(Finally...)
Liz bit off her lips. I felt heavy on my legs and fell to the bottom of the ground.
Here falls the selection.
(... I don't like it)
I was surprised myself by the intensity of the emotions that I had put up from the bottom of my mind.
I wanted to be the next Virgin. Of course there was a desire to do something unreasonable about the injustices of this world.
But if I could be the "Virgin," I also thought that even civilians would be able to match the "Prince Wang".
The priests of this country are able to include priests, the Virgin, marriage and love. The present Virgin has never been married of her own free will, but I heard that the Virgin before her was married and had children as well.
Very, I don't want that far. But even a little closer to Keefa than I am in my current position. Because I hoped so.
I just have to bite off thoughts that have no place to go. Then,
"Liz......"
I was surprised by the weight of the tone Keefa was calling for. Keefa knows. That Liz's door is gone and that she falls into selection. What I have to do to get back to the village.
Liz squeezed her hands hard and nagged. The feeling that comes in is endlessly bitter.
I can't see Keefa's face. I closed my eyes tightly.
"Liz"
Weird. I can hear Keefa's voice slightly closer. Right next to Liz's face, no, from below?
I lost my curiosity and opened my eyes. Then there was Keefa's face right in front, and she was about to scream small.
Keefa was glancing down at Liz's face.
(again)
Are you a jerk? I just regretted it a little bit, and Keefa smiled and said.
"I'll stop being a king prince."
(What?)
"Your Highness, what are you saying!?
The heavy ministers peeled behind his back.
"I'm going to give my brother his next throne."
"Your Highness -!?"
Back to back with his stunned face around him, Keefa has a more sunny face.
"Let's rent a room for a collective home in Wang Cheng and live together. I've always been good at working tips. Liz would know, wouldn't she?
Eugene in his previous life was certainly a worker. He was an orphan, but he couldn't beat the cold eyes of the public and worked hard every day. I know myself. But.
It's not the same as in previous life. One eyebrow raised when Keefa said she was out of her mind to Liz's suspicious look.
And I said, staring straight into Liz's eyes.
"Now, I will never leave you alone. I will never let you die alone. Always by your side, with you. That's what I decided."
I smiled gently as I stared at Liz.
"Whatever."
Quietly, but in no uncertain tone.
In the meantime, Liz's brain came back to me when we lived together in a previous life. The two of us went across to each other for tea, ate dinner and slept together. I remember being happy.
My chest is full. Words don't come out like they're stuck in the back of your throat.
A number of grains of anxiety that were in my mind slowly make a dry noise and disappear. That's what I felt.
"If you're going for the Virgin, let's go for the next Virgin Selection. It'll happen again in about five or sixty years from now, won't it? You can go for it."
"... I'll be a grandmother by then. I don't even know if he's alive."
"It's okay, I'm a grandpa too. I'll work my ankles out. Because I want to send Liz to the temple. Besides, I don't die before Liz does. After I take Liz, I'm going to the afterlife, too. Now I'm sure I will."
"... if I can take office, I won't be able to make it to the next Virgin from that moment on."
"That's good. It's the shortest Virgin in history."
They looked at each other and erupted unexpectedly.
I'm not about to laugh, and I know it's not funny at all.
But I felt brighter. The last grain of "anxiety" just disappeared with pussy and sound.
The dark, unsaved feelings of the past seem to be lies.
Liz laughed and looked up.
(Is that what Liz had to do with His Royal Highness Keefa? I told you to live with me. I told you I would never let you die alone!?
To the sight in front of her, Olivia was excited in her heart.
It was also a time when I was really glad the current Virgin was saved, and suddenly the final selection began. I can't keep up with the speed of deployment.
(Did Rebecca find the door...?
Stealing Rebecca standing next door, Rebecca was nailing Liz and the others again.
From Rebecca's deep-green dress chest, Mimisen is bringing her neck. I was gnawed, but Mimisen's head is also pointing toward Liz and the others.
(Maybe nail the mistletoe too!? I mean, you see it in the first place?
Surprised by the unexpectedly wild horse gutsy mites, the penguins at his feet were also intrigued by Liz's feeling of "hi-yee".
Olivia exhaled small.
Liz's door is no longer cracked. Shattered. The next Virgin is Olivia or Rebecca.
And - Olivia found the door.
I explored the skirt part of the dress, its interior pocket. My fingertips are stiff and cold. It's supposed to be heavy, but I don't feel strange and heavy. Is that because it's a "door"?
A brass knocker that had reached the door of the Ninth Tower Gate. Olivia's door was that.
A soldier jumped into Keefa's room and said, "Manon has turned into the present Virgin," before moving to Rebecca's room.
In front of the Ninth Tower Gate, the penguin glistened his eyes and responded with a splash of wings and feet. The knocker began to glow and a small keyhole appeared. When I plugged the key in there with my trembling hand, I got a puffy knocker. It's securely fastened and you shouldn't be able to take it without tools.
In Olivia's hands, Knocker did not lose light. And still is.
My body trembled. And my heart. Because this is for entering the First Temple. suggesting the First Temple, or "Virgin". Yet...
Olivia grabbed a knocker in her pocket.
And yet, for some reason, I don't think I'm the next Virgin. I don't know if you ask me why. I want to deny it, but I want to rejoice that I'm the next Virgin, but I really don't think so. My heart denies it.
"I wonder if there's someone else who deserves it".
I bit my lips off. Previously, Anna, the candidate, said when she left. "Find the door. Okay. He said I'm not the next Virgin" -.
Although the clerics had strangely twisted their necks, now I know very well.
……
You just have to keep your mouth shut. Put a lid on your feelings, then maybe you can be the next Virgin...
