I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

Besti led Elise to the most shabby house. As they reached the front of the house, a dog of an indistinguishable breed barked and yelped.

Besti swung a not-so-long stick to quiet the dog. A young man sitting by the door straightened his hunched back and opened the door.

“Come in…”

Besti, holding the doorknob, turned to look at Elise.

Elise nodded and entered the house.

The inside of the house was as expected from the outside. It was old, broken, and dirty.

When Besti knocked on the wall, dust fell from the roof. Elise took out a handkerchief and covered her mouth.

Soon, people who had been hiding somewhere in the narrow house crawled out one by one. They were all draped in blankets.

They glanced at Elise, Kram, and Regina, then slowly left the house.

“Quickly, can’t you move faster!”

After Besti’s roar, the movement seemed to speed up a bit, but only for a moment.

“Please sit.”

Elise received the offer to sit from Besti when the smell of rotten eggs numbed her nose.

Besti pointed to a table made by placing a plank on a log.

As Elise sat down, Besti set up a few cups with missing handles on the table and put a kettle on a small stove.

“Your name…?”

While pretending to know Elise, Besti actually knew nothing about her.

‘Just pretending to know.’

Elise tried not to attach much meaning to Besti’s behavior, as they were such unique people in the way they lived and treated people.

“I’m Elise Wotton. I’m the fiancée of His Highness Karan Lysandro Tetris.”

“Ah… The one who crossed ten suns… You’ve become the partner of His Highness Karan.”

Oh, my goodness.

Then, Elise mumbled to herself in an incomprehensible language. Elise looked back at Kram.

“It’s the language used by the shamans. The guardians of Hell’s Land have been shamans for generations. It’s unknown what they can do, but the people here believe and follow their words as law.”

The shamans of Tetris, Elise had heard about them too.

A long time ago, when humans, dragons, monsters, and spirits lived together, they were the ones who mediated conflicts between them.

Their use disappeared when the spirits disappeared and the war between dragons and humans began.

‘It’s all a story in a legend. But it’s famous that shamans predict the future.’

Before regressing, Elise sought a shaman. She thought the shaman could help suppress the evil dragon Ragnaros.

She also wanted to give Chase the assurance of victory, even if it meant borrowing the shaman’s mouth.

Elise laughed.

It wasn’t just for the sake of duty that she sought a shaman.

‘I was curious when I would marry Chase.’

If she had met the shaman then, could she have gotten away from Chase a little faster?

Could there have been a way to turn back life?

It was a futile thought. In the end, Elise didn’t meet the shaman. Because the one called the last shaman had died.

‘Was that Besti? I knew she was from the Dex territory.’

She didn’t think about finding her yet because there was still a lot of time left for Ragnaros to fully wake up from sleep.

It was a priority to put Karan on the throne.

‘But to meet like this.’

It felt strange to meet someone she couldn’t meet because she was dead.

“Do you mind if we talk alone?”

Elise woke up from her thoughts at Besti’s words. Kram and Regina looked at Elise. Elise gave a light nod as command.

“Please shout immediately if there is a problem. I’ll be at the door.”

Kram would be the one to get hurt if something happened to Elise. Kram didn’t hide his unpleasant face.

Elise quickly chased Kram away, not wanting to waste time on unnecessary nerve wars.

Finally, only Besti and Elise were left.

“What did you say earlier about ten suns…? What does that mean?”

As soon as the door closed, Elise asked.

Squeak- Just then, the sound of boiling water came from the kettle.

“I haven’t even served tea to our precious guest.”

Besti took the kettle off the stove and filled the cup with hot water.

“Did you know I was coming?”

Elise asked her question after waiting for her to sit down. Besti nodded at the end of a puzzled smile.

A small ripple formed in Elise’s eyes.

“Will you believe me, even if this old woman’s story sounds absurd?”

Elise nodded. Besti was not a person who would deceive herself with lies.

Because there was nothing to gain from Elise.

Elise was no different from being chased out of Bedrokka naked, and she was still not officially recognized as Karan’s fiancée.

Even if she didn’t know that, Besti didn’t seem to have any greed.

So there was no reason not to believe.

“Bring the map.”

