Chapter 303

Translator: yun

Auresia held out her dagger. She looked so calm that I almost believed that what she held in her hand was not a dagger but a flower.

“You’re insane.”

Clatter. A vine that had appeared out of nowhere slapped the dagger out of Auresia’s hand.

“I’m merely using unorthodox methods to teach you.”

Amor glared at Auresia. Before I realised it, the vines wrapped around my wrist causing my vision to flip as I fell back into his arms.

“This involves only those belonging to the Temple of Death. The 4th Prince shouldn’t be involving himself.”

Auresia narrowed her eyes before slightly raising her voice. I never remembered her speaking to me in that tone.

“She wouldn’t be able to feel any pain anyway.”

“What?”

Amor glanced at me as if asking if that was true. I grinned before tapping on his hand.

“It’s alright, Amor.”

Had I not mentioned this to him before? I must have missed the timing to do so.

‘Why wouldn’t she mention how the Power of Death allows me to see the future too?’

But the class came first.

“So what? Even I know I don’t feel any pain. Are you saying I would be able to heal faster now too?”

“Correct.”

No wonder the bruise I got from Deros’ grip on my neck had disappeared so quickly.

‘I thought it had been because of Amor’s medicine but there seemed to be a reason behind it.’

I jumped out of Amor’s arms. I observed Auresia carefully before taking off my bracelet. A flash of light surrounded me before I grew into my awakened appearance. I stared back at her.

“Alright. What else can I do?”

Auresia did not reply. She just looked back at me in momentary surprise.

“… You look alike.”

“Huh?”

She quickly shook her head.

“Nothing. You seem to have enough divinity.”

“But I can’t use it.”

“Your awakening was different from the average templar’s. So, wouldn’t the way you use your divinity be different as well?”

Auresia’s eyes, that were staring back at mine, were swirling with a glittering deep purple mist. She originally already had purple eyes but now they looked even deeper and more still than before.

“What can I do with my divinity? What should I do so that I can use it?”

“Divinity is energy. You can use it mentally or physically. What were you thinking of when you first awakened?”

“… I had been hoping for it desperately.”

The misfortune I received from the conflict between those who doused me into despair–deeper than I could ever fathom–and the happiness I wished for myself and my loved ones.

“I see. Then you must be eager to use your divinity.”

Back when Soricks was teaching me, I hadn’t understand half of what he was saying. Naturally, I wasn’t able to do anything he taught me to.

“Could you try grabbing that notebook?”

But I had been successful only once. Back when I had desperately grabbed onto the diary and hoped.

“You mean the diary?”

“Yes. It might be easier for you to grasp while holding it. Right now, I mean.”

Even back then, the diary had always answered my most earnest wishes. It would glow when I desired for it most.

When I opened my eyes again, a faint purple energy circled around me. The energy had gathered into the shape of a butterfly. Before I knew it, dozens of purple butterflies were fluttering about me.

“Butterflies are creatures with the ability to travel between this world and the other one. They act as the messengers of the God of Earth but that’s not all.”

Just like Auresia said, small orbs of lights could be seen floating between the purple butterflies. They reminded me of the vivid gold light Castor used.

“Because you have two powers, your powers manifest in two forms.”

She made me repeat simple movements including shaping and moving the butterflies.

‘Moving the butterflies and those golden orbs at the same time is hard.’

After doing it for so long, I got dizzy.

“Stop.”

Auresia’s eyes darkened. Suddenly, I wondered if her eyes truly remained the same colour as before.

“Now you can practise this power freely. You’ll get used to it soon.”

“Alright.”

Auresia took one step closer. She raised her hand before clasping my cheek.

“I have left the Power of Death within you.”

Her hand caressed my scar.

“Do you regret it?”

“Well, if I knew you would awaken as the Heir of Death, I wouldn’t have handed you a portion of my powers.”

The woman who had left me a scar to save me, smiled bitterly. She had only been showing me the same smile since I first met her.

“It’s all useless now.”

“People cannot return to the past.”

As ironic as that sounded. The Power of the Lord allowed me to read the future, be aware of the future but I could not return to the past. Same went for the Power of Death. It had prevented me from going insane but it had not prevented me from receiving misfortune.

If I had been aware of the Power of Death from the beginning, would I have swallowed my screams as I knelt in front of Castor’s sword? But it was useless to think of it now.

“After the end of this class, the moment I leave, I will become your enemy.”

Her voice remained still. I raised my head.

“Why?”

“I will be helping the emperor with whatever he wishes.”

