I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 34
The next day, I visited the Papal Headquarters, which loomed massive on the western side of the Capital.
When I announced at Diego’s office that I would find Flora, the young countess, Hernán asked me this.
“Do you even know where she is?”
I answered him.
“The Papal Headquarters. Probably.”
From the Background Investigation I’d conducted when I first met René, I knew that Flora, the young countess, attended the Papal Headquarters almost every weekend.
‘During the week, she must attend the Public School.’
I’d heard she’d been away from the Flora Territory for a while now, living in the dormitories at the Capital’s school.
‘The only real variable is that it’s currently the Public School’s holiday break.’
According to my Background Investigation, Flora, the young countess, returned to the estate mansion during breaks.
Gripped by the anxiety that perhaps she’d gone back this time after all, I asked Hernán for his help as well.
“Just in case, could you look into it too? Find out where Flora, the young countess, is right now.”
I’d sent people out to search for her whereabouts myself, but I couldn’t possibly sit still until the results were in my hands.
That’s why I’d come to the Papal Headquarters so suddenly.
‘I really am hopeless, aren’t I?’
Every time something like this happened, I recalled how Sanna used to air her grievances to the steward about my recklessness and impulsiveness.
“Fidellia didn’t used to be like this, but ever since that girl caught her fancy, she’s gone a bit mad.”
“…….”
Stop remembering that.
In any case.
The materials I’d gathered during the Background Investigation included a photograph of Flora, the young countess, so I had no trouble recognizing her.
The Papal Headquarters, which anyone could visit freely, was crowded yet quiet and serene in atmosphere. It was so expansive that I thought I could poke around here and there without drawing attention.
‘Well then, shall we try to find this illustrious young lady?’
I entered the main building of the Papal Headquarters.
‘Let me start with the main prayer hall.’
And so I wandered through every corner of the Papal Headquarters.
But had I underestimated the Papal Headquarters?
As I roamed the main building, I came across a directory that listed the size of the Papal Headquarters grounds.
[50 hectares]
Let me calculate.
One hectare equals 10,000 square meters.
That is,
50 hectares = 500,000 square meters
= roughly seventy soccer fields in area.
There was no way finding a person I wasn’t even sure was here in a space that vast would be easy.
Before I knew it, I had reached the deepest part of the Papal Headquarters open to general visitors.
The Hall of Holy Pneuma.
Its innermost chamber.
The ceiling there was domed, and its height was vertiginously high. Half the walls were made of glass, and the space contained no sculptures or fixtures of any kind.
Empty as it was, the place felt dark and desolate.
‘Looks like a place where ghosts would appear.’
The only thing worth looking at was the massive painting at the front.
A frame hung high on the wall, following the height of the high ceiling.
Inside it was held an abstract painting whose subject I couldn’t discern.
From the perspective of my past life, it would be natural for a place like this to display a painting by a Renaissance master like Michelangelo.
But this was a world within a book where the Divine Being actually existed, and it differed from my past life in many ways.
‘That’s a painting of the Divine Being.’
The colors resembled those of the Renaissance, but the form was abstract to the point where you couldn’t even say it ‘had a shape’—shapeless and without form.
‘In my past life, the Divine Being was usually depicted in human form.’
Why was it like this in this world?
It wasn’t Cthulhu, but what was that supposed to be?
‘Could that actually be… tentacles?’
Good heavens.
That was when it happened.
—You look quite worried.
Flinch.
A voice came from somewhere.
‘What?’
I spun around reflexively.
“…….”
But there was no one.
I looked ahead again, but still—no one. All that stood before me was the image of the Divine Being.
A voice of unknown origin echoing in this empty space where I stood alone.
This cavern-vast expanse, so deep and broad it thrummed with sound, seemed to emanate from somewhere……
—My creation.
It was sacred.
“……Who are you?”
—Me?
—I am the source of this world.
“……The source?”
—This world was born from my existence. I am this world, and this world is me.
“Wait, just a moment.”
I furrowed my brow.
So that meant—
“……Are you the Creator?”
—Some call me that. They bestowed upon me a proper title. The Divine Being, was it?
“…….”
‘Is this real?’
A scam?
Did one simply meet the Divine Being so easily?
—Don’t worry! This isn’t a hoax.
I flinched.
‘……Can you read my thoughts?’
—I am all-knowing. I do not lie.
The sacred voice carried both lightness and tenderness.
My grip on reality slipped further away.
But before that—
‘……God was alive?’
Of course, I had known of the Divine Being’s existence.
In this world, the Divine Being surely existed. Countless signs attested to it.
But lately, there had been no word of whether the Divine Being lived or had died.
The sacred voice laughed warmly.
—I should have taken out three spoonfuls of doubt when I shaped you. Pity I cannot turn back time.
‘How can you say such things after reincarnating someone?’
—Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question.
It wasn’t a question I’d truly expected an answer to anyway.
—Ask me something else instead. I will answer within what Causality permits.
Well then, there was something I’d been meaning to ask.
What had puzzled me since yesterday.
The question that had cost me sleep.
“Why haven’t I thought to cure Hernán’s incurable disease until now?”
It had been over twenty years since I was reborn.
Moreover, I was the sort of person who had taught myself pharmacy—a discipline I had no natural gift for—to heal my own affliction.
‘Yet I never thought to save Hernán?’
And I’d only realized this recently.
It made no sense.
—So that’s what bothered you.
—Very well. I can speak the truth of it now, so hear me.
The sacred voice answered clearly.
—That, too, was a matter of Causality.
—Had you sought to save him earlier, many things would have changed……. Yes, even Destiny itself.
—But altering Destiny requires a tremendous weight of Causality. So what choice was there? I had to keep you from perceiving it.
‘Wait, hold on.’
—Hmm?
“But Destiny has already changed.”
—It hasn’t.
“……??”
The original story was twisted.
—No.
My mind hit a wall.
Before I could even think, it happened.
Clap!
The sound of hands coming together echoed through me.
—There. That’s all I can tell you.
‘Hands? What hands?’
My thoughts scattered.
—But as a bonus—one plus one service, as it were—I’ll reveal one more hidden truth.
The Divine Being’s voice pressed on, indifferent to whether I was listening or lost.
—Aren’t you curious who Kiara’s parents are?
“…….”
Just like that?
—I bring it up because it pains me. They’re close by you, yet you don’t recognize them.
……Close by me?
So that means Kiara’s biological parents are somewhere within my circle?
The room tilted.
I couldn’t even begin to guess who.
What I really wondered was why the Divine Being suddenly brought this up.
Why this unexpected kindness.
—It’s one of the worries you’ve been putting off, after all.
“…….”
—René’s biological father troubles you like this, yet you have no guarantee her mother won’t appear and do worse. You’ve thought about that, haven’t you?
—But with just René’s situation already threatening to split your skull, you couldn’t afford to worry about that too. Isn’t that right?
“…….”
I wouldn’t deny it.
—You believe that deception grows heavier in guilt as time passes. Similarly, truths that remain hidden for long will bring ever greater confusion. You know this.
—So why not take your beating early? You won’t regret hearing it.
The temptation reminded me of the serpent in Eden.
Yet you are God.
—There’s no time. Will you hear the truth, Fidellia?
“…….”
My choice was already made.
* * *
—Think. Among those around you, who bears Kiara’s coloring?
The moment those words reached me, a single face rose in my mind.
There was no confusion. Only one person in my circle possessed such radiant, distinctive hues.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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