Chapter 6

The Burden of Memory

He screamed. He raged. He grieved. With each repeated life, he grew numb.

The comrades he once laughed with began to fade, no longer companions, but background noise.

He no longer felt vengeance even for the enemies who had once plunged him into despair. He no longer felt guilt no matter who or what he cut down.

Because he never learned how to stop.

He repeated thousands of deaths and failures, all to protect just one person.

When he died, he started again.

When he fell, he stood up once more.

All for a single outcome.

A future where Odely Cardel lived.

Odely watched his endlessly repeating lives.

"Please.. Stop… Please…”

All his memories surged over Odely like a tidal wave. It was an overwhelming storm of memories, impossible to bear for a human. Even though she was clearly witnessing his memories, the sheer volume of information meant she couldn't understand most of it. She was simply left speechless and overwhelmed by one truth.

The man who lived for her, who died for her. The man who, at the beginning and end of every timeline, looked only at her.

Hundreds of failures. Thousands of deaths. He died again and again, rose and fought anew, and never stopped, even after losing everything. Repeat, repeat, and repeat, always repeat.

The Regression gem shrank with each cycle. Yet he never once removed the ring from his finger, despite countless regressions.

Her heart felt so constricted it could barely beat, and her vision slowly darkened. Love, hatred, pity, devotion, regret, rage, madness. Each emotion ripped through Odely’s soul like glass.

"Stop!"

Odely unconsciously reached out. Towards him, pulling out his sword once more in an endless stream of memories.

"Stop it now, please…"

She knew the time had passed. She knew better than anyone that he was no longer in this world.

"You've done enough. I'm okay. I'm fine. Why… why did you go to such lengths for me…”

But before Odely’s outstretched hand could reach him, Ludeville died.

He was finally, truly dead.

Having saved Odely, he fell into eternal rest.

A New Chance

She had thought it strange. Right before the divorce, her body had grown increasingly frail, to the point where she was simply waiting for her death. But suddenly, she recovered. She seemed alive again. Enough to even work as a healer in the new village she settled in. She thought a miracle had occurred.

But, in truth…

"It was the miracle you created."

He accomplished what even a god could not, in a human body. She squeezed her eyes shut, clutching the ring tightly. The blue light emanating from the Regression Gem was now faint, as if it would soon extinguish, signaling the end of Ludeville Ecsepsion's memories, or rather, his life.

"…"

Odely subconsciously made a wish. If there was a next life, if such a thing truly existed, she hoped he would live only for himself.

"…Don't get entangled with someone like me."

“Please… Just be happy.”

At that moment, the ring on her finger exploded with light. And then…

Crack—

The Regression Gem shattered. Its fragments scattered like stars across the air.

"…!"

The fragments of blue light adorned the air like a galaxy. In an instant, those lights surged towards Odely. Simultaneously, everything changed in a whirlwind. Light spread, sounds distorted, and time reversed.

And then, only darkness was in sight.

"Haaangh!""

The next moment, Odely gasped for breath on the damp floor and opened her eyes.

'Where… Am I…?'

Moist stone walls. The rough, cold stone floor beneath her knees. She was in the secret underground of House Cardel.

"Cough…!"

Her stomach violently twisted. Something climbed up her esophagus. Blood. Hot, sticky, and metallic-tasting, it filled her mouth. Red blood trickled from between her lips, staining the hem of her white dress. It was a familiar pain.

Suddenly, the ground trembled faintly. Soon after, deafening explosions, like fireworks, erupted one after another, and cheers and shouts echoed from afar.

"Long live the Cardel family!"

"Glory to the escendants of the dragon, blood of heroes!"

"Glory to the Luminaire Empire!"

The same annual celebration.

"I've returned."

To that day, six years ago, when Ludeville Ecsepsion had sought her out and proposed a contract marriage. Odely Cardel gasped for breath, looking down briefly at the ring loosely fitted on her thumb. The ring that had accompanied him for so long since the Regression Gem was embedded. Within it, the gem, barely maintaining its form, had completely vanished, leaving no trace of dust.

It had given Odely one last chance.

"…Why?"

She had clearly wished for him to be happy, not entangled with someone like her… What cruel twist of fate brought her back to this specific point in time?

Click—

Then, she heard the sound of a lock turning. Odely unconsciously pushed herself halfway up.

“You look better than I thought. I should’ve reinforced the barrier more."

Had she unconsciously held onto some expectation? The moment she saw who it was, her gaze instantly turned cold.

It was Gawin Cardel.

Gawin Cardel, the Cardel family's eldest son and official heir. He was her brother, born of the same blood, yet 'luckily' born without any abilities. Thanks to that ‘luck’, he was called the Divine Emissary and became a hero representing the empire. Odely's precious blood was merely a stepping stone for his glory.

"Don't think you can rest now that the ritual is over. This is just the beginning. There's a mountain of things you need to purify."

Odely barely registered his words, her gaze fixed on the door, all her attention focused on Ludeville.

Then Gawin Cardel scoffed, a sneer twisting his lips.

"Why? Do you think someone's coming to save you?"

“Don’t be selfish. If you suffer, the Empire lives. That's the heavy responsibility a Purifier is born with."

Gawin Cardel slowly walked, surveying the room thick with the smell of blood. His tone was incredibly calm, but icy and cruel.

"If you're not planning to betray the sacrifices of dozens of ancestors who dedicated their lives for the family, for the empire… then abandon your foolish notions."

"The moment the Purifier fails their role, this empire, you, nothing will be left."

At his words, Odely let out a blatant scoff.

Gawin Cardel's face instantly froze.

"What's so funny?"

She had once believed it, the mission the Cardels spoke of, the fate of the Purifier. But not anymore. Now, she possessed both her 'pre-regression memories' and 'Ludeville Ecsepsion's memories.' There was no way she couldn't know that they were glorifying sacrifice and packaging obedience as duty.

"The empire will fall without me?"

"Yes, that's why—”

"Then it sounds like the ‘great hero’ can’t do anything without me."

"It seems you're admitting you have no abilities yourself."

Sparks flew from Gawin Cardel's eyes. Displeasure, shock, and wounded pride mixed together, blazing fiercely.

"How dare you."

He gritted his teeth, glaring at Odely Cardel.

"How dare you mock me with that filthy mouth?"

His heavy footsteps echoed on the floor. He stopped right in front of her, whispering in a low, snake-like voice.

"Don't delude yourself. You’re nothing. I’m the heir. You’re a tool.”

He grabbed Odely firmly by the collar and lifted her.

"Someone like you, if we kill and bury you, it's over. Then the next generation's Purifier will be born. Just as it's always been… What do you think that means?"

He twisted the corners of his mouth into an arrogant, sharp sneer, one that only someone who knew no defeat could make.

"It means the gods are always on my side."

Odely suddenly had a thought. She had lost her life, had her lifespan stolen, had even her basic human rights violated. Yet, even after losing everything, she had never once sought revenge on them.

'…So this is it.'

Finally, a single opportunity had come for her to break free from the shackles of the past and make her own choice. She slowly tilted her head and quietly retorted, "Oh really? Then prove it."