Swoosh—!
On the outskirts of the Mylne estate was a dense forest.
The forest was narrow, with a wide road cutting through its center, leading to one of the major cities under Mylne’s jurisdiction.
Knowing this, Rose headed in the opposite direction.
It was just that…
‘This is really uncomfortable.’
Hanging over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, I watched as several branches brushed past my face, forcing me to squint my eyes momentarily.
For whatever reason, I got kidnapped alongside Kiera.
Most likely, she noticed something strange and made a dip for it. I didn’t know what prompted her to run like that, but I wasn’t in a situation to think too much.
“Heuk! Hek!”
Kiera wasn’t having a good time either.
Neither of us was.
“Shut up, or I’ll seal your mouth.”
Well, at least Kiera was rather loud about her discomfort. It was a pity that both of our bodies were in a state where we couldn’t move at all.
The only things we could move were our mouths.
“Ah, shit…! Let me go!”
And Kiera took full advantage of that.
“Help! Helpp—Hm!!!”
“Shut up!”
A simple tap on Kiera’s neck was all it took to silence her. For a brief moment, I almost felt grateful for her.
Kiera’s screams were far from pleasant.
Even I struggled to tolerate them. Thankfully, Rose silenced her quickly, but as I watched her sprint off to who knew where, it was clear she hadn’t thought this through.
‘No, maybe she does know where she’s going, but I don’t think she ever planned on bringing me with her.’
It was then that a thought crossed my mind.
‘Wait, don’t tell me she’s planning on bringing us back to the Inverted Sky?!’
The thought almost made me jump up with fright.
That…
Suddenly coming to a stop, Rose looked around, her eyes squinted.
“It should be somewhere here. Where did he leave it?”
She frantically scanned her surroundings while checking her communication device. I stared at whatever she was doing with squinted eyes, feeling my heart sink.
The more I overheard her speak, the more likely my worries came to be.
‘…She might really bring us back.’
The thought made me unconsciously look at Kiera, who was still flailing around while glaring at her aunt.
I swallowed before shifting my attention elsewhere.
‘Hm?’
Though faint, I noticed a subtle change in the distant greenery, and my brow jumped up.
‘Something is coming.’
I couldn’t tell what it was, but I more or less could guess.
‘…They’re most likely the Empire forces called by Aoife.’
It was widely known that the Empire had forces concealed in every corner of its territories. The same was true for the Evenus Household.
I knew this because Aldric seemed well aware of where they were stationed, with him keeping a close watch over them. Given the type of person that he was, there’d be no way he wouldn’t take them into account.
While I didn’t know when Aoife had called for them, had I been in her position, I would’ve called them the moment I noticed that something was off with Kiera.
‘So this is most likely what happened…’
I felt a little relief thinking about this, but this was only a guess in the end.
“Shit!”
Similarly sensing the change, Rose grew increasingly alarmed. She quickly scanned her surroundings before fixing her gaze in a specific direction.
Her brows jumped up as though she had found something, and she hastily moved in that direction.
Meanwhile, I kept my eyes on the distant bushes and noticed several silhouettes emerging.
‘Eh?’
I immediately found the situation to be strange, especially since their figures were hard to make out. It was as if a veil obscured their features, making them seem like shadows that flickered and danced across the forest as they rapidly approached our direction.
“Ugh, fuck—!”
As if fully aware of what was happening, Rose suddenly flicked her head in their direction and raised her hand.
The temperature around us surged as a faint red magic circle materialized over her palm. The activation was swift—before I could even blink, the circle had fully formed, unleashing a fierce explosion of flames that consumed the distant surroundings.
Bang—!
I stared in wide-eyed shock as flames erupted, engulfing the surroundings and forcing the silhouettes to an abrupt halt.
As the flames died down, the figures’ features gradually came into view, and I felt my expression shift at the sight of them.
‘Wait, what…?’
As I took in their scorched cloaks and faces, a sudden pulsing sensation radiated from my forearm, and at that moment, I realized my earlier assumption had been wrong.
They… weren’t the secret forces from the Empire.
No, far from it.
They belonged to none other than the Inverted Sky.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Rose also seemed stunned by their appearance. Her expression shifted rapidly—first shock, then confusion, and finally, anger.
“I didn’t call for any reinforcements. I have everything under contr—”
“No, you don’t.”
A cold yet even voice suddenly cut through Roses.
Emerging from the sea of flames was a tall figure with long brown hair cascading down her back. Her soft green eyes glowed amidst the blaze as she cast aside her robe, briefly glancing in my direction.
