Slowly walking down five steps, my eyes began to adjust to the darkness. After blinking several times, objects slowly started to become recognizable in my previously indistinguishable view.
But I couldn’t let my guard down. Even if I recognized some objects, the extreme darkness only allowed me to identify things very close to me.
“Is there a lamp, a lamp…?”
The basement was dark, so I thought there would be some lamp-like objects around. However, no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find anything resembling a lamp. Perhaps the darkness was hiding them.
I suddenly kicked something with my toes. Startled, I took a step back, crossing my arms and clenching my fists defensively. I didn’t even know how to fight; it was just a reflex.
“What is this? A stone?”
It looked a bit different than a regular stone. I bent down to inspect the object I had kicked.
After examining it closely, I realized it wasn’t just a simple rock, but a piece of a magical stone.
In this darkness with no light, it was emitting a faint glow. I quickly picked up the magical stone and cast a spell.
“Rukido, Illustro.”
Light burst forth from the stone and spread around me. The words I muttered meant “to illuminate brightly.”
“So that’s why I didn’t find a lamp.”
One magical stone was enough to light up the entire storage area. The surroundings, previously so dark that I couldn’t see in front of me, were now flooded with light, making it almost blinding.
My vision, accustomed to the darkness, struggled to adjust to the sudden brightness. I raised my hand to shield my eyes and moved my fingers to filter the incoming light, allowing me to gradually glimpse my surroundings.
“Wow…”
An expansive space stretched out before me, so vast I couldn’t even determine its extent.
Even more astonishing was the fact that there were purple mountains formed in this large space. Purple mountains, built from magical stones, truly looked like mountains.
“They’re unrefined.”
It seemed there must be a mine nearby where magical stones could be mined.
Freshly extracted, the stones were transported here without any processing. I gently felt the rough, unrefined surface of the magical stone with my fingertips.
“Franz was right.”
He had said the amount stored in the palace’s treasury was incomparable to this. His words turned out to be true.
It seems that the magical stone, which is still in its raw form, cannot compare to the finely processed royal magical stone that has been carefully chosen for its smooth crystals. However, no matter how disorganized the raw stones might be, the quantity is undoubtedly immense.
“Ah, Valerie! I should hurry to bring Valerie here.”
Having found the magical stone, all I had to do now was return to my original place. The thought of quickly bringing Valerie made me smile involuntarily.
Just a few minutes ago, I had been standing at the entrance of despair, feeling hopeless. Now, in just a matter of moments, I found it amusing how I was drenched in joy and ecstasy.
But it didn’t matter if I looked foolish. I had found a way to return to my original state, back home. What’s the big deal about looking silly? I placed the magical stone down on the ground and recited the spell again.
“Exstingtiō.”
Just as it had brightened in an instant, the surroundings plunged back into darkness.
The reason I cast the spell meaning “to flicker, to extinguish” was in case someone stumbled upon this place while I went to get Valerie, so I would eliminate the light.
Leaving the darkened storage behind, I ascended the stairs with a somewhat agitated gesture. But that was when it happened. The voice I had hoped wouldn’t call out to me did just that.
“You managed to find this place after all, Celly.”
Franz. A chill spread through me, as though ice were forming over my entire body, from the sound of his voice at my ear. When I looked around moments ago, I distinctly noticed no one was there—where could he be now?
Feeling my heartbeat quicken, I slowly turned around. I couldn’t see in the dark, but I knew someone was approaching nearby.
“Did you send me here and intend to return alone?”
“……Franz.”
“That won’t do.”
“Why are you here?”
A sickly smell of blood brushed past my nose. I instinctively realized it was coming from Franz, and I attempted to retreat, only to find no space to do so. The stairs were behind me.
I couldn’t go up the stairs with the magical stone being in the way. Yet, I couldn’t just stand still, staring at Franz as he approached.
Even amid my indecision, the smell of blood was drawing nearer.
“Why are you here? You brought me here, Celly.”
The feared situation had occurred. It wasn’t just Valerie and me who had transcended space and time. Franz must have been here as well.
How could I encounter this man at such a powerless moment? My palms were clammy with sweat.
“Were you trying to escape alone, and I happened to follow?”
“Don’t come any closer, Franz.”
“It seems you studied pretty hard to use the magic stone.”
“I told you not to come closer.”
“But let me tell you something you might not know: If you wanted to escape alone, you shouldn’t have cast that spell while still touching me, Celly.”
“What… does that mean?”
Snap. When Franz snapped his fingers, flames suddenly erupted.
“If our bodies are in contact, we’re swept away by the same magical force. If you had at least pushed me away and cast that spell after distancing yourself, it might have gone as you wanted. What a pity, foolish Celeste.”
“If we are in contact, we are swept away by the same magic…”
It seemed to imply that since I cast the spell while he was choking my neck, I was drawn here with him. I didn’t even know that.
However, even if I were to go back to that moment, I probably would have cast the spell the same way. I couldn’t push him away with my own strength.
“Ah!”
The smell of blood rushed in, and my wrist was tightly gripped. Franz grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him.
I tried to resist, but I couldn’t overcome his strength. Helplessly dragged into his embrace, I staggered as if I might fall.
“I guess I should thank you, Celly.”
“Let go of me!”
“Thanks to you, I’ve flown to the safest place. Traveling back in time is something I never could’ve imagined.”
“Let go!”
The hand he seized and the waist he gripped were painful. Franz’s brute strength seemed intent on causing me harm.
“Here, no one would think of catching me. No, I could be treated as a prince again. Thank you so much, Celly.”
“What are you saying…?”
“It’s much safer to hide in the past than to flee to another country. Though that wasn’t your intent, your spell has given me a chance to safely challenge the throne once again.”
“You really!”
Inescapable, irretrievable. Franz, having flown back to the past, was plotting rebellion once more to satisfy his own desires.
If I were to randomly gain this chance before death, it would be insufficient even if I wanted to repent for my past and live properly.
I really didn’t want to be with this guy for even a moment longer. I struggled with all my might.
“First, we have to go back to LaHart. I’ll go and find my original place.”
“You’re saying you’ll go back to the capital? To live your life again? Didn’t you know that one soul can’t face two different time zones?”
Franz’s eyes brightened.
“One soul can’t face two different time zones… so, then, can’t I return to the capital and kill one?”
“You mean you would kill yourself?”
“That’s not me. I’m alive and breathing here, moving.”
“Regardless, the person in the capital is you. The past you.”
“Regardless, the Grand Duke of Toskur in the capital is not the current me. The me that’s alive and moving now is the real one.”
Those were words that couldn’t come from a normal person’s mind. The current Franz seemed like a soul that had already crossed the river of no return.
Perhaps he had become incapable of living as a normal, rational person.
“You’ve lost your mind. Sure, go ahead. If you kill your past self, do you think your present self will live entirely? You’d just both perish together, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, I guess I’ll find out if I try.”
A chilling smile curved his lips, which made it even more unsettling. Before I could fully grasp the meaning of his words, I realized he had started to chant something.
“What are you doing? Let go of this!”
“Let’s go back together, Selly. To the home where we originally belonged.”
Go back? Where to? I thought of Valerie, left behind at the detective agency.
If I were to be swept away with Franz, whether to the present, past, or capital, Valerie would be left here alone. I had to prevent that at all costs.”
