A Withering Flower
They say time heals all wounds.
No matter how deep the cut.
Even when it hurt so badly you wanted to die.
As the days pass, the pain slowly dulls.
"Right… Slowly… I just have to start over."
This time was different.
She no longer thought of Hera as some possession.
Her wife. Her love. Her everything.
She would pour every ounce of her heart into treating Hera with true devotion.
And if she did—
If enough time truly passed—
Surely they would be able to exchange words of love again.
"For a while… we'll have to stay apart."
The image of Hera, writhing in agony the moment their eyes met, rose unbidden in her mind.
Approaching her rashly would do her no good.
Athena squeezed her eyes shut and wished with everything she had.
Please, let time fix this.
Please, let it heal the wounds she had carved into Hera.
But Athena did not know.
That she had been a far greater presence in Hera's life than she ever imagined—
And that she had shattered Hera's heart into pieces all the way down to its deepest core.
And that—
A vessel once broken can never be made whole again.
Athena, who had always been so callous toward the human heart, had no way of understanding any of it.
I lie on the bed and stare endlessly out the window.
Birds flit through the bright sunlight.
Unlike me—whose will has snapped, who no longer has the strength to fly—their cries sound lively and free.
Three days have passed since that day.
I don't even know how the time went by.
All I can do is lie helplessly on the bed and watch the world beyond the glass.
I can't sleep. The moment I drift off, horrific nightmares torment me.
Athena and countless others jeering at me, while I stand in the middle of it all, powerless, dying without being able to do a single thing.
After dreaming that over and over, I've reached a point where I simply cannot fall asleep anymore.
Sometimes the medicine Mari gives me lets me sink into a deep sleep—but even that never lasts long before I jolt awake again.
"My lady… please eat something…"
I turn my heavy body and find Alina standing there with a tray of food, looking at me with a sorrowful expression.
"…Alina."
"I made it with soft ingredients that should go down easily this time. Please try a little, my lady…"
The food set before me looks delicious enough to make anyone's mouth water.
But I have no desire to eat at all.
I have no appetite.
No—if it were only a lack of appetite, it wouldn't be a problem.
Even if it tasted like nothing, I could force it down.
The real problem is that my body refuses to accept food.
Over these past three days I've tried all sorts of dishes.
And every time, the moment anything entered my stomach, my body threw it straight back up.
The only thing I can keep down is water.
I doubt today will be any different.
Still, I don't want to ignore Alina's care, so I slowly put a little food into my mouth.
"Are you all right, my lady…?"
"Yeah… It's good. Thank you, Alina."
But the look of relief on Alina's face lasts only a moment.
"Ugh…!"
"My lady!"
"Uweeeh… ek… haah…"
The food I forced down surges back up with a wave of unbearable nausea and spills from my lips.
Alina hurriedly presses a cup of water into my hands.
Only after I crush the rising sickness with water does my stomach settle a little.
"My lady…"
Seeing the sadness on her face sends guilt and self-loathing clawing through me all over again.
"I'm sorry… You worked so hard to make it…"
"Sorry? Please never say that."
She scolds me gently as she wipes around my mouth with a tissue and cleans up the mess.
Then, with a quiet wish for me to rest well, she slips out of the room.
Watching her tend to me so carefully brings tears to my eyes.
I'm sorry, Alina. For disappointing you again.
"Hic…"
I don't want to be like this either.
This pathetic version of me must be a terrible burden on Alina and Mari, who care about me so much.
I want to forget everything that happened with Athena, stand tall, and live so they won't have to worry.
But how am I supposed to do that?
Athena was my everything.
She was my salvation, my love, my entire world.
If she had asked, I would have gladly given her everything I had—even my life.
That was how deeply I trusted and loved her.
Without her, I had no confidence I could go on living.
I used to think, who else but her could ever love someone as pitiful as me?
But I was wrong.
It was all a lie.
I danced on the palm of her hand.
The fact that Athena was the one who reduced me to this makes me hate her so much I could die.
Every loving word she spoke. Every look. Every touch.
It all feels like it was calculated, performed under her careful design.
I no longer know what in Athena's heart is real and what is false.
Everything about her feels hypocritical now, as if she is mocking me.
But the most disgusting, repulsive thing of all—
is the foolish self who still loves her anyway.
Maybe it would have been better if I had never known anything.
It sounds stupid, but at least then it wouldn't hurt like this.
I don't want to trust anyone anymore.
The thorns hidden beneath warm words terrify me too much.
Alina and Mari. I am so grateful to them.
But I don't think I can open my heart even to them.
No. I don't think I will ever be able to open my heart to anyone again.
I'm not even sure I have any heart left to give.
