I Possessed The Immoral Empress - Chapter 160

When Arvian opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a white ceiling.

The room, small and simple, was entirely white.

It took a while before Arvian realized he had ended up in a village near the Grand Temple.

At that moment, he thought he had died and entered the afterlife.

Not long after, a small wooden door opened, and an old man with a full beard appeared.

The old man’s hair, beard, and modest clothes were all pure white.

Moreover, the enormous spirit behind the old man emitted a radiant white light that was hard to believe belonged to a human.

‘Hmm, it seems the afterlife really does exist. But who is this old man? A god? Do gods also age?’

The pure white old man approached Arvian with a kind smile and handed him a glass of water.

“You’re awake. You must be thirsty after sweating so much to break your fever. Drink up.”

Why was there water if he was dead?

Arvian stared at the glass blankly and asked,

“Do souls feel thirst?”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t this the afterlife? Am I not dead?”

“What?”

The white-haired old man made a somewhat puzzled sound and sat on a chair next to the bed.

“You’re not dead yet. This is my room inside the Grand Temple, and I am Priest Noctavinus.”

“The Grand Temple? Noctavi- what?”

As Arvian kept making foolish remarks, Noctavinus splashed a little water from the cup onto his hand and flicked it at Arvian.

A few drops of clear water briefly clung to Arvian’s face before trickling down.

“Ah, that’s cold!”

“You were about to die from the rain, so I went through the trouble of bringing you here to save you, and now you think this is the afterlife? Really. Why do I bother with such a foolish boy… tsk tsk.”

“What? Foolish boy? That’s quite harsh for someone your age! Who asked you to save me anyway?”

Noctavinus shook his head as he watched Arvian wipe the water from his face and shout.

Although Noctavinus appeared endlessly gentle with Ermedeline, his personality was far from being lenient or merciful; rather, he was known for his lack of formality.

“How strange. White hair and red eyes. I searched the entire vicinity, and this was the only one like that…”

White hair and red eyes.

As soon as Arvian heard those words, his heart sank.

Though he had been released based on the merchants’ testimonies, he still had complex feelings about the merchant’s death.

Although he wasn’t directly involved, he couldn’t shake the thought that had he stayed that day despite feeling unwell, he might have been swept up in the gang’s actions and committed such a deed himself.

“Why? Did new evidence surface? Did they say I killed him?”

“What?”

“Or are you curious about the real culprit’s whereabouts? As I said repeatedly back then, I don’t know. I genuinely didn’t know what happened.”

“Huh?”

Noctavinus frowned as if he didn’t understand what Arvian was talking about, but Arvian continued to pour out his story.

“Ha, look, just pin it on me. Say I killed him. It would be easier that way.”

“What?”

In fact, before Noctavinus found him, Arvian, feeling his consciousness fading, wished to die.

During the two days of interrogation, the investigators had said some really harsh things to Arvian to extract information about his gang.

They told him the merchant had dozens of broken bones, was bruised and battered all over, and was in such a state that even his family couldn’t recognize him.

They also said about ten boys had lost their senses and kept beating the already dead body.

Hearing this, Arvian wasn’t particularly surprised.

‘Yeah, those guys could do that.’

Just a short while before that incident, when they raided a farm, the boys, driven by madness, not only stole everything they needed but also smashed all the farm’s fences.

Setting the stable on fire was just an added bonus.

Arvian, who had participated in the arson like the other boys, felt no particular guilt watching the farm burn.

Being part of a group is truly frightening.

Things you would never do alone, you do without guilt due to the strange psychology of the crowd.

Since being released, that was all Arvian could think about.

He thought he had avoided becoming a murderer purely out of luck.

If he hadn’t been unwell that day, he too might have participated in the killing.

To him, life and death held little meaning.

He thought it wouldn’t be so bad to die if it meant escaping these terrible thoughts, if it meant ending the constant flight from the darkness that tried to consume him.

“Do you know how long I searched for you? I heard about the incident too, but you weren’t even there.”

“I was lucky. I happened to be sick that day, so I didn’t go out… Phew.”

Noctavinus looked at Arvian, who was roughly ruffling his own hair, with a somewhat cold gaze.

“So, you ended up like a vagabond on the street because of that incident? The clothes you were wearing were so dirty I couldn’t even wash them; I had to burn them.”

“Clothes?”

He hadn’t noticed in the chaos, but looking down, he saw he was now dressed in new, pure white clothes.

“Tsk. Who asked you to save me?”

“What? You think I should have just let you die? Is that why you’re babbling about the afterlife?”

“No, it’s not like that… Haa…”

Arvian sighed deeply and muttered his secret under his breath.

“Your spirit was just so dazzling…”

“What? You find me dazzling? Well, maintaining this beauty at my age isn’t easy.”

“What are you talking about? Your appearance is just like an old man’s! It’s your soul! Your soul is extremely bright…”

Whether he was still disoriented from near-death or the old man’s overly casual demeanor had made him lower his guard, Arvian realized his mistake and quickly lowered his voice.

“Soul? Are you saying you can see souls?”

“No, I mean, I was talking nonsense because I wasn’t fully awake…”

“Can you really see souls? Do you actually see them?”

Arvian tried to brush it off as a slip of the tongue, but Noctavinus suddenly became serious, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.

“Just as I thought! The revelation was correct! It’s you, isn’t it? It’s you!”

“Huh?”

“The red eyes in your revelation. It was said that those red eyes would change fate.”

“What?”

Though he had a somewhat peculiar constitution, this ability had rarely provided him with any practical help. 

In fact, when he had carelessly spoken about it as a child, it had led to his father getting angry, ultimately causing the death of his entire family. While it had occasionally been useful in avoiding nasty spirits with friendly faces, even that became unnecessary as he grew accustomed to life on the streets.

“What? Change fate?”

Fate, he scoffed. The kind of fate that grants you a harmonious family only to take them away one by one. If these red eyes really had the power to change fate, shouldn’t they have been able to save his father, his mother, and his little sister when they died?

“Don’t talk nonsense. Fate? Didn’t you hear me? I almost became a murderer! If I hadn’t been bedridden that day, I would have committed a horrible murder! How can someone like that talk about fate… Haa…”

Arvian, who had suffered from a high fever for several days, had a dry mouth and could no longer speak.

“None of the ones who abandoned you turned themselves in.”

After watching Arvian for a moment, Noctavinus spoke in a calm voice.

“Of course not. That’s the kind of people they are. I didn’t expect them to go that far, though.”

“But you, even though you weren’t at the murder scene, wandered around like a beggar for months.”

“That’s because I’m just like them. I could have easily become a murderer. I was scared…”

“Hmm. Is that so? Were you scared?”

“Yes.”

Noctavinus was the first person Arvian had spoken to in months.

His inner thoughts, suppressed for so long, now began to spill out one by one.

“I see. You were scared. Scared of becoming just like them.”

“Yes.”

Arvian replied shortly and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them.

“Do you know what that fear, that terror is called?”

“What is it?”

“It’s called guilt.”

“Hmm. I don’t think so. I just didn’t want to become as disgusting as their souls.”

At Arvian’s blunt response, Noctavinus laughed briefly, then gently raised his hand to stroke Arvian’s head.

“As a priest for many decades, I’ve met countless disgusting people. Some didn’t even realize their state, while others lived shamelessly, fully aware of their condition. There are people so revolting that anyone could recognize it, yet they live without any guilt.”

“…”

“If the mere fact that you could have become like that tormented you to the point of wanting to die, then you’re fine. You’re still okay. Even though I don’t have your red eyes, I can say this with certainty: your soul is still valuable.”

Arvian snapped his head up and glared at Noctavinus, eyes full of intensity.

“Valuable?”

“Yes. Maybe not as dazzling as mine yet.”

Noctavinus winked and ran a hand through his pure white hair.

“Ugh. My eyes! Is this old man crazy?”

Thwack!

Noctavinus, with a cheerful expression, flicked Arvian on the forehead as he grimaced.

“You’ve got a long way to go before you shine like me. A long way!”

“High Priest!”

Arvian’s light body moved like a feather across the plains as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Please, stop! Stop it!”

“Old man!”

But before Arvian could reach Noctavinus, he had already stepped into the magic circle.

In that bloody and red scene of slaughter, he became a single point of light, walking step by step towards the center of the magic circle.

The old man was completely unarmed, but the cursed soldiers didn’t dare approach him.

With each step he took, white flowers began to bloom on the dark crimson earth.

“Please! Please, stop!”

Having finally reached the edge of the magic circle, Arvian tried to pull Noctavinus back, but his power was far from reaching that of the High Priest.

The cursed soldiers of Frianton soon blocked Arvian’s path.

“Damn it! You crazy old man, get out of there now!”

By then, Felio and Ermedeline had arrived beside Arvian.

Several mages, who had returned to the battlefield upon seeing Noctavinus, were with them.

“I, I’ll go. I…”

Seeing Noctavinus stepping into the enormous magic circle, Ermedeline, as distraught as Arvian, tried to step in, but then a bright white light began to radiate from Noctavinus’ body.