Chapter 07
The sylph flapped its small wings busily as it flew.
Toward the sanctuary of wisdom that stood aloof, excluded from all power and grudges.
[Beep beep!]
Its round eyes captured the fortress where its master resided.
Just a little farther now.
[Beep?]
At that moment, a figure entered the sylph’s field of vision.
Someone was standing still, white garments fluttering in the sky, gently beckoning.
At first, it didn’t realize.
[Beep!]
It was ■■■ ■■.
Taking the form of a youthful boy, he wore a faint smile as he called out to the sylph.
The sylph obeyed his call.
He was not its king, but he too was undeniably a king.
“Is that something you’re delivering to your master?”
[Beep-ling!]
The sylph answered energetically.
“Give it to me.”
[Beep beep?]
Why? The sylph tilted its head slightly.
This was a letter meant for the old master favored by its king.
The boy curved his eyes behind glass-like lenses and spoke softly.
“I’ll deliver it for you.”
[Beep…….]
After a brief moment of hesitation, the sylph obeyed his words.
As a mere lower spirit, it could not dare defy him.
“Good. Now go and rest.”
[Beep beep beep.]
He would take care of it.
The sylph let its body dissolve into the air, scattering its form.
Left alone, the boy quietly gazed up at the vast sky.
“The gate of war has opened.”
His softly murmured words did not fade into the darkness but scattered into the air.
The boy left the fortress.
Contrary to what he had told the sylph, his steps led not to the stronghold but toward his own library.
More than half a month had already passed since we stayed in this city.
“Why are they taking so long…?”
Grandfather let out a deep sigh as he looked out the window.
The longer we stayed, the greater the unease grew.
We only needed to leave this city now.
I lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It was a strange time where the boredom of wanting this silence to end quickly and the anxiety of not wanting the finale to arrive coexisted.
“……There is something urgent to report.”
What broke that moment was a shocking piece of news.
It was said that Roberic was heading toward the city of Terma.
“Damn it, so that bastard is coming here after all…!”
Grandfather shouted in exasperation.
My feelings were no different.
Where did we slip up?
“Should we move to another inn?”
One of Perion’s subordinates asked.
“…We can’t leave the city anyway, so what’s the point of changing lodgings? We can’t even send letters anymore…”
What should we do?
Is there really no way?
I thought it over, but the inspections at the border were on a completely different level of strictness compared to before.
Entering there would be no different from exposing our identities ourselves and begging to be captured.
“…We’ll have to stay as quiet as possible.”
Grandfather’s golden eyes gleamed sharply.
There was only one choice left for us.
To wait until Grandfather’s friend sent someone.
“…Your Excellency.”
“Perion.”
A bright smile bloomed before his eyes.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Perion bit the tender flesh inside his cheek.
…Please, please don’t let them be discovered. They must not be found by Roberic.
“Where did they say the report came from?”
A gentle voice asked a subordinate.
“An inn called Terafopo.”
“Is that so?”
“Shall we head there immediately?”
Roberic trailed off as if in thought.
“No.”
Then he answered clearly.
“Let’s sweep through the other inns first.”
A look of confusion crossed the knight’s face at the incomprehensible order.
“Y-Your Excellency, forgive me, but may I ask why?”
Roberic’s eyes curved like a bow.
“Just because.”
“Pardon?”
He added, as if telling an amusing story,
“Isn’t it fun?”
…?
The knight’s face filled with deep confusion.
He’s completely lost it.
Perion thought as he watched.
Whenever Roberic lost himself to intense anger like this, he would be swept up by the urging of the wind spirits and unleash disasters akin to calamities.
After venting it all out, he would then cleanly organize his emotions and behave as usual.
–People around him often misunderstand, but that’s not him having completely sorted out his emotions.
“Since it’s been a while, should I prepare a gift? What do you think, Perion?”
It was merely that his mind, driven mad by anger, had not fully returned, and he was forcing on a mask.
Beneath that smiling face, the boiling rage was still tearing his insides apart.
The fact that he chose to search other inns first instead of going straight to the reported one meant he wanted to slowly tighten the noose around Shiorn Bastevan.
It was a form of venting, to control the cruel emotions born of hatred.
Perion closed his eyes.
Repeating endlessly what choice he would have to make if they were discovered here.
“They are searching the other inns one by one first. Please decide what you will do.”
At last, it had reached right before us.
“…Edith is the most important. I don’t care what happens to me.”
How did things end up like this?
“A place to hide Edith…”
Grandfather chewed his lips until they were ragged.
“There were crates piled up behind the inn.”
Then, as if something came to mind, he muttered.
Grandfather lifted me up in his arms.
“Edith, you must listen carefully to this old man.”
…What is he trying to do?
“Yes.”
I answered quietly, my heart in turmoil.
“Move aside.”
Grandfather gestured toward Perion’s subordinate, who was blocking the doorway.
“…It might be better to surrender quietly.”
But he did not move.
“What nonsense are you speaking?”
Grandfather’s eyes widened.
A fierce aura shimmered in his golden gaze.
Moments like this were rare, but whenever Grandfather was truly angered, I would feel my legs go weak.
