STML 18

“Hey! Soldier!”

“Halt! Who goes there?!”

Normally, Serena would have stopped Philia.

But right now, Serena wasn’t in any condition to do that.

She had definitely died.

After dying, she had watched the rest of her party die. She had even seen Hujichen swallowed by the Labyrinth.

‘What… was all that? Was I hallucinating?’

It had been far too vivid to dismiss as a hallucination.

‘Then what? Did I really go back in time?’

She clearly remembered the pain of having her eye forcibly ripped out.

Instead of the left eye she had been born with, an artificial eye and prosthetic now filled the empty socket.

‘Time travel? Really?’

The world spun around her.

It felt like it would take some time before she could collect herself.

At the very least, she wished everyone around her would stop making so much noise.

“How dare you! This is Her Highness Grand Princess Parkling, the only granddaughter of His Majesty King Harold II and the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Kiphan! Show some respect!”

“P-Please forgive us!”

“A princess? Really?”

“Her Highness is seriously injured! Hurry and bring a doctor!”

“We don’t even know where this place is. Where are we supposed to find one?”

“There are people here! Please help!”

The three of them were already causing enough chaos, but then Lavenda came running over and joined in.

‘Ugh… so noisy.’

The commotion made her dizziness even worse.

Serena gestured for them to be quiet.

Philia only became even more frantic.

“Lady Serena! Are you alright? Does your head hurt? Quickly! Prepare a place for her to lie down!”

“W-What?! Princess? Countess? Is Her Highness injured?”

“I think so! Hurry and bring a doctor or a priest!”

“Should I bring a cart?”

“Everyone calm down! In an emergency, follow my instructions!”

The four of them talking at once was almost as loud as the cries of the trapped souls inside the Labyrinth.

Finally, Serena couldn’t take it anymore.

“Everyone, be quiet! Shut up!”

The princess’s command silenced everyone.

Only one person, Countess Randy, quietly covered her mouth and whispered,

“The Crown Princess was also very sensitive to loud noises… Could it be…”

“It’s not that! You be quiet too!”

“Y-Yes!”

‘Good… Finally, it’s quiet.’

Serena gently pushed Philia away as she kept clinging to her and sat on the edge of the fountain.

Everything had happened so suddenly.

No—that wasn’t enough.

It was more like a dam had burst, flooding her mind all at once.

‘I definitely died.

Then I met that higher being.

I said I wanted to save the people trapped inside the Labyrinth… and it took my eye.’

Serena touched the left side of her face.

The leather eyepatch felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.

Slowly, she removed it.

She closed both eyes tightly before opening them again.

Only her right eye could see the world.

‘I wish I had a mirror.’

The empty socket was filled with an artificial eye.

She couldn’t see through it, but she could still feel something occupying the space.

Again…

It felt both unfamiliar and familiar.

‘I heard that if you lose an eye, the bones around the socket slowly change shape.

That’s why people use prosthetics and artificial eyes.’

As Serena continued touching her left eye, Philia cautiously approached.

“Lady Serena… please don’t be so heartbroken.”

“Heartbroken?”

To Philia, it seemed as though Serena was grieving over having only one eye.

‘That’s strange.’

The Philia Serena knew would have burst into tears if her mistress had suddenly lost an eye.

Yet Philia was acting as though this had always been normal.

Since Philia was already beside her, Serena asked,

“Philia.”

“Yes?”

“Since when have I only had one eye?”

“Lady Serena…”

Philia hesitated sadly before answering.

“Ever since His Highness the Crown Prince accidentally struck Your Highness in the face.”

“In my memories… I had both eyes.”

‘Though I do remember Father hitting me many times.’

A drug addict hurting his own family while intoxicated wasn’t unusual.

After being beaten several times, Serena had simply stopped going near him.

“Sob… Lady Serena… You must have hurt yourself badly. A doctor needs to see you quickly.”

Philia tearfully embraced Serena.

Resting against Philia’s warm, soft chest, Serena tried to make sense of everything.

‘Everyone is the same.

Philia.

Lavenda.

Ralph.

Chrome.’

Everyone gathered in the lobby matched her memories.

‘Wait.’

Suddenly, something occurred to her.

She clearly remembered having both eyes.

If someone suddenly lost one eye, their body shouldn’t immediately adapt.

Their field of vision would suddenly be cut in half.

But…

Her body moved as naturally as if she had always lived with only one eye.

“Philia, don’t you really remember? I was never one-eyed. Richard is.”

“Grand Duke Oren? Yes. Everyone always says both of you are incredibly handsome and beautiful, even with your eyes covered.”

“No, I mean… Richard is the one-eyed one…”

Thinking about her annoyingly handsome cousin only made her headache worse.

‘Damn it.

I just want to relax.

Why do I have to think this hard?’

Using her brain this much was exhausting.

‘If I really went back in time… then that being…

Well, maybe it was a god.’

Or something close to one.

‘Maybe it changed everyone’s memories.

Or maybe I’ve really gone insane.’

She couldn’t immediately believe she had traveled back in time.

Her mother still bothered her.

Serena’s mother had suffered from severe madness.

Perhaps because of that…

Even after experiencing something supernatural, Serena found it difficult to accept it as reality.

‘Doesn’t schizophrenia usually appear around this age?’

The late Crown Princess had also been perfectly normal at Serena’s age.

She had only begun losing her mind after marrying and becoming pregnant with Serena.

From there, her condition had gradually worsened.

‘Can I meet that being again?

It seemed connected to that statue somehow.’

Serena stared at the ugly stone statue with crimson eyes.

The only result was making her remaining eye ache.

Thinking she was overworking her only good eye, she closed it and gently rubbed it.

Then she opened only her left eye.

Something appeared.

‘What?’

Startled, Serena opened her right eye.

Whatever she had seen instantly vanished.

She closed her right eye again and opened only the left.

“…What the hell.”

The princess was so shocked that she cursed out loud.

When she opened the left eye that shouldn’t have been able to see anything…

She saw something impossible.

“…A gacha?”

Floating in midair was a simple gacha window.

No flashy decorations.

No character artwork.

It was even plainer than most indie games.

“Is this… real?”

The moment Serena wanted to touch it, a finger-shaped cursor appeared above the window.

“Hah…”

That wasn’t all.

[Your first draw is free.]

A notification appeared.

When Serena wished it away, the message disappeared.

The finger cursor settled over the draw button.

As if emphasizing the free first draw, the button glowed gold.

“No way…”

Speechless, Serena closed both eyes.

The gacha window disappeared.

“Why is she acting like that?”

“I think she hit her head.”

“How dare you! Hurry and bring a doctor!”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t even know where we are.”

To everyone else…

She was suddenly shouting.

Talking to herself.

Smiling at empty air.

Considering what had happened to her mother, Serena had always been careful about how she behaved.

But right now, she couldn’t.

Taking a deep breath, Serena opened only her left eye again.

The gacha window returned.

The golden First Draw Free button was still there.

‘It’s free…

I might as well press it.’

There was no explanation of what the gacha contained.

Still…

It was free.

Surely it wouldn’t summon enemies or bad luck.

The moment Serena decided to use it, the finger cursor pressed the button.

The golden glow disappeared.

The button returned to an ordinary gray.

No flashy animation.

No music.

No explanation of what she had obtained.

Everything that should have accompanied a gacha simply…

Didn’t happen.

‘What was that?

Was it really just my imagination?

Am I actually becoming insane like Mother?’

What if Serena had always been one-eyed?

What if she had never met that mysterious higher being?

What if everything had only been a dream or hallucination…

And she was actually lying in a hospital bed?

As though trying to answer her doubts…

Something unexpected happened.

“Your Highness! Countess Randy! You’re safe!”

A knight wearing full plate armor and a surcoat rushed into the lobby.

He wasn’t wearing a helmet because too many people now entered the royal castle, making facial identification necessary.

A knight.

Someone Serena both remembered…

And didn’t.

He had been escorting her until the earthquake.

Yet after the disaster…

She had never seen him again.

Sir Lucas Birun knelt before Serena.

“Are you alright?”

Instead of answering…

Serena took a deep breath and shouted,

“Status Window!”

“Status Window! System! Options! Stats! Skills! Map! Save! Load!”

“Waaah…”

“What else…? Oh! Shop! Inventory! Affection! Character Encyclopedia! Glossary! Settings! Notebook!”

“Sob…”

An earthquake had suddenly struck.

When they woke up, they were trapped in an unfamiliar place.

Philia had at least been grateful she could stay beside the mistress she loved.

But now…

Her mistress was acting strangely.

She kept shouting nonsense.

She winked at empty air.

She even opened the eye that couldn’t see.

Philia cried bitterly.

Everyone gathered around, trying to comfort the most beautiful woman in Huji.

“She must just be confused after the shock.”

“She’ll be fine after some rest.”

“I’m sure she’ll recover.”

Just as Philia was beginning to calm down…

“Shop! Store! Ah! That’s it! I knew there had to be more!”

Serena excitedly pointed into empty space with her eyes closed.

Pearl-like tears rolled down Philia’s cheeks.

“Countess Randy, please calm yourself. Do you know what happened?”

“Sob… I don’t. We were riding in the carriage when the earthquake struck. Then Lady Serena and I fell together…”

Since Philia couldn’t stop crying, Sir Lucas stepped in.

“Then, Countess, please remain beside Her Highness for now.”

He politely escorted Philia back to the fountain.

She quietly leaned against Serena again.

But Serena, completely focused on the invisible interface, pushed her away in annoyance.

“Sob…”

Dabbing her tears with a handkerchief, Philia patiently waited.

The late Crown Princess had never been mad all the time.

Her condition had always come and gone.

If she waited…

Surely Serena would calm down enough to speak normally again.

With tear-filled eyes, Philia watched Sir Lucas and the others.

Sir Lucas gathered everyone into a line.

“Soldier. State your name and affiliation.”

“Sir! Hanson Hanson! Huji City Guard, District Seven!”

“Next. Elderly woman.”

“I’m Chrome. I sell carvings and toys.”

“Next.”

“I’m Lavenda Puri. I’m from Vieta.”

“Vieta? A foreigner?”

“Yes.”

“Can you prove your identity?”

“I have my passport!”

Lavenda hurriedly handed it over.

After checking it, Sir Lucas returned it.

“Next question.”

“Does anyone know where we are?”

“I don’t.”

“Answer in the same order. Soldier first.”

“No, sir! I don’t know!”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either.”

Everyone answered the same.

They had all felt the earthquake.

Then awakened in this mysterious place.

Yet Sir Lucas continued asking the same questions.

As the questioning repeated…

Everyone standing in line became increasingly tense.

Watching with watery blue eyes, Philia thought,

‘He’s a little intimidating.’

If Serena had heard that, she would have exclaimed,

“A little?!”

But Philia knew nothing.

The most beautiful woman in Huji lowered her long eyelashes…

And simply waited for her beloved mistress to return to normal.