Elysia's Prayer
The pocket watch clattered to the floor with a sharp metallic ring, and Elysia's pupils trembled violently. "Why..."
It was an old pocket watch—the very one she'd given her child to celebrate a birthday. The same watch that man had used as her leash. I lifted the chain dangling from my finger and showed it to her with a smile. "We've met before, haven't we?"
Elysia's eyes grew cold, the air inside the cathedral chilling with her gaze. Her thoughts must have been in turmoil—how did I come to possess her leash? Was I in league with the Apostle of Temperance? The questions refused to settle, and her trembling eyes proved it.
I smiled at her, the kind of smile meant to reassure. I hadn't come here to threaten her. This was a transaction.
"Relax."
"..."
"Take a deep breath."
"How do you have that watch...?"
Cold sweat beaded on Elysia's forehead. I gave her the answer she most wanted to hear—the one that would ease her doubts.
"Wondering how I got it?"
She flinched.
"Well..."
"Tell me."
"Would you believe me if I said I was lucky? That I just happened to find it lying on the road?"
"So you were the Apostle of Temperance's informant."
"Not quite."
I shook my head, a small smile on my lips. "I'm no informant. I'm not particularly close with that side, to be honest. I don't even know who the Apostle of Temperance is."
"Then...!"
"Confusing, isn't it?"
How could I know the watch's significance if I wasn't an informant? It made no sense. The secret was known to only a handful within the cult, yet here I was—an outsider with no connection to her—flaunting it. But I had no intention of explaining. There was no way to explain it, and no reason to try. It was simply fate. If I told her I'd read it in a book, even she wouldn't believe me.
Instead, I offered the simpler answer. "Don't overthink it. I only came to return something that was lost."
Elysia's presence turned hostile. "You'd do better not to tell such pathetic lies."
"Am I lying right now?"
"..."
"Your eyes should be able to tell you that much."
Blue.
Elysia squeezed her eyes shut. Blue meant truth. She couldn't decide which path to take—whether to believe me or see through my supposed deception. Trusting the man who'd brought her most precious treasure seemed too full of holes.
I smiled faintly at her wary gaze. The initiative was mine now. This conversation would end well.
"I'm not lying," I told her. I had no intention of harming her. She was an Apostle, after all. Her ability to manifest emotions as colors couldn't reach me—perhaps because of the status window's protection—but she was still a monster who held significant power within the cult. One mistake, and my head could roll. She was dangerous enough to turn me into a puppet with a single clever lie.
Yet one thing was certain: Elysia feared me. That alone gave me the upper hand, even without the watch.
With trembling eyes, she parted her lips. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing."
"...Lies."
"Truly, nothing."
Blue...
Her fists clenched. "Whether you return what was stolen and seek revenge, or repent and return to the clergy—I want nothing. I expect nothing."
I swung the chain on my finger. "Do you want it back?"
She swallowed hard.
"If you do, I'll give it to you. You know better than anyone that this isn't some fabrication."
"..."
"Then let's talk," I said. "I've brought quite the gift. It would be a shame if we didn't even know each other's names, wouldn't it?"
She remained silent. I smiled at her. "My name is Ricardo."
"Ricardo... I've never heard that name before."
"Of course not. I'm not particularly famous."
"..."
"I'm a servant of the Desmond family, butler to Lady Olivia Desmond, the Duke's only daughter."
"Desmond..."
"Bad memories?"
Elysia shook her head. "I remember them as a house that consistently sends relief supplies. Their reputation is poor, but I've never been involved with them."
"That's fortunate."
"..."
"If you'd held any ill will toward the Desmonds, that would've been rather unfortunate."
The air grew frigid in an instant. Elysia shuddered, as if realizing how differently this conversation might have gone had she harbored resentment toward the family.
For the first time, she felt true fear.
I waved a hand at her rigid form. "Relax."
"..."
"I told you—I only came to return something that was lost."
"...Understood. However." Elysia met my gaze squarely. "If you intend to use that item to control me, you'd best give up. I'd rather fall into the Apostle of Temperance's hands than be left with loose ends."
"Hmm."
"..."
"You're quite on edge."
I shrugged and took a step closer. A black spear of mana shot toward my back, brimming with killing intent. Elysia meant to end me if necessary. I smiled enigmatically.
