“No, not yet. They haven’t decided what kind of experiment to run, so I’m just monitoring her. I only arrived yesterday.”

Clara answered quickly.

Yuta let out a deep sigh.

“They probably won’t kill her.”

Clara said.

“There’s still room for negotiation with the Noart Count Family. Some are even saying it’s too soon to begin experiments.”

“…Like I asked last time, can I see her for a moment?”

“Excuse me? Rosie Trian? She’s sleeping anyway…”

“Still.”

Yuta spoke in a soothing tone, smiling tiredly.

“Actually, there’s something I want to check… Just between us, please… Can’t I just take a quick look?”

“J-Just between us…”

Yuta had spoken without much thought, but Clara’s cheeks flushed red.

“T-Then, just for a little while.”

Clara carefully opened the laboratory door, nervously fiddling with a butterfly-shaped brooch.

Inside the narrow, dark lab, Rosie was lying as if dead.

Her brow was furrowed deeply, and she was muttering things like, “Brother… don’t die…”

The lab door shut behind Yuta with a heavy thud.

Yuta took Rosie’s limp hand in his.

“Rosie.”

He murmured quietly, his expression urgent, with no time for sentiment.

“You absolutely must not let them sense your divine power here… If you do, you really will die…”

Then, closing his eyes tightly, he began to absorb Rosie’s divine power into his own body.

With a choking noise, blood began to well up in his mouth, but he didn’t stop.

Having fully taken in her divine power with a painful expression, Yuta hastily wiped the rising blood with a handkerchief.

“Don’t worry.”

Yuta said between gasping breaths.

“No matter what… I’ll get you out of here. Somehow. I’ll do my best. I’ll do everything I can.”

He murmured, closing his bloodshot eyes.

“Just… just hang on and don’t get caught.”

Rosie still hadn’t come to.

Unaware of what was happening to her, she remained trapped in the dream where Julian was dying.

“Brother, brother… Brother, no!”

Rosie murmured in her sleep, her face twisted in pain.

“Rosie, your brother… your brother died today… I’m the only one left who can protect you now…”

Yuta whispered with a sorrowful face.

“Clara’s divine power can’t show you what isn’t there. It only shows what truly happened, the truth that torments dreamers. You’re… dreaming about that bastard Julian dying, aren’t you.”

After holding Rosie’s hand tightly for a moment, Yuta sighed. Then he staggered out of the lab.

After barely managing to thank Clara, he left the Temple and vomited violently for a long time.

Dragging his now completely wrecked body, he forced himself onto a horse.

“Julian, that bastard…”

Yuta muttered through ragged breaths.

Just saying Julian’s name unleashed a string of curses from his once gentle face.

“I saved you when all your relatives walked into a trap and died, and now you lose your memory and screw everything up?”

His eyes welled with tears as he slumped onto the horse.

“I risked my life to save you… and now you go and die again…”

He muttered bitterly, still gasping for air.

“…You said you’d protect her. That you’d do whatever it took to protect Rosie… You made all those promises, and then you lied and died. You damn, slit-eyed, scumbag delinquent…”

The horse carrying him was headed straight for the Orgon Duchy.

Yuta staggered into the ducal residence. A sickly old woman, lying down from illness, furrowed her brows upon seeing him.

“…Yuta?”

“Duchess.”

It was the Duchess of Orgon, his foster mother.

The rabbit-shaped Divine Beast that had been in the Duchess’s arms sprang up in surprise and rushed toward Yuta.

Coughing up blood, Yuta pulled a notebook from his robes and handed it to her.

“This… it’s a °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° map of the Temple. Almost no one there even knows it exists.”

“Yuta, Yuta. Pull yourself together. Hm? What’s going on? Hm?”

“Whether it’s Dyfenril or Lavendal… give this to anyone who can stand against the Temple.”

The Duchess’s silvery-white eyes grew dark.

“Today… I think today is that day, Duchess.”

“Yuta.”

The Duchess sighed deeply, stroking Yuta’s back.

