C998
“I found it.”
Cela nodded as she dropped the hard bread and dried fruit.
“It’s the Lothair Kingdom.”
She exhaled heavily, saying she had discovered which kingdom the knights who had kidnapped the villagers came from.
“L-Lothair?”
Merlin swallowed as she looked at Cela.
‘To think it was the largest kingdom in the south.’
The Lothair Kingdom was known as the empire of the south, so even someone like her who had never left the village knew its reputation.
“Why would a country like that attack a small village like ours…”
“They called us demons. They said this cross in our eyes is an inverted cross, a symbol of evil.”
Cela bit her lip as she pointed at her red eyes, which she had always believed were beautiful.
“Ah, demons…”
Merlin’s jaw trembled.
‘But why?’
They had lived peacefully without harming anyone, so she couldn’t understand why they were called demons. It was so absurd that she couldn’t even feel frustrated.
“Anyway, we have to go to Lothair. If we delay any longer, we may not be able to save everyone.”
Cela said she would go to rescue the villagers and come back, looking at Merlin.
“B-But…”
“It’s okay. I’ve already completely deciphered the Magic Suppression Matrix.”
She clasped her hands, saying she had figured out the matrix that was blocking the villagers’ magic.
“Can you wait here while I go to rescue everyone?”
“I-I’ll go with you. I don’t want to be alone…”
Merlin shouted not to leave her behind, grabbing Cela’s torn sleeve.
“Please…”
If Cela didn’t come back either, she wouldn’t be able to live anymore. She wanted to be together, whether they lived or died.
“Haaa…”
Unable to ignore the look in the young girl’s eyes, Cela let out a long sigh.
“I suppose if they found us while we were hiding, they could also discover you alone.”
She took Merlin’s hand, seeming to think she might be tracked if they left her alone.
“Let’s go together. However…”
Cela placed her hand on Merlin’s head.
“If my identity is discovered, you and I have no relationship. Do you understand?”
She grabbed Merlin’s shoulders, telling her to abandon everything and run away alone if things got dangerous.
“I’ll go with you if you promise only that.”
“Ah…”
Merlin looked at Cela’s desperate eyes and nodded with difficulty.
“I understand.”
“I will trust you, my daughter.”
Cela hugged her, calling her daughter. Not wanting to lose that warmth, Merlin raised her trembling hands to hold Cela’s back. She wished time would stop like this. No, she wanted to go back to the past when they all lived together.
* * *
Gulp. Merlin swallowed as she looked at the entrance to the Lothair Kingdom.
‘What if we get caught…’
Her whole body trembled just at the sight of the kingdom, as the Lothair knights she had first seen outside her village had wielded their swords mercilessly.
“Don’t worry. Your mother is with you.”
Cela took her hand and walked confidently through the kingdom’s gates. As they passed through the gates larger than giants, they saw countless people walking through the royal capital. There were more people on a single street than in their entire village. The overflowing vitality made her realize what a great kingdom truly was.
However, Merlin clenched her fist as she watched the lively people of the kingdom.
‘Why…’
Why was it so normal…? Seeing the citizens of the cruel kingdom that had kidnapped the villagers like animals living as ordinary humans made her fingertips tremble with a sense of dissonance. The more she looked around Lothair Kingdom following Cela, the more nausea and anger she felt at this normalcy.
No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t understand why they saw their fellow human beings as demons and treated them as monsters.
As Merlin barely contained her anger, people began to gather towards the upper part of the royal capital.
“Let’s go see too.”
Cela, seeming to feel the same as Merlin, grabbed her trembling hand tightly and headed towards the upper part of the royal capital. The place where the people had gathered was an execution platform, and those kneeling on the stage were the villagers who had lived with her.
“L-Lady Cela.”
“We must hold on.”
Cela grabbed Merlin’s hand tightly, telling her not to move at all. She was squeezing so hard that it hurt, as if she were also struggling to contain herself.
“Are those the ones who conspired with the demons?”
“Their eyes do look strange.”
“They say it looks like a cross, but it’s actually an inverted cross. They’re not just siding with demons for no reason.”
“I heard their mana flow is different from ours too. It’s easier to think of them as monsters.”
The people of the kingdom mocked the Para, treating them as monsters rather than humans.
“Execute the demons!”
“Kill them all!”
“Kill them!”
The people threw stones at the Para hanging and shouted to kill them immediately.
