Chapter 248
Adela might not have known, but there’s no one crazier than a girl carrying a staff in the middle of a South Korean city.
Let alone someone swinging it around.
Dressed oddly as well, Adela’s presence made Han Siha’s mouth dry up.
If she were just a slightly unhinged person, he might be able to reason with her.
But she seemed entirely off her rocker.
What baffled him even more was that she knew his name… Somehow, she kept calling out “Han Siha, Han Siha,” following him all the way to the back gate of the school.
“Han Siha.”
“….”
“Han Siha?”
“Sigh….”
Han Siha, who had been leading the way, suddenly turned his head sharply.
Adela flinched and stopped in her tracks.
“Do you… have a grudge against me or something?”
“No.”
Adela bit her lower lip and shook her head.
Han Siha sighed, holding his throbbing head.
“Well, at least we can communicate.”
She was a face he had never seen before.
At most, she looked like a high schooler, or maybe around twenty at the oldest.
And yet she had suddenly shown up at the hospital, talking about how she missed him and whatever else…
Didn’t she notice?
The hospital staff had gone pale when they saw her.
Han Siha lowered the hand that had been clutching his head and spoke.
“Okay, kid. We’ve never met before. And you don’t hold any grudges against me.”
“But if you come out of nowhere, causing a scene in front of everyone like that… are you trying to destroy my reputation?”
Of course, Adela wasn’t the type to just sit and listen quietly.
“From what I heard, there’s no reputation left to ruin….”
“Oh, look at this… Just listen to her, never backing down.”
“I learned it from you.”
“You…? You? I don’t even know you!”
He was on the verge of losing it.
Han Siha scowled and continued.
“No matter how much I think about it, I have no memory of meeting you.”
“So why are you talking to me like we’ve known each other for years… Now that I think about it. Am I your friend?”
“From the looks of it, we’re not exactly friendship material, are we? Hey, why aren’t you answering?”
The girl who had been snapping back at him earlier was suddenly silent.
“….”
Adela just kept glaring at Han Siha, lips tightly shut.
Not noticing the ominous vibe, Han Siha kept scolding her.
“You’re not answering because it’s inconvenient, huh? You come back one more time, and it’s off to the police station. No more leniency.”
“Get home quickly! Unless you’ve run away from there!”
“What, you don’t even have a home?”
And then it happened.
Adela’s shoulders, which had been hunched, began to tremble.
He had wondered why she wasn’t answering….
“Are you… crying?”
Han Siha’s face turned ghostly pale.
Her bloodshot eyes stared up at him.
“Wh-why are you crying? What did I even do?”
It was definitely their first meeting.
She’d shown up at the hospital, caused a commotion, and now, after just a few words outside, she was crying.
It was a crazy girl triple combo if there ever was one.
For reasons unknown, though, Han Siha found himself affected by her emotions.
“What’s wrong…?”
A piercing feeling stabbed his heart.
Her gaze, as if she’d known him forever, felt loaded with meaning.
Han Siha was just confused.
Unable to explain the jumble of feelings inside,
He arrived at an odd conclusion.
“Was I too harsh?”
Adela shook her head slowly.
“That’s not… it.”
It wasn’t that she was hurt by those words.
Even if he didn’t remember her, she thought it was only natural in his subconscious.
His mannerisms and voice were similar, but his appearance was different.
Still.
To bicker with him like this…
She liked it so much.
She liked it so much it hurt.
“I just… suddenly. Suddenly, it hit me.”
Adela gave a sad smile.
“Seeing you angry makes me happy.”
“…That sounds really weird.”
“I don’t care what you say. I’m just happy to see you alive.”
There wasn’t much time left.
Han Siha, being in his subconscious, didn’t seem to notice anything strange.
But Adela could see it.
A green light, like a creeping smog, was slowly closing in.
At first, it was across the street. Now, it was surrounding the building.
It had finally reached right in front of them.
They were trapped, like being enclosed by a barrier.
Once that light enveloped them, Han Siha would return to his place.
It was exactly what she had wanted, but she regretted that they couldn’t go back together.
Adela’s eyes welled with tears as she stared intently at Han Siha.
As if trying to engrave him in her mind.
Then, she slowly spoke.
“I’m glad I got to see you again. Live well.”
As soon as those words left her mouth,
Adela pushed Han Siha with all her might into the street.
* * *
Flash. My eyes snapped open.
“Haa… ha….”
I groaned, clutching my head, which felt like it was about to split.
I had a terrible nightmare.
I remembered thrashing around in pain, feeling like my whole body was being torn apart, but thankfully, I was fine.
Except for the weakness in my hands.
But… where am I?
I looked up at a familiar ceiling and suddenly bolted upright.
A luxurious chandelier and a soft blanket covering me up to my chest.
Not quite as cozy as home, but… this was my room.
The Castica estate.
Someone must have brought me here, but something felt off.
I had no memory of coming here on my own.
And I didn’t know why I was back in Castica.
“Ugh….”
I pressed my fingers to my temples, swallowing down my unease.
I felt like I was on the verge of remembering, but it remained frustratingly out of reach.
