I abruptly sat up in bed.
‘Master.’
— Yeah, I felt it too.
There were intruders in my chamber—not just one, but several. I knew this because I had set up a barrier in case Giyu attacked us before.
“Wait, who are you… Argh!”
A maid’s scream echoed from outside the door.
Needless to say, the demon castle was heavily guarded. For intruders to reach the king’s inner chambers meant one of two things: either a large army had broken through all those guards, or assassins targeting Clyde or me had snuck in.
The possibility of the former was extremely slim. We had just executed Giyu and set an example for the high lords, and if someone had raised such a large army, the news would have reached the castle before they even arrived.
‘But who on earth…’
— Now is not the time to think about that. We’ll find out naturally after we subdue them.
The sound of the door being rattled, as if about to be opened, started.
I had cast defensive magic, so it wouldn’t open easily. But considering the level of skill these intruders had to infiltrate this far, it was only a matter of time.
A few moments later, the door swung open with a bang. As the intruders leaped in, I began chanting a spell.
“Eraula!”
Several strands of light extended from my hand, restraining the intruders. It worked on the three in front but failed to reach the two behind. It seemed they were protected by a powerful magical barrier.
The intruders were dressed entirely in black with masks. One of the two unbound men hastily raised their hands.
“Please wait! We are not enemies. We’ve come from the human realm to rescue Lady Eila.”
“…What did you say?”
The man who addressed me removed his mask, revealing an unmistakably human face.
“We’ve come to rescue you on the request of Duke Rojasis, Lady Eilla’s father.”
“…My father?”
I blurted out in surprise.
While I didn’t think my father would give up on me easily, I believed there was no way he could reach me.
Entering the demon realm was akin to suicide. Even if someone was prepared to face death and cross the boundaries, reaching the demon castle was practically impossible.
“How in the world did you manage to come this far? The poison of the Demon Realm… how are you able to use magic?”
“I’ll explain that later; for now, we need to get out of here. Now, could you please release the binding magic?”
“…….”
“Lady Eila?”
I stared at the man with a firm expression.
‘Regardless of what my father might have said, I had no intention of going back. I wasn’t kidnapped; I came here by choice, so I couldn’t go with them.’
“…….”
The intruders exchanged quick glances. The man who spoke to me nodded, and the one beside him began quietly chanting a spell.
Recognizing the spell, I knew immediately what it was. It was a sleep spell. They clearly intended to take me forcibly after putting me to sleep.
Of course, I had no intention of letting things go as they planned.
“Nesara!”
The protective barrier that had prevented the binding magic from working on two of them was released by my spell. Their eyes widened in surprise. However, before they could react, I proceeded with the next spell.
“Eraula!”
Once again, strands of light extended outward. The two behind me fell to their knees, their bodies bound as tightly as the three in front of them.
“What is this… How on earth…?”
The man who was interrupted while casting the sleep spell looked up at me in complete astonishment.
It was inevitable. I had cast a complex spell that typically required more than ten phrases with just a single word. Moreover, I performed two different types of magic consecutively, thanks to my ability to use magic power instead of mana.
“What the… Lady Eila! What is the meaning of this?”
The man who first spoke to me cried out in protest.
“I told you. I have no intention of returning to the human realm. I’ll let you go this time, but don’t expect to be safe if you invade the demon castle again. Tell that to my father as well.”
After saying this, I closed my eyes and began chanting another spell. I planned to use a teleportation spell to transport them to the western gate. This spell was of a much higher level than the previous ones, making it impossible to shorten with just a single word.
“Wait, wait! Duke Rojasis is here with us!”
The man shouted, breaking my concentration. I turned to look at him, wide-eyed.
“…What did you just say? My father is here? Then where is he now….”
A chill ran down my spine, like ice water on the back of my head.
“…No way, Clyde…!”
I hastily rushed past the men and out of the room.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
I ran and ran and ran until I was out of breath. Some people called out to me on the way, but I didn’t bother to look back.
Confirming the empty meeting room, I sprinted towards Clyde’s office.
