Sang-je faintly creased his brows at her remark. As he remained silent, Eugene grew even more restless, while waiting for his response. If Sang-je had a special ability to divine one’s true heart, he would be able to see right through her lies.
–I’m sorry for all the pain you’ve been through. Is the loss of your memory the only changes you experienced after your return from the desert?
“Your Holiness. This is quite a significant change to me. As I do not wish to lose anything of mine.”
–A human memory is inherently unstable by nature. You should concentrate on what you’ve gained more than what you’ve lost.
“With all due respect, Your Holiness.”
–Anika Jin. I summoned you all the way to the Holy City for a verification. Have you got your Ramita back?
Eugene inwardly concluded that Sang-je did not have the ability to read people’s minds.
‘However, Sang-je is not an ordinary human either. No human could convey words directly into people’s heads. But he is not the same Sang-je I described in the novel as well. An angel should at least keep it’s neutral stance, considering that we can’t expect it to have the same standard of goodness from a human’s perspective.’
But on the contrary, from what Eugene had seen and heard by far, she realized that there was something sly and shady about Sang-je, let alone his ambition to keep a tight rein over Anikas. He didn’t seem qualified in the least to be an angel who’s supposed to fulfill God’s divine will.
While the delay in her response prolonged as Eugene was looking for an appropriate answer, Sang-je had mistaken her silence for a different meaning. It irritated him—Jin’s silence was her usual way of showing that she was irked. In his mind, Jin must have found his marks indifferent, and she expects more consolation from him.
‘Her fastidious demeanor had gotten no better.’
Commonly, people masked their real characters behind an assumed manner in Sang-je’s presence. So, for such Sang-je to regard someone as fastidious, implies that the person is quite notorious for such demeanor.
He wondered if it was because he had overindulged her from a young age, for she was a noble Anika, born for the first time in ten years. But as Anika Flora, who he also pampered since her birth, was a far cry from Jin’s rotten disposition, the problem must be with Jin’s persona alone.
–Anika Jin. I ask you again. Have you got your Ramita back?
Sang-je’s voice was brisk, suggesting that this was his last warning to her.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Eugene answered, knowing that she couldn’t hide about the Lark tree in any case. Sang-je’s facial muscles twitched almost instantly upon her answer.
–Anika Jin. Why haven’t you informed me at once?
“As I…did not want to return to the Holy City, just yet.”
–So what you are saying is that you didn’t tell me as you feared that I might summon you?
“Forgive me, Your Holiness. I just wanted to put a clean end to everything before I return.”
Eugene answered as ambiguous as she could sound. As the more she spoke, the more she would be at a disadvantage with the little knowledge she had.
“I was very much distressed when I left the Holy City three years ago. You probably have no notion of how much I had wanted to give up all these years. But such hardships had only made me resolute that I would never leave again once I make my way back to the Holy City.”
–If you suffered as much, why didn’t you inform me all the more? I would have most definitely helped you if only you had asked.
“I couldn’t bring myself to after all the help and support you’d given me so far. And I wanted to finish what I had started with my own hands.”
Eugene grew anxious as Sang-je remained silent for a while.
–It seems like the past three years must have really been long for you. You have become much more determined than you were before.
Sang-je’s feelings towards humans were rather complex. Sometimes he would get disillusioned like they were no more than lowly, dim-witted creatures, while sometimes he would simply be astonished by their marvellousness. What he was feeling now was however of great interest.
Anika Jin was almost like a headstrong child with a nasty temper. She was keen at making every situation favorable to her, even if it involves her orchestrating sly and devious lies all with a straight face, even in Sang-je’s presence. She had not changed a shade since her childhood, even after she came of age.
However, there clearly was something different about her compared to the last time he had seen her in three years back. It was almost as if she had finally grown into a sensible adult.
After watching humans close by for such a long period of time, he realized that there was a difference in inherent dispositions among humans.
While some were born kind, others were just bad by nature. And while there were people who strive to surpass their limits, some would just resign and live within their limits.
Sang-je had always known Anika Jin as a narrow-minded person, and he often found it quite odd considering that she was from such a refined family. Jin was a person who’s likely driven by jealousy. She harbored a lot of self-pity while never bothering to hide her enmity towards others.
And unlike most people, who mask themselves to appear good on the outside, she was a rather peculiar one as she didn’t think twice about throwing a fit in front of others. Such behaviour resembled those on the lower rungs of society, and not at all noble-like.
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