It felt as if unspeakable horrors had swept through me.
With my memories hazy, I couldn’t be sure of anything.
“What happened…?”
Just then, a knock sounded, and someone entered the room.
It was Solia.
“…Are you conscious?”
“Yeah….”
She looked especially worn out today.
Solia set a steaming cup of tea on the table and handed me a biscuit.
I absentmindedly took the biscuit and mumbled.
“It feels like I drank too much last night. I don’t remember anything.”
“…”
“Why am I here? Did I faint on the street or something?”
Solia just looked at me with a sorrowful expression, keeping her mouth firmly shut.
Her kind nature.
She was always the one smiling brightly in front of me, so seeing her like this made me uneasy.
I asked with a bitter expression.
“What about the others?”
The silence that followed was chilling.
Solia lowered her head, clenching her teeth.
I had never seen her look so pained before.
“Hey, Solia.”
I wanted her to say something, anything.
To explain what had happened.
As I parted my lips to urge her, Solia looked at me with sad eyes and spoke.
“They’re gone.”
Her gaze told me everything.
The things I had seen were not just nightmares.
* * *
The Emperor’s Audience Chamber.
Emperor Marcel stood with the imposing presence of a ruler.
After the previous emperor was attacked, Marcel had been forced to ascend the throne without proper procedure, leading the empire through one of its worst crises in history to victory in the war.
After Abaddon’s death, the rebel forces he controlled quickly disbanded, and the black magicians who lost their leader were either captured or driven underground.
Their main base was utterly destroyed, and the Cube, the source of their power, was shattered.
Having lost most of their key forces, they would not dare to challenge the empire again anytime soon.
The war’s end was surprisingly smooth.
A war that had dragged on for years ended abruptly with Abaddon’s death.
Now, it was time to heal the wounds of war and restore imperial authority.
The Emperor had many responsibilities, particularly at this moment.
Yet he had set aside time to meet with someone like me, who was recuperating at home.
If he had called me here to ask for support for the imperial family, I would have understood.
As the heir of Castica, he might ask me to aid the empire in any way possible.
Whether it was a request or a demand, I could accept it.
However, Marcel expected nothing of me.
He had summoned me to offer comfort.
“Han Siha of Castica.”
Marcel called my name, his voice trembling.
I looked up at him with a stony face.
There was no joy of victory in Marcel’s eyes.
Only pity.
Pity for me and the juniors who had fought alongside us.
Marcel struggled to speak.
“I’ve heard the story.”
“…What exactly have you heard?”
I gritted my teeth as I responded.
“Did you hear about the friend who couldn’t hold on and died because of my request to buy time?”
“Or perhaps about Yoon Haul, who was sacrificed due to my reckless decision?”
“The choice was mine, and I should have died on that battlefield.”
I forced the words out through clenched teeth.
“But someone decided to save me.”
“Did you hear about Adela, who traded her life for mine?”
Marcel couldn’t say a word.
He had brought me here to offer comfort,
But unfortunately, I was not here to tell him I was okay.
Of course, I wasn’t okay.
Those terrifying memories were so unbearable that it might have been better if I never remembered them.
So today, I came here to commit the worst act of defiance.
“Do you really think the Cube is gone, Your Majesty?”
At my words, Marcel’s eyes widened.
Bringing up the Cube at this moment implied I had other intentions.
Marcel, rattled by this unexpected news, asked in a trembling voice.
“Wasn’t it destroyed along with the machine back then?”
It was, along with all the Cubes connected to the heart of the machine.
But what had been activated then wasn’t a completed machine.
Yoon Haul and I had managed to separate the Cube of Sun and Moon from the device.
So why assume the Cube had vanished from the world?
“It’s with me.”
“W-what?”
I took out something shining from my dimensional bag.
The red-glowing Cube of Sun and Moon.
The moment he saw it, Marcel’s eyes flashed with shock.
I had hidden the Cube without informing the Empire of its whereabouts.
If I were going to hide it, I could have kept it hidden forever, but now I was confessing to the Emperor.
At first glance, it was an incomprehensible act.
Marcel asked with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you telling me this?”
I stood up from my seat.
With a dry voice, I answered Marcel’s question.
“It’s your nation, Your Majesty. I’m giving you a chance.”
I was fully aware of the repercussions of what I was about to do.
And I knew the powers of the Cube of Sun and Moon.
Adela paid with her life, but I might have to pay an even more horrifying price.
Not just me, but the entire world.
To turn back time.
What the Empire would look like after that change,
Whether it would be better or worse than now,
Even I, who would wield the Cube, did not know.
The Empire had finally achieved peace.
It was a hopeful situation where all that was left was to mend the scars of war.
My actions could ruin all of that.
Marcel knew this too, but with the Cube in my hand,
I would undoubtedly use it.
“I intend to use this Cube.”
“…!”
I placed the Cube on the floor.
The hero who had killed Abaddon might now become history’s worst disaster.
I had come to give Marcel a choice.
“If you want to stop me, then kill me.”
Marcel’s face twisted in anguish at my words.