Night.
On a plain several kilometers away from the Great Pit, a massive, sturdy tower stood tall, its presence heavy and imposing under the night sky.
Needless to say, this was the temporary residence Riezel had created using Create Fortress.
Riezel’s group had already moved in and was taking a break here for the time being.
As for what happened at the Great Pit, during the day, Aesc had told Riezel that she would handle the explanation to Totorot and Black Knight, so he did not need to worry about it.
With that, the matter of the Great Pit came to an end for Riezel before he picked a room, went inside, and took a nap to adjust his condition.
Even though the curse in the Great Pit had not left any lingering effects on Riezel, it had already begun to affect the real world and had become capable of physical attacks. He had dived straight into that sea of curses, so his body and mind were inevitably affected and needed time to recover.
Because of that, after returning to his room, Riezel rested and used several types of magic to treat himself, including but not limited to healing magic.
He rested like that for a long time, and only after night had fallen did he wake up again, step out of his room, and enter the hall.
At this moment, it seemed Totorot and Black Knight had already gone to sleep.
Riezel thought he would be the only one awake at this hour, but he soon discovered there was already someone in the hall.
"You’re awake?"
Aesc, standing by the window and gazing at the starry sky outside, turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and greeted Riezel.
At this moment, Aesc was without her staff and had removed all her equipment, appearing in a rare state of complete defenselessness, which even surprised Riezel a little.
For the past half month, Aesc had never removed her equipment, not even when sleeping, so this was the first time Riezel had seen her so unguarded.
Regardless, Riezel quickly regained his composure and nodded at Aesc.
"You’re not going to rest?"
"Something like that." Aesc did not deny it. "My thoughts are a bit of a mess... I need to sort them out."
"It’s about the Great Pit, right?" Riezel walked over to Aesc’s side and gazed out the window at the night sky with her. "You’re really concerned about it?"
"...How could I not be?" Aesc sighed softly. "If it wakes up, Britain will be finished."
Not to mention anything else—just the terrifying curse that could even contaminate the planet itself—if it were to break free from the Great Pit and spread across Britain, this island would be doomed.
It was precisely for that reason that Aesc was so deeply worried.
Unfortunately, Riezel could not understand.
"You saw it, didn’t you? You saw the ancient memories passed from the other side of the curse."
Riezel spoke calmly.
Obviously, he had seen them too—those memories.
"..."
Aesc did not deny it, nor did she admit it, but her face was shrouded in gloom.
"Since you saw it, then you should know that the very existence of this Britain was a mistake from the beginning." Riezel said quietly. "Is it really worth it for you to humble yourself and do so much for this kind of Britain?"
Aesc did not answer immediately, but closed her eyes as if recalling her entire life.
A few seconds later, she opened them.
At this moment, the gaze of this savior was no longer calm or bright, but revealed the coldness hidden deep inside.
Noticing this, Riezel knew this was Aesc’s truest self.
Finally showing her most genuine side, Aesc spoke slowly and coldly.
"Yes, I have no interest in being some savior."
"I only want to keep Britain as it is. I never planned to save all the fairies, and I never intended to protect anything."
"As long as Britain continues to exist, that’s enough for me."
"Everything else means nothing to me."
At last, Aesc was willing to voice her true feelings in front of Riezel.
"In the beginning, maybe I did want to build an ideal country, but now, I have completely lost that idea."
"For these 3,600 years, I’ve just been repeating the same things."
"Eliminating the Calamity that comes once every hundred years..."
"Purging the Great Calamity that comes once every thousand years..."
"But after I finished, I was immediately hunted down by fairies, rejected, forced to escape, and went into the Coffin to sleep."
"I put in so much effort, but in the end, received even more blame and persecution."
"Just as you said, I gave up on expecting anything from fairies long ago."
Aesc used the calmest tone to recount her cruelest experiences, as if those things had happened to someone else.
Riezel did not interrupt and quietly listened.
In this state, Aesc seemed to be pouring out everything she had been hiding all this time, talking nonstop.
"Right now, I’m only acting to protect myself and to protect Britain."
"I took Uther as my disciple and made a human the King of Britain only because I do not trust fairies. I do not believe fairies could build Britain into what I desire."
