Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Ares' Graduation
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"Karen... Sister?"
"Yes. Prince. Did you call for me?"
"Sister? Is that really you...?"
Ares pinched his own cheek, wondering if this might be a dream.
The sharp pain he felt made it clear this was no dream.
The woman he had longed to see again, even in his dreams... had appeared before him.
"You look much thinner, Prince..."
"No, I mean, that's... not true! I'm fine! So—"
"It seems we both have a lot to talk about. Why don't we go inside and chat calmly?"
Only then did he realize he was stumbling over his words, unable to form a proper sentence.
He bowed his head deeply, his face flushed red, and quietly replied.
"...Okay."
Just that.
They had only been together for a very short time.
The time they spent apart was twice as long as the time they shared.
So why did simply facing her again turn his mind into such a complete mess?
In this state where even proper thinking was difficult, Ares began to piece together the situation as best he could.
Karen Sister coming here meant... God had answered his prayers?
Or perhaps... the Saintess had some hidden agenda for sending her at this exact timing?
In truth, no matter the reason.
At least in this moment—it didn't matter at all.
* * *
Tremble, tremble.
Her hands holding the tray shook violently, causing the teapot on top to rattle as if an earthquake had struck.
Karen neither mocked nor worried about it—she simply waited patiently.
"Um... here you go, Sister."
Ares carefully served the tea.
He had never felt this tense with anyone else...
If anyone saw a prince this nervous in front of a mere nun, they would surely be stunned.
"So, uh... it's a blend of Assam and Darjeeling—"
"Isn't this Kal Bayern Black First?"
"Yes? Oh... yeah, it is."
"It's black tea blended in a 6:4 ratio of Assam to Darjeeling. And it has dried orange peels from the Kal Bayern region. It's a great tea that calms the mind!"
Amusingly, hearing her say exactly what he was about to say made Ares relax again, and he finally smiled.
"You knew about it too, Sister! That's right. It's precious because there aren't many extra orange peels, but I prepared it since you came! If I'd known you were knowledgeable about black tea, I would've served it sooner."
As Ares joked that his sister truly knew everything—
Karen smiled, but her voice carried a hint of chill.
"You're right. I... know everything about what you like, Prince."
"...!"
She spoke to Ares with unusually direct words.
"Sister..."
"Why don't you sit down first?"
Ares sat across from her as instructed.
Sipping the tea calmed his trembling a bit... but her final words still nagged at him.
In truth.
The biggest reason they nagged at him was that he already had a hunch about the context, but couldn't bring himself to ask first—
"Prince."
"Yes."
Ares braced himself carefully for the truth.
"First, I'm sorry for deceiving you, Prince. I'm not an ordinary nun. You've probably heard from the Saintess, so you have some idea?"
"...I know."
The reason Sister Karen came here—the Saintess sent her.
In other words, he had already realized she was sent to persuade him into faith.
Even so, he just wanted to see her again.
"From board games to black tea... I know everything you like and what interests you. Do you know why?"
So, right here—
Even if she said something like, 'I'm just an ordinary person sent by the Saintess, not a nun, but thoroughly trained in your tastes to persuade you,' or 'As the Saintess's direct nun, I've come to persuade you this time,' he had no intention of blaming her.
It's fine. The fact that she was kind to me despite that, sharing my hobbies without dismissing them, doesn't change.
He even planned to say he was truly sorry, that she didn't need to be so curt at the end—
"I am."
There was something Ares, blinded by affection for Karen, had momentarily forgotten.
Religious folk, from the Divine Power Pouch onward—
"Lord Igugwoden's Plain Fact sent to Prince Ares."
"...Pardon?"
"God's love for Ares... the Plain Fact made manifest. That's me."
—tend to spout utterly incomprehensible things.
* * *
"...So."
Ares sorted through the explanation Karen had just given him once more.
"Sister Karen is a being made of God's 'Plain Fact'... and she disappeared temporarily not because of some order from the Saintess, but because that Plain Fact was fully depleted?"
"That's right."
It matched word-for-word what Saintess Erin had told him.
Not some metaphor... but literally God's Plain Fact itself.
Then what is she?
This person breathing vividly right in front of him... what the hell is she?
"Then... Sister, I mean, Karen Sister... what exactly are you?"
"Well, to put it simply... a person, I suppose...?"
"..."
Karen cautiously revealed her true nature to Ares honestly.
"If I had to describe it... I'm God's emissary. Though I can't say that's entirely accurate."