An eerie smile could be seen drawn on Auresia’s pale face. I could clearly see hatred welling in her eyes.

“If I ask you why you’re doing this, will you answer me?”

She never answered. She merely revealed her abhorrence in her tired, dry smile.

Her fingers brushed against my scar gently.

It was at that moment.

‘What’s this?’

I could feel something hot fill my body. The feeling that was swelling–to the point where it felt like it would burst–ran and coursed through my body irregardless of my will. Whether or not I was the only one who could feel this, both our hair fluttered in the wind. I could see her eyes through my wavy hair.

Amor got up with a start. But he did not dare to approach and merely bit his lips.

‘It doesn’t feel dangerous.’

At some point, that energy that filled me up had disappeared. Auresia stepped back.

“I think I have transferred most of it.”

“What do you mean by transferred?”

Auresia smiled solemnly. Her smile looked forced as if she was covering her true emotions.

“I’ll get going now.”

After she returned, only Amor and I were left in the room. Amor caught me before I returned to my palace.

“Where are you going?”

I could only stand there and blink.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“What did I do to feel that? Shouldn’t you be feeling tired? After using your divinity for a long time, you’d lose stamina.”

He raised his eyebrows. After pondering about something, he smirked.

“Go to sleep.”

“… You’ve gotten good at telling jokes.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

He gently tugged at my wrist. Without laying a hand on his chest, I looked up.

Then, he looked back down at me. With his eyes were right in front of mine.

“I didn’t know there were things you haven’t told me yet.”

“I didn’t mean to hide anything. Really. I just never found the time to tell you.”

Amor twisted the corner of his lips before leaving a peck on the tip of my nose.

“No wonder you never hesitated to put yourself in harm’s way and never took care of yourself. So, there was a reason behind it. Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

“Amor?”

“Don’t get hurt. I’ll be protecting you.”

He left a long kiss on my lips. When I opened my eyes, his eyes looked into mine for a long time.

“Are there any wounds on your body or scars that remain?”

I pondered for a moment.

‘The scars made by blades… have disappeared as time passed.’

Small wounds still remained faintly on my skin. I thought Amor would want to give me medicine if I told him about them.

“I had gotten bitten a long time ago by the watchdogs in the forbidden forest. But I had been treated by the clerics so there would only be small remnants of the wounds left.”

“Is that so?”

Amor replied with a grim look as if he remembered the day it happened.

“And you had come to treat me too, brother.”

That day, he had used one of the only two opportunities he had been granted in his life. I lovingly caressed his cheek.

“And?”

“Is there anything else to say? Uhm… I had been buried in the rubble of a collapsed building a while back and had received a wound on my back. But that had also been treated by clerics so I think there are some scars left.”

“Is that so?”

His fingers hovered above the back of the hand that was caressing his cheek.

“Let me take a look.”

“… What?”

“I was joking.”

When I replied in surprise, he looked down at me grumpily.

“You have gotten hurt so often when I hadn’t been looking. And… the fact that you had gotten hurt when you were with another man.”

HIs eyes were directed towards me.

“Are you getting jealous?”

“I’m cursing those who were so incompetent they couldn’t manage to protect you.”

He said, as he turned his face away slightly.

“And I resent myself for being unable to do anything.”

His gaze lowered. I pushed his cheek to force him to look at me. He looked bewildered.

“We’re together now.”

“The 8th Queen… thought you’d be together with Dane Lowell.”

“Yes. She did.”

“But I’m the one standing next to you. Rosé.”

I smiled.

“That’s right.”

As if relieved, he then glanced at me meekly. He then rubbed his head into my shoulders. Like a cat that was trying to leave its scent on me.

‘Come to think of it, Amor’s animal was a white fox’

It looked as fluffy as an arctic fox.

“But… I don’t think you seem to like Auresia, brother.”

“I could tell immediately.”

“Why?”

He showed harsh sensitivity and was temperamental to anyone but me. He had treated her the way he did to me when we first met. However, he seemed to think of Auresia differently.

‘I wonder why?’

Come to think of it, he was acquainted with both the Duchess of Aventa, who was a close friend of Auresia’s, and the Duchess of Soletdion, who had been the 2nd Princess. Of course, I wasn’t certain if they really were on friendly terms.

“She had been indifferent to you. It doesn’t make sense that she’s nice to you now.”

Amor spat out as he avoided my gaze.

“She had abandoned you.”

As I sat there blaining, he continued.

“But I need to look good in front of my mother-in-law.”