Chapter 97: The Useless Goddess’ Great Efforts (2)

After Ceremonic was successfully defeated, I summoned the portal to the God’s realm. When I arrived after John Dae, who was carrying Seiya with him, I noticed that two beautiful shining moons were on the sky. Apparently, it was night at the God’s realm.

John Dae couldn’t enter the holy temple because of the strong godliness aura. Therefore, we asked for Celseus to help us carry Seiya to my room and lay him down on my bed.

I gently touched Seiya’s cheeks. I was worried about his health, but Celseus spoke in a happy tone as if it were amusing to him.

「Who knew that this hero would fall unconscious? *machiavelic laugh* This is what I call his divine punishment.」

「You’d be in a big trouble if Seiya heard what you just said, Celseus. 」

「Hmm…My bad. I won’t say anything anymore. Absolutely nothing. I promise. So, please, don’t tell him what I said. I beg you. I apologize.」

Then, Aria entered the room.

「Lista. Lady Isister wants to see you. I’ll take care of Seiya, so don’t worry and just go…」

—

I started wondering while I went to the Great Goddess Isister’s room.

Why did she…Ahhh!? Don’t tell me that she wanted to see me because I finished off Ceremonic!? That was beyond the scope of support as a goddess!?

I entered her room nervously. I really thought that I’d receive the punishment from the innermost gods of the God’s realm once again. My eyes overflew with tears.

「There’s no punishment, Listarte. Even though Ryuguuin Seiya fell down, wasn’t it due to his earth magic that made it possible to overthrow Ceremonic in the end? You followed his instructions and managed to defeat the enemy. You did enough to support him.」

Ah, I’m glad! …Hmm? Then, what did she want to talk about?

Suddenly, the Great Goddess Isister bowed to me.

「Ehhh!? Great Goddess Isister!? 」

「It has been extremely difficult for me to predict the future because of the evil god’s presence in Exfolia…」

Then, she showed a bitter expression on her face.

「I apologize. I was the one who gave Ryuguuin Seiya a mental exhaustion. No matter how strong he is, Ryuguuin Seiya is a human being after all… and… It seems that he didn’t tell you about that.」

「Eh, sorry, but what do you mean with “about that”…? 」

After a moment of silence, the Great Goddess Isister spoke the following words.

「I´ll tell you when the right time comes. 」

「Ye…Yes… 」

Then, she changed topics and smiled at me.

「Listarte. In the absence of your hero, you worked extremely hard as a goddess to provide great support for the salvation cause. There’s no problem about Ryuguuin Seiya’s health. He is safe and shall awake soon enough.」

—

After the conversation with the Great Goddess Isister, I returned to my room where Seiya was sleeping with a cold towel on his forehead. I opened the door, but I didn’t see Aria or Celseus.

…What! Don’t tell me that, maybe…!

「Se…Seiya…! You finally woke up…! 」

Seiya already got up from my bed. He was looking outside from the window.

「Aren’t you tired? You can sleep a bit more if you want… 」

However, he remained silent. I mean, Seiya. I bet that he regretted falling down during a crucial battle.

「It…It’s all right! We managed to defeat Ceremonic! That’s all that matters! Eh…You don’t believe it? It’s true because we returned to the God’s realm without any problems! That’s my proof! Besides, Kiri and John Dae are safe as well! So, there’s nothing to worry about!」

Still, Seiya had a stern look on his face and just looked at the window.

「Listen, Seiya…What did you hear from the Great Goddess Isister? You didn’t tell me anything about it…」

Further silence. I finally raised my voice.

「Yo…You know what!! Yo…You don’t have to do everything on your own, got it!? We…no!! Why don’t you rely more on me!? I…I’m here to give you the support you need!!」

My feelings were unbearable, and I couldn’t suppress myself any longer. I approached Seiya and embraced him from behind. I put my head on his back and held him tightly, even though I didn’t feel much body temperature.

「You must think that many people died because of you…It’s hard, right? Does it hurt badly? You can’t think properly because of that, right? But, you know…Seiya, you’re not alone. Because, I am by your side…!」

I wanted to melt Seiya’s icy heart…While I thought so; I hugged Seiya with a stronger embrace. On this very moment…

*cracking sound*

Seiya’s body collapsed entirely on my arms! It transformed into sand and scattered on the floor! I screamed crazily!

「Gyaaaaa!! I wanted to melt his heart, but I melted all of his body instead!?」

No…No!! There was no way that that happened for real!! This was…a clay doll!! But, wait a second!! Wasn’t I having a great private time with Seiya!? And yet, I was talking emotively with a clay doll!?

Then, I turned around abruptly. The real Seiya was staring at me with white boring eyes.

Somehow, I managed to say a few words thereafter.

「Wha…wha…what is a clay doll doing in my room…? 」

「I didn’t want you to attack me when I was in my weak state. 」

「I…I wouldn’t do that to you…More importantly, you know…did you see everything that happened just now?」

「Yeah. I’ve been watching the whole thing. 」

Oh nooooooo!! How embarrassingggggg!!

I wanted to die because I was too embarrassed about it. I held my face with both of my hands and I fell on my bed. Seiya spoke the following words.

「When I look at you, I feel that everything about this world is damn lame and ridiculous.」

「What the hell do you mean!! 」

I shouted extremely high. Yet, Seiya went to the door as if he didn’t hear me.

「Where are you going now? 」

「I’m going to the summoning chamber. 」

「Are you going on your own? 」

「I’ve recovered. But, just to make sure that I’m feeling relatively well, I’ll be taking a good night’s rest today before heading to Exfolia.」

「I understand. 」

Nevertheless, Seiya stopped before opening the door and said…

「Lista. You were helpful this time. 」

「…Eh? 」

And then, he went away and closed the door.

—

After Seiya left, I was rolling in bed with great excitement. “Lista. You were helpful this time.”; “Lista. You were helpful this time.”…I grinned happily while I recalled Seiya’s words for countless of times.

Suddenly, I remembered Queen Carmilla’s words after we defeated the Grand Lion.

『It’s okay to stay next to him. This world is too harsh for a lone wolf. He needs someone by his side. You’re a fool and a clumsy person, but that’s all right. That is your own way of unknowingly saving that child.』

…I was a little confused and wasn’t entirely convinced about that…But, I was glad of how things turned out in the end!!

I felt that my existence as a goddess was somehow recognized. Therefore, I was extremely happy about it that I wanted to rejoice aloud.

—

…This night. I had a dream about Seiya. Maybe it was because I felt the warmth in my bed after Seiya slept in it.

In that dream, I was Princess Tiana before I reincarnated as a goddess. Next to me stood Seiya. In addition, I had a very cute baby in my arms. The unfriendly Seiya looked at the baby and me affectionately and smiled gently.

I wondered if it were a lucid dream. It was odd, because I perfectly knew that I was dreaming in my own dream.

…About this very dream. After Seiya defeated the Demon King from his previous saving quest, he didn’t return to his original world and remained in Exfolia. The baby was born and, Seiya and I lived happily together in Tarmine…

If fate could be changed, I wondered if such future would have been possible. My chest hurt painfully when I thought deeply about it.

I tried to appease my chest pain. Therefore, I gently touched the baby’s face that I was carrying in my arms.

However…I froze from the moment I saw this baby’s face.

Long hair! Crushed nose and no eyes! Before I knew it, the baby’s face transformed into a bloodied face of a horrid woman!

I tried to escape, but the baby stuck firmly to my chest and didn’t leave! This thing slowly opened its mouth with missing teeth!

「I am…Shanak. I am Ceremonic’s younger sister, Shanak. 」

Then, the bloodied face approached my eyes!

「The curse will continue until your soul goes to heaven. The last curse of the Empress Ceremonic ends with the life of a god…“Bloody Sisteria”.」

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Well we spoke too soon.. Seiya did warn you not to get near Ceremonic…

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