EDTATO 04

Chapter 4

The next partner was me.

It wasn’t welcome news, but I calmly accepted my fate.

“You are going to become the god’s consort.”

His people welcomed me with bright smiles.

“Go inside and tell him your name. If he calls you by that name again, you will stay here with him.”

A month?

Half a year?

I obediently followed their instructions while wondering how long I might be able to remain there.

“My name is Heine.”

And I believed that, at the latest, our relationship would be over before the year came to an end.

“Heine…”

The moment he spoke my name, that simple belief was shackled.

He was a being who would steal me away even from death itself.

It seemed that not all of my memories had returned.

My memories of my time with him were confusing, like a book with entire pages carved away.

But there was one thing I understood.

At some point, I had begun wanting to escape from him.

The endless passage of time had become unbearable, and I wanted to let go of everything.

So I died countless times.

Even after he had already turned me into a body that could no longer die, I refused to give up.

During that time, I lived countless lives.

From someone of noble birth to a woman living on the streets.

I ran away, died, came back to life, lived another life, was imprisoned, escaped again, and was captured again.

How many times… have I lived…?

The weight of the memories poured down upon me, and I gasped as though my lungs had filled with water.

Phaiden willingly supported my body.

“He gave you ‘immortality’ and a special ‘power.’ Thanks to that, even when you die, you don’t actually die. You merely fall asleep and soon awaken again.”

My head throbbed from the unfamiliar memories that felt as though they belonged to someone else.

I couldn’t even tell who I was anymore.

What kind of person I had been.

Phaiden lifted my chin with one finger.

“You didn’t remember everything, did you? That you were incapable of dying, or that you had received his power.”

Then he grabbed me by both shoulders and roughly turned me around.

Toward a mirror with an ornate, curling frame positioned against one side of the room.

“Here. Like this.”

As though he were a puppeteer manipulating a doll, Phaiden held my face in place and closed his green eyes.

When he opened them again, his irises were a vivid gold.

They glowed with his power, like the eyes of a predator stalking its prey in the darkness.

The power to manipulate a person’s will at will.

To make them obey.

To dominate them.

To force them to kneel and bend everything to his desires.

Those were the eyes that had made people worship him as a god.

When I met those beast-colored eyes shining before me, my vision blurred for a moment and my head spun.

Let’s make a bet.

A bet with our wishes at stake.

Let’s both erase our memories and start again from the beginning.

I wanted to escape from him even if I had to die to do it.

So I proposed a bet.

Certain that this would be my final chance.

If I lose my memories and fall in love with you again, then I lose.

When that happens, I’ll give up everything and remain by your side forever.

But if I fall in love with someone other than you, let me go. Let me die.

Because I truly want to escape from you, even if I have to die.

I want to live like a human being and die like a human being.

That is my final wish.

At some point, Phaiden’s eyes had returned to their original gray.

He playfully poked me on the forehead.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to help you.”

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment as I rubbed my forehead.

“Help me?”

“You asked me to help you.”

“I did?”

“Hmm. I suppose you don’t know because all your memories haven’t returned yet.”

Phaiden looked directly into my pupils.

“You received this power directly from yourself.”

A chilling shock struck my head.

This wasn’t some special power.

It was a chain.

A leash meant to bind me to him.

And Phaiden knew that better than anyone.

“You… from me?”

“Who else would have given it to you? You wanted me to remain by your side so badly that you even gave me your power.”

“Why?”

“Because I was your only friend.”

“……”

When I glared at him with my eyes, Phaiden puffed out his chest proudly, then hurriedly added,

“I was the only one capable of creating medicine that could alter your memories. And I was the only one who could help you.”

Phaiden, who had maintained his crooked attitude throughout our conversation, finally seemed to realize that I was pitiful.

His brows drew together.

“Don’t make that face. We’ve already come this far after enduring even greater despair.”

“……”

“I chose all of this myself. The immortal body. Becoming someone who could stand beside you. So I’ll help you.”

Phaiden placed a hand on my shoulder, which had somehow drooped as I lowered my head.

“I’ll do everything I can to help you escape from him.”

“What do you get out of helping me?”

“You’re still funny.”

He gave a small laugh before becoming serious.

“After everything we’ve been through, you still doubt our friendship?”

