OHNIR – Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Shackles
After finishing their tea, Gloria needed to hurry and finish the work she had on hand. So, after getting Kelusta’s agreement, she returned to the pile of documents and continued the screening task that had been interrupted earlier.
Kelusta, who had come specifically to mooch food, drinks, and affection from her girlfriend, wandered in front of the bookshelf for a while. After much deliberation, she randomly pulled out a few fairy tale books and flipped through them carelessly, but she still felt a little bored.
An idea struck her. Seeing that Gloria was working openly and not trying to hide anything, she boldly walked around the long table and slowly sidled up behind her.
Ah, so many documents.
The brown-haired girl stood beside the back of the chair, reached out, and gently wrapped her arms around Gloria’s slender waist. She stared at the impressive-looking stacks of paper, dumbfounded, and rested her chin on the other girl’s shoulder. “You’re so busy, Lux,” she remarked sincerely.
Gloria smiled and casually tilted her head to nuzzle her cheek. “No matter how busy I am, I can’t possibly be busier than you, Miss Heir,” she said with amusement.
“Stop teasing me,” Kelusta pouted, gently bumping her head against Gloria’s temple. “You nobles are so troublesome,” she said petulantly. “It’s just a trivial matter, but you have to use a whole bunch of long-winded diplomatic phrases. It’s not only a waste of time, but it’s enough to make a person dizzy!”
Gloria sighed. She raised her hand and gently tickled Kelusta’s chin with the fluffy end of her quill. “I must remind you,” she said helplessly, “you are now a member of the nobility yourself. Don’t you find it strange to say such things? My dear Miss Ruth.”
“I don’t care! I’m just more direct and efficient than you all!” Kelusta said huffily. Her gaze fell and happened to land on an unfamiliar name in the documents Gloria was holding.
“Helie Hugh, twenty-six years old, commoner from the outskirts of the capital, father deceased, family impoverished, younger brother is ill but cannot be treated… Pending?” She blankly read the words on the paper, paused, and asked with slight surprise, “Why are there so many files on other people… What are you doing?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she keenly felt the body in her arms stiffen slightly. The silver-haired girl’s writing also came to an abrupt halt. As if her words had flipped some invisible switch, the atmosphere in the entire room suddenly became completely different.
“…Lux?” Kelusta uneasily released her arms and moved to Gloria’s side. Observing her expression, she said hesitantly, “If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to answer me.”
Gloria turned her head to look at her for a moment. Her sapphire-blue eyes closed and then opened again. After a long pause, as if she had made a decision, she said firmly, “No, it’s not inconvenient at all.”
“Perhaps it’s better to say… in fact, I’ve long been prepared to confess this to you.”
Under Kelusta’s somewhat bewildered gaze, she stood up from her chair. Her expression was slightly solemn, and she adopted a very serious posture. Her calm voice held a faint undercurrent of tension.
“Perhaps most people in this kingdom don’t know… that the surname ‘Silentdis’ is not as glamorous and glorious as it appears on the surface—in fact, it was born with a set of irremovable, unbreakable ‘shackles’.”
Upon hearing that familiar term, Kelusta’s eyes widened involuntarily.
In the very next second, she realized that what Gloria was confessing to her now was the secret history of the Silentdis family, unknown to outsiders for a century.
—No one understood better than Kelusta the immense practical significance of Gloria’s change in attitude.
Her fingers, hidden behind the chair, unconsciously clenched into tight fists. Her breathing became so cautious it nearly stopped. Kelusta pressed her lips together and took a subtle deep breath, her pure golden eyes filled with a veiled excitement as she stared intently at Gloria, who continued to speak.
“…The rise of the Silentdis family came about because the first master of this surname sold his faith and offered his obedience, and in return, he received profound magic and supreme glory…”
Gloria spoke faintly, her tone calm and her voice gentle, but to Kelusta’s ears, it carried an inexplicable, almost imperceptible hint of disgust.
She paused, looked up to meet the eyes of the girl before her, took a deep breath, and slowly continued:
“And the one with whom he made this deal was not a king or a powerful noble, but a—true god.”
From a completely subjective perspective, Gloria laid bare the secret history of her family for Kelusta.
As if worried that the other girl would have difficulty digesting such a vast amount of information all at once, she thoughtfully slowed her pace of speech, giving Kelusta just enough time to listen while organizing the information she already knew, allowing her to fully sort through her thoughts.
The Goddess of Deceit was an extremely low-profile deity. Information about her appearance, personality, abilities, and so on was varied and conflicting. Even after years of constant debate among historians, no relatively unified answer had ever been reached.
This alone was a testament to the goddess’s mystery and inscrutability.
All this time, Kelusta could only search for clues in the System’s database and historical records. But because the Goddess of Deceit hadn’t made many appearances even in the original storyline, her efforts over this long period had yielded very little.