"If God's emissary means someone sent by Lord Igugwoden in heaven?"
"That would be it. Of course, if you ask if I'm human, you could say the shell is—but—"
—I'm ultimately a created being.
To persuade Prince Ares, given a shell he'd take a liking to, inputted with all his favorite tastes.
Ares stared silently at the now-cold teacup for a long while without responding.
Now that he knew her true nature, his feelings were... surprisingly calm, almost peaceful.
He already harbored no resentment about her deceiving him.
It was just.
His mind went a bit blank from a reality no ordinary human could even conceive.
"..."
Ares, who had witnessed the miracles from the religious world until now—
Thought that even inducing hallucinations in others could somehow be done with the subtleties of white magic.
He figured the Demon King that appeared during cooperation with the demons could easily be prepared by the church too.
Records of Demonic Energy ended 200 years ago as well. Claims that 'Demonic Energy has changed' couldn't be 100% confirmed without going back in time.
Thus, even before countless miracles, he fundamentally didn't believe in God's existence.
The remark 'Saintess Erin must be the god' was sarcasm implying God didn't exist.
He merely guessed that Erin's 'holy power' was exceptionally high compared to past Saintesses, and all the miracles were just her white magic at work.
But.
After hearing Karen's story... he could no longer doubt God's existence.
God existed. The Lord Igugwoden that the religious folk, the Saintess, and his mother wept for was real.
Normally, Ares would think 'Sister Karen is lying to me'...
Yet despite how unbelievable it was, he knew she wasn't lying to him.
Anyway.
If none of it was false, and she truly was God's emissary embodying the 'Plain Fact'—
There was one question he had to ask.
"Then, has God answered my prayer?"
"Prayer, you say...?"
"I prayed to meet Sister... Karen Sister again, to share a Plain Fact with me. And now you've come..."
"..."
Karen pondered for a moment.
"Honestly, God did intend to answer that prayer."
"...Pardon?"
"Well, my initial reason for coming to you was to tame you, Ares. If you changed your mind now and prayed to believe in God, He planned to grant it."
"Sorry, I don't quite follow. Doesn't your presence here prove God answered my prayer?"
"Not necessarily."
Karen shook her head with a somewhat forlorn expression—
"To be frank, Prince. This is the last time I'll meet you."
"...Pardon?"
"Once the allotted time to convey God's true will to you ends... I'll part from you and won't appear before you again."
—admitting that their meetings were temporary.
"Karen Sister...?"
"Prince. Why do you think I appeared here again?"
"Well... I thought it was granting my prayer, but you say it's not."
"You're right. But I'm God's emissary. A Plain Fact carrying God's love—I can't exist in this world without it. I probably vanished again."
"You were at a loss, prayed to God to let you meet me again, and God granted it... That's how it would've played out. You might've become so fixated on me that to others, you'd seem like a fool."
"...!"
"But in the very end—God saw you desperately praying to meet me and didn't let it happen that way."
At that moment.
Karen reached out and firmly grasped Ares's pale white hand.
Ares flinched slightly but didn't pull away from her touch.
...Warm.
Her hand felt so warm against his.
The texture of his pale sister's hand, and beyond it, her soul so clearly present.
Are you... really not human, Sister?
"The reason I told you everything, including my true nature and that I'll leave someday. The Sole God Lord Igugwoden's true will. It is—"
* * *
[ Igugwoden: ( Sponsorship /10,000 won/ Prepaid triple 3,000 won pack, 1,000 won bonus ) ]
[ Igugwoden: I'll tell you what to do from now on ]
[ Igugwoden: Let's graduate Ares from his closed-off personal world ]
[ Igugwoden: So he can live straight without suppressors like Karen ]
* * *
—"graduating you, Ares!"
"Graduating... me?"
"Yes!"
Unlike Ares tilting his head at the sudden word, Karen beamed with a sun-like smile.
Her presence sank deeply into the prince's ocean-blue eyes.
"Graduating from being a revolutionary who doesn't love humanity, and being reborn as one who does!"
"!!!"
At the words "doesn't love humanity," Ares's eyes went wide.
Me?
I don't love humanity?
Me, who wouldn't even hesitate to sacrifice for the path for all...?
Honestly, he didn't know the basis for such a claim...
But right now, deep thought was impossible—Karen's smiling face filled his vision so beautifully.
"To ensure you graduate safely as per God's will, this sister will guide you every step of the way!"
* * *
From that day on.
The star-like days—perhaps the most brilliant in Ares's life—began.