The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 218

Chapter 218

Chapter 218

The interior of the golden palace truly boasted the pinnacle of flamboyance . Golden symbols were engraved on a lustrous marble background, and even the windowsills had a gold outline .

And with all sorts of decorative items placed everywhere, the palace reminded everyone of France’s Palace of Versailles, which was known for its marvelous beauty .

“I am very pleased that you think so highly of this poor palace . ”

A soprano-tone voice, like that of a skylark, rang out in everyone’s ears, and their eyes naturally headed forward .

A throne made of gold was standing at the end of the vast hallway, which extended like a corridor . And there was a woman slowly standing up from this throne, looking down amiably at the expedition team .

The figure looked young and frail, and didn’t seem to even reach 150 centimeters . Her blue hair was slicked back and tied into a bun, emphasizing her small, white face even more .

Indeed, rather than a woman, it seemed more proper to call her a young lady .

Clack… clack…

Seol Jihu snapped out of his daze hearing the clacking of heels . The young lady was walking down the stairs with modest steps, her hands clasped over her bellybutton .

As she came closer, her attire became easier to see . The top of her clothing was a black, gothic lolita-style dress, which stuck to her body and outlined her alluring curves, and the bottom was a wide, bell-shaped skirt that reached her ankles .

“Thank you accepting my invitation . ”

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, she lightly held the hem of her skirt up and bowed politely .

“Welcome to the Pagoda of Dreams, Legitimate Visitors . ”

She scanned the expedition team briefly . Then…

“And Awaited Experts . ”

She smiled at Seol Jihu and Teresa . Her smile was so captivating that she grabbed everyone’s attention instantly .

However, Seol Jihu didn’t let his guard down . The young lady’s mouth was curled into a smile, but her clear, ocean-like blue pupils were serene like ice .

In the first place, Seol Jihu felt a strong sense of incongruity the moment he entered the place . A single young lady was the only one in such a huge palace? He felt like he was dreaming .

“You’re right . My reception hasn’t been the best, even though such honored guests accepted my invitation . Please forgive this lady’s lack of thought with magnanimity . ”

Seol Jihu was taken aback . He hadn’t said anything, yet the young lady seemed to have read his thoughts .

Her eyes then gently curled into a crescent shape as she raised both her hands .

Clap!

She clapped .

Tutururu~!

Seol Jihu almost fell backward in shock . It wasn’t just him, but everyone in the expedition team .

People filled up the palace instantly . They circled around the expedition team, sang, played music, and threw flower petals into the air .

“Don’t be so surprised . ”

A muffled giggle rang out .

“This is the world of my mind . ”

A dreamy voice flowed out rhythmically .

“Since this is a dream world, everything I wish for comes true . ”

Roselle flicked her hand like the conductor of a symphonic orchestra, and the people disappeared in an instant . The palace regained its serenity .

“Did you like my welcoming show?”

She asked, her head slightly tilted .

Seol Jihu couldn’t say anything, setting aside whether he liked it or not . He had experienced all sorts of things thus far, but this was the first time he was experiencing anything similar to what he was experiencing today .

“Now . ”

Roselle clapped again, and the scenery changed . The expedition team was now standing in the middle of a beautiful garden .

A white, round table was placed in front of them, with pretty steaming tea cups placed on top of it .

“Though it’s a little late, let me introduce myself . ”

The young lady gently placed her hand over her chest .

“My name is Roselle La Grazia . ”

Seol Jihu barely managed to eke out a few words .

“The Witch of Dreams…”[1]

“Yes, I was once called by that insignificant name . ”

Roselle smiled brightly before sitting down on a chair elegantly . She then opened her palm and pointed at the other chairs .

“Please, sit . ”

Seol Jihu hesitated for a moment, but soon steeled his resolve . The Witch of Dreams was treating them properly both as the master of this place and as the one who had invited them .

As such, it was only proper that they treat her with the same level of respect as her guests .

‘Do unto others as they do unto you . ’

“Thank you!”

Once Seol Jihu sat down, his comrades began to sit one by one . But when everyone sat down, there was one seat left open .

“Will the lady inside the pendant not sit?”

Roselle spoke with a dreamy voice .

[!?]

‘She knows?’

Seol Jihu opened his mouth in a fluster .

“Ah, she’s not good with strangers… she gets a little shy . ”

“Eh? The esteemed daughter of the Rothschear House is… shy?”

Roselle looked surprised .

