Secret Love Affair between a Former Saint and a Dark Hero - Chapter 62
“Quickly, quickly. You have to get an idea of the story for us to chat about it. Right? Right?”
Don’t look, Jiyeon.
That’s what Sol wanted to say. With each page turned, she couldn’t bear the fact that her time with Jiyeon was coming to an end. Shouldn’t she just grab her friend’s hand and run away immediately? Not today, but tomorrow, no, not tomorrow, but even just a little later…
Her heart grew restless watching Jiyeon playfully messing around. Did she really read it thoroughly? Did she carefully read without missing anything, especially the ending? Jiyeon needed to see the ending she had added.
“All right. I’ll lend it to you, so read it properly. It’s really interesting, you know? You have to read it to the end, without a doubt! There’s a twist at the end.”
“Got it, got it. But when are we going to eat our meat?”
She should have bought a lot of meat. She should have bought enough for Jiyeon’s stomach to burst.
Then, Jiyeon suddenly seemed to remember something.
“A wish. Sol, you asked, if I could make one wish.”
“Uh, what is it?”
Sol heard her heart drop. Looking at Jiyeon’s smiling face, her fingertips grew cold. It felt as if fate was mocking her, saying that there was no escape. Jiyeon laughed and pointed at the novel.
That hellish curse.
“A novel like this.”
Don’t laugh, Jiyeon. It’s not something you can laugh about.
“I would want to become the heroine of a novel like this, given the chance. I mean, to get into the world of the novel.”
“Really? No, but why the heroine?”
Sol was taken aback by the loneliness in Jiyeon’s wistful smile. She couldn’t help but notice how much her friend wanted a family. Maybe that’s what she had in mind: a heroine who is loved, and a life that isn’t lonely. To be born happy and have a loving family all around her…
‘Jiyeon.’
Iora’s family was the worst. Sol gnashed her teeth at how much hurt and sadness her friend would face in their hands.
‘Please read it until the end. And remember, the real saint in the novel isn’t Arcanda but Iora! Read the after-story. Please remember, Jiyeon.’
Jiyeon’s life as Iora would be terrifying, but what was even more horrific was that when it takes a soul for Iora from this world, it also brought the soul of the woman chosen as Arcanda from this side as well. In contrast to the saint, she was vicious and would do whatever it took to survive, so that this cursed story would continue its natural course.
‘You are the protagonist, Jiyeon. You are the protagonist. Remember that. Don’t forget. Even if you forget, you have to remember. That’s how you can use the power of the saint. You can create miracles. You can survive. You can go back!’
Unaware of Sol’s true feelings, Jiyeon continued cheerfully talking about the meat, smiling brightly. Tears welled up. A precious friend. Her best friend. How can she live without her? She would miss her so much.
Sol clenched her teeth. Thinking about Jiyeon, who had lived so resiliently, enduring abuse in such a dreadful world made her chest tighten. It was heartbreaking. And it was imminent.
Sol saw Jiyeon floating in the air. Unable to utter a scream, her friend was struck by a speeding truck.
“Jiyeon. Jiyeon. Jiyeon! Aaah, Jiyeon!”
She knew. Sol knew that today was the end. She knew that Jiyeon, hit by the truck that came out of nowhere, wouldn’t feel any pain and would be gone in an instant. She knew that she had traded a miserable death burning for hours in a fire with this.
Her blood flowed hot. Sol collapsed. Thud.
Splatter!
Her fists hit the asphalt.
Jiyeon.
Please.
“Sob! Don’t, don’t go. Don’t go, sob, sniff!!!”
You’re the hero of that world.
Don’t forget who you are.
You are a saint of the gods, and your power can work miracles.
Turn it back. And start again. So live. Make everyone be on your side.
Never yield. Break free from the curse of that novel. So your life becomes truly yours.
Live.
“Jiyeon… don’t die. Don’t die. Live happily. Live happily.”
Please be happy.
* * *
That’s how it was. Iora, or rather, Jiyeon remembered. The ending of the novel that Sol had shown her. The truth written there. Sol’s efforts that she had continued to shout in her dreams. What she had forgotten.
In that place, the saint was… In fact, the real saint of “The Saint’s Flower” was her.
“It was me all along.”
Little by little, she opened her eyes, revealing not the abused and sorrowful Iora from the novel, but the Kim Jiyeon who could bravely overcome even the most unfortunate moments and laugh through it all.
Her eyes sparkled with clarity.
She saw the dagger embedded in her chest, the blood dripping from it, and the powerful white light emanating from her fingertips. This was the power of a saint—the power of the most important woman in the world, the one who must survive at all costs.
And this was the power to work miracles.
Any miracle possible within this world.
“Sol.”
With this power, she could heal the wounds in her heart and walk away. Then everyone would know that the saint was Iora, not Arcanda. However, even if that were the case, what would that change?
Jiyeon didn’t want to go back to the torturous life she had.
She needed to go back to the beginning, to all of this… She would definitely survive.
She will not die, she will survive, and she will exact revenge.
Iora slowly unleashed her power. The vision soon turned white, drenched in a dazzling, blinding light.
