Chapter 1: 1. Going Back (1)

Celine Kuarig looked at the Priest who was scattering ashes of her sister out of an urn onto the garden.

Katherine always had the habit of drumming her decorated fingernails and she did so that day as well when they spoke.

'—When they're done with me, I doubt I'd have enough of me to fill the coffin, heh. Why not cremate me instead?'

Celine's brother and parents stood by her side, their eyebrows pulled towards the center of their forehead. The lady in a long white dress had her hands clasped together as she finished her prayers while the Priest motioned for a young boy to pour holy water into the ground.

"...and bless the soul of our dear sister and your child, whose ashes returns to her favorite place. I pray you guide the lost soul and grace her with forgiveness as you welcome her into your heavenly abode."

She had stopped drumming her fingernails as she let out a self deprecating laugh.

—'There, it's quite a special place for me, ironically.'

"Please make sure no one visits this garden for the next three days, your Excellency."

The Duke nodded to the Priest and gave his butler a look. The butler, Albert, bowed to his masters and the guests and went back to the mansion.

Her sister's eyes were cold. Her gaze cold enough to freeze someone. 

—'Don't bother trying to save me, there's nothing anyone can do now. If you interfere, they might drag the entire Kuarig down. Except for Hans of course.'

Celine studied her family's expression carefully. The Duke had a pitying look in his eyes, the Duchess' gaze was cold and her brother, Hans' was full of disgust and contempt.

—'You know, I thought about it for so long and I'm still unsure of why you all don't like me. Why is Katherine, no, why am I being despised?'

Katherine Kuarig, her half-sister had been suspected to have been a user of dark magic and had been tortured for sometime till she was finally executed that day after:

Number one- having confirmed that she was a dark mage with witnesses testifying to her evil deeds and

Number two- for the assassination she had attempted on the Kingdom's strongest light magic user.

Only a handful of people knew Katherine's end was unavoidable. That she would have been killed or exiled even if she hadn't been a dark mage.

It was because of Julia Diamond, officially 'The Holy Maiden'. She was the  strongest light magic user in the Kingdom, if not the continent.

Slowly but surely, anyone who had opposed her had been punished for numerous reasons.

Bankruptcy, treason, accidents, exposed bribes and dealings.

They were all simply guises for the true reason of their downfall- they had slighted The Holy Maiden. So her 'Knights' took care of their opposition.

And one of her 'Knights' was Celine's own brother, Hans Kuarig.

Of course Celine hadn't paid any attention to all these till her sister had mentioned it to her. Although it seemed to be absurd, with further investigations, it was pretty reasonable.

"Let us now have a moment of silence and prayer for our sister."

The woman in the white dress spoke.

Silence followed and Celine closed her eyes and clapsed her hands together. She remembered the last time she had spoken to her sister. 

Katherine that day was so unlike the rumors that someone might have believed her to be fake if it were not for there not being magic to change one's facial features.

The young girl was calm and seemed resigned to her fate. She had already known what lay ahead.

Over tea, Katherine calmly stated what would happen to her, what should be done after her death, where her ashes should be scattered.

It would have seemed like a reunion between sisters but Celine could not even taste the tea or any pasteries as she stared into her sister's bottomless pit-like emerald eyes.

Looking at the eyes that seemed to have seen too much, eyes someone her age shouldn't possess, Celine's throat remained dry no matter how much tea she drank. 

They had talked for sometime and till the end, Celine couldn't bring up the courage to say something she should have said many years ago.

"Thank you all very much."

Celine opened her eyes at her father's voice. She then walked along with the people from the church, seeing them off while the rest of her family nodded and went back to the mansion. At the gate, the members entered in seperate carriages, led by the Priest.

The woman in white representing the group remained behind and smiled at Celine, who bowed slightly to her.

"I thank you on behalf of the Kuarig family for agreeing to the ceremony, madam."

In fact it was already a big privilege of the Kuarig to be able to hold a ceremony, no matter how small, for a Dark Mage and even more so that a group of the members of the church agreed to partake in it.

The woman smiled, "Of course, it is our duty to guide the poor souls after all."

Celine smiled back and waited in silence for the woman to get in the carriage that was waiting for her, but the woman kept smiling and stood still.

'What does she want?'

Celine was already worn out, sleepless and tired and she was getting annoyed by the lady who was staring at her like an idiot.

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The woman's smile grew wider and before Celine could react, the former had already rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

"Wha-"

Though the woman's hand was soft as she had not done any chores for a long time, being treasured as a Light User, her grasp was firm and strong. Before Celine could try to retract her hands, the woman leaned over and said, "Do I really look like an idiot when I smile like this?"

"H-huh?"

Celine's thoughts were all jumbled up.

'No way I was so tired I said my thoughts aloud right?'

"Nope. You have pretty good self control for a young girl, unlike your sister."

"You-. How-"

"You're going to ask how I'm able to read your thoughts and how I knew your sister yes?"

Celine nodded, dazed as a warm feeling spread throughout her body. It was an embrace that had dispersed all the previous fatigue and complex emotions. 

The warmth was coming from the woman who was holding her hands.

At that moment, the whole world seemed to have lost colour and a golden glow emitted from the woman's entire body. She was still smiling.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you I'm a Goddess?"

Celine did not respond and she knew she didn't need to.

"Celine Kuarig, I can send you back to before your sister's destruction. So do you want to go back?" The self proclaimed goddess snickered and didn't wait for Celine to answer. "Well, of course you do."

Celine, who had been silenced the whole time quickly processed her current situation and weighed the credibility of the woman.

"And what price do I have to pay? Will you take my soul?"

The 'Goddess' rolled her eyes and said, "Of course not. That's the Devil's job. What would I do with your soul any way?"

Then she saw Celine start to open her mouth and quickly said, "Of course there is no free meal. The price is simple, really. You simply need to be the successor to your sister's misfortune."

As she said this, Celine's head suddenly felt like it had been pounded on by a sledgehammer continuously forcing her to kneel.

Information flooded in and suddenly everything made sense.

'Ha... how stupid.' Celine laughed with disbelief in between her gasps for breath.

"One last question..." She stood up.

'Why are you passing the title to me?'

The Goddess kept smiling and replied, "I'm just bored, no other reason. Are you ready?"

Celine took a deep breath.

Her sister's smile was one that had never really been a smile since...since a long time ago it seemed.

—'Sister, I hate you.'

"Yes."

The Goddess looked into Celine's eyes, her own eyes deep with meaning.

“Very well.” 

Sleepiness engulfed Celine in darkness and as her entire weight fell onto the Goddess, she felt the Goddess stroke her head while chuckling. 

“Whether this is out of hypocrisy or guilt, I hope you can entertain me for a bit.”

...

Celine watched her sister's smile after hearing those words. Then Katherine bowed and left the terrace. There was no tea left in her her cup.

For the final words of her sister to her to be a confession of hatred...

Even so Celine did nothing to stop her sister from leaving. Her hands curled up and clenched on her dress as her shoulders trembled.

'I'm sorry.'

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