It was just a simple gaze, and yet… it felt like it had pierced my soul directly.
‘Another spirit user?’
I didn’t have the fondest memories with spirit users.
“The reason why we’re here is because you don’t have anything under your control.”
“But, that, what does that…?”
The woman cast a cold stare at Rose before shifting her gaze to her three companions. One was a burly man with a bald head and a thick mustache. Another was a short girl with vibrant red twintails, while the last was a lanky man with sunken cheekbones and long black hair.
“We received a call from the Princess.”
“….!”
Wait, what?
I fell into a brief daze upon hearing her words. Did she just say, ‘We received a call from the Princess?’
‘How could I forget?’
A sudden realization struck me shortly after. These were indeed the secret forces of the Royal Family. It was just that… the Inverted Sky was no regular organization. They, in fact, had control over the entire Royal Family.
For their secret forces to be direct members of the Inverted Sky, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise at all.
I found myself looking at Kiera, who looked stupefied by the current situation.
But if there was one person that was the most surprised, it was Rose.
“The Princess? She called for you? But what… how?”
“…We don’t know, but it looks like you didn’t do a good job at hiding your tracks.”
“Agh, shit.”
Rose covered her forehead while frowning.
She then started mumbling to herself, ‘How is it possible? My disguise should’ve been perfect. No, that’s not true…’
Her head suddenly snapped in my direction. It was almost as if she had a sudden enlightenment, but I shook my head.
‘Not me.’
Her disguise was indeed great, but it was ineffective against me for one specific reason.
The bone from the Melanchony of Persuit.
It turned out that the skill I had acquired from it also functioned passively—a pleasant surprise and the very reason I was able to see through her disguise.
“What next?”
Seeing that they were all on the same side, Rose appeared a little bit calmer.
“Should we pretend to fight and all of that before I get away, or…?”
“No.”
The woman in the lead shook her head, staring coldly at Rose and then Kiera.
“The two of you will die.”
“Eh?”
All of a sudden, the atmosphere turned cold. As Rose’s face changed, Kiera also experienced a change in expression as her eyes shook.
“Wait, what are you talking about? Why would you kill me? Do you have any idea how much I’ve sacrificed for this organization? Why would you—”
“All you’ve achieved is repeated failures.”
Rose was once again coldly interrupted by the woman.
“While it’s true that you’ve accomplished a great deal, you’ve also had over a decade to find the Astral Mirror. Where is it?”
“It’s… I don’t know. I’ve tried looking for it, but it’s gone. I could’ve sworn that…”
“Is it that you don’t know, or you’re just not telling us?”
“What?”
The tension in the air thickened as the two figures stepped forward, their presence amplifying the suffocating atmosphere. With just a glance, I could tell—they were stronger than me.
‘At the very least, Tier 6 and above. Most likely 7..’
I wanted to curse at the sudden development.
As things stood, there was no way Rose could beat the four of them, let alone Kiera, who was on the ground, staring at the scene with a pale face.
“You think I’m not telling you the truth on purpose? Why would I do that? If I really did know, I’d say it!”
“Is that so?”
The woman raised her brow, her expression questioning.
I could see a shift in Rose’s expression as the woman suddenly extended her finger and pointed in Kiera’s direction.
What happened next unfolded so quickly that I could barely keep up.
Bang—!
Before I could react, a loud bang echoed through the air as a figure flickered before Kiera, sending a rush of wind that made my hair whip back.
Drip! Drip…!
A faint dripping sound followed, echoing through the tense air. Rose came into view, clutching what seemed to be her own hand, blood trickling down from her fingers.
She stood before Kiera as the woman from before lowered her hand.
“As expected, our guesses weren’t wrong.”
“Guess? What guess?”
Rose said through her bloodshot eyes.
Indifferently gazing at Rose, the woman adjusted her black uniform, adorned with golden padding and medals. Then, retrieving a golden insignia from her pocket, she carefully affixed it just beside her shoulder.
That insignia…
I recognized it in an instant. It was the Megrail Insignia.
“You were lying to us. You never truly searched for the mirror. Instead, you stalled for time—giving your niece the chance to grow stronger. Strong enough to oppose us? Strong enough to survive?”
Smiling, the woman turned her gaze to Kiera, whose pale face bore a dazed expression as she stared at her aunt in shock.
The entire series of events had probably shaken her to the core.
This was especially after overhearing the woman’s next words.
“Well, at least you were smart enough to know what would happen to her once she stopped being useful to us.”