“Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”
A sincere smile formed at the corner of her lips. Lillian was genuinely relieved for me.
“…Are you saying you’ve let go of me?”
I already knew that my childhood friend had possessed another child’s body. But I pretended not to know and turned a blind eye.
If Lillian found out that my childhood friend had possessed Ruela, she would never stay silent.
I wanted to stop that at all costs. Even if my childhood friend was an evil being, I, who had spent years with her, knew better.
That deep within her, there was still a good heart.
“Tina, from now on, you need to listen carefully to what I have to say.”
Lillian, with a seriousness unlike her usual self, grabbed my shoulders.
Drawn by her gaze, I nodded, and she took a deep breath before continuing.
“Devils have no physical form. So, by themselves, they can’t affect the real world.”
“Really?”
“But once they possess a human body, the story changes. Using humans as vessels, they gain the power to interfere with reality.”
Lillian seemed to know quite a lot about devils.
“That’s why they tempt humans with sweet whispers. For a devil without a physical form to possess a human, the human must willingly offer their body.”
Yes, I did that too.
At my childhood friend’s promise to give me happiness, I handed over my soul without hesitation.
She said that if I went to hell with her, she would make me happy for eternity.
But my soul was too pure to go to hell. To go to hell, I had to commit evil deeds myself.
And in the process, I even killed my own mother.
“I don’t know if you’ve given up, but I can’t sense any trace of the devil in you anymore. You must have expelled it yourself.”
“Really?”
“That means the devil can no longer influence your mind.”
Lillian looked at me with a slightly sharp gaze and continued.
“Unless you offer your body again.”
A brief silence fell. In that gap, I couldn’t say anything, and Lillian narrowed her eyes further and asked.
“You won’t offer it, right?”
“Y-yes… I have many sins to atone for.”
At least until I’ve atoned for all my sins, I won’t let my childhood friend back into me.
“That’s a relief.”
Lillian opened the drawer of the desk beside the bed. Inside were neatly stacked, elegantly sealed letters.
“Then it’s about time to restore Tina’s reputation.”
“Huh?”
“The rumors that Tina tried to poison me, we’ll correct them as false reports. These letters contain my testimony and Princess Viviana’s testimony.”
Lillian held the letters and smiled gently as she shook them.
“What do you mean…?”
“Do you think I’d leave my beloved Tina as a criminal forever?”
I knew it.
But would the heavy charge of poisoning the saintess really disappear so easily?
People tend to dig deeper into sensational stories and remember them longer.
“It says that I was mistaken. We’ll make people believe that it was a devil with a pure appearance like Tina who poisoned me.”
“But will people believe that so easily?”
“If the person involved says they were mistaken, what can others say? Besides, even the imperial family can’t easily refute my opinion now.”
That makes sense.
After all, Lillian is the ‘Saintess of Salvation,’ who saved the empire and restored peace.
“Moreover, with Princess Viviana’s support, even those who don’t want to believe will have no choice but to accept it.”
Lillian and Viviana—these two names carry the power to turn even simple lies into truths.
If Lillian is to be believed, the moment these letters spread throughout the empire, I will be freed from my status as a criminal.
But is that really the right thing to do?
“I really did poison Lillian.”
The poisoning of the saintess. That was clearly something I did with my own hands.
With my scheme, I filled Lillian’s body with poison.
And as I watched her slowly collapse, I smiled.
Yes, I committed a clear sin.
I carried the heavy sin of poisoning the saintess and deserved the contempt of the entire world.
Someone like me doesn’t deserve Lillian’s kindness.
“It wasn’t Tina who did it.”
As if reading my thoughts, Lillian suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
“Huh?”
“No matter how much Tina blames herself, it wasn’t Tina who poisoned me. It was the devil inside Tina.”
“But, the choice was mine…”
“Wasn’t it the devil who drove Tina to make that choice?”
I couldn’t say anything in response to Lillian’s assertion.
“And no matter how much Tina refuses, I will eventually clear Tina’s sins.”
Her eyes were filled with unwavering determination.
“I promised your mother that on the day the devil completely leaves Tina, I would restore Tina’s daily life.”