"I’m also unwilling to entrust this Britain to those fairies, which is why I had to help humans and assist Uther in unifying Britain."
"Someone like me was never a savior from the very start, but merely a witch who arbitrarily decided the fate of fairies."
"If it were not for Britain, I would have ended this land’s history long ago."
As these words fell, Aesc turned to Riezel.
"You asked why I do so much for Britain like this? Of course, it is because only here is my true home."
"I have never wanted to save the fairies, and I do not wish to fulfill the mission of the Fairy of Paradise. I just want this Britain to exist forever."
"For that goal, I’m willing to sacrifice everything, even myself."
What Aesc revealed in these words was a persistence that could only be described as obsessive, a conviction that had already become the meaning of her existence. If she ever stopped fulfilling it, she would instantly lose her sense of self and all will to live.
’Why go this far?’
This thought suddenly flashed through Riezel’s mind.
However, when he considered Aesc’s true nature, her entire life, and her origins, Riezel felt that perhaps it was only natural for her to become like this.
Here, due to her connection with the Rain Clan, she had, from childhood, already conceived the idea of creating her ideal kingdom and loved this land deeply.
In Proper Human History, because of her life experiences and the nature of her existence, she had almost gone mad in pursuit of Britain.
It could be said that Britain was everything to the existence known as ’Viviane.’
If she could not obtain it, then what could not be sacrificed?
"Honestly, in the beginning, I was a little afraid of you."
Aesc suddenly confessed her true feelings and opinions about Riezel.
"I did not know what kind of role you would play in the future Britain, whether it would be good or bad."
"You were clearly an enemy of the queen who rules Britain, which should mean you would harm Britain, but you do not hate Morgan. You are not hostile toward her, and you even became the husband she chose and earned her approval."
"I have no idea what the future... she is really thinking."
"I also do not know why you came here."
"I even considered getting rid of you, but you are just so strong and so... unique..."
Because of this, over the past half-month, Aesc had actually been lost for quite some time.
She did not want to get close to Riezel, yet she was drawn to everything about him.
She felt that Riezel was a threat, but the Morgan who would one day rule Britain was willing to marry him.
If that relationship had been only superficial, it would have been fine.
She knew Morgan was not the type to seek a partner for her own happiness. As long as marrying someone benefited Britain, she would do so without hesitation, no matter who the other person was.
However, with Riezel as her husband, it was clear Morgan had not chosen him for Britain’s sake. Otherwise, she would not have forged such a deep conceptual bond with him through means that Aesc could only vaguely comprehend now, nor would she have given her very essence to Riezel.
Because of that, Aesc was truly lost and conflicted, unsure how to deal with Riezel’s existence, who had suddenly appeared at her side.
But now, she felt that perhaps none of it mattered anymore—because she might already be starting to understand why the future Morgan would look at this man differently from everyone else.
Recalling her experiences in the Great Pit, thinking of the words he had spoken in her inner world, the warmth he had conveyed, and that fleeting, heart-stirring moment, Aesc felt that the heart she had kept frozen for so long might have begun to crack.
Aesc stared intently at Riezel, and after a while, she spoke.
"Will I fail?"
Aesc’s words seemed to come out of nowhere and made no sense to anyone.
Yet Riezel understood.
She was referring to herself in this era.
She was referring to the peace Britain was about to welcome.
Before long, her disciple would be crowned king, the fairies would gain rulership, and Britain would become the land Aesc had imagined.
However, Riezel had already expressed before that Aesc’s thinking was too naive.
In other words...
"Yes... You will fail."
Upon hearing Riezel’s calm answer, Aesc closed her eyes again.
This was supposed to be her last attempt...
This was supposed to be the approach she had placed her greatest hopes in...
Yet, just like before, it would still end in failure.
"You’re right... Fairies are not worth saving, nor should they be saved." Aesc said in a voice as cold as ice. "Perhaps Britain needs fairies, but it does not need fairies who will not obey."
At this moment, a certain idea in her heart gradually became firm.
Britain could not be entrusted to fairies because fairies were not worthy of trust.
Britain could not be entrusted to humans because humans were too weak.
If she wanted to make Britain into what she desired, then she could only do it herself.
If that was the case...
’Become king, by my own hand.’
Aesc made this decision in her heart.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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