MHHC Chapter 46

Awakening

She surveyed her surroundings with wonder-struck eyes, each glance slower than the last.

It seemed she had always dreamed of this moment—the instant she would realize that the same 'power' sleeping in others had been slumbering within her all along.

She gazed at the swirling luminescence with a heart brimming with emotion.

In this moment, it didn't matter whether this was holy power or magic—she simply felt joy.

"Your Grace, can you see this light too?"

Adelheid whispered carefully. She felt Valentin nod from the corner of her vision.

"I can see it."

"I thought perhaps I was mistaken, or that I'd lost my mind. One of the two."

"That's impossible."

Adelheid let out a laugh.

"Oh, Valentin. This is just so..."

She wanted to share this overwhelming emotion with him, and the moment their eyes met directly, she realized she had been laboring under some great misunderstanding.

Valentin merely stared down at her expressionlessly amidst the whirling blue light.

That expression looked, disturbingly enough, almost sad.

"......"

He seemed like an entirely different person from the one who had so tenderly awakened her magic.

When Adelheid hesitated, only then did he reflexively move his lips into the semblance of a smile.

"There."

He slowly released her from his embrace.

The moment Valentin withdrew his hands, the light filling the room extinguished in an instant.

Adelheid stumbled slightly and checked her hand first—the one that had felt like it was burning—but there were no burn marks, not even a trace of anything having touched it.

It all felt unreal, as if everything that had just happened had taken place in a dream.

"How... was it?"

Unlike Adelheid, who remained dazed, Valentin soon asked with a supple smile. She chose her words slowly.

"It was an incredible experience. Strange, too."

"Right now, I've merely awakened it somewhat forcefully. Feeling it again—that's work you'll have to do on your own."

"This is truly my power?"

"It's not complete, but yes. My power is mixed in... But it's definitely power you were able to wield."

He nodded in affirmation. Adelheid's eyes grew hazy as she retraced the magic that had enchanted the room just moments before. Valentin watched her quietly, then added as if suddenly remembering:

"If you become skilled enough to contain this much power in a mana stone on your own, you could even kill Morig."

It felt as if someone had pricked and burst her heart, which had been swelling with elation just moments ago.

She felt cast into cruel reality in an instant. Adelheid blinked her green eyes in confusion.

"What did you say?"

"Morig. Amusingly, the god humans worship."

At Valentin's assertion, Adelheid's expression turned white as a blank sheet. It was already problematic that he called the most sacred being by name alone, as if referring to a neighbor's dog, but to speak of killing that divinity—the very thought stirred a fierce revulsion, as if merely hearing it meant committing an unforgivable sin.

"How could..."

If anyone were to hear this, it would be terrible enough that she'd be dragged before the Inquisition without any room for excuses.

Only now did she truly feel that the power dwelling in her body was the power of demons.

Just moments ago, she'd been overjoyed at confirming some possibility, but now it felt as if some utterly wicked and impure monster lay coiled and sleeping inside her.

Adelheid shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I don't want to do such a thing! To harm someone, or even worse, to commit such an impious act against a god..."

"Calm down, Adelheid. You seem very startled."

"Of course I'm startled! How can you speak such impious words about a god?"

Valentin watched the anxious Adelheid quietly, then curved his lips at an angle.

His eyes weren't smiling at all, yet his mouth moved as if that alone meant he was smiling.

"How strange."

"......"

"Morig isn't human, so there's no reason for you to feel guilty. Even if we tore him to shreds and threw his filthy body to rats and centipedes and snakes."

"Please stop saying such things. What if someone hears..."

"Sometimes I find it hard to understand. The way humans think. Especially obedient people like you, even more so."

"What do you mean I'm—"

He grasped her chin and lifted it. She could see inexplicable embers pooling in his sunken golden eyes. He whispered tenderly:

"You wanted power. So I awakened the power that was sleeping. Why are you angry?"

Adelheid stared at him with eyes brimming with tears of frustration.

She had no idea who was finding whom hard to understand.

Being born even slightly lacking had made acceptance among ordinary people this exhausting, and now she'd even awakened demon power.

At this point, it was no different from deliberately pushing her to be rejected by the entire world.

'Being rejected would be fortunate. If the Inquisitors caught wind of this, it would mean immediate execution.'

If it was going to be like this, it would have been better not to know from the start that such power was sleeping within her.

If she was going to die, it would have been even better to have died before developing any attachment to life.

Before tasting affection or trust between people. Before feeling even slightly useful to this world.

Adelheid placed the dagger on the table with a face frozen pale.

"I don't need this power."

"But Adelheid, you always wanted to have power."

"That's true. But even so, there's a line that humans must observe. I never, not once..."

"Magic is the same as holy power. The only difference is which god you serve."

Valentin cut off Adelheid's halting words. His attitude made it clear he had no desire to debate this further.

Adelheid's eyes widened.

"That's still impious speech."

"Don't be afraid. Mere humans won't even be able to tell the difference."

"What do you mean they can't tell the difference?"

"Because ultimately, the two powers share the same source."

The same source. As she stared at him blankly at these incomprehensible words, something Father Padre had mentioned about a certain legend suddenly surfaced in her memory.

'It's said that the supreme god Morig had a shadow that looked exactly like him.'

'I've never heard such a shadow legend before.'

'Because it's the god's shame. It's said they were like twins—placed side by side, they were nearly impossible to distinguish.'

Morig's twin. The Dragon of Bitzleben, the Shadow. As her expression changed moment by moment, Valentin's golden eyes sparkled in response.

His red lips twisted as if he found her constantly changing expression utterly amusing. It was a smile sensual enough to enchant anyone.

"Surely not."

"That's right."

Valentin's voice burrowed sweetly into her ear.

"If that power can kill Morig... why couldn't it kill me?"

"......"

"Well? Does it seem like a gift now?"

'What you're saying right now sounds exactly like—'

'I hope that someday you'll choose again. I hope you won't regret that choice.'

'...The way I see it, Your Grace seems to...'

'Valentin.'

'...Valentin, it seems like you desire death. Am I judging wrongly?'

'It could be that, or it might not be. I've lived a very long time, after all. I can't say I have no lingering attachments.'

'......'

'But at least if you have the power to oppose me, you won't fear me anymore. Because when the same thing happens, you can just kill me anytime.'

'......'

'So first, cultivate your magic, Adelheid. Think about other things later.'

Think about it later. Perhaps Valentin could say that so easily and forget that conversation, but she couldn't escape that day for even a single moment—she circled it endlessly.

That day. No matter how many times she retraced that conversation, there was only one thing Valentin had been hinting at throughout: his own death.

Unable to grasp what his true intentions were, strange thoughts now crept in.

Had he approached her intentionally from the beginning? Because she was someone who could kill him? Since humans weren't born with magic anymore...

'I don't know.'

She bit her lip hard.

She glanced at Margaret, who sat dozing in the opposite chair, then discreetly pulled out the dagger she'd hidden in her clothes.

Though she'd tried grasping the dagger several times since that day, she hadn't been able to draw out even a faint glimmer, let alone light.

'I wish you'd tell me openly what you truly want, without hiding it...'

Adelheid sighed and turned her gaze to the carriage window.

Three full days had passed since leaving Ansgar Castle and racing south toward the imperial palace.

Contrary to her troubled heart, the scenery visible through the carriage window had grown noticeably warmer.

Until yesterday they'd been traveling through fir forest paths still muddy with unmelted snow, but today they were on a well-maintained road.

She opened the window and poked her head out slightly.

The bustle outside the carriage suggested they were approaching the first village bordering Schleicher Territory.

'We must be arriving at the village soon.'

Adelheid exhaled a sigh of relief.

Because Ansgar Territory was so vast and barren, cities and villages were formed too sparsely.

That was why they'd been sleeping in the carriage continuously from the first day after leaving the castle until now.

At the thought of finally being able to enjoy a proper meal and rest after so long, a smile unconsciously slipped across her face.

"Your Grace—"