I can’t push him away with my strength. Furthermore, I have to hold onto Valerie with both hands, so it’s impossible to physically shake him off. So, what would be the best thing to do?
“If you kill me……, do you think you’ll ascend to the throne……?”
I spat out each word with difficulty, forcing myself to catch my breath.
“At least I’ll get to see Karl suffer. Oh, and by the time he finds your chilled corpse, I’ll be long gone, out of the Empire, so I won’t be able to see the ridiculousness with my own two eyes.”
“You……, sociopath, same, bastard.”
“You’re blabbering on about how I’ve given you less power in your hands, and if you want to die that fast, I’ll make it happen, Celly.”
“Ugh.”
“I told you, it’s all up to me whether you live or die. Your life can be anything I want it to be, so why didn’t you listen to me, stupid, poor Celly.”
With so much force, all the blood popped out of my veins and stained my whites gray. Franz, clutching my throat and cackling with blood in his eyes, was the very embodiment of the devil himself.
“You mean to tell me that in Urentum, you had a, oh, long-hidden, magical tome……, ah, storehouse…….? You used your magic to fly here from there.”
And there are tons of magic stones here, too. I tore my gaze away from Franz and discreetly glanced over his shoulder at the pile of magic stones.
It doesn’t occur to him that if he can use magic stones to travel somewhere, I might be able to do the same.
But I’ve already traveled through time and space using magic. And I’ve gained quite a bit of magical knowledge while hiding out in the Grand Duchy under the guise of recuperation.
“……Co, Nerto.”
“What?”
I used a spell to return him to where he was. With a magic stone of that size, it shouldn’t be hard to send Franz flying back to Urentum.
“Lekuro, leweho……!”
And Valerie and I must get out of here. With the final incantation, I hugged Valerie tightly and closed my eyes.
***
Thunder rumbled. A sound similar to what I heard when entering resonated nearby. My vision darkened, and I felt my body sinking deep into the ground.
I may have truly died, or perhaps my spell had worked, and the magic stone was finally unleashing its power. Hoping for the latter, I embraced Valerie tightly.
My head spun in circles. I felt as if I was caught in an endless vortex of darkness. Though I held Valerie, the fear of losing the child gripped me.
It’s dizzying; please stop… I curled up, wishing for this swirling darkness that was shaking my entire body to cease.
Eventually, it seemed as though my consciousness faded completely into the darkness; I had no thoughts left. It was a moment where my memories abruptly cut off.
***
“Um, Mama? Baba?”
I opened my eyes again just as Valerie squealed joyfully. I hoped we had safely made it outside, feeling half reassured and half worried as I lifted my eyelids.
I expected a familiar landscape would unfold before me, but the sight that met my eyes was completely unexpected.
“W-where is this…?”
Where am I? I had anticipated meeting the nobleman in my garden and the royal investigators, but all I saw was lush greenery all around.
“What is this? Where am I?”
I felt flustered. I had chanted the spell thinking of the outside of the cave, but where was this? I learned that if you chant a spell with a powerful desire, it will come true…
“Is this… heaven?”
Could it be that I actually died at Franz’s hands? Did I gasp my last breath before the magic stone could unleash its power? The thought was so despairing that my eyes threatened to tear up.
“Papa!”
Smack.
“Ow.”
I snapped back to reality after getting slapped by Valerie’s excited little hand. Even a tiny hand can deliver quite a sting.
“The fact that it hurts…”
Means this isn’t a dream or illusion. So, this must not be heaven.
“Then where is this?”
I had choked on Franz’s hands and contemplated the spell regarding the magic stone.
The spell I needed to return Franz to where he was and to exit the cave required specific incantations for each situation. Gathering all my breath, I struggled to chant the spell.
“Baba! Kyaaa!”
Regardless, Valerie was having the time of her life. The little girl, who adored dense forests and yards, felt cheerful as the stifling cave faded away, replaced by a vast, green forest.
She flailed her arms and legs, shouting joyfully. As if to make matters worse, a butterfly fluttered past her, causing her to push my face away, trying to catch it.
“W-wait…! When did you get so strong? Valerie, wait!”
As if she’d listen. No matter what I said, Valerie continued to wriggle, insisting I put her down.
Just holding the child was overwhelming, leaving me no space to properly process my thoughts.
I was glad I had put shoes on Valerie, who had started walking pretty well. I cautiously set Valerie down on the floor and looked around slowly once more.
“Where on earth is this?”
This is certainly not Rahat. Given the dense foliage, it was clear that this was a forest untouched by human hands. It was utterly bewildering to find such a natural place.
“I’ll just be gone for a moment.”
A voice came from somewhere nearby. It was a young woman’s voice. I quickly scooped Valerie back up.
“Come with me.”
“That’s really overprotective, Hannah.”
Hannah? It was a familiar name. But well, it’s also a common name. I hid behind a large bush, holding Valerie tightly.
I didn’t know who she was, but it didn’t seem wise to meet a stranger in a vulnerable state. This was certainly not paradise. A sigh of relief escaped me.
“Are you going to buy dessert again?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Too many sweets aren’t good for you. You’re here to recuperate, and if you go back worse off, what will that make me?”
The two women having the conversation were getting closer. I shrank back even more and waited for their voices and footsteps to drift away. But somehow, the conversation felt oddly familiar.
“Okay, I get it. We can just go together and buy it.”
“Do you think I won’t stop you if you go?”
One girl wanted to buy dessert, and the other was trying to stop her. This is…
“Isn’t that me?”
I almost jumped up in surprise. I covered my mouth with both hands to stifle the scream about to escape, carefully raising my gaze while still holding Valerie.
Yes, even though it felt unfamiliar, this scenery was indeed a place I had seen before!
“Urentum…”
It was the place I had fled to when I first entered Celeste’s body, a hiding spot I had known in the chaotic city, Urentum. Here I was, now together with Valerie. Defying time.
“Wow, what a world.”
I never expected the spell I memorized to leave the Count’s underground lair would manifest like this.
I had simply recited a spell that meant “to reverse,” in order to leave the cave, the state before entering it. However, I never expected it would actually reverse ‘time’ like this.
Hearing the fading footsteps, I suddenly stood up. The backs of the two women I had been talking to were slowly moving away in the opposite direction from where I stood.
The woman walking with her long purple hair flowing was clearly Celeste. That is to say, me. Next to the purple-haired woman was a robust brown-haired woman.
There wouldn’t be another woman with such a physique in this country except for Hannah. This means those two must be Hannah and me.
“I’m going crazy…”
What am I supposed to do about this? If my thoughts are correct, I’ve definitely flown back in time to a year ago in Urentum. And with Valerie, no less.
***
As they waited for the empress to return from the cave, the knights of the royal investigative team were anxious. Celeste’s return was delayed, contrary to their expectations that she would be back soon.
Fearing that something might happen, their worries peaked about the potential for criminals to rush in through the entrance that started from the grand duke. Discussions began about whether they needed to forcefully create a new entrance.
Then, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky. It was so tremendous that it felt as if the cave itself was collapsing.
Sensing something was wrong and instinctively aware of Celeste’s danger, the royal investigation team and the count’s knights quickly crouched down and prepared their weapons for battle.
“L-Look here!”
The source of the sound was far from the cave entrance. Matthias, pulling a gun from his waist, dashed toward the direction of the noise.
