The day after the victory party, Kuga secretly asked for a meeting with Sungjin.

  “Now that you’ve defeated Rupellion, there’s something you need to know about.”


  At the serious voice of Kuga, Sungjin’s eyes became fixated.

  “What’s that?”


  “There’s something you should see. Would you follow me quietly?”


  “Sure,” Sungjin answered and followed.

  He arrived at the private room he had given Rachel for prayer. It was the place where she prayed by herself every morning before starting her day. She had asked him not to allow anyone to come near it.

  Kuga asked him to be quiet and listen through the wall.

  When Sungjin put his ear on the wall, he was able to hear Rachel’s voice.

  “Goddess, I will cure a lot of people today as well,” Rachel’s prayer was simple but sincere; it made Sungjin smile.

  He learned that faith could turn into extreme violence when it came to Rupellion, but when he looked at Rachel he knew faith could save people also.

  “I’ll try my best; I’ll use the power you gave me to save everyone…… so……”


  The prayer stopped abruptly.

  “Ugh. Ahhhhh.” She tried not to scream out loud, but she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

  “Ugh…… ugh……” All she could do was moan as screaming was too painful.

  Not knowing who was behind the door listening, Rachel was crying.

  Goddess……when would you……end……my pain.

  She was trying her best to cure other people from pain while not even being able to help herself. It felt like her heart was pinned and knives were under her skin. It was like broken glass floating in her blood vessels. It was more than she would bear.

  The scariest thing was……the pain was getting worse. When she couldn’t handle it anymore, she feared she would breathe her last breath.

  Would you save me before that? Please save me. I promise to be a good girl.

  She was screaming silently that she would save others as god’s will, but to please send someone to save her……

  “Goddess……I……I……want to…… see……something……that is……called……spring.”


  Her prayer was desperate, but when Sungjin tried to get into the room, Kuga stopped him

  “Please, leave her alone.”


  “What do you mean?”


  “This is not the first time, but she wanted to keep it secret. Since there’s nothing anyone can do about this curse, she didn’t want others to worry about her.”


  “Rachel said that?”


  “Yes, so please pretend that you don’t know……”


  “Get out of my way,” Sungjin pushed Kuga away.

  “She wants to hide, but I want to help!”


  He ran into the room where Rachel was praying.