30 Responsibility

Elara recounted the household she was raised in. Her father and mother, Papa and Mama, had been together for hundreds of millennia. They were not eternally harmonious, but even though there were a couple of big fights, they never told each other that they would better separate.

"Papa had a lot of wives when he was young. He also had a lot of wives in the later part of his life. But Mama outlived all of them and stayed the longest with him," Elara said.

"She said, when one stood in the position of power, one would sometimes have no choice but to have more than one woman by one's side," she explained. "Whether because you were forced by a situation or by choice, you would rather save than ignore."

"What do you mean?" Sorin asked. "Is there any situation that would force a man to take more than one wife?"

"The modern world gave you such an innocent mind," Elara whispered as she stroked his hair, looking up at him. "When politics and justice come into play, how can you even refuse a person in need? Harsh living conditions, war, and every other situation that couldn't be found in the modern world..."

Sorin frowned.

"My Mama embraced every one of Papa's other wives as her sisters. Under the heavenly restrictions, Papa could only do so much, and so was Mama. The world had always been so complicated, Sorin," Elara said.

"The last woman Papa had no choice but to take as a wife was an illegitimate princess from an ancient kingdom. She was raped by her own brother, the Crown Prince, and her life was ruined. Both Papa and Mama stumbled upon her and took her in."

To protect her honor, Papa, as a person of outstanding figure at the time, decided to make her his wife. She was a kind and innocent woman whose soul was destroyed by evil, and how could he not save her when he was the only one who knew?

"I would do the same. If I was Papa, I would marry her," Elara said. "Would you?"

Sorin looked at her, realizing how her compassion came from wisdom, not ignorance and blind devotion. He understood why she let another woman be in a relationship with him now, even though she was surely very jealous.

"After seeing how many situations would force a man and a woman not to be the only one for each other, and knowing that this world was even crueler than hell, I strived to be more like my Mama," Elara said.

She explained that Mama might look like a willful and harsh fox demon, but she was actually very fair and rightful.

She was soft-hearted and loyal. She was fine and would only sneer by herself when she was the one being insulted, but she would be the first to shield Papa when someone wronged him, even her own daughter.

"Did you know that Mama hit me when I asked Papa to pray for you to forget?" Elara asked.

"She did?" Sorin asked. "Why?"

"Because I said by letting you die, it is no better than killing me with Papa's own hands," Elara answered.

Sorin scoffed helplessly. Knowing how her Papa loved her so much, it was no wonder Mama would be so angry for Elara to say that to him. But she hit her?

"Why would you say something like that to your Papa?" Sorin frowned as he asked with a harsh tone. But then again, with a lower tone, "Where did she hit you? Did it hurt?"

Elara smiled at him. "I'm so spoiled; how could it hurt?"

[Sorin is worried about me. A win is a win.]

Sorin laughed as they looked into each other's eyes. A moment of pause was swallowed in silence. The blinking floor number between seven and eight was the only thing that moved. Elara subtly changed her look. Her gaze was so tender that Sorin felt it was impossible for him to find another woman in his life.

But she might be right.

If he chose this life, he might have no choice but to fill his chamber with more than one woman. Heck, he would face other problems even more complicated than that.

By Elara subtly reminding him about the responsibility he had to shoulder, he realized she wanted to push him to pray for his freedom once more.

"Eight quintillion lifetimes. Were you trying to find a way to save your family while also keeping me free?" Sorin asked.

Elara nodded.

"And you can't tell anyone what happened that killed your family in those lifetimes because of the heavenly restriction?" Sorin asked again, and Elara confirmed it.

Sorin went silent for a bit when he glanced at the notification he had been ignoring for about three days now.

[Reverse deflection attempt, 49%]

[Error!]

[Restriction had been placed!]

But Sorin felt that something was amiss. He was able to regain his memory despite Elara supposedly having been successful in her attempts to free him from being a Sovereign without any mishaps. It meant [Reverse] was something more special than he thought.

It could change the flow of time. It could deflect and bend destinies.

"Then, can you tell me what happened in that first life? What had killed me?"

Elara was about to tell him she couldn't when suddenly, her eyes shook. It was like a moment of realization. "How could I... there's no restriction...?"

Sorin widened his eyes.

"I can tell you this!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "I can tell you how you died and everything that contributed to your death. I-I can... Is this... a loophole?"

[DING!]

[Reverse deflection attempt, 50%]

[Restriction had been lifted!]

***

In the heart of the crimson wasteland, where the earth seemed to bleed into the horizon, a tragic tableau unfolded. The lifeless form of a man lay cold in the arid embrace of the desert. His once-vibrant eyes now mirrored the barren expanse, void of vitality.

Beside him knelt a woman, her hands trembling as they clung to his clothing, right over the empty space where his heart once pulsed with life. Her grief remained unspoken, locked behind clenched teeth, as she faced four looming silhouettes on the crimson horizon.

Two of these shadows took on human proportions, their outlines wavering like ethereal specters. Yet, there was an undeniable aura of malevolence that emanated from them. As if the desert itself had birthed these creatures, bestowing upon them the shape of mankind but none of its grace.

A third silhouette emerged, towering above the others, akin to a minotaur, its presence dominating the desolate stage. Its five horns, jagged and twisted, seemed to pierce the very fabric of reality.

But the most formidable figure was the last, a monstrous entity of colossal proportions, its grotesque form harking back to an age long forgotten. It loomed over the scene, its grotesque countenance hidden in the shadows, yet its sinister aura was palpable.

Elara closed her eyes as she used her reign to send this consciousness back to the past her, warning herself about the future. And since then, that consciousness has haunted each and every lifetime she created.

Time wasn't linear.

Elara's time happened at the same time. Her consciousness and memory was the same whether it was past or future. But the day she gained the reign [Time (SSS+)], she knew that her time had ended at the moment Sorin died.

No. She decided that time should not progress beyond that. She felt that there shouldn't even be any period when Sorin didn't exist.

And the moment she realized her deep desire for him, she blocked her own thought. "I see. So I am actually capable of destroying this world for you, huh?"

If she accidentally became stronger than this, she would really swallow this world just because he didn't exist anymore.

***

[Elara's Choice!]

Quest Rank: [SSS+]

[Boss Fight!]

[Save the world from the Quest Boss, Elara the 7th Sovereign!]