“The execution of these will be in a week.”
The Knight Commander only said that the Para would be executed at this place in a week before leaving.
“Ah…”
As Merlin bit her lip and tried to walk forward, Cela took her hand and wouldn’t let go. She shook her head with bloodshot eyes.
“No. Not now…”
Even though it must have been harder for her than for Merlin, Cela turned her back without showing any emotion.
“Let’s go down.”
She took Merlin and rented a separate house on the outskirts of the royal capital.
“Everything will be okay.”
As soon as they entered the house, Cela hugged Merlin and patted her back.
“We can save everyone.”
She nodded as she met Merlin’s eyes. Although the color of her eyes had changed to hide her identity, they were still beautiful.
“Let’s go back to everyone. It might be nice to live by the sea this time.”
Cela smiled, saying it would be even better than before.
“Yes…”
Merlin nodded, pretending not to notice the anxiety in Cela’s voice.
‘Am I useless again?’
If only she could use magic, she could have helped Cela. She cursed her own incompetence, unable to use magic or wield a sword. Haaa… Merlin sighed inwardly as she watched Cela’s back trembling anxiously.
* * *
Since arriving at the Lothair Kingdom, Cela had changed her appearance countless times to understand the geography and factions of this place. After figuring out who she had to fight and where to escape, she stood before Merlin the day before the execution.
“I’m going to start now.”
Cela smiled and took Merlin’s hand.
“Even if they discover me and chase me, you must not move at all. Do you understand?”
She extended her pinky finger, reminding Merlin of the promise they made before coming here.
“Mmm…”
Merlin bit her lip as she looked at the tip of Cela’s finger.
“Do you know what your name means?”
Cela smiled as she met Merlin’s eyes.
“Light and hope…”
Merlin nodded slightly.
“That’s right. Everything will be okay, like your name.”
Cela smiled and stroked Merlin’s head.
“Now, you have to promise.”
“...Okay.”
Knowing how dangerous and urgent the current situation was, Merlin raised her pinky finger and hooked it with Cela’s.
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
Cela left those words and disappeared.
‘Now I’m alone.’
This was a separate house that Cela had rented entirely, so there was no one coming in or out, but that made it even more unsettling. She wished for a quick outcome, whatever it was. As Merlin hid under the blanket with her head covered, a loud roar came from the direction of the palace.
‘Has it started?’
She immediately came out from under the blanket and looked out the window. The walls that had seemed as impenetrable as armor were collapsing, and a storm of fire and ice was raging inside.
‘Lady Cela….’
It was evident that Cela was fighting while rescuing the others.
‘I need to prepare to escape.’
Merlin immediately got out of bed. Not knowing when Cela would return, she packed her bags so she could leave immediately and waited by the door. But no matter how long she waited, Cela didn’t come back. Instead, the mana flow inside the castle was fluctuating rapidly.
‘What’s happening…’
As Merlin bit her lip with her trembling hand clutching the backpack, it happened. A red pillar of light rose from the ground where she was standing, accompanied by a mysterious sound. However, the pillar of light only made a loud noise without affecting her at all.
‘What is this?’
As Merlin blinked at the light, she heard people running from outside.
“It’s here!”
“There’s a demon inside!”
After confirming that the door of the separate house was closed, people began to tear down the walls with hammers and axes. Crash! Finally, the walls and the door collapsed, and the people turned their fierce eyes towards her.
“Here it is! A young demon!”
“B-But it doesn’t have a cross in its eyes?”
“No! That mark proves it! Believe the Sage!”
The people called her a demon and began to climb over the collapsed wall to enter.
“Ah…”
Merlin tried to run, but she didn’t get very far before her back hit the wall.
“Demon!”
Just as the people were about to reach her, a blue wind blew from behind her and pushed them all back.
“Are you okay?”
It was Cela. Despite being covered in wounds and blood all over her body, she worried about Merlin first.
“I’m sorry. It was all a trap…”
She bit her lip, saying that capturing the Para and the execution were all traps. Indeed, there was also a red light rising from beneath Cela’s feet.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.”
Cela clasped her hands to activate a teleportation spell. But her magic faded helplessly like Merlin’s fire magic.
“This is blocked too, as I thought.”
Cela bit her lip and shook her head. As she was about to cast another teleportation spell, it happened. A white hand burst into Cela’s abdomen.
“I apologize. I can’t let our guest who came all this way leave just like that.”
