of him.

This man is a stranger I’ve never seen before.

He has to be.

And yet there was a strange familiarity to him, as though I had encountered him not just once but several times.

A faint shiver crawled up my spine.

“I am Phaiden, the High Priest of the Ainz Temple. I’m also Ian’s older brother.”

Phaiden.

The man introduced himself with a careless bow.

“I came… to help you?”

At this hour?

Tension instantly rose to my throat.

My frightened reflection was captured in his green eyes.

Phaiden quickly closed the distance between us with strides somewhat too large for a High Priest.

Only when the pristine white suit beneath his spotless white robe filled my vision did I finally remember something Ian had mentioned in passing.

“My brother is the High Priest of Bonasea, the capital.”

“He’s also an excellent physician, so he’ll come examine you right away.”

Right.

That man was definitely Ian’s older brother.

Otherwise, there was no way he could treat me so casually, nor could he have entered this room without anyone stopping him.

Phaiden’s features were fairly well-balanced and pleasant to look at.

Although he was Ian’s older brother and a High Priest, their age difference didn’t seem particularly large. At first glance, he even looked around Ian’s age.

Yes.

Ian’s older brother.

Really… his brother?

Phaiden’s immaculate white garments looked undeniably holy to anyone who saw him.

His finely tailored robe covered his tall, slender body, glowing pure white beneath the light, while the stole draped over his shoulders proudly proclaimed his status as High Priest.

Strangely, his sacred appearance made me deeply uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because of the peculiar look in his eyes.

It was almost as though they were whispering,

It’s been a long time, Heine.

“I am…”

“There’s no need for an introduction, my lady. I already know you quite well.”

“……”

“Very well, in fact.”

He cut me off and twisted his lips into a thin smile.

Then he carefully bent down and pressed his lips to the back of my hand.

“Your name is Heine. You’re the frail and sickly benefactor my precious little brother brought home…”

He ended the sentence with an unmistakable snort of ridicule.

I flinched like a startled rabbit.

Phaiden shook his head and appealed to his own supposed goodwill.

“Please don’t be so wary. I told you, didn’t I? I’ve come to help you. You lost your memories, didn’t you?”

He knows I lost my memories?

Did Ian tell him that much?

“For your information, I didn’t hear about your ‘memory’ from Ian.”

Phaiden quickly added the explanation, as though he could already guess exactly what I was thinking.

“Then how did you…”

“I told you, Heine.”

Before I could finish my question, he leaned down and pressed his lips close to my ear.

“I know you very well.”

His voice was like a secretive snake concealing venom beneath its tongue.

The man who had shaken me without permission straightened quickly and pulled something from the pocket of his robe.

It was an obviously suspicious glass vial sealed with a cork.

“It’s medicine.”

“What?”

“A medicine that will restore your memories.”

“What are you suddenly—”

“Go ahead and take it. Surely you aren’t going to stubbornly refuse simply because you don’t understand your situation.”

He crookedly smiled as he held the vial out to me.

It was a crooked threat that stood in stark contrast to his sacred appearance.

When I stood frozen in bewilderment, Phaiden himself pulled out the cork.

His cold eyes seemed eager—almost impatient—to watch me swallow the medicine.

Everything about this was suspicious.

But that didn’t mean I had many other options.

Even if this really is medicine that can restore my memories… how can I trust him?

Even if he was Ian’s older brother, wasn’t he far too suspicious?

He was a High Priest, so perhaps he wouldn’t casually kill someone.

No.

Maybe precisely because he’s a High Priest, he noticed something about me and intends to punish me.

Yes.

Perhaps I should even be grateful if he killed me…

What am I thinking?

My half-lidded eyes, which had been drawn toward the sweet scent of the medicine, suddenly opened wide as though I had been stabbed.

A thought I couldn’t possibly understand had flashed through my mind.

Phaiden spoke quietly in a low voice.

“Now, I’m trying to help you. Your bet with ‘him’ has already begun.”

My fingers trembled.

I barely managed to swallow the medicine, forcing it down as though I were swallowing a stone, just before I could spit it out.

“Heine…”

The gentler Phaiden’s whisper became, the paler my face grew.

“You’re still pretending to be innocent, aren’t you?”

Along with his languid mockery, everything before my eyes went black.

And then—

Distant memories came rushing toward me like a flood.

If there is a god in this world, it would be him.

A transcendent ruler for whom even the title of emperor was insufficient.

He was a being who stood outside the flow of time.

Even when injured, he recovered quickly.

Even grievous wounds could not kill him.

No matter how many times you killed him, he would not die.

Perhaps that was why, in my memories, he was someone who killed people without hesitation.

“I never want to meet that man called the Emperor.”

“Heine, he isn’t human. He’s a noble god.”

“Huh? A god?”

I scoffed at the serious way I was being lectured.

His blind worship was ridiculous.

Because I had always thought that he was closer to a monster than a god.

“Have you heard? They say the god is truly, truly magnificent.”

“Hmm.”

“They say you could fall in love with him at first sight! I wish I could meet him at least once.”

“I don’t know. Isn’t he frightening?”

“Not at all! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could become his consort?”

“But I’ve heard he’s already changed partners several times.”

The stories I heard were almost always the same.

The details of the embellishments varied slightly, but in the end, they were always stories about him taking someone for himself and then throwing them away.

Stories of a love that didn’t even resemble love.

I couldn’t understand why everyone became so excited over such miserable tales, but people regularly brought him up in conversation, practically buzzing with excitement.

I vividly remembered how overwhelming his presence was.

They said he had a young, captivating appearance.

He was said to be so impossibly perfect that he could steal anyone’s heart with ease, and that anyone who stayed by his side would surely be happy.

Yet no one could remain beside him for long.

“They say he sent another one back?”

“Yeah. You know, that partner who returned? I heard she was practically out of her mind.”

“Out of her mind?”

“They say she cried and screamed about how much she missed him. Apparently, she was desperate to go back.”

Those who were chosen returned to wherever they had come from after, at most, a few months.

Usually, it took only a month or two.

It was nothing but a one-sided abandonment.

I found it ridiculous that this being, who was supposedly no different from a god, couldn’t even keep his heart in one place.

Could someone who couldn’t even control his own heart truly be called a god?

“Anyway, it’s good for us. It means we have a chance.”

“A chance to be abandoned?”

“You really shouldn’t say such blasphemous things!”

I didn’t care.

I simply whistled.

It had nothing to do with me.

It was a distant affair happening somewhere far beyond my world.

Some time later, I happened to sit by the lake, lazily swinging my legs through the water.

I remember thinking that he was a pitiful creature.

Someone who drifted through life as meaninglessly as a leaf floating across the surface of the water.

“Congratulations…”

And I realized that I had become quite pitiful myself.