Episode 09

Irony

“Argh!”

I screamed at the pain of spraining my foot. Only then did Hubris look back. If it was Helena signing, he would immediately notice. I was a little irritated to realize I had to scream for him to take notice. Hubris’ approach became a little faster, then he knelt down and asked.

“Are you all right?”

“Do I look all right?!”

I’m dying from pain, but he is asking the obvious. When I snapped back, he hurriedly reached out with a perplexed face.

“I’m touching your ankle.. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Hubris used divine power. The white light came out of his palms, and soon, gradually, the pain in my ankle died down.

I was staring at him because it was a strange sight, but it ended quickly. Maybe it’s because it’s a small injury. Greetings then were given to Hubris, who was about to leave.

“You’ve met me before.”

“....Yes.”

“You asked me who I am.”

“I did.”

‘Hubris looked uncomfortable, but somehow he couldn’t take his eyes off me. The focus in his eyes was clouded. Not because I was beautiful, but because he saw something beyond. I looked around and whispered to Hubris.

“Who do I look like?”

“..I can’t see the image of the soul.”

Hubris sighed and looked straight at me and said.

“I see the color of the soul. And there is not a single person in the world who has a color like yours. I thought it was an illusion, but it wasn’t.”

“....Back then, there were a lot of people’s eyes on us and I was distracted, so I didn’t know what to do. Now, as you see, I came from a different world. Can I go back to where I used to live?”

With a faint hope, I desperately asked him. Hubris hesitated, repeatedly opening and shutting his mouth again and again.

Hey, do you know or do you not know. Is there a way, or there’s no way. Tell me quickly! There was nothing good about seeing the prince’s fiancée having a long talk with another man as she exited the palace. I was so frustrated that I tightly gritted my teeth and asked again.

“Don’t you know?”

“I can’t give you a definite answer. But as far as I know..”

I was stunned by his words, ‘There is not a single foreigner who has gone out alive’. I thought it was okay to die, but I guess it wasn’t. I kept laughing in vain.

“No? There must be some way. A door to another dimension...”

“My lady.”

“If I don’t have a way out alive, how could I come into this world alive? Right? There’s a way, but you don’t know.”

“My lady..”

“Please find it. Since you are a high priest, if you go back to the temple, won’t you be able to find historical records? That’s why-”

“Lady! Listen to me.”

Hubris grabbed me, who was talking gibberish and shouted. I was a little short of breath. Hubris explained to me slowly and clearly, one word at a time as if I was a child.

“The lady... If the lady (original Eris) was born into this world, the original soul inside the lady’s body has disappeared now. That’s why you could come safely into this world. That’s the law of life. In other words, in order for the lady to die safely, it is possible only when the soul of the lady’s in the original world dies, precisely the soul of the lady’s body.”

“Then ..”

“But the original lady isn’t here. That lady’s body probably had an empty shell without a soul. Since, there is no soul to die, there is no way to go back alive. Accept fate and live her life instead.”

(T/N: few readers might have gotten confused let me explain in simple terms: the OG Eris Misérian’s soul has disappeared completely, that’s why she(MC) was able to enter into this body safely, in order for MC to return to her ‘OG world’ she needs to kill the soul that is residing in her previous body, but the MC is here now which means her body has become an empty shell=dead)

He finished his speech calmly and slowly raised me up. I was rather irritated by his endlessly benevolent expression.

His job allowed him to spit it out so easily. How to accept? If I were to accept, it was better to learn magic, make friends with a witch, and have an adventure rather than the status of the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

My stomach, which I had tried to stab myself to death, felt ill. How many more times do I have to stab myself to finish it? No, I don’t know if I can even tie it up. I think I’ll be cut off before then.

The painful thoughts started to eat me. Before despair swallowed me, I barely opened my mouth.

“I don’t like it.”

“Huh?”

“If that’s the law of life, I’ll die and go out.”

As I jumped up and tried to hurry to the witch, the surprised voice of Hubris caught me.

“Lady! You must cherish the life God gave you!”

“God-given life?”

I was dumbfounded, so I looked around. I was originally an atheist in my world, but I had to hear such a thing even in novels.

“My life was given to me by my parents, not by God. If you weren’t conceived by the Holy Spirit, then it would be the same for you.”

