‘I’m not that woman. I’m not such a filthy and corrupted soul. I don’t want to end up like that even if I die here!’

The sense of guilt that she, as her current self, had to endure, entangled with the weariness of the soul, eventually led Ermeldine to make a dangerous choice.

Quietly leaving the temple was not a difficult task.

Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was asleep, when she quietly approached the door, strangely, the main gate was open.

‘Is this also the work of spies?’

As she stepped outside, the characteristic clean and crisp mountain wind blew, sending shivers down her spine.

On the way out, writing a will.

Part of the property was left to Ferdant, the remaining part to the maids, and the entire remaining estate to Pheleo and the maids.

‘At least the orphanage and sewage construction can be completed.’

Thanks to the bright moon, she arrived at the agreed-upon location without wandering. There, a small, slender girl with a face resembling Helen’s awaited her.

Ermeldine noticed the sensation of magic around her but paid no attention, heading straight for the girl. Instinctively, she felt that this level of magic couldn’t harm her.

As she approached, the blue eyes, which must have been clear until recently, were now bursting with tremendous hatred.

The girl didn’t say anything, but Ermeldine could understand what resentment was contained in those eyes.

Not only did her sister die because of the wicked empress, but her mother and she were also kidnapped.

For a few months after being kidnapped, Ermeldine thought they should be found, and she did ask Pheleo to hire someone to find them, but that was all. There was never a desperate effort to inquire about their whereabouts.

Ermeldine felt that Ermont, who had taken Ferdant, might have kidnapped them as a precautionary measure, but she never thought beyond that.

Ermeldine believed that she deserved all the girl’s hatred and anger.

‘On this topic. Only on such a human topic.’

A bitter, ironic laugh escaped.

At Arbion’s words, at the mention that her soul was white, she had wept with joy as if she had received salvation. Now, she found herself ridiculous.

“As you said, I came alone. What you want is me, right? Release this girl and her mother if you want. Let them go.”

Ermeldine shouted loudly towards Ermont, who must be watching somewhere around.

“Coming here alone is quite unrealistic, but do I have to do as you say obediently? If you really want to save this child, shouldn’t you push her out yourself?”

One step closer, towards the curse magic circle.
Every peripheral nerve in her body is sending signals, telling her not to approach her any longer.

Uttering words that she has done enough even with the faint remaining reason, she is urging her to turn back.

Upon returning, she was tempting Ermont with reinforcements to firmly capture her.

A gasp.

At that moment, the girl standing in the center of the magic circle couldn’t endure the magical power and bled.

She knew well that coming out alone on this dangerous path wasn’t just a threat from Ermont.

Even if she hadn’t come out here, even if she had come with someone from the temple, due to internal spies, the girl would have already died.

Returning now would be the same.

‘Anyway, I can’t avoid it.’

She might die.

Living as a kind empress, begging people to live, wanting to avoid execution, she didn’t want to live like this.

She wanted a completely new life, not just avoiding death.

However, she wasn’t sure if the future she had built up in this way would become the new life she desired.

She didn’t know if she could casually smile in front of Ferdant, who had barely escaped the hands of those dreadful humans.

It wasn’t just Ermeldine’s past that didn’t let her go.

Her past as Yun Hye-young, which she had ignored so far, was also painful and heavy.

‘Kind? Me?’

Saving Luni from her father for the first time, crying together with a woman who cried on the street after the miscarriage, doing a small favor for Helen, who was still inexperienced, showing mercy to a boy who stabbed himself—none of these were kind acts.

Even though she had become an adult and a considerable amount of time had passed, her life as an orphan who still wasn’t let go continued.

Especially during the time when she stood alone.

Unable to receive protection from anyone, she had to endure it alone no matter how painful, tried to find the cause of her misfortune from others, and couldn’t familiarize herself with anything despite her efforts during that time.

And when she finally adapted to that sense of deprivation, estrangement came during the miscarriage.

Ermeldine realized.

It wasn’t because she was kind.

It was just that facing her past was too painful.

Hanging onto her own mistakes, neglecting her soul’s past.

Not properly caring for those who really deserved her attention because of those mistakes.

To correct those mistakes, Ermeldine, with a determined face, took a step into the magic circle.

At that moment.

Ermeldine, who suddenly kept her distance from herself, felt upset.

Felio, who was wandering in front of her lodgings, saw Ermeldine secretly leaving the temple through the window.

‘Where is she going at this hour?’

Worried that she might miss her, Felio hurriedly crossed the corridor.

After running for a few seconds, the main gate of the temple began to appear.

“Ugh!”

However, Felio was dragged into a corner by a hand that suddenly emerged from the darkness.

“Be quiet. Do you want to be caught?”

“Caught? We need to inform the Empress right now…”

“Lower your voice. I know too. But we can’t go out this way. There’s a spy. If they find out that we followed, it could endanger the Empress.”

“So what? If we don’t follow her quickly, we might lose her.”

Felio, who was sweating cold all over his body, thinking that Ermeldine might encounter something in the dark forest, did not notice that Arbion and he were speaking informally.

“I can find her. Especially in such a dark and quiet place, I can find her quickly. So follow quietly.”

Felio, reassuring himself that the priest wouldn’t lie, secretly followed Arbion.

When they came out of the narrow passage that seemed to be a secret passage, the main gate of the temple appeared a little behind.

“How can we chase her? Can you really find her?”
“How are we going to chase her? Can you really find her?”

In response to Felio’s question, Arbion unexpectedly began to climb a nearby tree.

Felio couldn’t quite understand Arbion’s sudden actions.

“Well, what are you doing? Right now? What can you see in the forest by doing that…”

However, soon a cheerful voice came from the tree.

“I found her!”