Chapter 75 : Chapter 75
Volume 1
Chapter 75 : The Love God’s Whisper (15)
“Ah, it’s over.”
Muen held Eluka’s head, now stripped of all divinity, and muttered with lifeless eyes as he lowered his head.
Like a salted fish, he looked as though he had lost all hope in life.
After gaining power from one evil god that looked absurdly formidable, he was now being targeted by another scheming old evil god.
That one had even remembered his name, full name and all!
It was practically the kind of thing where, the moment it heard that name, its teeth would start itching with hatred and it would want nothing more than to grab a cleaver and hack its way from People’s Street to Central Avenue just to vent its rage for a while.
Was there still any way to survive this? Asking online. Urgent.
“Young Master!”
Just as Muen was in the middle of questioning his entire existence, Ann suddenly rushed over and hugged him without hesitation.
Soft warmth enveloped him.
Muen could even feel Ann’s delicate body still trembling slightly.
She was still shaken.
She had come so close to never seeing Young Master again.
Even though she had resolved to forever maintain the elegance of a perfect maid, at a moment like this...
it was all right for her to be a little weak, just for now, was it not?
“All right, all right. Now isn’t the time for this.”
Muen patted Ann on the shoulder. “You still have something more important to do.”
“Something more important?”
Ann looked utterly confused.
Was there really anything more important right now than hugging the Young Master?
“Look at this...”
Muen motioned for Ann to sit up properly, then showed her what he was holding in his hands.
Eluka’s head.
All the twisted savagery that had once filled that lovely face was now gone.
She looked as though she were peacefully asleep.
But at that moment, Eluka’s long lashes suddenly trembled.
“Could it be...” Ann’s eyes widened.
“That’s right. Eluka is still alive.”
Muen nodded.
The will of an evil god could not descend upon a dead thing.
So even though only her head remained, the evil god’s power had, by a bizarre twist of fate, sustained her life.
But this accidental gift from heaven could not possibly last for long.
So—
“Make the most of the time.”
Muen spoke softly.
...
“Ah, Master.”
Eluka opened her eyes and looked at Ann nearby.
“Is everything... over now?”
“Yes, it’s all over.”
Ann replied.
But after that brief answer, as she looked at Eluka, Ann suddenly did not know what else to say.
It occurred to her that they had never actually had a proper conversation before.
So after a short silence, Ann asked stiffly,
“Um... Eluka, are you all right? How do you feel?”
“I feel... like my body hurts a little.”
As though staring into the void, Eluka spoke softly,
“Especially my chest. It hurts so, so much.”
“...”
Ann looked at Eluka, who was now nothing more than a head, and suddenly found herself at a loss for words again.
Silence fell once more.
Just as even Muen could no longer bear to watch and was about to anxiously remind Ann to mind the time,
Eluka suddenly said, “I’m sorry, Master. I lied to you.”
“Lied to me? What do you mean?”
“In truth, my corruption by the evil god had nothing to do with the Master at all. I only deceived you back then because I did not want you to leave me.”
“...”
Ann’s breathing grew heavier for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“It’s all right. I don’t mind. After all, that was not the only reason I wanted to save you.”
“Master...”
Tears slid from the corners of Eluka’s eyes.
For the first time, a little life returned to her gaze.
“Actually, ever since a long time ago, I had already formed some connection with that evil god... trading magical beast flesh and blood for small bits of help, things like that.”
“After all, Ade was too outstanding. If I did not resort to certain methods, there was no way I could ever keep up with him.”
“And during all that time, the evil god never showed anything unusual.”
“Until that day, after talking with the Master, I worked up the courage and confessed to Ade.”
“A confession...”
Ann said softly, “Come to think of it, I never asked you how it turned out.
It... failed, didn’t it?”
After all, things had ended up like this.
“No, I succeeded.”
A sweet smile appeared on Eluka’s lips. “I succeeded, Master.”
“You succeeded? Then why...?”
“Because that night, Ade said he liked me too.”
“But... he said he could not be with me.”
“Why?”
Ann did not understand.
“If two people love each other, how can they not be together?”
“Because...”
Eluka said softly, “Tia was pregnant with his child.”
“...”
Ann’s breath caught.
“Ade said that he had actually liked me all along, ever since a very long time ago. He just never dared confess it.Then one time, while drowning his sorrows in alcohol, he slept with Tia after getting drunk, when she came to comfort him and naturally, Tia became pregnant with his child. It is a very clichéd story, isn’t it? But that is how it happened. Ade is a good man who takes responsibility, so he would never abandon Tia. Naturally, that meant he could not accept my confession either.”
Eluka’s expression turned sorrowful.
Compared to longing for something you could never have, something that should have been easily within reach slipping through your fingers was even more capable of breeding darkness in the heart.
“...Didn’t you suspect anything?”
Ann could not help asking.
After all, the odds of getting pregnant the very first time were very low.
It was difficult not to wonder whether it had been deliberate.
“I did suspect it.”
Eluka answered,
“So I made a wish to that evil god. I wanted to know whether Tia was truly pregnant.”
“And when I came to my senses, I was already covered in blood, and I had ripped open Tia’s stomach.”
“...So that was what happened?”
Ann recalled the girl whose belly had been cut open.
“Then the result was...?”
“It was fake.”
Eluka let out a low, broken sob.
“The so-called pregnancy was fake. It was only a trick Tia used to have Ade all to herself. She used a bit of disguise magic to fool Ade and make him believe it was true. But no matter how powerful disguise magic may be, it cannot disguise the truth. There was no child in her belly.”
“Master, love is so fragile. So fragile that a single lie can easily tear apart two people who should have loved one another.”
“I exposed the lie, but there was no turning back anymore.”
“Because Ade saw it.”
“He saw me... with my own hands... rip open Tia’s stomach.”
“How could Ade possibly be with a cruel woman like me after that? He even thought I had been controlled by an evil god and tried to subdue me.”
...
...
“And so, I made a second wish.”
“I wanted Ade to accept my love.”
After that, there was no salvaging anything anymore.
...
...
“Master, I regret it so much.”
At the end of this conversation, one that was almost entirely Eluka’s confession, she looked into Ann’s eyes and, for the first time, revealed a mournfully beautiful smile.
“If only I had met the Master earlier.”
“If only I had gathered the courage to confess to Ade a little sooner.”
“Perhaps then, this tragic ending could have been changed.”
“But there are no ifs.”
...
“So please, be happy, Master.”
“Prove to me that love can bring something beautiful.”