Chapter 77

Tan abruptly opened the door and got out. Rath spoke to the two people.

"You two should go back. It seems we need to go back and check things out."

"Altears will be furious, though."

Tan said with a laugh in his voice, and Rath sighed as he got out of the carriage.

The sound of conversation came from outside, and it seemed they were changing horses. Then Brin and Bran entered the carriage and sat down.

Seeing them like this, it was clear they were siblings, and Lirika felt a bit envious.

She absentmindedly touched her brown hair. If it were as black as Attil's, it would have been better.

She had wished for blonde hair like her mother's, but lately, she thought black hair was also nice.

Brin asked.

"I was going to listen separately, but it seems I should have listened together. What happened?"

Attil explained the situation in the same way. However, just as before, he didn't mention that he had regained his strength.

Brin's expression hardened. She turned to Lirika.

"You must have been really surprised."

"Yeah, I was shocked."

"At least you're back. You did well, being so brave."

Attil hugged her tightly, and Lirika burst into laughter. A moment later, when he tickled her side, Lirika let out a laugh mixed with screams.

"Princess? Are you okay?! What's happening?!"

Laub urgently knocked on the window, and Attil let go of Lirika, who panted and said,

"Attil was tormenting me!"

After a brief silence, his shadow appeared on the glass as he approached.

"Would you like to switch to this one?"

"I want to, I want to."

"Hey, wait a minute. You're trying to get out alone now?"

Attil's eyes widened, but Lirika stuck out her tongue at him. The carriage door opened while the carriage was still moving.

Laub reached out and gently moved Lirika to his side.

When he closed the carriage door, Brin and Bran simultaneously smiled at Attil.

No matter how loudly Attil screamed silently, Lirika enjoyed the feeling of sitting on the big horse, swinging her feet.

"Laub, were you worried a lot?"

"Yes."

Laub let out a sigh mixed with a smile.

"At least I confirmed that my life will never be boring from now on."

His gentle response made Lirika feel even more guilty.

"Hey, Laub. I'm planning to go out tomorrow. Please come with me."

"Tomorrow too?"

"Yeah, I have a promise with Fjord. It's a secret from Attil, okay?"

At the whispered words, Laub nodded. As long as she told him, it wasn't a big problem no matter what happened to the others.

The group arrived at the palace neither too slowly nor too quickly. They got off the horses and carriage at the first palace gate. As they walked to the second gate,

a bright light appeared behind them.

"?!"

Lirika turned in surprise and saw a blue light pillar rising somewhere in the capital.

"Ah."

While others might not have noticed, Lirika could feel the magical waves throughout her body.

Attil narrowed his eyes.

Brin said,

"We should go in quickly."

"Okay."

The faces of His Majesty and her mother came to Lirika's mind.

Could this be related to them? What happened?

Only bad thoughts came to mind. She had a foreboding feeling.

And as always, Lirika's intuition was right.

* * *

"Princess, Princess."

Gently shaking her, Lirika shook her head.

"I, I didn't sleep. I'm not going in."

She was lying on the sofa in her pajamas, trying to argue that she would wait until her mother came in, feeling uneasy. However, her body couldn't take it after the events of the day and the late hour, and she had half-fallen asleep on the sofa.

"Princess, His Majesty is calling you."

Lirika lifted her heavy eyelids. Brin's serious face made her fully alert.

"What happened? Did Mother come in?"

Brin firmly held Lirika's shoulders and said,

"Princess, listen to me calmly."

Lirika nodded, her eyes wavering, and looked at Brin.

"Mother is seriously injured. That's why His Majesty is calling you. He asked you to bring the artifact."

"!!"

Her whole body shrank. She didn't know what to do. She didn't understand what His Majesty had said.

"What artifact?"

"The Magic Girl artifact. Princess, you need to change your clothes first. Can you move?"

Lirika nodded. Standing there in a daze, she was grateful that Brin and Laub were there.

Until she got on the horse, all she could do was nod.

The festival was still ongoing. She didn't know how they explained the blue light pillar, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

She had been happy and joyful there too, but now she wasn't.

The world kept turning regardless of her misfortune.

Laub drove the horse around the festival grounds. Lirika didn't know where they were going.

She just held the pendant tightly and kept thinking,

'Can I do it? Can I do it?'

Laub stopped the horse. It was a dark alley, not quite the slums, but they got off in front of a shabby house where Tan was waiting.

His expression was dark.

The smell of blood was in the air.

Whose?

Tan opened the door and said,

"I don't know if this is the right way, but, I'll spare my words."

It wasn't his place to comment now. As soon as they entered the living room, which was separated by curtains, Lat and Whale were standing on one side. On the other side, behind the open curtain, her mother lay on an old bed.

His Majesty was sitting next to her, his arm bandaged, looking tired. When Lirika entered, he opened his eyes.

"Come here."

Lirika approached as if in a trance. Her mother's face was pale, and her chest was hidden under the sheet.

The smell of blood was overwhelming.

Without thinking, she reached out to the sheet, but Altears stopped her.

"Don't look."

"But!"

"You can fix it without looking."

Otherwise, you might think it's impossible.

"Hold up the pendant."

At his words, Lirika took out the pendulum with trembling hands. The pendant fell into her hand, and the silver chain sparkled.