A number of guards gathered in front of Clyde’s office.
“Your Majesty.”
The guards, who recognized me hastily, bowed their heads.
“His Majesty, is he inside?”
“…….”
The guards hesitated, exchanging glances. At that moment, Sakaya came out of the office.
“Sakaya, where is his Majesty?”
“…Your Majesty.”
Sakaya’s complexion was even paler than usual. Anxious, I shouted.
“Didn’t I ask where His Majesty is?”
“Your Majesty, please calm down. Stay calm and listen to what I have to say….”
I pushed Sakaya aside, heading towards the office door.
“Your Majesty, the queen!”
Sakaya hurriedly tried to block my path; however, I used weight reduction magic to bind his feet and entered the office.
Inside, Clyde was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a person dressed exactly like the men who intruded on my chamber, leaning against the wall with his head down.
The moment I confirmed his face, it felt like all the blood had drained from my body.
“…Father…”
Everything went dark. I unconsciously sank into my spot, feeling like the ground had given way beneath me.
Without a doubt, it was my father, Julion Rojasis. He lay there with his eyes open, lifeless. Blood spewed from his mouth, soaking his chin and chest, and his right arm was severed.
“Oh, Father… why…”
Suddenly, everything seems blurry. I reached out to my father with trembling hands, but I couldn’t touch him.
‘Did Clyde… did he do this? Surely, Father tried to… kill Clyde first. Then, where is Clyde…?’
Trembling, I blinked my eyes, and tears streamed down my cheeks. Only then did I notice a pile of black ash in front of my father’s lifeless body, resembling the residue left after cremating a corpse.
“…….”
My heart pounded.
Faintly, I could sense Clyde’s magic in the ashes.
“…No.”
Unconsciously, those words escaped my lips.
“No, no. It can’t be true. It’s impossible…”
I collapsed to the ground, grabbing the ashes in my hands. I searched through them over and over again. There was no way this could be Clyde, I thought, as if I were trying to find evidence of it endlessly.
Even though I was coughing from the billowing smoke, I continued my desperate search. Eventually, I discovered something.
It was a ring.
The very ring that Clyde and I had chosen together, the one I personally placed on his finger during our wedding.
“Ah….”
The ring slipped from my hand, tumbling to the floor.
“Aaah, aaah… aaahhhh!”
I wailed, my head pressed against the floor.
I couldn’t believe it.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t believe it had happened. I should have seen it coming. Even if others were oblivious, I, at least, should have considered and prepared for this possibility.
Coming all the way to the Demon Realm, I had foolishly assumed that Father would give up and that he wouldn’t dare cross into the Demon Realm.
‘If it was going to be like this, what was the point of being reincarnated? What was the point of everything I’d done—learning all the great magic from Eleanor. Everything.’
If I couldn’t even protect Clyde, the man I love and the father of the child in my womb, then what the hell…!
“Your Highness!”
Sakaya’s voice echoed. Soon, the guards restrained me and lifted me up. Something sticky and warm dripped down from my forehead.
“Escort Her Highness to her chamber. Quickly!”
“No, no…! Let go of me! Don’t take me away from Clyde…! I’ll stay with Clyde, Clyde…!”
I shook my head and struggled. It was during this commotion that the guards carried me away.
-…La! Eila!
Eleanor’s voice reached me, sounding more desperate than ever.
— Can you not hear me? Answer, Eila!
“Ugh, ugh! Hngh…!”
— There’s a way to undo this. There’s a way to make all of this undone!
My mind instantly chilled at those words.
‘…What did you just say?’
— There’s a magic to turn back time. It’s something I’ve spent my entire life researching—something I finally perfected just before I died—but I’ve never been able to use it. It required an unimaginable amount of mana; even with my mana capacity, I could only turn back the time for about ten minutes.
Eleanor spoke rapidly without pausing.
— But now, with the ability to use the magic of the Demon Realm, it’s different. With your current capabilities, you should be able to rewind up to six hours. So, snap out of it, Eila. Pull yourself together! Use the time reversal to stop your father!
Eleanor is one hell of a golden finger