I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 217

I have to go, I must meet her.

Sky, oh Sky. My love, my memory, my goddess, my everything.

I have never forgotten you even for a moment. Ever since you died at the hands of that cursed daughter, I have always longed for you.

That’s why I wanted to meet you. You were more precious than the title of Emperor, more precious than the people of the Daehan Empire, more precious than my own children.

And finally, even if the shell is different, I can meet you now.

I…

──Sir, I’ve come to my senses!

──What!? No way. Is this what a special job means…? Nurse, contact Crown Prince immediately!

──Uh, how should I contact him?

──On an emergency line! The Emperor has opened his eyes!

In the end… I couldn’t hold your hand.

I couldn’t get close to you as you called me.

I couldn’t embrace you and whisper that I love you.

That…

That alone is so unbearably frustrating.

──Wait, his pulse…?

──Sir, are you alright?

──Bring the equipment and the artifact right now!

I miss you. Sky.

Even if it’s just a shell, I want to see your face.

Sky.

Why are you not here?

Why on earth?

Why?

──You, you are…?

──Everyone, please step aside.

Ah.

Sky…?

──You, my beloved.

Sky. Sky. Sky.

I’m so glad. I’m really glad.

I’ve finally been able to see you just before dying.

You…

──Why did you bring me back?

…

…Sky?

──Why do you make me suffer like this? Why did you resurrect me, the one who has sinned?

──Was this your love? Rising from the bodies of innocent people and even taking this child’s body?

──Ah, I admit it. It felt good when I first came back. But… my ugly past haunts me. The things I did to my daughter, the pain I inflicted on her, and my own end.

Sky.

What does that mean?

──Eun-ha said. Live freely.

──Even knowing I’m your mother, she acted like it didn’t really matter to her.

──Do you know how great a despair that was for me?

Sky.

Sky.

No.

Sky.

──You and I…

──Were the worst parents.

──And you…

Please.

Don’t!

──Were the worst husband.

──Now, no longer.

──I don’t love you anymore.

──……………….

──……………. Nurse, check.

──The pulse… has stopped.

──Send someone to the Crown Prince, and…!?

──He, he’s escaping!

*

There’s a saying that the darkest hour is just before dawn.

If I were to liken it, the dark dawn could fit that saying perfectly.

But no matter how dark it is, the sun will rise.

Even the incredibly long dawn is now being greeted by morning.

“How do you feel?”

“What are you feeling?”

“…I’m not sure how to express it to you both, but.”

“Um?”

“I feel… quite relieved.”

Morning has arrived at the Royal Palace.

Despite the grand event of the Emperor collapsing in a pool of blood and the Empress being resurrected using a sacrifice, it seemed like nothing had happened in the Royal Palace.

Not everyone was pretending. In reality, very few knew the truth of that dawn.

Thanks to the events taking place in the Crown Princess Palace, which was rather secluded within the Royal Palace, there were no witnesses.

What’s more, Kim Sung-il and Eun-ha executed everything so quickly.

To the point where I began to harbor suspicions.

“Crown Prince, may I ask you something?”

“Feel free to speak.”

“The royal connections that Orkel had, Kim Ha-neul leaving the Academy without any hindrance, the sudden business trip, and the timely appearance in the underground prison.”

“…….”

“Everything—was it your work, Your Highness?”

“… With my arm in a cast, it’s a shame I can’t jump up in surprise.”

Kim Sung-il answered that and waved his cast-wrapped arm which he received from the Emperor.

Eun-ha, who hadn’t even been injured, and me, thanks to the elixir and Disposable Life Insurance, had all our injuries healed, leaving only Kim Sung-il looking like a severely injured patient.

However, he didn’t even attempt to deny the accusations; he just smiled.

“When did you know?”

“Just now.”

“………Huh?”

“I pride myself on knowing Your Highness to some extent, but given your abilities, I thought you must have been aware of this incident. And considering your personality… you must have kept silent on purpose. In fact, there were plenty of hints, but I didn’t think deeply about them.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there’s no way you’d engage in anything bad.”

That much was true. If Kim Sung-il was treating me as just a networking opportunity and a performance, he never would have given me the ‘Disposable Life Insurance’ in the first place.

More than that, I thought of Kim Sung-il… as a friend, much like Lucas or Abel, or even the Saint.

But perhaps that answer caught him off guard.