'It doesn't make sense if you're not the best,' the words told the fake Virgin came back to life.
"Doesn't it make sense at number two? Same as many others. There's only one person who can be the next Virgin. '
Exactly. It doesn't make sense at number two. I don't get the status of the Virgin I've been longing for.
Olivia got annoyed. In the First Temple, Liz and hence the present Virgin took sides over the fake Virgin. I can't believe I did choose the right path then, but I'm going to choose again.
The niggling grin of the fake Virgin floated all over my brain and scared me.
"Then let's hear it. Olivia, Rebecca, Liz. Did you find your" door "to the final selection?
Liz is biting her lips off. There, "Yes," Rebecca smiled and raised her hand. The clerics turned together.
"Yes, Rebecca"
"There was no door for me"
There were signs of the clergy being stunned. So is Olivia.
"I didn't find it, did I?
"Yes."
I'm surprised. What are you smiling at? Rebecca continued.
"I couldn't find it. So if there was my door, it wouldn't be a temple."
How can you have such a heartily convincing, frightening face when you say you have fallen, but you have told me you have fallen from the polls?
For some reason, I had feelings of remorse and impatience.
"Right. Too bad. How's Liz?
"... my door is gone. It was a mirror, but it broke and shattered, and it's gone."
"Right. Too bad."
There were further signs of the clergy being stunned and their gaze focused on Olivia as it was. If neither Liz nor Rebecca can, it's because Olivia is the only one left. I found the air surrounding me nervous at once.
"So how's Olivia?
"- I am"
Everyone is breathtaking. Olivia exhaled small.
"Found it"
Ooh -!! and the air rocked.
"This is it."
I put out a knocker. Put the First Temple in the appearance of what means the Virgin, "Oh!!," and the clerics shrugged further.
What am I gonna do? What do I do!? It makes my hurry less spine cold.
"Mm-hmm. This is definitely a door. Well found."
The clergyman, who was testing the knockers, smiled.
The twist rises from among the priests. But it felt more like it contained confusion than a voice of joy.
I can read in their minds. I wondered unconsciously who was worthy of the next Virgin and who should be the next Virgin.
That someone wasn't Olivia.
I regret it. I do regret it. But Olivia herself thinks the most of these things.
I was reminded of the divine appearance when I let the present Virgin heal.
It blossomed a holy tree bigger than anyone else to produce a holy dragon. I also killed the Duke and the fake Virgin and saved this country.
I couldn't beat the criticism around me, strong, red eyes looking straight ahead whenever I could.
Strange story. When this selection began, everyone thought that the person was most unworthy of the next Virgin.
Let me flip that idea. On your own...
Looking down at the penguin standing at his feet with the thought of crying, the penguin stared back at him. Bump both wings with joy. Black crushed eyes admiring Olivia wholeheartedly.
Now if I lie to myself, can I face this child?
"- Dear Cleric. The present Virgin."
When I realized, I was speaking out.
I wonder what you're trying to say. I wanted to be the next Virgin. Ever since I was a kid. You said it would come true. She said it would come true if she kept her mouth shut.
"I found the door."
The chief cleric nods. Next to it, the present Virgin smiled. Gentle smile. Not different from the smile I saw when I was a kid. I wanted to get close to that smile. If you keep your mouth shut, I can get close.
(- Really?)
Is that really going to be close?
"... but I don't seem to be the next Virgin"
"" What?
The loose voice among the priests echoed. Both Liz and Rebecca stare at Olivia with a pompous face.
But the moment I put it into words, I stomped off. And so that the fog cleared, I knew what my door meant.
(It was)
What Olivia wanted to get closer to was the present Virgin. Such an incumbent Virgin who is proud, merciful, loved by all, kind to everyone and helps strange girls.
Olivia raised her face with momentum.
"I know what my door means. I am not the next Virgin."
"" Yes!?
The clerics raise their voices of consternation.
- You sure about that?
The clergyman's sharp voice came down. Olivia nodded with certainty.
"Yes, I'm sure"
A little sad, but regrettable, but if I lie to my certainty here and now, I'll be just like the fake Virgin.
"No, no, wait a minute!
"You can't find Rebecca's door, and Liz's doesn't exist because it's broken!
I found weird air surrounding the area.
I can hear everyone's heart.
The next Virgin, you have no one!? and.
"Olivia, why...?
To Liz, who is pompous, I made her laugh bitterly. Because I can't help it. Because that's what my heart does tell me.
The present Virgin inadvertently stepped out of bed. Still pale. Even if the crumbs fell out, they must have exhausted their health because they should have been using magic all along to take their lives. Still, I approached Olivia, as if I had something to tell her.
"Once upon a time, you met. When you were a child."
Olivia opened her eyes. Did you remember me? The joy and connectivity of turning back came in.
"I couldn't get my name back then. But I already know. Olivia. It's a beautiful name."
I smiled. For a moment, I felt like I was back on that young day. At the end of the ceremony, he healed his injury and smiled gently at me.
My chest was full and I cried.
I'm so glad I didn't listen to the fake Virgin then. And now I'm glad I didn't lie to my certainty. What I did was not wrong.
Even if I couldn't be the best, the meaning that stayed so far was right. Had I chosen a different path then, and now, this is how I would not have been able to face the present Virgin.
Now, if I see the fake Virgin again, I will say this with all my might. I don't care if it's number two. Don't laugh at those who work hard.
"Dear Cleric! No one has the next Virgin! What are you going to do!?
"I'm in trouble. What am I gonna do?
"I don't know what to do... I don't know! Could we redo the selection from scratch again?!?
"Hey, you gotta be kidding me!