It could be said that without Gloria’s confession, she would have struggled to even form a concrete image of this goddess in her mind, let alone devise a way to defeat her.
—But thankfully, this former behind-the-scenes villain had been successfully turned and now officially stood with her on a united front.
And the reasons for Gloria’s decision to change her stance were also clear.
First was her doubt regarding the Goddess of Deceit’s leadership abilities. After careful consideration, Reginald and his daughter agreed that the Goddess of Deceit, who had spent years behind the scenes, did not possess the talent or experience of a leader like the Goddesses of Light and Darkness.
In comparison, the Nobili Royal Family, which had been steadily developing its civilization for many years, was actually the more capable party.
“She won’t necessarily be a competent supreme god,” Gloria said faintly. “The Silentdis family pursues long-term benefits… And in our estimation, if the Goddess of Deceit were to take the throne of the supreme god and ultimately unify the continent, then the previous civilization would be wiped out in one fell swoop, and the glory our family has accumulated over a century would be completely annihilated—that doesn’t seem like a worthwhile deal for us.”
Kelusta recalled.
In the original world line, although the Silentdis family wasn’t cast aside by Persedoro once she achieved her goal, they also didn’t enjoy any preferential treatment more satisfying than what they had now.
At that time, the continent was devastated and in turmoil. Both humans and demons were living in a state of chaotic order.
The previously established class structure was suddenly shattered, and the scattered populace could not be uniformly managed. Although the Goddess of Deceit had gained power, she couldn’t become a true ruler. She could only hope for a Silentdis to act as a puppet king.
The latter would have to treat divine authority as supreme while gaining nothing for themselves but toil. Indeed, it was less worthwhile than being a duke in the present.
Not long ago, Gloria had foreseen this exact situation, and it became the key reason she used to finally persuade Reginald.
“—However, for me personally… that wasn’t the fundamental reason I decided to switch sides.”
Kelusta’s heart trembled. She quickly looked up and, as expected, fell into those incredibly gentle, deep blue eyes.
“Do you remember? When we were children, we encountered a very dangerous tsunami due to a magic fluctuation.” After the brown-haired girl nodded slightly, Gloria smiled and patted the top of her head. She said concisely, “The cause of that tsunami was very complex, and it’s not convenient to elaborate right now… But I can tell you for certain, Ruth, that its appearance was very closely related to the Holy Force Source.”
Under Kelusta’s silent gaze, the girl who seemed to see through everything lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, “This also means that—your hometown, Seaside Town… is the true location where the Holy Force Source is hidden.”
“…”
Kelusta stared at Gloria’s lowered eyelids for a long time, and an indescribable, bittersweet ache suddenly welled up in her heart.
For all these years, bearing the truth all alone while facing Persedoro… just how much immense pressure must she have been under?
The brown-haired girl bit her lip, struggling to suppress the moisture welling in her eyes. She took a small step forward, closing the distance between them.
She reached out and gently took hold of Gloria’s fingertips, as if transmitting some kind of conviction.
The latter let her hold her hand for a moment. After a long silence, she let out a soft breath and turned her hand to interlace her fingers with Kelusta’s.
Those deep, sea-blue eyes met the brown-haired girl’s for a long time, until the palms of both their hands grew warm. Gloria finally spoke, her voice slightly hoarse as she whispered to Kelusta:
“…Ruth, did you know?”
Kelusta squeezed her hand.
“Seaside Town isn’t just your beloved hometown; it’s also the land that holds the beautiful memories of our childhood.”
Her features were gentle, and she gave a sweet smile, tinged with a bit of childishness. The look in her eyes was distant and serene, as if she were recalling a memory more precious than any other. Even every word she spoke carried the kind of deep warmth that comes from the sun shining on flower petals.
“I don’t want to be a destroyer… That little town has the bluest sea, the most beautiful flowers, the cutest cats—these are precious memories I haven’t been able to forget for half my life. I want to protect that place with you.”
The silver-haired girl smiled at her and said softly, “For you, I will finally break free from these shackles.”
The words were spoken with absolute conviction, filled with a hope that was impossible to ignore.
Kelusta closed her eyes, wiping away a teardrop that had fallen from the corner of her eye at some point. She took half a step forward, reached out her arms, and gently but firmly pulled Gloria into a tight embrace.
“I once promised you… that when you broke free from your ‘shackles,’ I would give you a gentle hug to congratulate you, just like when I made that promise.”
She rested her cheek on Gloria’s shoulder, smiling with her lips pressed together. A few more uncontrollable tears traced paths past the corners of her upturned mouth, finally landing on the spot over the other girl’s heart.
“So, now, I will fulfill that request you made back then.”
Kelusta tilted her head up, and as Gloria looked down, she wrapped her arms around her neck. She rose slightly onto her tiptoes, closed her eyes, and gently and tenderly kissed the silver-haired girl’s soft lips.
“I am deeply honored by your choice.”
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