“I see… I was hoping to talk about all sorts of things with her…”

Just as she reached out to the table with a slightly disappointed look—

[Did Grandpa come here?]

Flone hurriedly asked . Roselle didn’t say anything . She only stared at the pendant with a smile on her face .

[Ah, um…]

Flone must have made a mistake as she stuttered . She continued hesitantly .

[Excuse me… I subconsciously blurted out…]

Flone spoke with an elegant mannerism, which wasn’t like her normal self .

“No, it’s completely fine . ”

Roselle spoke without losing her smile .

“Both you and I are already dead . There’s no reason to upkeep customs from when we were alive . ”

[… . ]

“Also, I heard that the youngest daughter of the Rothschear House is a pampered tomboy . ”

[!]

‘Pampered? Tomboy?’

The pendant shook like a flailing flounder . Roselle stared at it as if it was cute before clearing her throat .

“To answer your question, yes, the head of the Rothschear House has indeed visited the Pagoda of Dreams . Realizing the greedy emperor was eyeing him, he requested that I hold onto a portion of the Rothschear’s inheritance . Although this happened hundreds of years ago, I remember it clearly . ”

Seol Jihu didn’t miss Roselle’s eyebrows turning sharp when she mentioned the emperor .

“To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Spear of the Empire either, but since I hated the emperor more, I accepted the Rothschear Head’s request . ”

“Then—”

“Yes, I am still safekeeping the inheritance . ”

Roselle answered as if she knew what Seol Jihu would ask . Then, she paused in the middle of elegantly raising her teacup . An intrigued smile bloomed on her face .

Roselle opened her mouth .

“Ah, fuck . ”

Seol Jihu doubted his ears .

“This is getting boring . Just give us our shit and let us go . Why did this bitch even invite us in the first place?”

Roselle spoke monotonously .

“Hiiiiiik!?”

Maria screamed .

Seol Jihu exclaimed inwardly .

‘No way . ’

Maria slammed her head down and pleaded .

“I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me!”

“No . ”

Roselle covered her mouth, smiled, then shook her head .

“I would have picked fault with it if you said it out loud, but you only thought it . It’s my fault for reading your mind without permission . It’s a bad habit of mine, you see . ”

Maria stealthily raised her head .

“I can give you the Rothschear House’s inheritance whenever . If you’d like, I can give it to you this instant . ”

Roselle took a sip of her tea, then carefully put the teacup down .

“But I would be extremely grateful if you all would listen to why I invited you . ”

Seol Jihu opened his mouth .

“Of course . By the way…”

“Yes, as I said before, I am someone who died hundreds of years ago . My body most likely turned to ash and scattered away, so not a single piece of it should remain in the world . The person you are talking to now is—”

Seol Jihu closed his mouth, not being able to finish saying ‘You said you died in the past . ’

“An existence that is a mere remnant thought . ”

For some reason, this woman…

“…is full of herself . It’s something I heard a lot when I was alive because of my habit of reading other people’s thoughts . Please excuse my behavior . ”

“…Ah, yes . ”

“You don’t have to worry about it now . I can hold myself back if it’s just for a little bit . ”

Seol Jihu let out a dry cough .

“When I looked at the historical records, everything regarding the Pagoda of Infection, or rather Dreams, was erased . ”

“Yes, it was a rather effective measure . ”

Roselle replied firmly .

“I dearly wished that the dream infection would reach the emperor, but I never imagined he would respond so strongly as soon as it began to spread . ”

Roselle then added, “He had many enemies, so he was always in a hurry to protect himself . ”

“There wasn’t much I could do back then . I formed a powerful curse around the pagoda so no one could approach it, but I also couldn’t step a foot outside of it . ”

Seol Jihu examined Roselle closely . This witch had once planned to overthrow the Empire . But setting aside how incredible she was, he questioned her methods . Strictly speaking, the Pagoda of Dreams’ infection would have negatively affected the Empire’s innocent civilians .

“You’re right . Because of my pagoda, countless good, law-abiding citizens died . ”

Roselle admitted without reserve .

“But I don’t regret it . Because many followers of the emperor also died . And those people all deserved death . ”

Seol Jihu became a bit afraid, hearing how she made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal . He interlocked his fingers and asked .

“I’d like to know why you went so far . ”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Roselle spoke in a singing tone .

“To eliminate the war-crazed emperor…”

Her tiny shoulders trembled faintly as she clutched her hands .

“And the tyrannous followers, who support him in his madness…!”

