“…Yumo.” Swoosh! Startled by the sudden gust of wind, Lysilia’s body jerked, causing the water in the bathtub to overflow. Lysilia, who had been deeply immersed in the water, hurriedly raised her body.

“Yumo was here.” She called that person Yumo. Not a dream guide but Yumo.

“Yumo… was in the temple? Then,” How could someone other than a priest live in the temple?

“No, it’s the same for me.” She was a child, barely able to speak at that time. Holding a child who couldn’t even pronounce her name properly, Yumo taught her the letters.

[Dash] You have to learn even if it’s difficult. There might not be anyone to teach you letters when I’m gone.
As far as Lysilia remembers, she was a prophet. It had been that way since she was very young.

“But how did I become a prophet?”

Closing her eyes, Lysilia tried to recall her memories. However, no matter how hard she tried, the starting point of her memory was the windowless room known as the prophet’s room.

She was very young, and being left alone in the dark room was always frightening. So, when someone left her alone for a moment, she earnestly longed for their return. So when that person came back…

“…Yumo.”

Swoosh!

Startled by the sudden gust of wind, Lysilia’s body jerked, causing the water in the bathtub to overflow. Lysilia, who had been deeply immersed in the water, hurriedly raised her body.

“Yumo was here.”

She called that person Yumo. Not a dream guide but Yumo.

“Yumo… was in the temple? Then,”

How could someone other than a priest live in the temple?

“No, it’s the same for me.”

She was a child, barely able to speak at that time. Holding a child who couldn’t even pronounce her name properly, Yumo taught her the letters.

[Dash] You have to learn even if it’s difficult. There might not be anyone to teach you letters when I’m gone.

Yumo’s voice echoed in her mind.

[Dash] It’s not just about letters. I won’t teach you how to eat or walk properly. You have to learn all by yourself. To do that, you need to know letters.

The more Lysilia groped through her memories, the paler her complexion became. It was a nonsensical story. Why would a child live in the temple? When Yumo was present, she wasn’t a prophet. It was natural. A child who couldn’t speak properly couldn’t make prophecies. Yumo wasn’t a dream guide either. If she were, Lysilia wouldn’t have called her Yumo.

“One day, Yumo disappeared. …Yes. And from then on, it seems like I started having dreams.”

She had dreams and told someone about it. She recalled the high priest poking her here and there with a bewildered expression.

Since then, Lysilia became a prophet. It wasn’t that she had lived in the temple from the beginning because she was a prophet.

“Then, doesn’t the prophet’s room also not make sense?”

There were no windows, no mirrors. The room was always dark. There was no bathroom or bathtub.

The high priest insisted that it was because prophets shouldn’t be misled by what they see.

“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s because I was in the prophet’s room even before becoming a prophet.”

She was trapped.

Unaware that she was confined.

One day, Yumo disappeared without knowing the reason.

What Yumo said was right in some aspects and wrong in others.

After becoming a prophet, the priests began to teach Lysilia various things.

It was knowledge about the overall history and geography of the continent, the political situation of each country, and information about the lineage of the Delarta royal family and noble families. They said it was necessary knowledge to make prophecies.
However, as Yumo said, they didn’t teach basic things like how to handle tableware, bathe, care for long hair, or recover when the body is in pain.

Lysilia’s life was entrusted to the dream guides. She ate the meals brought by them and wore the clothes they provided.

The meals were meager, and the clothes were shabby. And in the dark room, she always felt sleepy. In one corner of the room, the dream guides had placed incense. Smoke lingered in the room.

At that time, she didn’t find anything strange. It was something she only realized later on.

“What happened… where did I come from?”

As Lysilia pursued answers beyond her memory, her expression twisted.

Swoosh.

A small whirlpool formed in the bathtub, creating ripples in the soapy water.

“…!”

Startled, Lysilia quickly sat up.

The swirling whirlpool, as if about to swallow all the water, however, remained in that state. Not a drop of water spilled from the bathtub. It seemed like that space was neatly cut off and transformed into a different dimension.

From within the intensely violet whirlpool, a voice echoed.

[Dash] Do you want to know?

“….”

Her throat tightened.

She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t.

Lysilia stared at the whirlpool as if being sucked in.

[Dash] I’ll tell you. Where you came from.

Who you are.

Start with that. Why are you saying such things? What makes you say that? Can you say such things?

[Dash] You emerged from the most despicable and vile selfishness of a human.

What…?

[Dash] You coveted what should not be taken with a human body. And with the meager power of that pathetic magic, you are hiding it.

What are you talking about?

What did I covet?

[Dash] A heavy price will soon follow that greed.

What price?

[Dash] You can’t have him. Once awakened from the power you sought, freed from the constraints you placed, he will bring your end.

Who is he? What constraints are you talking about?

What greed did I harbor?

[Dash] At that time, I will take your body. I will bury you in the eternal darkness where you can never set foot on the surface again. I will make sure even a god cannot resurrect you.

What are you talking about? Who are you? How can you do such a thing?

“….can do!”

Lysilia resisted the words that penetrated her mind. She struggled to push them away, and eventually, her voice came out.

Thud! Splash!

As Lysilia shouted, the whirlpool disappeared.

“Ha, ha…”

Lysilia clutched her chest and took a deep breath.

Her hands were shaking. There were no injuries, but the feeling was terribly dreadful. It felt like she had just stepped out of the eternal darkness that the whirlpool had spoken of.

“What is this… the end?”

Ignoring the pain that seemed to tear her throat apart, Lysilia muttered.

At that moment, something suddenly came to her mind.
[Dash] If this is love, I don’t need it.

It was a cold, unfeeling gaze directed at their dying self.

It was their own demise shown to them by the gods.