My heart pounded at his words. I can't believe I'm about to experience such divine power. I gulped silently with my hands clasped together.

There was certainly a god in this world. His existence was never up for question and the people believed in the divine being with their whole heart. The gods of this world made themselves known through the Church and the existence of miracles. While there were a lot of discussions about which god was better, questioning the deity's existence was never an occurrence.

PAAA!-

God's divinity came out of Ravis' hands. The bluish light slowly flowed from his hands through my throat. Gentle heat warmed my skin then the pain caused by an unknown foreign substance began to simmer down. A slight, scratchy feeling tickled my throat and I supposed Ravis' power must be working.

My heart fluttered in excitement. There are so many things I want to do once my throat gets better. I want to sing, I want to converse with Lina, I want to complain to my heart's content and I want to thank her for everything she's done for me.

It's only been two months and a half since I couldn't speak, but the absence of it felt like forever. I certainly missed it.

Even if I didn't talk that much before this happened, losing the ability to speak so suddenly felt like someone had covered my mouth to prevent me from talking. Having this experience, I now understand the difference between not wanting to do something, and not doing something simply because you can't.

While these thoughts were running through my mind, something surprising happened. Huh?

An intense blue light on my eyelids awakened me. With his eyes wide open, Ravis was emitting blue light from his whole body. What's this?

Unlike before, the blue light only came from his hands, but now his whole body was shining a bluish glow. The gleaming shine would normally hurt the eyes but strangely, it wasn't not at all unpleasant. In the midst of it all, I noticed something unfamiliar heading straight at me.

I couldn't see it, but I felt it.

What's going on here?

"Iona, come here!"

Then the Emperor grabbed me, took me in his arms and stepped back. Lotuburu was clenched in his hands. He must have summoned his sword without me knowing. The Emperor growled at the light and shouted, "For God's sake!"

A look of grimace was displayed on the Emperor's features, like he was feeling some kind of pain. What exactly is this light?

I felt kind of ashamed by his sudden behavior. Ravis, who had been staring blankly at the space before him, turned his head slowly to look at me.

Ravis?

His eyes were soft as ever, but the atmosphere felt entirely different. The soft expression in his face I found comfort in earlier didn't feel that way anymore. There was no ounce of emotion in his eyes. And when his gaze landed on me, I felt like the wind was knocked out of my chest and for some strange reason, it felt a little bit familiar.

What is this feeling?

Then Ravis spoke to me, but the voice that came out of him wasn't his own.

[We finally met]

It was neither a man's nor a woman's. It was just a low-pitched voice.

The Emperor pointed Lotuburu to Ravis threateningly, or whoever it was that stood in Ravis' place. "I don't think it's your time to show up."

The sharp, pointed tip of the sword touched Ravis' neck. He nudged the blade just slightly and tiny drops of blood dripped beneath the flesh. But the wound healed just as quickly as a bluish glow bloomed from that very spot.

Wait! What if Ravis gets hurt?

I hurriedly tried to grab the sword from his hands. The Emperor was so angry he really could have hurt Ravis the way he intended to, his eyes sharp as daggers. Despite the Emperor's threat, Ravis was still looking at me, smiling all the while.

[I'll be right back.]

The smile on his face made me feel uneasy. Originally, Ravis' smile was certainly warm, but now it was the opposite. It felt like he was looking at me from above with that menacing smile that was anything but friendly. The thing inside of Ravis spoke once again.

[Please. You...]

He looked at me, his face falling into a sad expression but then he wasn't able to finish his sentence as he dropped bonelessly on the sofa.

Ravis!

Surprised, I tried to go reach him to check on his condition but the Emperor pulled me back and warned, "Stay away from him."

Looking at the Emperor, he was still staring at Ravis with a strange expression displayed on his face. Lotuburu was already kept hidden, but his expression was still as guarded.

I could only look at Ravis at a distance since the Emperor had secured me in his hold. Despite everything that happened, Ravis looked calm and serene, bearing the face of someone who had just woken up, like someone who wasn't aware of what happened to his surroundings.

I let out a sigh of relief. Who was that?

The Emperor was still securing me tightly by the arms. I frowned at the slight discomfort. Just as I was about to gesture to him to let me go, I heard him muttering to himself.

"I can't believe Theres showed up..."

My eyes widened at the revelation.