I feel completely hollow inside.
As if a huge hole has been punched through my chest and I've lost everything.
Even now, every night, the urge to end it all keeps whispering to me.
Except for the times I take the medicine Mari gives me, I am always drowning in misery.
Don't you want to just end it already?
You don't have to hurt anymore.
You can rest easy.
From some corner of my mind, sweet words try to lure me in.
But every time they do, I think of Mari.
My daughter. The one I have to take responsibility for.
If I die, she will cry so sadly.
I don't want to leave a wound in Mari's heart the way one was left in mine.
"Mom!! I'm here!"
As if she somehow knew I was thinking of her, Mari throws open the door and comes running toward me with a bright smile.
When she tumbles into my arms, something small is clutched in her little hand.
"Mari… what's that in your hand?"
"I made it for Mom!"
She holds it out to me with shining eyes.
"This is…"
A beautiful flower crown woven from blossoms of every color.
"Mom is pretty like a flower, so it'll look perfect on you."
"…Mari."
A single tear gathers at the corner of my eye at the care in her gift.
I pull her tightly into my arms, and she lets out a happy little laugh as she nuzzles her head against my shoulder.
I love you, Mari.
And I'm sorry.
That I can't fully accept your heart.
My own contradictory feelings disgust me more than anything.
A crimson moon hung in the sky.
A dark, cold land where not a single ray of sunlight could be found.
This place that called hell itself to mind was none other than the Demon Realm.
And within that land stood a single small castle.
Unlike the atmosphere of the Demon Realm around it, the space inside radiated a rather lavish air.
And within it—
Countless beauties crowded around one woman, seeing her off.
"Hiiing. Are you really leaving?"
"Heh heh. Even the commander seat has gotten boring, you know?"
At the woman's words, a stir ran through the crowd.
"As expected of Lady Sepheer…!!"
"So even the commander position isn't enough to satisfy Lady Sepheer."
"Kyaa!! You're so cool, Your Majesty!"
"Lady Sepheeeer!! Take me with you too!"
Watching her former subordinates cling to her in sorrow filled Sepheer with a deeply satisfying pride.
"Hoho!! If you all work hard enough, someday you too can become outstanding succubi like me."
Sepheer covered her mouth with one hand and laughed grandly.
Perhaps because of the flood of praise from her subordinates, her face was overflowing with smug triumph.
One of the succubi looked up at her with bright, sparkling eyes.
"I heard you landed a solid hit on that bitch Athena?"
"Uh… huh?"
"My familiar told me! She said that woman was searching for you with the most desperate look on her face! You must have done something, right, Lady Sepheer?"
The moment Athena's name came up, Sepheer felt a chill run down her spine.
But she was in front of her subordinates, so she forced herself not to show it and spoke as boldly as she could.
"O-of course!! I landed a proper hit on Athena that… I mean, on that woman…!"
At her words, the crowd stirred again.
"As expected of Lady Sepheer!! You're amazing!"
"So even that monster is helpless before Her Majesty, heh heh…"
"We're so proud of you, Your Majesty!!"
They cheered and praised her.
"W-well then, I should be going…?"
Lying left a sour taste in her mouth, but as long as no one found out, it was fine.
Sepheer offered her farewells and tried to make her escape.
But then—
"By the way, Lady Sepheer. Who was that black-haired human?"
"Ehk?"
One of the succubi asked a question that rooted her feet to the floor.
"From what I heard, you two seemed rather close?"
"Uh…? Th-that's…"
A cold bead of sweat slid down Sepheer's neck.
The human her subordinate meant was obviously Hera.
She absolutely could not say she had become someone's familiar.
A demon becoming a human's familiar—they would see it as a disgrace to their kind.
The admiration her subordinates felt for her would turn to contempt in an instant.
Wh-what do I do?
She spun her flustered mind as hard as she could, but no decent solution came to her.
Fortunately, though—
Another succubus looked at her and spoke.
"Is she a pet, by any chance?"
"Uh… uh?"
"Keeping humans as pets is all the rage these days!"
In truth, if anyone was the pet here, it was Sepheer herself.
But in her panic, she ended up lying anyway.
"Th-that's right! She's pretty and cute… perfect for keeping…!"
Her subordinates erupted in cheers once more.
"As expected of Lady Sepheer!"
"Lady Sepheer's pet… haah… I'm so jealous… I really want to see her."
"You have to introduce her later!"
They all gazed at her with faces full of expectation.
"Th… th…"
Unable to bear disappointing those sparkling eyes, Sepheer—
"Th… I'll… bring her by sometime later…"
—let slip words she could never take back.
Th-this'll be fine… right?