Seol Jihu instinctively shrunk back as chills suddenly ran down his spine and goosebumps spread around his entire body .

A bitter coldness shot out of Roselle’s body like thorns . It was so cold that Seol Jihu imagined himself being in a large -40 degrees freezer . That was how enraged Roselle was .

‘What power…’

The energy she was giving off far surpassed that of Flone . Seol Jihu finally caught a glimpse of how powerful this witch was . She might be evenly matched even against a Parasite Army Commander .

Roselle took a deep breath, then soothed her energy .

“Excuse me . ”

Gasps flowed out from all directions .

“Anyway, after this decision by the emperor, I made every effort to strengthen the curse . But there was an undeniable limit with a mortal body . Even after painstaking effort, all I obtained was the qualification to pursue the origin…”

Roselle blurred the end of her speech, trailing into a hard-to-understand concept .

“There is one reason why I invited you all . ”

After a brief moment of silence, Roselle took a sip of tea and spoke again .

“Although the curse’s power has weakened immensely due to the passage of time, I spent my lifetime creating it . Since two of you were able to escape this curse through your own power, you must have strong willpower . ”

‘That’s not really it . ’

Seol Jihu scratched his head .

“I will be open and honest . I am looking for someone who can fulfill the wish I failed to achieve in my lifetime . ”

Seol Jihu furrowed his brows . Roselle’s wish had to be the collapse of the Empire .

“I know . The tyrannous emperor and his followers must have all died, and many things must have changed from the passage of time . Still— my desire to get revenge has not changed nor has it diminished . Going back to its founding, the Empire took root on a rotten ground, so it ought to be overthrown . Even if hundreds of years have passed since then . ”

She must have misunderstood Seol Jihu’s expression .

“Of course, I don’t plan to force this task onto you . ”

And she really must have stopped reading others’ minds .

“And I am not requesting that you do something about it either . ”

Or perhaps she didn’t know anything about the outside situation due to being stuck in this place .

“But if you do accept my request, I will also help you to the best of my abilities . ”

No matter the case, she definitely had a huge misunderstanding .

“This Pagoda of Dreams also has my inheritance . Its scale and importance are incomparable to that of the Rothschear House . ”

Roselle spoke proudly as she strutted out her small chest .

Seol Jihu blinked .

‘This person isn’t normal either, huh . ’

Resentment that remains even after hundreds of years… It was hard to understand where her thirst for revenge was coming from . Although it was only a guess, it didn’t seem like Roselle wanted to topple the Empire purely because of a war .

‘There’s another reason . ’

There had to be a more certain reason that she hated the Empire’s origin so much .

In any case, Seol Jihu decided that it wasn’t something the expedition team should be involved in . No, even if he wanted to help her out, her wish was no longer fulfillable .

If there was one thing he could tell her, though—

That was to tell an important truth to the young lady, who had been living in a dream for hundreds of years .

Roselle asked, her pupils sparkling .

“So? What do you think? Ah, you can take your time before answering . ”

Next, she raised her ⅓-full teacup .

“… . ”

In a way, what Seol Jihu was about to tell her was cruel . So, he hesitated a little bit before speaking .

“It may be presumptuous of me, but there is something I would like to tell you before saying yes or no . ”

Roselle nodded her head, gesturing at him to go on .

“The Empire…”

With a short breath, Seol Jihu spoke firmly .

“Has already fallen . ”

“Pfft!”

Tea gushed out of her small, cherry-like lips, splattering everywhere .

Roselle went stiff and stood in place holding the teacup as if time had frozen for her . The only thing that showed she was still conscious was her busily blinking eyes .

Seol Jihu opened his mouth and put the nail in the coffin .

“It collapsed more than 10 years ago . Its people were killed regardless of their social status, and not a single tuft of grass remains on the Empire’s territory . ”

Slowly, very slowly, Roselle raised her head .

“… . ”

Silence descended once again . The fall of the Empire, which stood strong at the peak of Paradise for a long time, must have come as a huge shock because she only stared blankly without even thinking to put down her teacup .

“Ah… . ”

Roselle’s tightly shut mouth opened slightly .

“No . ”

And Seol Jihu…

“Um…”

Was able to witness…

“…Excuse me???”

Her ever-smiling face crumble down in an instant .

1 . This title is slightly different from what the mechanical voice said in the last chapter . Last one specifically said “The Dreaming Witch” while this one says “The Witch of Dreams” .

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc . . ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .