Chapter 336: Interlude: Declaration and Door
"Kiana… heh~ That young lady making trouble outside right now—she's someone you can't afford to provoke. And the other one is also someone you can't afford to provoke. Both are people who give me headaches and leave me helpless. But, little Theresa, you actually don't need to seek the answer from me, do you?"
Lightly pinching Theresa's soft, smooth, and springy cheeks, Hera spoke with a deep and meaningful tone, her lips curved in a gentle, doting smile.
Theresa kept her face stiff, lips pressed together.
"I don't understand what you mean, Grandpa."
"Ah~ not being honest again, are you? You asked me this question the last time we met, and I told you—it's not that I'm stopping her from seeing you. It's that she doesn't want to see you. My little Theresa knows—I would never lie to you. You already know the answer you're looking for. It's just… that answer frightens you."
"…"
"If it were me keeping that young lady locked away, the problem would actually be easier for you to solve. You could go ask Sigurd for help. As long as you were sincere enough, paid the price, and counted on the favor of that other young lady outside, seeking a solution from my dear friend would be the most reliable path. But you already know—the problem now isn't me. It's that young lady's own refusal. And so, you're afraid. Afraid that, because of more than ten years of silence from you all, she might be disappointed in the only two family members she has. Afraid… she might even hate you."
"I imagine, just thinking of those possibilities is enough to keep my little Theresa awake at night, isn't it?"
Hera affectionately ruffled Theresa's hair, though her voice—still laced with a smile—made it hard to tell whether there was more tenderness in it or more mockery.
Theresa's lips stayed pressed tight, her hands in her lap gradually clenching harder and harder.
That stubborn reaction was, to Hera, a silent confession. Her smile grew just a little sweeter.
…
Meanwhile, Siegfried, who had been quietly listening from the outskirts, let his expression darken.
Kiana…
His feelings were tangled, and heavy. He didn't know any of these details Theresa had just heard, but the phrase "ten years of silence" stabbed deep into him, leaving him speechless. Never mind the years spent gravely injured and in a coma—that wasn't an excuse. The truth was that he had failed to fulfill the responsibility and duty a father should bear.
…
Hera studied Theresa's reaction in silence, then finally sighed.
"Ah… truth be told, I could take the blame for all this. But for my little Theresa, that's already a secondary matter, isn't it? For you, the more important thing is figuring out how to win back Kiana's heart. You must have been in pain over this for a long time. That's why you came here—ignoring the weight I currently carry, ignoring the fact that the two of you couldn't possibly shake me—you didn't come to find answers, much less to thoughtlessly snatch her away. You came here only to make a statement."
"Grandpa, that's enough!"
"Don't rush. Let me finish. Ending halfway would be far too reserved, wouldn't it? If I don't make it clear, how can I be sure she will understand your intentions?
"My little Theresa, this reckless charge of yours may seem meaningless—but in truth, it's your way of sending a message to that young lady who may already have waited until her hope was gone: that you still love her, that you're willing to disrupt the grand scheme and even risk your life for her. So long as she's willing to give you a chance—so long as she's willing to believe in you once more—you'd be willing to stand against the whole world for her."
"Yes… such a statement, such determination… to a lonely, heartbroken girl, it carries more than enough weight."
Hera clapped her hands. From her public persona, it seemed she was mocking.
But Hera herself knew—this "foolish" act of Theresa's made her more like another person from long ago: Kallen, who had once cried out her love for Yae Sakura during the trial.
Justice, courage, kindness, and an absolute devotion to love—Theresa truly was very much like another Kallen.
Hera lowered her eyes, using silence to hide the tangle of emotions within her.
Theresa's tightly clenched fists began to tremble, her eyes reddening as large teardrops fell one by one.
"Grandpa… you really do know everything, don't you…"
"I don't know everything. I only know the things I know. For example—when it comes to little Theresa, your grandpa knows absolutely everything~"
"Then… does what I'm doing matter? Can it help Kiana feel even a little reassured? Is she doing well? Disappointment is fine, even hatred is fine—just tell me, Grandpa, is she doing well right now or not?"
From the moment she had regained her clarity of mind, and heard from Hera's mouth the words "She doesn't want to see you," Theresa had been endlessly speculating—about Kiana's attitude, her feelings, her circumstances…
She had been suppressing her fear and self-loathing. But now, after this reckless act of throwing caution to the wind, she finally laid bare her shame and wounds, looking up at Hera with tear-blurred eyes.
Hera reached out, gently wiping away Theresa's tears, yet could not erase the heart-piercing sorrow that lingered in those eyes.
Her hand stilled for a moment—she had to admit, that in this instant, her heart, already so full with Kallen, felt a new ache because of Theresa.
"…Sigh—"
Hera let out a soft sigh, then suddenly lifted her gaze toward the temple's grand doors.
"This question—why don't you go ask it yourself? She's there. She's come to see you."
Theresa sniffled, hastily wiping away the tears and snot on her face, then followed Hera's gaze outward.
There, where she and Siegfried had earlier smashed open the temple gates, now stood a new set of doors—painted red, trimmed with silver, with a soft golden light spilling through the cracks.
"That is…"
"The place where Kiana Kaslana is. Aside from herself, no one could find that door right now."
Hera propped her chin with one hand, leaning on the table, watching the portal with interest.
The next moment, Theresa and Siegfried charged into it almost simultaneously. The door vanished along with the two of them, and the temple's gates reappeared—beyond them, the spectacular aftermath of an intense battle lit the skies with flame and light.
"Hera-sama, aren't you going in?"
"No need. Just now, I finally got my answer—about the little thief who tampered with Theresa's consciousness, and about Siegfried's once-puzzling behavior. Yes… someone with such mastery in the realm of the mind that they could astonish even me, Sigurd, and Fu Hua—a mysterious figure whose power runs so deep that no one can see the bottom… hasn't such a being been right before my eyes all along?"
"…"
"Silent again? Sometimes you talk too much, sometimes far too little, Amber."
"My apologies, Hera-sama."
"Don't apologize. I wasn't blaming you. But you know… emotions really are the strangest part of being human. Tell me, Amber, do you have something—or someone—you deeply love?"
"I am merely Hera-sama's tool. I do not possess such feelings."
"Then I hope you will. Because if one has never truly loved… then such a life would be far too colorless."
Hera spoke in her unhurried tone, then softly rested her head on the table, a faint smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.
And so, she missed the fleeting moment of hesitation on Amber's face—and did not see, beneath the golden eyepatch Amber never removed, the eyes that gazed at her with such unwavering focus that it seemed they could hold nothing else in the world.
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