꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦THERE IS NO WAY YOU LOVE ME꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
The faces he saw for the first time in a month were almost unrecognizable.
Perhaps it was because they looked bizarre—gaunt and corpse-like, only their eyes gleaming ominously with an unsettling light.
‘Were they always this crazed-looking?’
Still, they didn’t seem this bad before. Kieran, thoroughly unnerved, stared at the three scholars, who grinned back at him with eerie smiles.
The scholars of Pendulum had chosen the castle’s tower as their workspace.
Both Alyssa and Kieran had worried that the space might be too cramped, but the scholars had insisted on the tower.
“It’s cool, isn’t it?”
The reasoning, having nothing to do with practicality or size, had left Kieran speechless. Yet, he soon realized his concerns were misplaced.
The scholars had completely transformed the tower with an array of artifacts.
To those unaware, the tower looked no different—both inside and out. However, if certain objects within were manipulated according to a specific sequence, the space inside would change entirely.
“This should be enough to keep it hidden, right?”
When Kieran had nodded in agreement, the scholars gleefully disappeared into the tower.
From that point on, the only evidence of their existence had been their regular requests for monster byproducts.
Now, after a month, they had finally emerged.
“This is our first time creating artifacts purely for decorative purposes, so it took a bit longer than expected,” Alma said with an awkward smile.
At Alma’s sheepish remark, Kieran inwardly clicked his tongue. He had estimated it would take at least half a year, yet now, even a month seemed too long.
“We narrowed it down to three final candidates. Which one do you like best?”
Carefully, Alma took out the objects from the box he had been holding.
Kieran picked up the first item.
It was a lantern shaped like a flower bud. The curved stem and sepals were made of jet-black iron, while the unopened bud, drooping slightly, was a deep navy reminiscent of the night sky.
As the clustered petals slowly unfurled, a soft light began to seep out, growing brighter. Each petal, meticulously carved and connected, moved independently, and their colors gradually lightened as they extended inward.
Instead of blooming fully, the lantern remained in a half-opened state, emitting a gentle bluish-white glow.
Both Kieran and Alyssa let out a breath of admiration at the mesmerizing sight.
Berta grinned and shrugged.
“See? I told you the lantern would be the best choice.”
“They haven’t even looked at the next one yet!” Alma, clearly irritated, picked up the second item beside it and held it out.
“My Lord, my lady, what do you think of this one?”
It was a bell that had a faded golden hue color. Its body was small and elongated, resembling an upside-down teacup, with a handle perfectly shaped for gripping.
An embossed grapevine spiraled from the base up to the handle, intricately carved. Tiny glass beads were woven together to form the grapes and flowers nestled between the vines.
At first glance, it appeared simple, yet its craftsmanship was anything but plain—it was incredibly delicate and refined.
“How on earth did you create something like this?”
Kieran couldn’t hold back his question. Both the lantern and the bell seemed like the work of master artisans who had poured their hearts into them.
He had asked them to craft ornaments, but he had not expected this level of expert craftsmanship.
The raw material alone—the monster core—was already rare and beautiful in its natural state. He had only imagined a lightly refined version, nothing this elaborate.
“You all claim to be scholars, yet what you’ve brought looks more like the work of skilled sculptors.”
“Right? Amazing, isn’t it? Ah, hearing such praise makes all my fatigue disappear!”
“Well, it’s not entirely wrong. We are scholars, but we’re not just scholars.”
Alma and Berta exchanged grins, taking turns speaking.
“We’re sculptors, designers, too. And also painters, musicians, philosophers… What else? Oh, right, we were even professors for a brief time.”
“There’s so much to learn in this world. How could anyone devote themselves to just one thing?”
When they claimed that not only the two of them but all ten members of their group were proficient in a vast range of fields, Kieran could only shake his head in disbelief.
“Incredible…”
That word alone hardly did them justice. It was clear that having them in the Benoit duchy was nothing short of a stroke of luck.
“Ahem. This bell is more than meets the eye,” Alma interjected, cradling the bell in both hands.
“That lantern, at best, can only adjust its brightness! But this…!”
He whispered meaningfully before carefully shaking the bell.
A clear, ringing chime echoed through the air, its sound soft yet lingering.
Alyssa instinctively tensed, expecting something to happen. But nothing did.
“What exactly does it do?”
“The sound is incredibly sharp. It carries far—much farther than an ordinary bell.”
…And?
Kieran barely managed to hold back the question, though his face likely gave him away.
Noticing his unimpressed expression, Alma huffed indignantly.