“……?”
My mother?
Could she be talking about… my mother?
“Why do you call my mother ‘Mother’?”
At my slightly sharp tone, Lillian looked flustered.
※
[Soon, the empire will revoke the charges against Tina.]
My heart grew complicated.
Lillian was determined to erase my sins, even though I had clearly committed those acts.
Lillian’s words would surely have an effect.
Few would dare oppose the declaration of the saintess revered by the entire empire.
And with Viviana joining in, no one would be able to raise an objection.
Perhaps I wouldn’t need to hide my face with a hood when walking around the empire anymore.
But is that the right thing to do?
I am clearly a sinner who deserves punishment.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was using Lillian’s power to cover up my sins.
My worries didn’t last long.
Through the window of the carriage Lillian had prepared, Grandma Miranda’s house slowly came into view.
Though she appeared indifferent on the outside, Grandma Miranda, with her warm nature, stood at the front gate with her arms crossed, waiting for me.
“I’m back.”
“You’ve worked hard. You must be tired, so rest well until tomorrow.”
“Hehe.”
I scratched my head and looked inside the cottage window.
“Is Ruela doing well?”
“That little one? She’s been waiting in her room for you to come back.”
Fortunately, the letter I left behind seemed to have worked.
As soon as I entered the house with Grandma Miranda, I headed straight to the room.
A small brown-haired girl was sitting quietly on the bed.
When she saw me, her eyes widened, and she immediately jumped off the bed and ran towards me.
“Sister!”
She hugged me tightly. I gently stroked her head and whispered softly.
“You don’t have to act when it’s just the two of us.”
“……”
Ruela looked at me with a meaningful gaze, then pointed to the door with her finger.
Her cautious demeanor seemed to be mindful of Grandma Miranda.
“I told Grandma Miranda that I’m going to sleep right away.”
Only then did Ruela smile in relief. As she lightly touched her fingers together, a black mist rose and filled the surroundings.
“Did you have a good trip?”
The familiar voice of my childhood friend reached my ears.
“Long time no see.”
“Yeah, long time no see, Tina.”
A voice so strange it was hard to believe it was human.
But no matter how others felt, it was only a welcome sound to me.
“Hey, that flower you put in my hair, what was it?”
I moved closer to Ruela and asked.
“Huh? That, that was…”
She hesitated, fumbling with her words. It seemed like there was something she was hiding.
It definitely wasn’t a flower with good effects.
“Never mind, it’s fine.”
I didn’t need to hear the answer. Then, Ruela cautiously opened her mouth again, watching my reaction.
“…Aren’t you curious?”
“You wouldn’t do anything harmful to me, right?”
“Yeah.”
Ruela’s face turned red.
I smiled and asked her.
“So, what’s your wish?”
The letter contained a promise.
If she waited quietly here until I returned, I would grant any wish.
“Huhu… Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
“Yeah.”
At my unwavering answer, my childhood friend looked flustered.
But only for a moment, as she soon approached me with a sinister smile.
“You won’t be able to live like before, but that’s okay, right?”
“Yeah.”
Knowing my childhood friend’s personality, I didn’t hesitate much.
“Huhu, good. Then, Tina. The command I’ll give you is…”
By now, my childhood friend was right in front of me, looking up at me with quite evil eyes.
“Get pregnant with my child.”
“……Huh?”
“I’ve always wanted to try it when you were in a body that could get pregnant.”
There were many things to point out, but I decided to ask the biggest question first.
“Wait… I’m supposed to… get pregnant? With your child?”
“Yeah. How about it? Can you still grant my request without hesitation?”
“Um… well… you know… girls can’t get pregnant together, right?”
“Huh?”
My childhood friend blinked blankly for a moment. Then, she soon laughed as if it was ridiculous and looked at me.
“Innocent Tina, how are you going to live in this world? I’ve told you many times. Being innocent won’t help you in life.”
“……Are you saying girls can get pregnant together?”
“Of course, dummy.”
My childhood friend puffed out her chest proudly and said.
“Girls can get pregnant just by holding hands and sleeping together.”