Lirika stood there in a daze, looking at her mother.

Surprisingly, no magic came to mind. Her head felt completely blank.

She wanted to take a step back. She wanted to cry out that she couldn't do it.

Lirika stared at the pendant. As time passed, Altears clicked his tongue.

Lirika's shoulders twitched. Altears called her.

"Magician."

Lirika turned to him. Altears reached out and lifted her chin.

"You have to do it. No one else can. And you can. What was the first thing?"

Lirika's gaze pierced him.

"The first, the first is light."

The light in her heart. The light that gives her the courage to walk in the darkness.

Her pendant began to glow brightly.

Alteers dropped his hand. He turned his gaze to Ludia. Lirika closed her eyes tightly.

I have to heal Mother.

I've made ointments before and even created spells to heal wounds.

But this isn't just a wound.

Lirika, you can do it.

What should I do? Think. Think.

Heal all the wounds perfectly?

No, that's not it.

Then a thought came to her as if someone was whispering in her mind.

It's not healing but restoration.

Not lacking, but not overflowing.

Not perfect, but complete restoration.

Fire is triangular, defense is square.

'So what should I draw?'

What encompasses everything.

Lirika opened her eyes. The edges of her pupils seemed to glow with a golden light.

"Thalaid Lavah (Complete Circle)"

Alteers' eyes widened, then he smiled bitterly.

'I didn't expect to hear that spell again.'

Golden light burst forth. It was so bright that everyone squinted, but it wasn't so blinding that they had to look away.

It felt soft and warm, like winter sunlight.

Alteers unwrapped the bandage on his arm.

'It's healed.'

The power wasn't concentrated but scattered around. In other words,

Alteers got up and caught Lirika, who was swaying as the light faded.

'She pushed herself too hard.'

Lirika gasped for breath. Her hands were trembling.

Then Ludia opened her eyes.

Her blue eyes slowly blinked, and soon she sat up abruptly.

"Liri? Wait, what is this."

She pulled the sheet off her body. Under the torn clothes, smooth, unblemished skin was visible.

Lirika burst into tears and threw herself at Ludia.

"Oh, Mom, Mom, oh, ah, uh—"

"Liri, it's okay. It's okay, okay?"

Ludia comforted the crying Lirika and looked around with a bewildered face. Alteers slumped back into his chair.

The long, tiresome night was passing.

* * *

Ludia realized she was dreaming.

'This is my first dream like this.'

A dream within a dream.

Looking around, she saw an open desert. In the distance, palm trees were faintly visible in the moonlight.

Since it was a desert in her imagination, it wasn't particularly hot or cold.

'How strange.'

She had never seen a desert before, yet it appeared in her dream. She walked on the sand towards the palm trees.

An oasis came into view.

A mysterious blue light reflecting the moonlight.

It was a beautiful scene beyond her imagination. She stared at it in a daze when someone emerged from the water.

The sound of splashing water. Was he swimming?

Why is there a stranger in my dream?

'Could this be a dream where I meet myself?'

If so, she wouldn't like it.

As she thought this, the person swimming came closer and stood up, brushing his long black hair back.

His well-defined upper body glistened in the moonlight, wet from the water. His abnormally long hair was impressive. He turned his head towards her and frowned.

Ludia's mouth dropped open.

"Alteers?"

He wrung out the water from his long hair, sighed, and started walking towards her.

The water rippled.

Ludia couldn't help but turn her head and shout,

"Wait, why are you naked?!"

No, am I having such a dream? Am I frustrated?

Oh my God, what is this?

Her head spun with all sorts of thoughts.

"Is there someone who swims in a dream with clothes on? Besides, I don't wear clothes in reality either."

"That's your business! Why are you naked in someone else's dream?!"

"It's my dream."

"What?"

Ludia tried to look at him but turned her head away again.

"It's your dream. You saw everything, so why are you acting surprised now?"

His voice was mixed with laughter. Ludia felt uncomfortable and said,

"It's different from this."

"Is it? Then give me your towel."

Looking back, she saw a tent that wasn't there before. It was a well-equipped tent in the style of a desert tribe.

Ludia took a towel from the tent and threw it to him.

"You're picky."

Alteers wrapped the towel around his waist and got out of the water. Ludia finally looked at him.

"You said it's your dream?"

"Yeah. It's my dream. You're in my dream."

His long black hair, which had been wet, was now completely dry, reaching down to his buttocks.

"I don't have any special abilities."

Ludia said, and he took a robe from the tent and put it on, then threw the towel away.

Sitting half-reclined on the carpet, he said calmly,

"Because you drank my blood today."

Ludia unconsciously pressed her fingertips to her lips.

"Why did you do that?"

At his question, she looked up. Alteers, lying on his side with one arm supporting his upper body, asked again,

"Why did you do that?"

Ludia approached him and sat down on the carpet.

"What do you mean?"

At her counter-question, Alteers' eyes narrowed. Ludia looked into his eyes, feeling curious.

Usually, dreams in her mind weren't this detailed or vivid.

It was common to see herself from a third-person perspective, and even more so for others.

But what about now?

As she wondered, Alteers grabbed her chin and cheek, fixing her gaze on him. His touch was gentle but forceful.

"Why did you block my path?"