FDPKH 02

Chapter 2

They said that because of the war I caused, the humans they had taken a liking to died before they could even lift a finger. So the gods couldn’t bring over the souls of the humans they wanted.

Honestly, the moment I first heard it, my only thought was, “Why is that my fault?”

“Honestly, it still is.”

I simply had healing abilities from the moment I was born, and my parents, who noticed it, presented me to the king for money and honor when I was barely five years old. And as that rumor spread, I was locked in the palace basement until the first war broke out over possessing me, and after the war began, I was constantly kidnapped.

So why is that my fault?

And I had no will in any of it.

So that was the first time I cried—very loudly.

So loudly that it wouldn’t have mattered if the whole world locked up.

The first god simply waited quietly for me. And when I had cried myself into exhaustion, fallen asleep, and repeated that until I finally stopped crying, he said to me:

[My believer once said: the one who laughs last is the victor.]

I still remember that hand stroking my forehead, which was burning with fever from crying for days and nights on end.

I didn’t feel love in that touch, but pity and sympathy were there.

I quietly accepted that touch.

No one pitied me. Perhaps not even myself. Because I felt that if I ever came to see myself as pitiful, I truly wouldn’t be able to endure it.

[So smile. Then someday, you may truly win and seize happiness.]

That’s why the first god’s words were enough to pierce my heart.

After that, when I trudged back to the place called home, I saw a small stone lying in front of the house.

*Move one stone from in front of the house.*

This was the first god’s request.

I picked up that one stone. Tears flowed and laughter came out at the same time.

Yes, let’s just accept it now.

No matter how unfair and maddening it is, nothing begins or ends if I stay like this.

So let’s accept it with a smile instead.

Then someday happiness will come. The end will come.

[Ah— it’s done now.]

As I was lost in such thoughts, a familiar voice reached me. Then a pure-white little girl popped out of the black space that was the gap between worlds.

[Phew… Anyway, I’m the last one, right?]

“Yes. That’s right.”

[You’ve worked hard getting all the way here. My request won’t be that difficult. It’s this child right here.]

At Adelta’s gesture, part of the black space opened and the silhouette of a certain man appeared. He was a handsome man with striking, upright features, pure white skin, and black hair.

He seemed too big to call a “child,” but whatever.

“What should I do with this child?”

[Make him emperor.]

“Is there anything I should be careful about?”

[There will be about two life-or-death crises in the future. I’ll let you know in advance before those crises come, so you must protect this child without fail.]

Hmm. Not bad.

It was a much lower-difficulty request than founding a nation myself. And since she said she’d warn me in advance about future crises, it would be much easier.

[It’s not bad for a last one, is it?]

She said proudly, as if she’d been very generous. I expressed my gratitude to Adelta for giving me a relatively easy request as the last one.

“Yes. Thank you!”

Adelta seemed satisfied with my thanks—she grinned and withdrew her hand. Then she said it was time to go and covered my eyes. Even as my mind grew distant, I thanked her.

But the me of that time didn’t yet know.

That this would be the cruelest divine punishment of all.

—

And so, following Adelta’s touch, I possessed this body for the first time.

After opening my eyes, I gasped for breath. My stomach felt like it was being wrung out, and my throat felt like it was burning. I felt nauseous, but nothing actually came up. At the same time, a stinging headache came on, and I felt the original memories of the possessed body flowing in.

Aria Belgismain. A young, capable talent who became the head maid of the imperial palace at the young age of twenty-three.

She entered the imperial palace as a trainee maid at the youngest age in the palace. At that time, Aria was only eight years old. The reason such a young child was forced to enter as a trainee maid was that the count family’s fortunes began to decline due to her father the count’s business failures.

Still, at first there was hope. Her father the count was always sorry to his daughter and tried to revive the family.

But every business he touched failed, and eventually, starting ten years ago, he fell into drinking and gambling. Her mother also began going out as the family declined, and her only sibling, her older brother, was expelled from the academy—and on top of that, recently began dabbling in drug crimes.

And currently, she had taken sick leave due to an unknown illness shortly after becoming head maid.

“The environment is just utterly bleak. The only useful thing is probably the job.”

If she’s a maid of the court rather than an ordinary servant—moreover, the head maid serving the emperor, the center of the imperial family—then she should know all the imperial family members.

But among the imperial family members she had seen, there was no black hair. Rather, they all had blonde hair and golden eyes.

“The imperial family all have blonde hair and golden eyes—proof that they carry the blood of Adelta’s proxy and proof that they have received the goddess’s blessing.”

A passage the possessed body had once read from a book came to mind. And then a hollow laugh rose.

The one who actually received Adelta’s blessing seems to be someone else entirely, yet they’re holding up hair color and eye color as a standard among themselves—I suppose that exists in every world.

Of course, at first, blonde hair and golden eyes may have been proof of her affection. But seeing as the person she asked me to protect was a completely different person with black hair, they had probably already been abandoned by Adelta.

I focused on the quickly passing memories and knowledge of the possessed body to find the man Adelta had shown me. I opened the window to let in the cool breeze, sat in front of it, and closed my eyes.

The knowledge I can acquire is limited to what the possessed body has directly seen and heard. If she knows something wrong, I inevitably know it wrong too.

If the man the goddess showed me wasn’t in this body’s memories and knowledge, I would have to go find traces of him myself. Whether through rumors or by digging through noble genealogies.

But thankfully, that didn’t happen.

I smiled at the image of a man strongly imprinted in the possessed body’s mind.

“Grand Duke Logan Fenatos.”

Logan Fenatos. The current emperor’s nephew, and a tragic imperial family member who lost his biological father, the former crown prince, to a “very accidental accident” at age five. And a very lucky person who survived despite not having blonde hair and golden eyes.

I pulled out every image of him she remembered.

The most recent of those was the Day of the Founding Festival, when the Grand Duke of the North came up to the Imperial Capital for the first and last time. Before she became head maid, the young Grand Duke of the North had prostrated himself flat before the emperor’s feet and received holy water to cure his mother.

And after that, he was still being dragged around by the leash the emperor held over him because of the holy water. That had been going on for two years now, so her illness probably hadn’t improved much.

Then maybe I could be of help?

I focused on the vitality circulating in my body. The familiar-feeling vitality was the divine power Adelta had used when placing me into this body.

All humans possess divine power, but those who can use it are extremely rare. Most naturally consume and replenish it as they live, and the amount consumed gradually increases—that was aging.

But those beloved by the gods have large vessels, so they can use divine power. No matter how much is consumed, it doesn’t exceed the amount contained in the vessel. The man Adelta showed me would also be able to use divine power.

But that doesn’t mean he handles it as well as I do.

The divine power gathered in my hand clustered like a round orb. From that orb, I felt a perfectly clear sensation.

I am a soul directly possessed by a god. The god personally infused power to settle my soul into the body. That’s why, even though my vessel is a bit smaller than others, the purity of the power contained within is different. I possess the highest-purity power among divine powers.

But that’s not my greatest strength.

The orb of divine power rolled down my fingertips. It stopped just before touching the floor, then in an instant returned to my palm.

With this high-purity but small amount of power, I have overcome all kinds of trials. I purified strange things called demons, saved the world, and became a hero. I even pretended to be a doctor and treated people, swindling them with divine power.

Having gone through such times, I’ve become extremely skilled at handling divine power.

And this ability will definitely be necessary for that man.

Definitely.