“Don’t tell me… you did that today, did you? Hm? You really plan to die according to your little scheme?”

“Yes…”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Yuta embraced the rabbit Divine Beast, a sorrowful smile on his lips.

“Liri.”

The rabbit Divine Beast was shaking its head frantically.

“Choose me. Hurry. Please. I really… really have to do it now.”

Yuta begged as he coughed up more blood.

“Rosie’s power… I need to detonate it now. If I don’t, it’ll return to her. And if she’s still in the Temple, she’ll be exposed immediately. You know that.”

The Duchess said nothing. She only kept sighing, her face full of regret.

Meanwhile, Yuta held Liri close and whispered,

“I just want to save her somehow… I’m the only brother she has left now…”

Tears streamed from Liri’s eyes.

“Please, Liri.”

By now, Liri’s body was soaked in Yuta’s blood.

“I…”

Yuta whispered.

“I’m so tired, Liri.”

Liri wept softly, burying into his chest.

“Please… for me…”

Tears fell from the Duchess’s closed eyes as well. But she couldn’t bring herself to stop him.

“When I die and go to the afterlife… I need to grab Julian by the collar and punch him for not keeping his promise… No, cancel that. My fists are like feathers—I need to hit him at least a hundred and thirty-two times.”

Yuta whispered faintly with a smile.

“Anyway, when that time comes, I want to be able to stand proudly in front of that bastard and say I protected Rosie to the very end…”

Liri sniffled and cried.

“Now end it all, Liri. I’m… so tired.”

Blood poured from Yuta’s mouth again.

“Really… I’m just so tired now.”

In the end, light radiated from Liri’s body.

Yuta closed his eyes. Though he kept coughing up blood, his expression looked peaceful.

That day, Yuta died.

Originally, it was because he took in too much of someone else’s divine power and then received a Divine Beast’s recognition, disrupting the balance and killing him.

The Duchess of Orgon announced, “Yuta died due to divine power conflict caused by forcing the Divine Beast’s recognition.” It was what Yuta had intended, and it had been planned for a long time.

But even so, his death remained dishonorable to the end.

Afterward, the Duchess secluded herself in the estate. And just before passing away, she secretly handed Yuta’s notebook to Zahid.

At the time, Zahid was burning with revenge after sending Fire to the Temple. He kept the notebook close to his heart.

Years later, thanks to that Temple map, Zahid succeeded in infiltrating and finding Fire.

But contrary to Yuta’s desperate wish, Zahid failed to overthrow the Temple completely and free Rosie.

Instead, he discovered a Sacred Relic capable of turning back time.

* * *

“What happened.”

As soon as they reached the deserted corridor, Yuta grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and demanded an answer.

Just hearing that Rosie had been “taken care of” had already sent him over the edge.

At his feet, the rabbit Divine Beast quietly rolled its eyes.

“What do you mean ‘Rosie was taken care of’…”

“Was it Ethan? I just shoved her into the wardrobe in that idiot grandson’s room and locked it. It’s always empty anyway.”

Chloe replied with wide eyes.

“You said you wanted to check on her personally, didn’t you?”

“…What?”

Yuta’s brows furrowed.

Even as someone with a high position in the Temple, he didn’t know everything. And for the past few days, he had been holed up in the Orgon estate.

Since he’d only been obsessing over Liri’s recognition and planning his death, he had no interest in Temple affairs.

Rolling his eyes slowly, he said,

“Wait. First, let’s get a grasp on the situation. You… why are you even here?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? I thought you were holding Julian for today’s plan?”

Chloe asked, surprised. Then she quickly explained.

“Felide Noart came to me. Said he needed someone to keep Rosie and Julian in check as a successor, so he asked for help. That’s why I got involved. We even asked the Idra Duchy and the authorities to falsify some documents.”

Chloe leaned in close to Yuta as she continued.

“Of course, I plan to leave the Temple every full moon saying I’m going to the Idra Duchy to recuperate since my divine power weakens then… Yuta? Why do you look like that?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep