Mowan leaned against the door.
As long as there was even a slight sound of footsteps outside, she would open it to welcome Iserin.
However, a long time passed, and she did not hear the sound she was expecting.
If the suspicions she had written in the letter were unfounded, Iserin should have come to her the moment she read it to deny them.
Now that so much time had passed—perhaps one hour?
Two hours?
The sky remained dark, and Mowan lost all sense of time in her anxious waiting.
Despair quietly climbed into Mowan’s heart.
Since Iserin had not come to find her for so long, it must be because some of the conjectures she wrote in the letter were indeed facts, right?
Mowan felt a deep sadness.
She wished so much that those guesses were merely her wild imagination.
She hadn’t intended to tell Iserin, but this concerned the fate of both the Humans and the Demon Race.
If she continued to live in a world of self-imposed lies, and the things she feared eventually came true, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
So, while there was still time—while nothing had happened yet and while they could still turn back—she had to speak.
She had to make everything clear.
In the end, she might just lose a romance.
She might even… lose her life.
But what she would save was the hope brought to the Demon Race by the Descent of the Demon God.
Thinking of this, Mowan’s mood suddenly improved quite a bit.
‘It seems… in the face of the grand right and wrong of world transformation, my little love and affection are nothing at all.’
But if she allowed herself to fantasize, she still wanted a peaceful world.
She wanted the Iserin who, in her imagination, brought her hope and miracles.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
Finally.
There was a knock on the door.
Mowan did not open the door immediately.
Instead, she clenched her hands, waiting nervously for the person outside to speak.
“Mowan, open the door.”
Iserin’s voice was still very gentle, lacking the anger Mowan expected from having a lie exposed.
Yet these four short words made Mowan feel that Iserin was suppressing her rage.
She only told Mowan to open the door; aside from that, there was no other explanation.
“I made dinner for you. Come out and eat.”
“…”
‘Is it time to eat now?’
What exactly was Iserin thinking?
If it wasn’t true, she should just deny it.
If the letter was accurate, then she shouldn’t be gentle with her anymore.
Mowan thought about it carefully.
She didn’t seem to have any qualities worthy of Iserin’s favoritome.
Aside from perhaps looking like Iserin’s younger sister, or having a relatively pretty face—but Mowan didn’t think Iserin was someone who would be moved by a person’s appearance.
She was obedient…
Right, she was more obedient than most people.
But she wasn’t obedient anymore.
She had defied the image Iserin hoped she would become.
“Our goals are the same, Mowan. We are both doing this for the sake of all living beings.”
“Does that include the Demon Race?”
“…”
This time, it was the person outside the door who fell silent.
“In your eyes, ‘all living beings’ only includes humans, right?”
“I don’t deny it, but that is simply all I can manage, Mowan. You should know that stability is relative. A world of Great Unity, a true Utopia, does not exist.”
“So, how much of what was written in the letter is true?”
Mowan couldn’t help herself; she directly asked the question she cared about most.
Iserin pressed against the door panel.
Only a few centimeters separated the two of them, but at this moment, Iserin felt as though Mowan was drifting further and further away.
“It is as true as you believe it to be.”
“I don’t want what I believe. I want what you believe. Please face your own True Heart, Iserin.”
“No matter what, I will not let you leave me. Come out and eat dinner, Mowan. I care about you very much.”
“What if I just want to go? Would you chop off my limbs?”
“Don’t be so cruel to yourself, Mowan. Stay, okay? I will give you everything. I am willing to fall in love with you. It might take some time, but I am willing to change for you.”
“In your eyes, is love a form of transaction?”
“Then what else do you want me to do? What exactly must I do so you won’t leave me?”
Hearing Iserin’s gentle words—prayers so gentle they bordered on humble—Mowan’s eyes filled with tears.
It wasn’t like this.
The love she wanted wasn’t in this form.
The more Iserin remained as she always was—still using any means necessary to make her stay—the more Mowan felt Iserin’s coldness.
It was a coldness so ruthless it could even twist its own heart.
Everything, absolutely everything, was for the ultimate goal of keeping Mowan by Iserin’s side.
As long as she could achieve that goal, Iserin was willing to pay any price.
She could even treat herself as an object to trade with Mowan.
“Sister Selin… why must you be like this? You make my heart ache so much.”
“Then open the door, okay? Let me look at you. Let me wipe away your tears.”
“So, is even your concern for your sister, or your longing for the warmth of home, also a lie?”
“It wasn’t a lie. I was indeed very happy being with you, and you did give me the warmth of a home.”
Mowan raised her hand to wipe her tears.
She reminisced about every little detail of her time with Iserin.
She realized that Iserin truly wasn’t lying this time.
Iserin sincerely enjoyed the time spent with her.
Why? Because that rare happiness did not conflict with Iserin’s ultimate goal; it even overlapped with it and was beneficial for achieving it.
But it was precisely this distorted affection that made Mowan’s heart ache even more.
“I won’t force you to like me, Sister Selin. But I also hope that if one day we must go our separate ways, you can accept my departure.”
“Don’t leave. I am willing to do anything for you. If you don’t want war, I will delay it for you. As long as you are unhappy or see something you don’t like, I won’t let it happen.”
“Can it not be stopped entirely?”
“Mowan, please forgive my insignificance. This is all I can do.”
Iserin leaned her forehead against the door, trying to get closer to Mowan.
“I am not the omnipotent Sister Selin you think I am.”
Mowan heard the loneliness in Iserin’s words—the unwilling but necessary admission of fact.
The image of the perfect Saintess who could create a Miracle collapsed within Mowan’s heart.
Strangely, she did not resent Iserin for it.
Instead, she felt that Iserin seemed more like a real person.
The fact that Iserin still had emotions meant she could still be changed.
“Sister Selin, do you know why the Utopia is still sought after even if it’s impossible?”
“Because it is beautiful.”
“Yes. That Utopia, which only exists in fantasy, would certainly be a dreamland where everyone is happy. But it’s more than that. The idealists who yearn for that Utopia and throw themselves into the cause one after another are also beautiful.”
Iserin did not answer Mowan.
With her back against the door, Mowan knew Iserin was listening patiently to her confession.
She felt as if Iserin’s warmth was seeping through the thin wooden door and into her skin.
“Since I was a child, I have loved those who strive for their ideals. Even though I am also insignificant, I still long to become like them. Although I made a mess of things later, I have always believed that there is nothing wrong with the ideal. The fault lies with me—with me for not being smart enough, and for not knowing how to integrate ideals with reality.”
“Sister Selin, you really are so much smarter than me. You know far more than I do. You must also know how to maximize the interests of Humans. But in your eyes, that certainly doesn’t count as a miracle.”
“I like the version of you who is willing to create a miracle. I also feel… if you were truly willing to do it, a miracle would surely bloom at the end of your path.”
“Croll was taught by you. She grew up under the ideas you granted her. She became a… Romance Princess. Even if she gets scared when facing difficulties, and even if her hands shake, I still see her own ideals within her. But what about yourself? Sister Selin, can you still find yourself?”
Mowan knew her words might even seem laughably naive when combined with her own experiences.
But she still hoped that Iserin could change even a little bit because of what she said.
Even if it was just a tiny bit—even just a sliver of hesitation—it would surely be a crack sufficient to shake the entire iceberg.