For the first time, a pure white smile befitting a High Priest appeared on Phaiden’s face.

It was a pious, holy expression that looked strangely out of place on him.

“I’m the savior who will lead this bet to your victory.”

He spoke kindly of helping me become capable of dying.

And somehow, that kindness made it even harder to trust the man who claimed to be my friend.

That was when—

“My lady.”

It was Bonnie.

She had finished preparing the bath and was knocking on the door.

Phaiden shook the empty vial regretfully and whispered,

“I’ll prepare more medicine for you. Once all your memories return, perhaps you’ll be less wary of me.”

“……”

“You still don’t seem to believe that I’m your friend.”

“Ah, my lady? Are you asleep?”

At Bonnie’s second call, Phaiden ended the conversation with a playful tone.

“We can take our time finishing our conversation. As you know, we have more than enough time, don’t we?”

With that, Phaiden exchanged a brief glance with Bonnie, as though handing me back to her, and turned away.

Bonnie didn’t seem to find it strange at all that he had been in my room.

She simply hurried to guide me onward.

I hadn’t even had time to organize the memories that had crashed into my mind.

Like a broken doll, I barely managed to follow her.

When she opened the bathroom door, a hazy mist obscured my vision.

I couldn’t tell whether it was steam from the water or the scent of incense.

“Please come this way. I’ve lit some incense to help relieve your fatigue, but… a-are you all right?”

Bonnie seemed nervous around me and stammered as she watched my expression.

“Ah… yes.”

“If you soak in the bath, another maid who will officially attend to you will come soon…”

As I lowered myself into the warm water, everything began to feel like a dream.

Meeting Ian.

Coming to the mansion with him.

Even the distant past that Phaiden had poured into my mind.

It all felt unreal.

I leaned against the edge of the bathtub.

The hazy water streamed down my hair, and my golden strands floated across the surface like autumn leaves.

The elaborate decorations adorning the bathroom were dazzling, so I gently closed my eyes.

And imagined.

If I opened those golden eyes and used my power, I could order anyone in this mansion to destroy this entire place without mercy.

I could even order them to drive the shards and fragments of the ruins into my own neck.

Even then, I wouldn’t die.

I would merely fall asleep and awaken again.

That was what I was.

A monster who possessed a body that could no longer be called human because of him.

“Excuse me!”

Just then, there was a brief knock on the door, followed by a cheerful greeting as bright as the chirping of a tiny bird.

The door slowly opened, and a young girl with orange hair peeked inside.

“I came to dry you off. Would that be all right?”

I nodded to give her permission.

The girl quickly entered, checked the temperature of the water, and soaked a towel.

“Oh my! You’re like a doll from head to toe! I knew it from the moment our young master brought you here with such care!”

The young girl spoke to me so naturally that she sounded as though we’d known each other for years.

“Bonnie said the same thing earlier. She said that when she brought you your nightclothes, she felt as though she were looking at a giant doll standing in front of her.”

I remembered Bonnie, who had seemed so shy earlier, and narrowed my eyes.

A giant doll…

It wasn’t exactly wrong.

And somehow, that made my chest ache.

“Ah! I’m Dant. From now on, I’m going to be the maid who attends to you most closely.”

After cheerfully introducing herself, a few strands of her orange hair slipped down around her face.

The color was as bright as midsummer.

“Nice to meet you, Dant.”

I answered while imitating a girl around her age.

“Yes, my lady! You know, I wanted to introduce myself as soon as I saw you earlier! To think you’re our young master’s benefactor!”

Her voice was slightly higher than everyone else’s, making it as cute as the chirping of a little bird.

“Our young master is exceptional in both character and ability. Even at such a young age, he’s respected by so many people throughout Ainz.”

“…I suppose he is.”

“He’s more than worthy of becoming the next Grand Duke!”

What? The next Grand Duke?

I felt the blood in my spine turn cold as my eyes widened.

Ian?

Ian is… the heir of this duchy?

I silently screamed at the thought of how impossibly high Ian’s position actually was.

Completely unaware of my private scream, Dant gathered my golden hair together and soaked it with fragrant oil.

“By the way, how did the two of you meet?”

At the troublesome question, I bit my lip slightly.

“It must have been something wonderfully romantic, like a fairy tale!”