“Ah... I’m screwed.”

Muen Campbell cradled Ailuka’s severed head, now stripped of all divine power, his head hanging low as he muttered in a daze.

Like a salted fish tossed on shore, utterly drained of hope for life.

After getting power from one seemingly badass Evil God, now he’d gotten the attention of another scheming bastard of a god.

The worst part? That thing remembered his full name. First name and last.

It was the kind of "I hear that name and I itch to grab a kitchen knife and hack my way down People's Street to Central Avenue just to vent my rage" situation.

So tell me, is there still a way to live through this? Asking for a friend. Urgently.

“Master!”

While Muen was busy questioning the meaning of existence, Anne suddenly rushed over and threw her arms around him, heedless of everything else.

Warm, soft sensation wrapped over him. Muen could even feel her delicate body still trembling faintly.

Lingering fear.

Just a little more, and she wouldn’t have seen her young master ever again.

Even though she had resolved to maintain the poise of a flawless, elegant maid at all times—

It’s okay to be weak, just for a moment, right now.

“Alright, alright, this isn’t the time for that,”

Muen patted Anne’s shoulder. “You’ve got something more important to do.”

“More... important?”

Anne looked utterly confused.

What could possibly be more important than hugging her young master?

“Look.”

Muen motioned for her to sit properly, then held up the thing in his hands.

Ailuka’s head.

That cute, pretty face, all the prior grotesque distortions and monstrous features had completely faded.

She looked like she’d simply fallen into a quiet sleep.

But right then, Ailuka’s delicate eyelashes suddenly fluttered.

“Could it be...” Anne’s eyes widened.

“That’s right. Ailuka’s still alive.”

Muen nodded.

An Evil God’s will couldn’t descend upon a corpse.

So even with only a severed head left, the Evil God’s power had, by pure accident, kept her alive.

But this unexpected “gift from the heavens” wasn’t going to last long.

Which means—

“Make the most of the time you’ve got.”

Muen spoke softly.

...

“Ah... Master.”

Ailuka opened her eyes and looked up at Anne, now close by.

“Is... everything over?”

“Yeah, it’s all over.”

Anne replied.

But after that short response, looking at Ailuka’s face, Anne suddenly didn’t know what else to say.

It hit her—they’d never really talked properly, had they?

After a brief silence, Anne awkwardly forced out,

“So... um... Ailuka, how are you feeling? You alright?”

“I feel... like my body hurts.”

Ailuka’s gaze drifted into the void as she spoke quietly,

“Especially my chest... it hurts... it hurts so much.”

...

Anne stared at Ailuka’s severed head and suddenly found herself speechless again.

The silence dragged on, to the point where even Muen, watching from the side, couldn’t take it anymore. He was just about to remind Anne to mind the time—

When Ailuka suddenly spoke:

“Sorry, Master... I lied to you.”

“You... lied to me?”

“Actually, me getting corrupted by the Evil God... had nothing to do with you. I lied to you back then because I didn’t want you to leave me.”

...

Anne’s breathing hitched for a moment.

Then she smiled faintly.

“It’s alright. I don’t care. It’s not like saving you was entirely for that reason anyway.”

“Master...”

Tears slipped from the corners of Ailuka’s eyes.

For the first time, there was a faint glimmer of light returning to them.

“Actually... I’ve been involved with gods— with that Evil God—for quite some time. Trading bits of monster flesh for small favors, stuff like that.”

“See, A’de was just too amazing. If I didn’t use some tricks, I could never keep up with him.”

“And during that time, the Evil God never showed any signs of acting weird.”

“Until that day... after I talked with you, Master, I finally worked up the courage to confess my feelings to A’de.”

“Confess...”

Anne’s voice was low. “Come to think of it, I never asked you how that went.”

“It... didn’t go well, did it?”

Given the current situation, the answer seemed obvious.

“No... it went well.”

Ailuka’s lips curled into a faint, bittersweet smile. “I succeeded, Master.”

“You... succeeded? Then why...”

“Because that night... A’de told me he liked me too.”

“But... he said we couldn’t be together.”

“Why?”

Anne frowned in confusion.

“If two people love each other... why can’t they be together?”

“Because...”

Ailuka whispered softly,

“Tiya’s pregnant... with his child.”

...

Anne’s breath caught.

“A’de told me... he’d liked me all along. For so, so long... but never dared to confess.”

“Then one night, drowning his sorrows, Tiya came to comfort him... and they got drunk... one thing led to another... and Tiya got pregnant.”

“Such a cliché story, right? But... that’s how it happened.”

“A’de is a responsible, good man. He wouldn’t abandon Tiya.”

“Which means... he couldn’t accept my confession.”

Ailuka’s expression filled with sorrow.

There’s nothing worse than watching something you could’ve easily grasped... slip away between your fingers.

That regret— it breeds darkness in your heart.

“...You didn’t... suspect anything?”

Anne couldn’t help but ask.

The odds of getting pregnant the first time... are pretty slim. Hard not to think it was intentional.

“Of course I suspected.”

Ailuka replied plainly,

“That’s why I made a wish to that Evil God. I wanted to know if Tiya was really pregnant.”

“And when I came to my senses... I was covered in blood. /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ I’d already cut open Tiya’s belly.”

“...So that’s what happened?”

Anne recalled that girl’s mutilated corpse.

“And... the result?”

“It was fake.”

Ailuka’s voice cracked, trembling with a sob,

“The whole ‘pregnancy’... it was a lie. A trick Tiya used to monopolize A’de.”

“She used some illusion magic to fool A’de... to make him believe it.”

“But no matter how advanced the illusion, you can’t fake the truth.”

“There was no child in her womb.”

“Master... love is so fragile... one little lie... and it can tear apart people who were supposed to love each other.”

“I exposed the lie... but by then, it was too late.”

“Because... A’de saw.”

“He saw me... with my own hands... slicing open Tiya’s belly.”

“How could A’de ever be with someone as cruel as me? He thought I was possessed by the Evil God... he tried to subdue me...”

...

...

“So... I made my second wish.”

“I wished... for A’de to accept my love.”

And from that moment... everything spiraled beyond redemption.

...

...

“Master... I regret it so much.”

At the end of this one-sided confession, Ailuka looked into Anne’s eyes and, for the first time, smiled with tragic beauty.

“If only... I’d met you sooner, Master.”

“If only... I’d had the courage to confess to A’de earlier.”

“Maybe... this whole tragedy could’ve been avoided.”

“But... there are no ‘ifs.’”

...

“So... be happy, Master.”

“Prove to me... that love can bring something beautiful.”