Kim Sung-il, who had been smiling like usual, seemed to harden a little.

“So you were already in Daehan Empire for that business trip.”

“… Do you know what I want to say right now?”

“I don’t, but…”

“I’m really glad I didn’t throw you out when you came to visit me during Eun-ha’s assassination incident.”

“………….”

“Because of that, I may have been the first Emperor in history to… have a friend.”

Step by step.

Kim Sung-il, with a body that wasn’t quite right, rose from his place and stood briefly at the open window, looking outside.

From this highest floor, he must be able to see the Royal Palace and Seoul.

“Father… the Emperor is in a dangerous state.”

“… I won’t be arrested as the perpetrator of the royal family assassination, will I?”

“That’s a bit much. You have actually caught the intruder attempting to harm the next Emperor. Regarding your father, being choked… was quite a novel experience.”

“………Your Highness…”

“I’m fine. His Majesty… was a wonderful Emperor. With foresight that strengthened the imperial power and elevated Daehan Empire to a powerful nation. That’s my objective evaluation.”

But…

“He was never a good person as a father. Eun-ha, what do you think?”

“… His Majesty created the Crown Princess Palace and the underground prison for me.”

“Yes, but how often did His Majesty come to see you?”

“………….”

“That’s the kind of man he was. He was a good husband to my mother… but not a good parent.”

Everything the Emperor did for Eun-ha could, in fact, be read differently.

He had built the Crown Princess Palace and the underground prison, but in reality, he had hardly ever come to see his daughter.

Moreover, there was nothing beyond that which he had ever done for her.

It was simply catering to Kim Ha-neul, who couldn’t bear to give up on her ‘daughter.’

He supported his wife’s wishes as a good ‘husband,’ but in the end, that love was not a parental love for his daughter.

If the Emperor had truly loved Eun-ha as his daughter…

Then there would have been no reason for him to treat her so harshly after Eun-ha had killed Kim Ha-neul, whether by her own volition or as a result of external circumstances.

Kim Sung-il was stating this.

“Eun-ha, I believe I have adequately fulfilled my blood ties. I faced His Majesty head-on and won, showing mercy to the vanquished.”

“… What if it were His Majesty?”

“He would have stripped my eligibility to inherit the throne and exiled me long ago. He would have sent me off under the guise of illness or accident.”

That was not a mere speculation.

Watching as a son, as the next Emperor, it must have been a realization he gained.

Thus, Kim Sung-il’s actions could be seen as merciful.

He had only taken the Emperor’s power while allowing the Emperor himself to live, even if imprisoned.

“So, I…”

Knock knock.

“… Who is it?”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I have urgent news.”

“Namgoong Min, will you forgive my rudeness?”

“Please, I don’t mind at all.”

“Compared to you, any royal family matters would always take a backseat. Come in, I am spending time with a dear friend, let’s finish quickly.”

“Yes!”

The man who entered politely after opening the door bowed to me and Eun-ha sitting in the chair and then bowed to Kim Sung-il.

Perhaps it was due to the command to finish quickly.

His words were straightforward.

“Just now, His Majesty has passed away.”

“… I see. Please leave.”

“Yes! Long live the Daehan Empire!”

Creeeak.

At Kim Sung-il’s commanding order, the man exited, closing the door behind him.

Even at that shocking announcement, neither Eun-ha nor Kim Sung-il moved a muscle.

“He has indeed died.”

“He really has returned to the other side.”

“…………….”

Silence enveloped the room.

A daughter abandoned by her father and a son who nearly lost his life to his father.

The two children were indifferent to their father’s death. It didn’t seem like an act.

Rather than being apathetic… it was as if they had sufficiently prepared their hearts already.

Perhaps realizing that the atmosphere was too heavy.

Eun-ha was the first to speak.

“By the way, Min, I’m sorry.”

“Uh? What for…?”

“For Kim Woo-sung. He must have been a great right-hand man.”

“…No, it’s only natural when you think about it.”

Kim Woo-sung, who fought alongside me in the underground prison, decided to drop out of the Academy.

It was because of his mother.

“I was lucky.”

“In a way… you could say it was bad news.”

As Kim Woo-sung had stated, his mother was alive. The only survivor among the pile of bodies.

Yet…

She had become a vegetable.

“I just heard that he came to say he would drop out to take care of his mother, bowing his head in apology.”

“… Did he say anything else?”

“If it was about betrayal, I’ve forgiven him completely. In fact, I had received help from him.”

Eun-ha’s gaze fell on my thigh. Perhaps she was thinking about the grievous wound inflicted by Kim Ha-neul’s dagger.

Because of the betrayal by Kim Woo-sung, Kim Ha-neul had been able to arrive in Daehan Empire hastily, which had led to that injury.

‘Still, well.’

In the end, it was Kim Woo-sung who saved my life just before I died, and without his help, the fight with the Emperor would have been much harder.

Moreover, the decisive reason for the betrayal was also his mother.

So… I decided to let it slide. Although Kim Woo-sung seemed to be prepared for some punishment, it was amusing to see him blankly staring when I said I’d forgive him.

‘He had promised to come find me after graduation.’

While I appreciated that sentiment, I was worried about whether I would even be in this world by then.

As I silently mulled over this, Kim Sung-il, who had been standing by the window, returned to his chair.

After all, there was one more conversation that hadn’t taken place.

“Namgoong Min, isn’t there something else you want to ask?”

“Well, I did move right from the underground prison to the Royal Hospital, met Kim Woo-sung, and then came right here. I had no time to catch up on things.”

“………….”

“What about Kim Ha-neul… what happened to her?”

What I looked at was not Kim Sung-il, who had spoken, but Eun-ha.

In the end, the matter regarding Kim Ha-neul… was also about Eun-ha.

Thinking I would ask, Eun-ha merely smiled.

“It has become something beyond my control, Min.”

“… Huh?”

“Kim Ha-neul was no longer a singular person. The Kim Ha-neul who was a mother and Empress and the ambitious branch royalty of Kim Ha-neul were intertwined. I wandered the Crown Princess Palace with her and ultimately made a choice.”

“………….”

“No matter who she was, I thought she wouldn’t affect my life in any way.”

“… Is that so.”

For an instant, I thought, just for a brief moment.

I felt envious of Eun-ha.

Kim Ha-neul, her mother, was the greatest shackle and prison that bound Eun-ha.

Eun-ha’s life was portrayed in many aspects by Kim Ha-neul, and as she bore the memories of <Desire to Kill> and the act of killing Kim Ha-neul, it was an inescapable situation.

Yet Eun-ha had escaped. She confronted it directly and made a choice entirely her own.

That firmness.

It was something I felt I lacked infinitely.

‘Cultist brat, dot, fraud, and me.’

I vividly felt that I was still trapped in the past and couldn’t break free.

When I inadvertently lowered my head.

“Our Min, I think this.”

“………?”

“People cannot escape from their past.”

“… What do you mean? Coming from someone who has faced their past.”

“That’s right. I was bound by my past, and I faced that past. But I am still not entirely free from it.”

“………Huh?”

That was…

“I still recall the past. The underground prison, Desire to Kill, Kim Ha-neul. I recall and remember everything. But that is still pain. Gradually ripening pain.”

“……….”

“In the end, there must be a past for there to be a present. Our Min, do you think I look like someone who’s completely escaped from their past? Not at all. It’s a rare thing, but you, Min, are wrong.”

“………….”

“It’s because of my past that I exist now. Because of that suffering, I can have these feelings now. People cannot escape from their past.”

“Then…?”

“Just, little by little, I accept it. That the past was also part of me.”

“No matter how bloody and painful it may be.”

“It’s about facing it and acknowledging it.”

“That because of the past, I can now exist.”

“So, our Min.”

“Even someone as lacking as me could manage it.”

“I believe you, surely, can do it too.”

“My every choice and feeling.”

“Was learned solely from you, Min.”

*

A woman walks.

She walks through the streets of morning Seoul.

“………….”

She is both one and two.

The one who pursued endless ambition, even knowing it was crossing the line, and went along with it.

And the one who loved her daughter, feared her, tried to kill her, and was ultimately rejected by that same daughter.

She was expelled from the royal family.

No longer could she pursue her ambitions. Her dream was shattered.

No longer could she meet her daughter and be loved. Her life was filled with regrets.

And everything was her own doing.

The Kim Ha-neul who was and was not Kim Ha-neul simply walked the streets.

Trembling in fear that the Crown Prince might find her.

Fleeing, worried that the families of the sacrifices would cast blame.

Kim Ha-neul was…

Only walking endlessly.

Until someday.

Until the time she can no longer walk.

Continuously.