A man with golden eyes appeared behind her, with a cold smile.
“Oh! It’s the Sage!”
“The Sage has come!”
The people of the kingdom who had tried to capture Merlin knelt down as they saw the golden-eyed man.
“You…”
Cela trembled her lips as she looked at her bleeding abdomen, seemingly not expecting such an ambush.
“So you really are the last queen of Sirken.”
The man called Sage nodded with a smile.
“Actually, once we capture you, we don’t care what happens to the others.”
He smiled sinisterly, seemingly having some connection to the disappeared Sirken kingdom.
“Ah, ah…”
Merlin took a deep breath, with a choked gasp.
‘Cela?’
The arm that pierced Cela’s abdomen, the blood spilling on the ground, that monster smiling with a human face, the people praying like fanatics, everything seemed like a nightmare. Thump! Thump! Thump! Her heart ached with a beat that she felt would burst. Her mind began to turn white.
“Now, to mark you too…”
Just as the Sage was about to grab Cela’s neck and twist it, it happened. A huge flame erupted from Merlin’s hand, destroying the separate house and spreading intense heat in all directions. It wasn’t just fire. Wind and ice descended from the sky in a storm, and the earth flipped over, burying all the knights who were approaching. Roar!
Merlin unleashed magic of the four elements simultaneously, her purple eyes showing a blood-red cross. The power swept across the sky and earth, mercilessly destroying even the knights who were emitting powerful auras.
“S-Sage!”
The knights and the citizens of the kingdom who barely survived looked to the Sage for help. The man called Sage withdrew his hand from Cela’s abdomen and erected a wall of mana to block Merlin’s magic.
“Kuhahahahaha!”
He burst into a twisted laugh as he looked at Merlin’s eyes floating in the air.
“Yes. You were the real one!”
The Sage extended his hand to interfere with Merlin’s magic. Merlin continued to pour out powerful magic, but she began to be pushed back, coughing up blood as if she had reached her limit.
“Die!”
She poured out all her unrestrained power to save Cela, but the Sage didn’t even take a step back.
“Stop resisting and come with me.”
As the Sage extended his hand, Merlin’s body began to be pulled towards him. Just before Merlin’s neck was about to be caught in the Sage’s grasp, it happened. A silver flash of light flickered from the right, severing the Sage’s arm and catching the falling Merlin.
“I am Lokta Deport. Following Your Majesty’s orders, I will protect the princess first.”
Lokta bit his lip deeply as he looked at the fallen Cela. He bid farewell to his lord with a single blink before running north with Merlin in his arms.
“N-No…”
Merlin coughed up black blood and spoke in a broken voice.
“I’m sorry. It’s too late.”
Lokta shook his head, saying he couldn’t save Cela. He continued to move his legs relentlessly as he shed tears.
‘Not yet…’
Merlin extended her hand towards Cela, who couldn’t get up.
‘I couldn’t even thank her or tell her I loved her.’
She regretted not being able to thank Cela for treating her like her own daughter, or tell her how grateful she was for always loving her. No, more than that… she regretted never calling Cela “Mom.”
If this was going to be their farewell, she wished she had called her by that name, even if it had been embarrassing and awkward. She deeply regretted her past self who couldn’t do anything.
“Please…”
Lokta Deport, seemingly determined to fulfill his mission to save Merlin, continued to advance, cutting down the knights blocking his path without even looking back.
“This was unexpected.”
The Sage, whose arm had been severed, appeared blocking their path, looking perfectly fine without a single wound.
“However, this is the end. You may be able to leave, but that young girl cannot.”
As the Sage extended his hand, red magic was released, enveloping Lokta and Merlin’s bodies. Their bodies floated in the air, being squeezed as if they were about to crumble.
“M-Mom!”
Unable to contain the heart-wrenching sorrow, Merlin let out a final scream towards the fallen Cela.
“It’s too late. The princess of Sirken…”
Just as the Sage was shaking his head with a faint smile, it happened. Cela, who seemed to be lying dead, appeared before him and extended her fist sparking with a red lightning bolt. The Sage bowed to the ground, his head exploding while his face was still frozen in a smile.
“Finally…”
Cela turned to look at Merlin, unable to wipe the black blood coming from her mouth.
“You called me Mom.”
She nodded with a smile, as if she were saying goodbye for the last time.
“Evelyn.”
-
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