Chapter 89

EP.89 The End of Four Days (完)

It's hot.

Summer hasn't even arrived yet, and it's already so hot.

There's so much to do, but I can't muster the energy.

"Phew..."

Princess Lyluel exhaled deeply. The breath she exhaled was hot. It wasn't just her breath; her entire body was burning.

Cold sweat trickled down her spine.

She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. It felt as if she was walking the line between dream and reality.

It's hot.

Sweat drips down.

The sweat soaking her nightgown is incredibly uncomfortable.

As she thought this, Lyluel closed her eyes. When she closed her eyes, countless memories surfaced. They appeared and quickly faded away. The memories easily scattered.

-We have to buy it.

-I will die. I can't live. I know that very well. But, not you, sister.

-You must survive, sister.

Among the scattered memories, a few were firmly rooted. Slowly, very slowly, Lyluel traced them.

'Was it a spring day?'

Or was it the dead of winter?

Lyluel chuckled. Her laughter mixed with sweat and trickled down her neck.

'It was both.'

The second princess died on a spring day.

The third princess died on a winter day.

They held a funeral on a spring day when cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

On a snowy winter day, they held another funeral.

She recalled the scene of them being placed in their coffins.

Lyluel remembered the priests praying, "May they rest in peace."

Memories filled her mind. Why did these memories surface now? Because she, too, was facing death.

"..."

Death was colorless and odorless.

It approached without sound, form, or scent... but she could clearly feel its approach.

In the face of approaching death, humans reflect on their lives. Lyluel was no exception.

Lyluel reflected on her life.

She wanted to live as she pleased, but she couldn't. Though called a mad dog, she always had an invisible leash and a muzzle.

She wanted to live.

To live, she had to follow her brother's orders.

So she did. She barked when he told her to bark, bit when he told her to bite, and crawled when he told her to crawl. She lived like a dog. That's how she survived.

'Is this really living?'

After seeing her sisters' coffins, she had this thought.

'No.'

So she decided.

'Even if I die tomorrow, I will live today.'

She tore off the leash. She removed the muzzle.

She barked not for her brother, but for her youngest sister. No one cared for her, but Lyluel herself wanted this.

Death took another step closer.

Lyluel felt death. She felt it, but she didn't tremble in fear. She faced the approaching death with composure.

Death took another step closer.

Lyluel opened her eyes. Unnatural smoke gathered in front of her. The gathered smoke was bizarre. It seemed to be the death that had claimed her sisters.

The death that had torn apart and consumed her sisters was right before her.

Creak, creak.

The pattern engraved on Lyluel's neck slowly moved. The completed circuit gave form to the smoke.

The smoke developed eye sockets.

It split, forming eyes and a mouth.

Death smiled. If there were types of death, this one was not noble. There were those who harvested others' lives and those who greedily devoured them; this one was clearly the latter.

It was not noble but despicable.

Not proud but servile.

This was not a fitting death for her. Lyluel twisted her trembling lips upward.

"Ji..."

She forced out a voice with great effort.

"...jin, Professor."

The rest was more like a breath than a word. However, the meaning was clearly conveyed.

Thud.

The sound of a chair shaking was heard.

Someone reached out toward the smoke gathered in front of Lyluel. A white-gloved hand pierced through the smoke.

The smoke tried to scatter but was not let go.

However, the hand did not let it escape.

Capture.

Mana rose.

The rising mana was ash-colored. Though ash-colored, it contained a cluster of stars.

The starlight she saw in her youngest sister.

Beautiful, giving hope to those who saw it, the starlight flickered between the ash-colored mana.

Crack, crack!

The sound of the captured smoke shattering was heard. The death that had taken lives began to vomit them out as it was held in the hand.

Creak, creak...

The circuit engraved on Lyluel's neck rotated in reverse. The more it rotated, the fainter the pattern became.

Snap.

Eventually, the circuit shattered and scattered. The smoke also lost its form, and the ash-colored mana rippled through the scattered smoke.

"Ah."

The breath she had been holding escaped from her lips.

"...Cough."

Lyluel coughed, slowly rising to her feet. The heat that had been burning her body disappeared. A cool breeze blew through the open window, cooling her body.

Rustle.

Her hair was blown by the breeze. She wiped the sweat from her neck with the collar of her nightgown and lifted her head.

"..."

In front of her was the professor.

A mage named Lania von Trias. She was looking at her.

Meeting her gaze.

"Is that so."

Lyluel smiled.

"You."

Not a mocking smile, but a faint one, she tilted her head slightly. Her platinum hair flowed down her neck.

"You saved me, didn't you?"

The wind blew.

The cool breeze felt good.

"You kept your promise, Professor."

"Did I?"

"Yes. How did you do it, asking would be rude, right?"

"It wouldn't be."

The professor shrugged.

Then, with a hint of mischief in her laugh, she spoke.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Ah."

Lyluel smiled.

"A truly fitting answer from you."

A week had passed since the pattern appeared.

Lyluel successfully overcame the seventh night, which no one had ever surpassed.

'Since I succeeded, I need to prepare for the next step.'

There was no time to rest.

Thud.

Lyluel slowly got out of bed.

She put on the coat by the bed and draped it over her shoulders. The professor, seeing this, asked.

"Where are you going?"

"I broke through the trap my brother laid head-on. The corridors of this palace must be filled with those who expected the princess to be dead, right?"

She pointed to the bedroom door.

"Then I have to show them."

Show them what?

"That the princess is still very much alive, and that I have the energy to bark at them, overflowing with it."

She brushed her hair back.

"Don't I have to show them?"

Then, as always, she let out a mischievous laugh.

"Open the door, Professor."

2.

The seventh night passed.

When the eighth morning dawned, no one was left in the palace corridors.

Those who had been lurking in the corridors of the palace until last night, after hearing the first prince say, "It will be fine after tonight, just wait," had all gone somewhere.

Had they sunk into the earth, or risen into the sky?

No one knew.

They just disappeared without a trace. Only the rumor that the palace basement was about to burst was rampant.

There was one rumor in the palace.

"There is a mad dog living in the palace."

It wasn't really a rumor.

* * *

"You should have seen my brother's face."

Princess Lyluel laughed brightly.

She walked beside me with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Normally, I should have followed behind her. However, the princess did not want that.

-Didn't I say?

-Now, everything the princess has is yours. You will be treated equally with the princess.

Since she said it to that extent, I just did as she said.

'Actually, the fact that I