“Lies.”

“Do I have any reason to lie to you, Your Majesty?”

Leviathan genuinely felt exhausted by everything. He just wanted to sleep.

With Phileal and Anais gone, his workload had increased tremendously. It was amazing that Phileal managed all of this alone, even handling external affairs.

When Phileal was loyal to the High Priest of Death, he lived solely for the temple. That’s how he managed everything.

But Leviathan was not that kind of person. He became a priest of the God of Death to gain power and seek revenge, not to diligently handle every situation like Phileal. He only performed his duties because they were assigned to him.

“I swear to God Decarve.”

Kylian remembered Lewarren swearing before him. As priests devoted to their gods, they couldn’t lie under oath. Doing so would result in divine punishment for blasphemy.

“Would a vow suffice? I’ll stake my life on it.”

Leviathan frowned, looking at Kylian. He then noticed the shock on the emperor’s face and snapped back to reality.

“The saint…”

“Phileal is with her.”

Kylian was enveloped in silence, it felt as if his heart had stopped.

* * *

“Why are we sharing a room? It must be uncomfortable.”

“I need to protect you.”

“What does sharing a room have to do with protecting me?”

Anais liked that the room was quite spacious, but she found it odd that there was only one room. Even though they were comfortable around each other, sharing a room seemed inconvenient.

“You used my room before.”

“Oh, right.”

Anais remembered that she had stayed in Phileal’s room at the palace. Reflecting on it, Phileal wasn’t much of a bother. He rarely came into the room anyway.

Given their current situation, it made more sense to stay together for efficiency.

“There’s only one bed.”

“Yes, this is a room meant for couples.”

Phileal had bought the tickets, so Anais didn’t recall the details.

“We’re pretending to be a couple, remember.”

“Yes, right.”

Anais decided to remind herself that even though Phileal was with her, he was still a priest. The tension she felt was an overreaction, she thought as she took off her coat and hat, and lay down on the bed.

“Ah, this is comfortable.”

She said as she sank into the bed.

“Anais, I’m going to look around outside for a bit.”

“Is someone chasing us?”

“No, but I want to familiarize myself with the layout and check on the people.”

“Got it.”

Phileal looked at Anais lying on the bed and added.

“I’ll be back.”

After he left and closed the door, Anais noticed the chandelier above her.

It was opulent, with what seemed like intricately cut glass. It emitted a white light that reflected and scattered off the glass. As the ship gently rocked, the chandelier swayed, casting occasional rainbow hues, though where all the colors merged, it shone pure white.

Anais stared at the brilliance, lost in thought.

It felt as breathtaking as the first time she saw Kylian.

“I should never have saved you.”

His regretful words felt like thorns wrapping around her heart.

In the end, Kylian really didn’t save her. It was as if it was truly meant to be this way. Now that she was gone, he and Lilith would live happily ever after, as if by fate.

Anais thought the chandelier began to blur. Tears welled up in her eyes, when they spilled down her temples, her vision cleared momentarily.

“Ah, my nose is stuffy.”

She tried to speak calmly, but her voice was already choked with emotion.

“There’s no place for you anywhere.”

It was as if she could hear Kylian’s voice. If only she hadn’t acted so foolishly for him. Anais was filled with regret. She thought she shouldn’t have been kind to him at all.

Yet, even then, she wondered, could she really have ignored Kylian? The thought pained her deeply.

Even if she could turn back time, she doubted she could ever treat him harshly. Kylian, who couldn’t sleep in his own bed, who would hear his mother’s voice in the thunder—she could never ignore him.

Anais truly wanted him to be happy. The comfort he had provided her in her previous life had been immense.

“Ugh…”

Despite knowing that all he had given her since her return was pain, she still wanted to see him.

She knew that the reason he failed to recognize her meant he didn’t feel the same way. He believed he loved the person inhabiting her body now because that person was his true destiny.

There had never been a place for her.

“Huhng…”

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She hated herself for still longing for Kylian despite running away with Phileal. She hated the lingering attachment that wouldn’t fade.

She wiped away the tears, but they didn’t stop. She sobbed, but her heart was not comforted.

She didn’t want to be alone. Being alone made her think of Kylian, and it was like an awl driven into her heart. It hurt that he denied her and loved another woman.

Yet she couldn’t stop wanting to see him. She had chosen to leave the imperial palace, but now she regretted that decision.

She didn’t want to regret it. She thought and got up from the bed. She opened the door to find Phileal standing there.

“Phileal.”

“I thought you might want to be alone, so I was waiting here.”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

She realized then that he had been giving her space out of consideration.

“I really…”

“Yeah.”

Seeing her tears, he lowered his eyes sadly and hugged her tightly.

“It’s okay, Anais. Everything will be okay.”

“Ugh…”

She cried harder because she knew things weren’t okay. But perhaps with him there, she could hold onto the hope that someday, they might be.

* * *

Thus, Phileal spent a lot more time by her side.

When she was bathing, he would talk to her from outside the door, and when she was trying to sleep, he would bring a couch near the bed and talk to her until she fell asleep.

Surprisingly, their conversations never ran out, and Anais found herself growing more at ease through these talks.

Anais started sleeping more. She used to sleep no more than five hours, but now, perhaps because this wasn’t her original body and due to her mental exhaustion, she would often sleep for more than ten hours.

Phileal would softly assure her that everything was okay while she slept. It seemed to help her escape from her nightmares each time.

Whenever she furrowed her brow in her sleep, he would tell her she was fine. Then her breathing would change, as if she truly felt better.

“After a week on the ship, I feel like the ground is still swaying.”

It was the first thing Anais said when they disembarked.

“Does it still feel like that now?”

“Yes, the ground feels like the sea.”

She walked slowly, feeling the unsteady ground beneath her feet. She gripped Phileal’s arm tightly like a patient needing support.

“You look like a zombie.”

“Are you comparing me to a low-level monster?”

“Yes. You’re walking just like one, all wobbly.”

Anais laughed at his ridiculous comment. Then her laughter gradually softened.

“Where are we heading now?”

“We’ll rest in the village for a bit and then head to that mountain over there tomorrow.”

Phileal pointed to a very rugged-looking mountain in the distance.

“Did you use to live here?”

“Yes.”

Given how familiar he seemed with the island, she guessed he had once lived there.

“Is there a temple of the God of Death here?”

“Not anymore. The temple here collapsed when I became the chief priest.”

“What do you mean?”

Phileal hesitated, wondering if he should tell her the story. He liked that she relied on him, but he worried that sharing this might make her see him differently.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“What if you stop seeing me the way you do now?”

When Phileal said that, Anais genuinely laughed and replied.

“Haven’t we already seen everything there is to see about each other?”

“Oh, right.”

Suddenly, Phileal realized he had nothing to hide from her. Looking into her eyes, he smiled warmly and began speaking again.

“I told you before that I sacrificed my father to receive my powers from the God of Death. Well, one of the priests there thought I was going to take his position.”

Anais, meeting Phileal’s gaze, remained silent, listening intently as he hesitated.

“So, he tried to kill me. I had just received my powers and… I couldn’t control them well.”

“When you said the temple collapsed, you meant…”

“When I came to, the temple was destroyed… and everyone… um…”

Phileal trailed off, watching her reaction. Anais considered telling him he could stop, seeing the sadness in his eyes.

“Everyone was affected by my power so much that they didn’t remain in human form.”

“I see.”

“That’s why there’s no temple here now. Usually, after something like that, it’s considered too ominous to rebuild.”

Anais found it interesting that even the temple of the God of Death believed in omens.

“I understand. You’ve had a tough time.”

When Anais said this, Phileal felt he had done the right thing by sharing. Her smile after hearing his story reassured him.

“It was really hard for me to talk about that.”

“It seems like it.”

“So, can you comfort me?”

“How?”

Phileal lowered his head and said to her.

“Can you pat my head?”

__