She looked around with wondrous eyes.

It felt like a moment she had always dreamed of, realizing that there was the same ‘power’ dormant within her as in others.

She gazed at the clusters of light with tears of joy.

At this moment, whether it was mana or magic power, it didn’t matter; she was just happy.

“Do you also see this light, my lord?”

Adele whispered cautiously. Valentin nodded slightly, catching her glance from the corner of his eye.

“I see.”

“I thought I might be mistaken or losing my mind. It could be one of the two.”

“There’s no way.”

Adele burst into laughter.

“Oh, Valentin. This is just too…”

Wanting to share this overwhelming emotion, as she faced him directly, she realized that she might be having a major misconception.

Valentin, expressionless, gazed down at her in the swirling blue light.

His expression even seemed a bit sorrowful, confusingly so.

“…”

He seemed like a completely different person from when he gently awakened her magic power.

As Adele hesitated, he reflexively moved his lips to make a smiling gesture.

“Come.”

He slowly let her go from his embrace.

As soon as Valentin released his hand, the light that filled the room instantly faded away.

Adele, staggering, checked her palm, which had felt burning hot a moment ago, but there were no traces of burns, not even signs of something touching it.

As if everything that happened a moment ago had occurred in a dream, there was no sense of reality.

“How was it?”

While Adele seemed dazed, Valentin, now wearing a flexible smile, asked. She carefully chose her words.

“It was an amazing experience. It was fascinating.”

“For now, I’ve only awakened a bit of your power. It’s up to Adele to feel it again… It’s your homework.”

“Is this really my power?”

“Not entirely, but yes. It’s my power mixed in, but clearly, it’s the power that Adele can handle.”

He nodded affirmatively. Adele’s eyes became hazy, revisiting the magical light that had enchanted the room just a while ago. Watching her silently, Valentin suddenly added, as if remembering something.

“If Adele becomes proficient enough to harness this level of power into the gem, Moriig could… be killed.”

It felt as if someone had punctured her inflated heart a moment ago.

In an instant, the feeling of being thrust into a cruel reality overwhelmed her. Adele, with confusion in her emerald green eyes, blinked.

“What did you say?”

“Moriig. Ironically, the god humans believe in.”

At Valentin’s assertion, Adele’s expression turned ashen in a split second. Just calling the most sacred being like a neighbor was an issue, not to mention killing that divine entity. Just hearing about it felt like committing an unforgivable sin.
“How…?”

If anyone were to hear, it was a dreadful remark that would immediately lead her to the inquisitor’s chamber with no room for excuses.

Only now did she realize that the power embedded in her body was the power of demons.

Until just a moment ago, she was thrilled as if confirming some potential, but now it felt like an extremely peculiar and impure monster was coiled up and sleeping inside her.

Adele shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“I don’t want to do such things! Harming anyone, even a god, or committing such blasphemous acts…”

“Calm down, Adele. You seem quite surprised.”

“Of course, I’m surprised! How can you speak such disrespectful words about a god?”

Valentin, who had been silently observing the nervous Adele, raised his lips diagonally.

His eyes weren’t smiling at all, especially not on this serious topic; he smiled with his mouth, and that was all.

“It’s strange.”

“…”

“Moriig isn’t human, so Adele has no reason to feel guilty or accountable. Even if you were to rip him apart, tear his miserable body to shreds, and throw it to the wolves, snakes, and spiders.”

“Please, stop saying such things. What if someone hears? What are you trying to do?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to understand the way humans think. Especially people like Adele, who are innocent.”

“What do you mean?”

He grabbed her chin. In the deep golden eyes, an inexplicable fire seemed to gather. He whispered affectionately.

“You wanted power. So I awakened the dormant power. Why get angry now?”

Adele, utterly bewildered, stared at him with tearful eyes.

It’s hard to say who finds whom hard to understand.

Just being slightly below average was enough to be difficult to accept among ordinary people, and now she had awakened the power of demons.

At this point, there was little difference between deliberately attracting rejection from the whole world and the fate she was avoiding.

‘At least it’s fortunate to be rejected. If caught by the inquisitors, it would be an immediate execution.’

If that were the case, it would have been better not to know that such power was dormant within her.

It would have been better to die before harboring such lingering feelings, before experiencing love or trust between people.

With a faintly resolute face, Adele placed the dagger on the table.

“I don’t need this power.”

“But Adele, you always wanted power.”