“….”
Even if his hair had turned completely white, to the point that its original color was unrecognizable, and his face and body bore deep traces of time, making him look like a worn-out old man—
“Let me say it again. Move aside.”
There was a presence that could not be hidden.
The original story never described Grandfather’s younger days, so I had no way of knowing, but I wondered what kind of man he had been.
…To be thinking such useless thoughts at a time like this.
I berated myself and clenched my palms until they bled.
“…Understood.”
In the end, Perion’s subordinate stepped aside.
Grandfather wrapped me tightly in his cloak as if swaddling a newborn and hurriedly moved.
The back of the inn was dark, with no lights, night settling heavily over it.
The faint sound of insects could be heard, and dozens of crates, like walls made of shadows, filled the unclear view.
With careful hands, Grandfather set me down atop the crates and opened each one, checking inside.
He was searching for a space I could fit into.
“…Grandfather.”
Unable to bear it any longer, I spoke.
“Do not say anything.”
As if he already knew what I was about to say, he cut me off.
I bit my lips painfully.
Far away, outside, spirit-powered lights glowed faintly, yet where I stood, only deep shadows lingered.
What was the point of this?
Perhaps this escape had been doomed from the start.
I hugged my knees and buried my head.
Still, I had hoped. I had held onto hope.
But the ending was this, after all.
“Haah…”
I heard Grandfather catching his breath.
I hated seeing him struggle like this.
He had given up all comfort because of me, choosing hardship with his aged body. I would feel happiness at the profound love in his actions, only to be overwhelmed by pain soon after.
Because that love was burning him to sustain me.
When I recalled the original story, the guilt grew even heavier.
The Duke Bastevan, who allowed no interference, cared for no one’s gaze, and walked life with a proud, lofty demeanor.
Comparing that arrogant and noble figure to now made my chest ache unbearably.
If only he could return to how he once was.
…If I could make that happen, if I could achieve that—
“Edith.”
Grandfather’s voice called.
I slowly lifted my gaze.
Even in the darkness, I could clearly see his face drenched in sweat, now looking at me.
“Listen carefully. No matter what you hear from now on, no matter who calls your name, you must never come out of this crate. …Even if it’s this old man calling you.”
“…Grandfather.”
“Shh, don’t cry. You must not cry. What if your voice leaks outside?”
What would Roberic do to him?
Would he harm him despite him once being his benefactor?
No, he wouldn’t.
Grandfather will be safe, and I…
Grandfather’s hands lifted me and gently placed me inside a large crate big enough to fit two children.
I hurriedly raised my head and looked up at him holding the lid.
He was smiling.
“Close your eyes tightly and think of it as sleeping.”
But the tears gathered in his eyes glimmered faintly in the dark.
“Grandfather, no, just—just…”
I cried out desperately, not even knowing what I was saying.
“…I love you, my granddaughter.”
“Grandfather!!”
But his resolve did not change, and the darkness greedily swallowed me.
I couldn’t stop his hands from closing the lid.
“No…”
Left alone in pitch-black darkness,
my voice faded away without reaching anyone.
I don’t know how long I was trapped.
I hugged my knees tightly and blinked blankly.
Inside this crate, it felt as if I was cut off from the outside.
“….”
There was no sound at all.
“It’ll be fine. It will…”
I shut my eyes tightly and repeated it over and over.
Only then could I turn away from the creeping fear rising from my feet, trying to swallow me whole.
“….”
Even so, time crawled unbearably slow.
“…Spirits.”
There was nothing better to pass the time.
I decided to recall the stories Grandfather used to tell me instead of lullabies.
‘In the beginning, this universe was filled with endless darkness. Then one day, by a mysterious providence beyond our understanding, the principle of life, Illypia, was born within that darkness, followed by death.
After that, in the void that had once held only darkness, countless forms of life emerged following life and death.
After a long time, we came to call them spirits.
Numerous spirits filled the world, and the Spirit Kings, their progenitors, each had their own names.
Ignis, the Spirit King of Light.
Oried, the Spirit King of Earth.
Naiad, the Spirit King of Water.
Ariel, the Spirit King of Wind.
Phoenix, the Spirit King of Fire.
Dryad, the Spirit King of Forests.
Astraphe, the Spirit King of Lightning.
Prinshur, the Ice Emperor.
And Roar, of Wisdom.
Do you think someone is missing?
That’s right. There was darkness, which existed before them all.
Darkness also had a name.
And that was—’
Creeeak—
“!”
A grating noise scratched into my heightened ears.
I snapped my eyes open.
Grandfather?
Beyond the slowly opening darkness, a brilliant star-filled night sky came into view.
“Grandfather…?”
Struggling to move my stiff neck, I lifted my gaze.
“Long time no see.”
But at the end of my sight were red eyes.
Not the radiant golden eyes I had longed for.
I couldn’t even breathe under the shock that shook my entire body.
Meeting my gaze, those ominous red eyes slowly curved.
“Edith.”
Standing against the night sky, looking down at me as I sat frozen, Roberic smiled beautifully.
So beautifully, it was disgusting.