“I’m serious! Right now, everyone in the castle must have heard it. And we can even expand the range further!”
The two slowly grasped the meaning of his words. Kieran stared at the small bell in disbelief.
“With this, you’ll be able to summon your attendants no matter how far away they are. There’s nothing more useful for a noble, don’t you think?”
But its utility wasn’t limited to just that—it could be valuable in many situations. After all, the ability to convey messages across long distances had countless applications.
‘It’s not exactly a luxury item fit to impress nobles, though.’
Kieran briefly imagined Alma’s devastated reaction if he voiced that thought, then shifted his attention to the third and final item.
Standing nearby was another scholar, holding a box alongside Alma and Berta.
“Cassiopeia?”
At the sound of his name, the scholar, hood drawn low over his face, bowed slightly.
He was the only one among them who still wore the same robe from their first meeting. Kieran had once wondered if, like his wife, Cassiopeia hid his face for a reason. But that wasn’t the case at all.
“The daylight is too bright for him. Cassiopeia studies the stars, you see.”
Among the boisterous scholars, he was the only quiet one—yet just as peculiar. His actions were always unpredictable.
“I made this one myself.”
“We all worked together, but he insisted on keeping his project hidden from us,” Berta grumbled, adding an explanation to Cassiopeia’s brief statement.
Since he always seemed so indifferent, Kieran hadn’t expected much. Yet here he was, putting in a surprising amount of effort.
As Kieran mused over this, Cassiopeia carefully retrieved something from the box.
And in an instant, darkness engulfed the surroundings.
“……!”
Startled, Alyssa instinctively reached out to Kieran beside her, pulling him behind her in a protective gesture.
The office, which had been bathed in the bright afternoon sunlight just moments ago, was suddenly swallowed by darkness. As she reflexively prepared for an attack, something light and delicate landed on the back of her hand.
As she prepared to swat it away, Alyssa glanced at her hand and froze in confusion. The sharp object, no longer than half a finger’s length, was sparkling.
“It’s a shooting star. It’s harmless.”
Cassiopeia’s monotone voice cut through the silence. At that moment, a gentle touch closed over Alyssa’s outstretched hand.
Even without seeing, she knew exactly who it was.
“My lady… look up at the sky.”
They were indoors—there was no sky to be seen. And yet, at those words, Alyssa lifted her head.
And understood.
Above them stretched a vast night sky, endless and deep like a black velvet expanse.
Countless stars, densely packed, shimmered as if they might spill over. The entire sky seemed to ripple under the weight of its own brilliance, a breathtaking cascade of light.
It felt like a dream.
Then, slowly, the vision began to fade. And just like that, they were back in the office, as if nothing had changed.
“It is an artifact that allows one to see the stars.”
As everyone remained dazed by what they had just witnessed, Cassiopeia spoke matter-of-factly. In his hand, he held a plain black pocket watch with no embellishments.
“You can see the stars for as long as you turn the hour hand. The maximum duration is one hour per use, and once the magic stone is depleted, it must be replaced—”
“You! What the hell did you just do? Was that teleportation? Did we time travel? Or—did you actually turn back time?”
“It was an illusion.”
“But I felt the wind! There was grass beneath my feet!”
“That, too, was an illusion.”
“You insane genius! How the hell did you pull this off?!”
Having finally snapped out of his stupor, Alma grabbed Cassiopeia by the shoulders and began shaking him vigorously. Cassiopeia, unfazed by the reaction, simply responded in his usual monotone—until his robe was yanked back in the commotion, revealing his face.
Beneath the heavy fabric was a man who looked to be somewhere between youth and middle age. Like the others, he had tanned skin and piercing blue eyes, but unlike them, he sported short facial hair and dark hair.
“Tch.”
Frowning against the sudden exposure to sunlight, he quickly pulled his robe back up, covering himself once more.
“If you’ve made your decision, please let me know promptly. Crafting these takes a significant amount of time. Also, I should mention—altering the design is not an option.”
At his words, Kieran finally snapped out of his daze, lifting his head. The breathtaking spectacle he had just witnessed still lingered vividly in his mind.
“…Ah, yes. Of course.”
Taking a deep breath, he finally made his choice.
“For commercial production… the lantern would be the best option.”
At that moment, the scholars’ reactions split dramatically—Berta grinned triumphantly, while Alma looked as though his world had just crumbled.
“However,” Kieran continued, “I’d like to take all three of these prototypes.”
With that, he began explaining his reasoning to them.
Omg I want the artifact that brings the stars inside. That would be so dope! Thanks for the updates! ✨
Thank you sm ❤️❤️
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