Be filial to your parents, mister. Do you understand? This sentence was about to rise from my throat, but I decided to hold it in because there could be no Confucian thoughts in the world.

To be honest, it’s a speechless remark, even if it does sound like heresy. But you can’t accuse me, a person from another world, of being an apostate. At least, that’s what I know of Hubris.

I was tired of being a living human mannequin who couldn’t buy clothes without their own mother.

I really couldn’t think of anything and I felt as if I was broken, so it was time to take a heavy step and go lie down on the bed.

Helena was walking across from me when she saw me. I was nervous about showing everything, so I tried to run away, pretending not to notice and just kept walking.

Then, she grabbed my hand just as I was about to pass. When I looked at her in a daze, she took a deep breath, looked me in the eye and said,

“Lady Misérian, I want to ask for forgiveness.”

“....What do you mean?”

“His Highness.. about hitting Lady Misérian in the face.”

A sigh came out of my mouth. The person who hit is another, but I don’t know why Helena should apologize. But I felt much better because she didn’t speak informally like last time.

“Did Lady Antebellum slap me in the face? No, you did not. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Still, but still..”

“You don’t have to feel guilty. Then I’ll leave you..”

I was going to say good-bye roughly, but Helena didn’t let go. Her hands were warm and soft.

“No, I’ll keep apologizing. It’s okay if Lady Misérian doesn’t forgive me. Even if I didn’t hit Lady Misérian’s cheek myself, I’m guilty of helping His Highness’s slap.”

Helena’s hands tightened. Her eyes got wet, but she didn’t cry. Even though her voice trembled, her bright purple eyes did not shake. She’s asserting herself.

“I should have kept his Highness from touching Lady Misérian that day. And I should have reported that the maid who was following me had misunderstood. But | just watched until Lady Misérian left. Obviously it’s my fault. Sorry. Sorry. Please forgive me.”

You are upright and lovely. Your kindness makes me cry. If I were a villain who only pretended to be good, I would have hated you with ease.

Then I suddenly saw Helena’s hands. Her hands were flawless, soft and clean.

As far as I know, her status was a maid of ‘honor. It would be more like a low-ranking maid who usually does chores, not a senior maid who came from a noble family to serve.

Come to think of it, Helena grew up in a difficult environment and was too busy in her role of healing the hearts of the men and making them fall in love. Everyone loves Helena.

The good girl had an obligation to ‘give an impartial answer to all of them. There is no time to wash the dishes, do the laundry, or clean. The Crown Prince and Empress must be busy calling her in to chat.

When I read it, I skipped it without thinking, but after facing it, I felt strange. No, let’s be honest. I felt bad.

“How can you be so clean and pretty?”

“..My lady?”

Helena resembled my old friend who was in college. She was the only child. Her pretty and kind personality made her popular with everyone, and was strangely fond of me. You’re honest, you’re funny. That was the reason.

I liked her, too. No one can dislike someone who approaches with kindness.

Considering my situation, my friend, sometimes paid for my meal without saying a word, and even if I couldn’t attend the lecture, on my behalf, she told me about the progress of the class.

Most of all, she didn’t have any intention or shallow sympathy. She would have helped me the same way, even if I had more money than her, because she understood my poverty because she didn’t like the poor me’, but because she liked ‘me’. But the reason why I couldn’t really get along with her..

– Don’t your parents help you that much?

– No, I’m not the only one in my house, and I’m not the only one..

– But you’re still a daughter, so.. talk to them.

It is ironic because of her innocence. The only difficulty she had in her life was to study for a while for Gon University. No, in fact, since she received expensive tutoring at home, her starting line was ahead of others. She used to say it with a smile, though she said ‘it was hard enough to

die’.

She was nice to me, but she didn’t know the difficulties. And I didn’t even know it was a privilege not to know the difficulties. No, maybe she could be so pure because she didn’t know the difficulty. I think.

... The same is true of Helena’s innocence. ‘If Helena had been less beautiful, if she hadn’t been close to the Crown Prince, could she have been so naive if she had been doing something as bad as a commoner?

Your uprightness, for it has never been broken. Because everyone loves you and protects you.

“I.... I don’t like people like you.”