“I couldn’t do that. I tried to protect someone with a desperate heart, regretting the past. But those I made die because of my stupidity at that time… they don’t come back. The children who died just because they were associated with me, the children who died just because I protected them.”

For a moment, he seemed strangely similar to me. My hands trembled.

He, too, had experienced loss. He wanted to protect but couldn’t.

“Merkin was right.”

“Yes?”

“You and I are terribly alike. I also have things I couldn’t protect. What I did for Shasha… it’s just paying off the guilt for the existence I couldn’t protect in the past.”

Someone who terribly resembled, someone who carries the sorrow and pain of not being able to protect someone.

My heart leaned toward him.

“So… was it because of that guilt that you wandered around for 50 years? After escaping Rediak’s grasp, did you wander aimlessly for that reason?”

“I was abandoned in an orphanage when I was young. The orphanage kids were everything to me. But they all died. I spent those years finding all the dead children and burying them in a proper place, taking care of the descendants of the surviving children. And… I kept watching over Rediak’s descendants too.”

“Ah.”

“I hated it. It was so hateful that it was almost insane. But the child did nothing wrong.”

“Rather, a child who was born without receiving love from parents. The mother died right after giving birth…”

“Yes. So I brought the child to a place where they could be protected. That was all I could do.”

It must have been intensely hated, intensely disliked. Even though the child did nothing wrong… it must have been difficult to bear that hatred. He seemed so pitiful.

“Anyway, I couldn’t use any power over the orphanage, then or now.”

“Yes?”

“So I didn’t know whether the children were being exploited this time either. I was a bit tired of living in this world, so I didn’t care about anything. But this time, the children were exploited again. I didn’t know anything. If it wasn’t for you… That’s why I became curious about you. So I recognized what you said and wanted to see you a little more by adding the word ‘wish.'”

For a moment, my heart pounded. It was strange. The words he spit out suddenly were enough to shake my heart.

And he and I were so similar.

‘As if attracted because of the resemblance.’
I silently watched him. Somehow, his affectionate eyes seemed to melt, looking at me.

“I was curious about you, who, despite having strong power, managed to uncover their sins with determination, unlike me who couldn’t do anything, who had nothing. I was drawn to you.”

His gaze was so warm.

His gaze was so familiar.

When I thought of Leandro, it resembled the look in my eyes reflected in the mirror.

The gaze that represented my unrequited love, the gaze that those in love with each other could recognize.

It was burdensome. He was such a kind and good person, and someone I cared about so much, but knowing that I couldn’t give any answer, I had to quickly change the topic.

“I see. By the way, Sehelus, you mentioned earlier that you couldn’t use any power over the orphanage. What does that mean?”

“It’s a well-known fact that the orphanage children were massacred because of me in the past. Moreover, since it was not properly clarified whether I was involved in that incident or not, the temple considered me a potential threat and blocked any connection between me and the orphanage. That’s the second reason.”

“Yes?”

“The bad relationship between me and High Priest Karithos.”

I opened my mouth in shock.

“No, that’s… That’s too much. All of that… In the end, you did nothing wrong, so why…?”

“Since the orphanage is ultimately managed by the temple.”

“Even though you wanted to protect the children… Did you talk about that?”

“There is no evidence left for that. Even if there were evidence, ultimately, the orphanage children had to die because of their association with me… So, in the end, I became a potential threat.”

This doesn’t make sense…

“In fact, because of that, I fought several times. ‘What do you know? A kid who doesn’t know anything is making a fuss.’ But High Priest Karithos seemed to have trauma about being called young. So our relationship got worse.”

So Karithos knew about him. Now, I somewhat understand the relationship between them.

“But on a day like this, on such a good day, I happened to see that brat again.”

“Yes?”

Sehelus gestured somewhere. Somehow, in that place, the enthusiastic High Priest Karithos was coming towards us as if the inside of his head was a flower garden.

“Why did the author…”

Surprised, I stood up from my seat, and Sehelus also stood up. Then, he gently held my hand.

“Anyway, now that we’ve found out, we have to keep the promise.”

A warm sensation, and soon that warmth disappeared. After the warmth disappeared, there was a black gemstone-studded ring on my finger.

“This is…”

“Whenever you want to make a wish, touch it and call me. I’ll run to you from anywhere.”

I wanted to say something like, “Are you a magic lamp granting wishes?” but his whispered voice in my ear was so affectionate that it almost tickled. It felt like my heart was tingling.

Embarrassment flushed my cheeks.