Besti braced her knees and stood up. She moved slowly but carefully like a snail.

She opened the half-broken cabinet door and took out a rolled-up map.

Elise put the cups with missing handles on the table on the floor so that Besti could spread the map well.

Besti spread the map.

The map was completely different from what Elise had seen. All that was marked on the paper without land or sea were countless points and the lines connecting them.

“What is this?”

“It’s a celestial map. It marks the path of the stars. I compare this map with the actual sky every day.”

In the past, shamans read the celestial map and divined worldly affairs. But at some point, it became meaningless to look at the celestial map and divine.

People began to value human ability more than the will of the sky.

Magic could prevent natural disasters, the stern judgment of the sky, and various inventions created by humans made life more abundant.

Living in harmony with nature fell into foolishness for humans.

There were no more people who came to ask the shamans about the flow of the celestial map.

Nevertheless, Besti did not neglect the task given to her.

Besti observed and recorded. The stars moved according to a set flow.

It was as Besti learned from her mother, and Besti’s mother learned from her mother.

The movement without an inch of error was clearly shown on the map.

But a few months ago, there was a change in the celestial map. And it was a very noticeable change.

“Do you see here? This is the star of Ragnaros.”

Besti pointed to a part of the map. It was a star drawn unusually large.

“Originally, the star that should be staying here now,”

Besti’s finger followed the line across the map.

“Is staying here.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that Ragnaros is living ten years ahead.”

Elise’s eyes twitched.

“Is that related to me?”

Besti had a faint smile. Her lips moved very slightly, but because her wrinkles were so deep, it looked like a deep smile.

“I am a reader of the celestial map. Sometimes the sky gives answers.”

When the star of Ragnaros moved to the position of ten years later, there was a star that twinkled together.

Besti had been thinking for a long time about whose star it was, but she couldn’t find the answer.

“Is that me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Besti realized the moment she saw Elise. Each star has a different energy. The shaman can read that energy.

The moment Ragnaros’ star moved ten years ahead, a clear star shone together.

The energy of that star was just like Elise.

“So, Besti, you’re saying I…”

Can she utter the words that she turned back time.

While Elise was confused, Besti sorted it out.

“Either you sent Ragnaros’ star ten years ahead, or you turned us all back ten years. I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t want to know. Because it’s already happened.”

Elise’s pupils shook violently. Elise, whose head was complicated, held her tongue.

Even so, Besti said nothing more.

Silence lingered for a long time in a room filled with thick smoke.

“If you have nothing more to say to me, I’d like to be alone for a while.”

Besti quietly cleaned up the map and quietly disappeared, as if she understood.

Left alone in the house, Elise was lost in thought.

What does it mean that Ragnaros’ star points to ten years later? What happens in ten years?

Elise’s face turned pale as she thought about it.

“Does it mean that Ragnaros wakes up this year? Why…I’ve come back, to stop…”

If Besti’s words are correct, Ragnaros will wake up this year. That means all the currently closed gates will open.

In the past, the gates opened sequentially at intervals of one to two years. So, although there were many trials and errors, they were all in human hands.

But if they all open within a year?

A huge disaster will hit Tetris, Bedrokka, and Magnus, which are not yet ready.

“Is there a possibility that the gate will not open?”

Elise put hopeful words in her mouth and slumped her shoulders.

There’s no way, the gate was a passage for Ragnaros and a tool to amplify his power.

According to literature and research, Ragnaros only wakes up when all the passages are open.

‘Is it Ragnaros waking up? Is it the gate opening?’

I’ve just come to Tetris…There’s a lot to do…

Elise buried her face in her dry hands.

She was scared as if she had brought about a disaster.

“How could only Ragnaros escape the reversal of time? Does it mean that human magic can’t control the dragon’s clock?”

If Elise’s thoughts are correct, it might be impossible to suppress Ragnaros by humans.

She felt ridiculous thinking about her planning to catch him in Bedrokka in the past.

Elise got up from her seat in anxiety and wandered around the room. Then she slapped her cheeks with both hands.

“Pull yourself together, Elise. You caused this. You have to solve it.”

Elise hastily put her arms into the coat she had taken off.

There was no time to dilly-dally.