Thomas said.
“Love is the foundation that makes the world, and promises are what sustain it.”
“Sustaining the world, huh?”
“Even if you were to build colossal walls capable of protecting the world, can you fulfill that role if they can’t be maintained? Even if the Creator sends a servant to save us from evil, what good is that salvation if it only lasts a moment? Even if it is a thousand-year kingdom, if it can’t survive even one year, then it is not an everlasting paradise but merely a mirage. And even if it flourishes, if it can’t last beyond one era, it will amount to nothing but mere history.”
Love is the seed and the rock.
Finally, it is the roof that will cover the whole world.
However, what is between them are the pillars.
Those pillars are promises.
“I’d like to tell you a story from my childhood. Would you listen? Ah, I hope young Master William listens too.”
Thomas pulled William’s chair a bit closer to him.
So his story could be heard better.
In the process, William made a stifled noise and twisted his body, but that didn’t matter to anyone.
To Thomas who was pulling the chair or to Jinseong watching him.
Not to anyone at all.
“I had a rather unpleasant nickname since I was little. They called me ‘Stubborn Thomas.'”
“Ump!”
“Ah, I can guess what young Master William is thinking right now. You must be thinking it’s a fitting nickname for me even now. But back then, it was a whole different dimension. The word ‘stubborn’ was a euphemism, really… Yes. When I set my mind on something, I pushed ahead with it relentlessly.”
Thomas smiled broadly.
“If I thought someone was bad, I thought they were bad to the very end. If I thought a certain food tasted good, it had to be on my table for every meal. I only studied the subjects I liked and ignored anything that lost my interest. And if I started something, I had to see it through to the end.”
“That’s not stubbornness.”
“No. It wasn’t stubbornness. It was closer to egotism… Haha. Perhaps, when I think back, I might have been a bit autistic. No matter how young I was, that behavior was abnormal, wasn’t it?”
“Hmm.”
“But that can’t be an excuse. I never thought to escape stubbornness, didn’t try to be flexible, and was an arrogant child who believed only I was right. Truly, I was quite a cocky brat… Perhaps that’s why things turned out as they did.”
Thomas gazed into the air as if recalling the past.
His eyes, looking into nothingness, were unfocused.
As if vividly watching the landscapes of the distant past.
“My friendships always ended poorly. I had a falling out with those I was close to. Whenever I tried to date someone, fights would break out.”
“Hmm.”
“I didn’t know back then. I believed only I was right and didn’t bother trying to understand others… It’s like running around causing wounds to others.”
“Egotism is like a blade that sticks out.”
“Moreover, I never sought the reason for why those hurt would avoid me. I only blamed others. I blamed my family, I cursed my ancestors. I cursed my parents, I cursed God, I cursed the Transcendent Beings. I blamed my friends and the girl I once loved. I was just shouting that everyone and everything except me was wrong.”
“Oh dear.”
“I was very angry. I wanted to smash everything to pieces. Yes, just like young Master William.”
Thomas smiled brightly at William.
But William did not smile.
“But one day, I met a priest who helped me avoid the wrong path. The reason I grew up decently is entirely thanks to that person.”
William glared at Thomas as if to say not to speak nonsense.
‘Did you grow up properly only to kidnap people and drill holes in their hands and feet? Stuff it, you Jesus freak!’
He silently cursed as he glared at him.
His pale complexion might have been from blood loss, but thanks to magic, his body felt energized, and his mind was clear.
“That person said I was wounded. I was so hurt that I feared to love, and that I also feared being loved. That’s why I was surrounding my heart with iron and sharpening my thorns. Inside, I was only curling up, wrapped in my wounds.”
“Wise words.”
“And then he said he would take on all my burdens. He told me not to suppress my feelings but to pour them all out to him. He asked me to promise to only pour them out to him.”
“A promise, huh…”
“Yes, a promise. At that time, I promised the priest that I wouldn’t let my anger spill over to those around me, and I would confide all my struggles and frustrations only to him.”
Thomas wore a wistful expression as he recalled the memories.
“Back then, when I was a bit crooked, I unloaded all sorts of verbal abuse onto the priest. Yes. Every word was like a sharp needle that could pierce deep into the heart. But he still comforted me while listening to those words. Instead of dressed-up rhetoric, he simply thanked me for enduring.”
“Hmm.”
“Haha. It was just a simple phrase, but… that one line made the curse that dwelled within me turn into a blessing. It felt like a bandage was wrapping around my heart, and I felt warm and embraced.”
Thomas smiled brightly.
“Yes. It was love. The teachings of God and love healed my cursed life and rescued me. The priest pulled me from the brink like a father would for his son. Truly, it was a miraculous event.”
“Did you keep that promise from start to finish?”
“Haha. Not exactly. I broke it once.”
He answered the question while gazing at Jinseong in a reminiscent manner.
“It was about half a year after I made that promise with the priest. A friend was fooling around in class and broke my item, and I lost my temper. I forgot all about the promise to the priest and let my anger out.”
“….”
“But I could clearly feel it at that moment. I understood what the outcome was when, for half a year, I had not let my anger spill out around me, had not acted arrogantly, and hadn’t been stuck in my own ideas… And I also understood that the trust I had built over those months came crumbling down.”
Thomas smiled faintly.
“All the kids looked at me with shocked expressions as if they would faint. They were surprised that I had lost my temper, and when the kid they thought had become nice suddenly reverted to his old self, they felt betrayed. And the kids who wanted to approach me without fear took a step back again, and I felt how those who had been getting along well all of a sudden became awkward around me.”
“Indeed, a volcano that suddenly erupts is far scarier than one that bubbles steadily.”
“That’s right. I ended up shocking the kids even more. Just because I broke that promise.”
“But surely you could recover.”
“Haha. That’s right. The priest said something similar. Breaking a promise is something that deserves punishment, but I don’t need to impose that myself. Now you realize what happens when you break your promise. You’ve learned what happens when you impose your arrogance and egotism on others. Now that you know something not easily understood, you should extend love to them.”
“Love, huh…”
“He said that when you offer love, they will come to you again, and they will always be your strength. And he told me to take today’s events as a lesson, not to break my promise, and gain their trust. The trust that is gained would become a pillar and an intangible asset. That accumulated intangible trust would eventually become a miracle.”
Hmm.
William snorted at the word ‘miracle.’
He thought it was a term ill-suited for that crazy priest.
Thomas noticed the sneer and looked into William’s eyes, then spoke in a gentle manner as if admonishing him.
“Young Master William. A miracle is not something grand. It is when a person loves another, heals them with that love, and that person then passes that love on to others. What else could this be but a miracle?”
‘Screw that.’
“When hatred turns into love, unhappiness decreases. When hatred transforms into love, people find salvation. When indifference turns to love, families are formed, and when love overflows with greater love, happiness is born. And that love, spreading outwards, will finally change the world. How can that not be considered a miracle?”
‘Sure, gobble it up.’
“Young Master. You can change too. Just as I did, you too can transform through love.”
Thomas smiled.
“Young Master William. The kind and pure version of you once had love. But you lost that love and became like my former self. It became filled with arrogance and egotism, and you could no longer consider others. Without love, you can’t convey love, and having lost love, you’ve become like a monster smashing through the love of others.”
‘What the hell are you saying, bastard!’
“I simply couldn’t stand to watch this. I couldn’t leave things be! Not pulling a lamb heading toward a cliff back is akin to letting that lamb die. Thus, with the heart of a shepherd wanting to save that unaware lamb stepping into danger, I wish to guide you back.”
With a heart full of goodness.
With a heart filled with love.
He smiled.
