Chapter 21

21. Dagger

A soft voice came from behind me. I turned my head to see Cassandra, the desert Emperor's consort, smiling at me.

I should clarify something here: Cassandra was not the Empress.

Traditionally, the Akwan Emperor took countless wives.

Cassandra's position was that of the First Consort, and she was the most powerful of Kalik's wives.

Therefore, it could be said that her status was slightly lower than mine.

Because in the Nix Empire, the Empress was equal to the Emperor, but in Akwan, the First Consort was definitely below the Emperor.

Therefore, Cassandra used polite language with me.

"If the Nix Empress likes the Great Emperor's Dashi, things will go more smoothly."

Cassandra smiled, speaking with the unique accent of the desert nation.

'Dashi… that was definitely an ancient word only used in the desert nation.'

Literally, it meant brother.

But within the desert nation, Dashi was the most negative of the various words meaning brother, so a literal translation couldn't fully capture the nuance.

'So she deliberately used a word only used in her country, huh.'

She's subtly showing how much she dislikes that poor kid.

I raised an eyebrow and replied somewhat coldly.

"Wouldn't Akwan be a more appropriate word than Dashi?"

"Oh my, you know our language well?"

Cassandra put her pinky and thumb together, making a gesture of surprise.

"I learned it as part of my education."

"How modest. It's difficult for foreigners to distinguish between Dashi and Akwan. Just that shows the Empress's Akwan language skills."

Cassandra complimented me with a cheerful demeanor.

I felt uneasy because I couldn't understand why she was praising me in this kind of setting.

What benefit was there for her in elevating me?

"Then you'll understand this meaning as well. Gertic has descended. In the Nix language, it's called a Divine Revelation."

Instantly, I looked at Cassandra with a different light in my eyes.

Divine Revelation and Gertic were similar words, but slightly different.

Gertic meant a mandatory revelation, or a Divine Revelation.

In other words, it could be interpreted as a god demanding something from humans.

'If you fulfill the god's request, you will be blessed, but if you don't, you will surely be punished.'

That strong of a meaning wasn't from a god. It was from a demon.

'It's my sisters. It must be my sisters.'

As certainty settled in, joy burst forth from deep within my heart.

I wasn't sure if it was my sisters or not!

"I don't know if Gertic can be revealed in this place."

"Ah, there's no problem at all. It doesn't matter if everyone hears it. My country doesn't keep Divine Revelations a secret like the Nix Empire. In Akwan, everyone knows the contents of Gertic."

It seemed Enrique wanted to have this conversation separately elsewhere. He was even an Emperor, so there was no way he wouldn't notice the subtle nuance of Gertic.

However, Kalik waved his large hand like a shield.

Saying it didn't matter if everyone heard it was, conversely, saying he wanted everyone to hear it.

Soon, Kalik opened his mouth in a booming voice.

"The god has commanded that this dagger, a special sacred object, be offered to the Empress of the Nix Empire. Then the phenomenon of the ever-expanding Desert of Death will stop."

Kalik snapped his thick fingers, and a desert servant carefully brought a silk cushion.

On it was a small, curved dagger, studded with jewels and very ornate.

'Since weapons with blades can't be brought into banquets, it's probably a fake sword.'

Without even looking closely, this dagger was an ancient artifact and a Magic Tool.

Normally, the blade was dull and couldn't even cut a twig, but once blood was dripped on it, it would become sharper than anything else.

In other words, it wasn't a particularly special Magic Tool.

"The Desert of Death, located in the center of my country, is a huge headache. It's a place inhabited only by Magical Creatures, and it's eating away at the border grasslands and growing larger and larger."

The reason Akwan was conveniently called the Desert Empire was because more than half of its land was desert.

But not all deserts were the same.

Some sands held life.

Mammals such as desert foxes, sand rats, and wild camel herds, as well as rattlesnakes and scorpions, lived together and formed an ecosystem.

'But the Desert of Death only has Magical Creatures. And the sand is black.'

The reason the Desert of Death existed in Akwan was the same concept as the Diawan River drying up and Ansel being flooded with rain.

Somewhere in this world, there must be a land just as abundant.

As long as that land continued to be fertile, the Desert of Death would not disappear.

'But if it's expanding, it would be a problem for Akwan.'

But since a Gertic had come down saying that the dagger should be offered to the Empress of the Nix Empire, I could fully imagine how chaotic the Akwan imperial family must have been for a while.

'But… I don't know what my liking Kalik's younger sibling has to do with this visit.'

Of course, I do like that enormous Yang energy.

"Is it not known why the god commanded that the object be offered to the Empress of the Nix Empire?"

"How could I know the mind of the god? I may be an Emperor, but I am not a god."

At Enrique's quiet question, Kalik shrugged his muscular shoulders. He didn't know, anyway.

"The god's great will may be upon the Empress. Would you like to hold it once?"

Kalik's red wine-colored eyes shone darkly. At that, Enrique glanced at me.

I snorted, seeing Enrique's brow furrowed in displeasure.

"It doesn't seem like the right time. I'll do it later."

"Why would you say that? It's a gift of goodwill."

Enrique couldn't say anything more here.

He wasn't the type to smoothly navigate the situation, and no matter what he said, it could easily become blasphemy.

Even implying that he didn't recognize the Akwan god as a god would be a problem.

'Enrique wants to take it and thoroughly investigate it with Divinity, but…'

I have to grab this now.

Even more so because you're reacting like that.

I smoothly raised the corners of my lips and slowly reached out my hand.

With a bit of exaggeration, it felt like everyone in this banquet hall was looking at me. Especially those from the desert, without exception.

I felt that kid's gaze as well.

The boy's golden pupils were wide with surprise.

'He didn't know I was the Empress, huh.'

The moment my white fingers gently touched the dagger.

Whoosh.

A vibration traveled up my slender fingertips.

At the same time, a strange light rose from the dagger and spread in all directions.

"!"

And at that very moment, my consciousness was suddenly sucked somewhere.

* * *

[Maknae. Oh my god, what's going to happen to our Maknae.]

Ah, that's Sixth Sister's voice.

[Are you okay? Are you healthy? What a bolt from the blue, really.]

That sounds like Fifth Sister's voice, like a lark.

[Hey, you all get out of the way. You idiot!!! I told you to listen to your sisters. Huh? You didn't listen to your heavenly sisters, so that's what you've become! I'm so frustrated!]

That tone that tests demonic personality… it's definitely Second Sister.

Forcibly lifting my eyelids, I was standing in a pure white space.

The space was made up of thousands of glasses and mirrors, and it reflected not Leonarda, but my true form.

My real self, tall, slender, yet with a solid, muscular body.

'Ah, this is the space of consciousness.'

It's been a long time since I've heard my sisters' voices. And it's been a really long time since I've seen my real self.

Soon, the figures of my sisters vaguely appeared in the mirrors surrounding me.

I couldn't see them in detail. Just silhouettes.

But I could still recognize who was who.

[My baby.]

"…First Sister."

Several sisters said a word of worry and nagging, and the last was First Sister.

Standing before First Sister, I helplessly lowered my head.

[So, how does it feel to be deceived?]

"I'm angry. I want to tear the one who deceived me to pieces and kill him. I won't feel better until I take everything he has and make it mine."

My sisters were silent for a moment at my answer.

Had they all experienced something like this once?

Maybe that's why they were horrified and opposed when I said I had fallen in love with Enrique.

I drooped my eyes, feeling dejected.

It was the youngest's appearance that I only showed in front of First Sister.

“…I want to go back. To my sisters. You're the ones who put my soul in this body, right?"

[That's right. We couldn't just let you go so meaninglessly. You're our precious youngest.]

First Sister's voice was as soft as the texture of night and as cozy as darkness.

I bit my lip to keep from crying.

Whenever I stood in front of First Sister, I completely forgot about my age and just became a child.

[Hey, you better be grateful to your sisters. You don't know how long we negotiated over causality.]

Second Sister popped out and made a gesture of poking me with her index finger.

I was a little choked up, but gratitude was gratitude, so I didn't talk back this time.

[Even if she says it like that, Second Sister worked really hard. Second Sister was the one who thought about how to get this dagger to you.]

The rational and cool-headed tone was Third Sister.

[You had all of your Magical Core's power taken away by that human. If you had even that left, we could have just sealed you and waited for you to heal and wake up… even if it took a thousand years. If that had happened, you would have been with us as a demon.]

At Third Sister's explanation, I took a deep breath and nodded.

My power, my pride. Losing all of my precious magic so meaninglessly still made me grind my teeth every time I thought about it.

[But your soul was torn to shreds and you didn't have a drop of magic left, so there was no choice. We poured magic into you to keep your soul from disappearing and waited. Until the empty body that First Sister had chosen came out. Whether it was human or whatever, we couldn't be picky.]

As expected, Third Sister was the best at explaining.

“…Thank you, sisters.”

I finally understood what happened after I died.

So now what I wanted to know was, how could I go back?

[My baby. There's something you have to do to come back to us.]

First Sister's voice echoed.

I waited for my sister's words in the most humble posture I could show.

[That dagger contains a little bit of all of our power. Use it to stab the heart of the human you truly love. When the blood of a living heart wets the dagger, you can return to our embrace.]

"!"

[We have sent a man worthy of you falling in love with him, so we hope you will plunge the dagger into his heart.]

No, wait a minute. Wait a minute.