"This watch."
"..."
"Don't you want it back?"
"..."
"I wouldn't do anything so foolish."
She hesitated.
"I'm a fickle man," I continued. "I came here with good intentions. I'd rather avoid bloodshed."
"..."
"If you think you can kill me, go ahead. But you'll die here as well."
Elysia spoke, her mana chilling the air. She took my sincerity for a scheme. "I..."
"Yes?"
"Do you really think I'd fall for such lies?"
I sighed. "Before becoming an Apostle, countless people reached out to me. They promised help, swore they wanted nothing in return. They extended their hands..."
"..."
"Do you know what those same people said when crisis struck?"
"..."
"'Stupid girl. It's your own fault for being deceived.'"
Her mana grew denser, thick enough to choke. "No matter how much goodwill you claim to offer, I can't believe you. Just like those who abandoned me once they had nothing left to take... just like my husband."
I exhaled. "Even so, wouldn't it be better to believe? Even a lie like this would benefit you, Apostle."
Her grip tightened.
"You're cornered," I said. "By the Apostle of Temperance. And by a mission with no progress."
Feeling her mana recede, I smiled. "Very well."
"..."
"That's fine."
I spoke to her, deciding the atmosphere wasn't right for pleasantries. It was time for the main point. "Let's make one promise."
"A promise? You're asking me to form a contract now...?"
Her teeth ground together. To Elysia, whose freedom had been stolen by a contract, the word was anything but welcome.
"You'll free me from the Apostle of Temperance's leash... only to put on a new one?"
I shrugged at her sharp retort. "No. Why would I? After what the Apostle of Temperance did to you."
"What do you know to speak so confidently...?"
I smiled and quoted the words she'd once spoken to me—calmly, and cruelly. "Didn't you say the same to me?"
"..."
"How many times have you died?"
Her mana flared violently, taking the shape of a massive demon in her vision—as if declaring that the god she believed in was none other than herself.
"If you can't believe me, then don't," I said. "If you don't want to believe, then pray to your god as you've always done."
"..."
"But." I swung the watch once more, my gaze cold. "Wouldn't I be better than a god who never answers?"
It was a cruel smile—sweeter than any devil extending a hand. "You said your son died."
"..."
"And that your husband, who drowned his sorrows in drink every night and destroyed your family's peace, is dead."
"I never told you any of that. I never told anyone... about my story. About my family...!"
Her voice trembled. I shook my head gently. "How would I know?"
"..."
My smile widened. Elysia's hands shook. "You'll die," she whispered.
"..."
"Abandoned by the Pope and the Apostles, you'll meet a miserable end."
"..."
"You'll die on a cold roadside without fulfilling your mission, watching your life flash before your eyes."
Her pupils trembled violently. The eyes that saw emotions confirmed it was truth.
"You gave up on saving your child and betrayed the cult too late. But because of this watch, you couldn't do anything. You prayed and begged a god who never answered... but you already know, don't you? That god never responds."
I smiled at her trembling form, shifting the mood. "That's what happened in another timeline. A story no one knows... a story no one can ever know."
Blue...
"It seems we understand each other."
I flicked my hand toward her. The old pocket watch flew through the air and landed perfectly in her arms.
"Take it. I don't need it anyway."
"..."
"Trust must be given to be returned. I've proven my trust to you. Now it's your turn."
Elysia stared wordlessly at the watch in her hands. She'd prayed to a god who remained silent, never resenting the lack of answer. Yet a single man had resolved it all. Trust. She could flee if she wished, but his offered trust held her in place. He looked different now. The color of his emotions, once terrifying, now shone brilliantly—like a scar earned from countless hardships.
"There's one thing I want."
"...Ah..."
"Don't become my enemy."
"Aah..."
He looked holy—a saint who'd saved a life without asking for anything in return. She felt moved.
"Ah..."
It was as if a demon had covered her eyes. "O God..."
He shone brilliantly.
"...?"
Elysia dropped to both knees without hesitation, not caring if her white robes soiled. She looked up at me, one hand over her heart.
"Apostle Elysia," she said. "I will follow you. I will become your apostle and betray the god who never answers. I will be an apostle who exists only for you."
"I am..."
"Your apostle."