TYSIV 09

Chapter – 09

The morning after waking from her 103rd death.

The last thing Luciena remembered before dying was the icy look in her sister’s eyes. Even though she understood that Reshna’s cold reaction couldn’t entirely be helped, she still couldn’t comprehend it.

‘No matter what… someone was dying right in front of her in unbearable agony… How could she react like that?’

An insurmountable wall.

An impossible distance between them.

For the first time, Luciena realized that she would probably never truly understand Reshna as a person.

‘Did she think I’d give up just because of that?’

Luciena, who had never known the meaning of surrender, decided to visit Reshna’s room once more.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

After that, Luciena died two more times.

She tried changing the timing.

She tried leaving her room faster.

With Fioda’s help, she even attempted to distract both Reshna and the maid.

She tried every method she could think of.

Yet she couldn’t escape death.

Once, she was bitten to death by the poisonous spider again.

The other time, Reshna shoved her away, causing her to fall and strike her head against the sharp corner of a desk.

No matter what she did, she was discovered.

No matter what she did, she died.

‘Is there simply no way to get through this day without being caught in the first place?’

Only after dying twice more did Luciena finally realize the truth.

If getting caught while trying to steal the diary was inevitable, then she needed to find a way to make Reshna understand her even after she was discovered.

‘But what kind of lunatic would sympathize with a thief sneaking into their room to steal their diary…?’

In the end, Luciena decided to give up on stealing the diary.

Not forever, of course.

She was simply convinced that today wasn’t the right day.

She would try again sometime in the future.

‘Dying twice in two consecutive days has completely worn me out mentally…’

That day, Luciena shut herself inside her room and refused to see anyone.

Because she abandoned the plan to steal Reshna’s diary, she safely made it through that night.

However, on Saturday morning, Luciena found herself lost in thought.

Now that her immediate goal had disappeared, she had no idea what she should do next.

She needed some special event…

Or at the very least, an opportunity that could change Reshna’s heart.

But nothing like that existed.

Just as she let out a deep sigh, Fioda spoke.

“Miss. Young Master Erteo has come to see you.”

“Even if I tell him I don’t want to see him and to leave, he’ll just refuse and stay, won’t he? Fine. Let him in.”

She honestly didn’t want to meet him, but she had no choice.

Not long after Luciena gave up resisting, Erteo entered the room.

She asked in a cold voice,

“What do you want?”

“Do we really need a reason to visit each other?”

Luciena gave no reply.

She merely turned her gaze toward the window.

Erteo quietly watched her.

“I’ve said this before, but… if I tell you that you don’t seem like the Luciena I knew, you’ll probably just tell me to leave again, won’t you?”

“That’s right. Since you already know, leave.”

Luciena calmly denied it, but Erteo’s sharp gaze didn’t waver.

“Well, I don’t dislike the new you either, so you don’t have to deny it.”

“Oh, right. Here.”

Luciena accepted the small glass bottle he handed her with a puzzled expression.

Inside were colorful, star-shaped candies.

“Wait… aren’t these… Magic Star Candies?”

Magic Star Candies weren’t unfamiliar to Luciena.

She remembered Erteo giving them to her as a gift when they were children.

Though shaped like star candies, they weren’t sweet.

Instead, eating one restored stamina, healed wounds, eased pain, and even lifted a gloomy mood.

Healing wounds… easing pain…

As she thought about those effects, Luciena quietly murmured,

“I wonder… would these detoxify poison if someone got bitten by a poisonous spider…?”

“They can lessen the pain to some extent, but they can’t neutralize poison.”

“…Why?”

“…I was just talking to myself.”

Having been killed twice by Reshna’s poisonous spider, Luciena unconsciously let her true thoughts slip out.

While Luciena examined the candies, Erteo stared at her with an unusually persistent gaze.

His eyes were filled with complicated emotions.

The reason Erteo had come today was because of the nightmare he had the previous night.

In that dream…

He watched Luciena die in excruciating pain.

Even now, her screams still echoed vividly in his ears.

His obsessive gaze showed no sign of leaving her.

There was no way Luciena hadn’t noticed.

Yet she simply looked away without reacting.

She quietly stared at the bottle of star candies.

Seeing them suddenly reminded her of an old memory.

When they were children, Luciena had jokingly asked Erteo to pluck a star from the night sky as her birthday present.

She had only been teasing him.

But Erteo had taken her words seriously…

And had genuinely tried to bring her a star from the heavens.

After remaining silent for a while, Luciena finally spoke.

“Seeing these star candies reminded me.”

“Do you remember getting scolded when you tried to bring me a star for my birthday when we were kids?”

“…Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“I was just wondering.”

“Could you still do it now?”

Erteo fell into thought for a moment before looking directly into her eyes.

“Do you want me to?”

“Huh?”

Erteo stood up, opened the window, and stretched one arm toward the sky.

“Watch carefully, Luna.”

With a focused expression, he repeatedly opened and closed his hand, making a pulling motion.

As Luciena blankly watched him…

A powerful sense of déjà vu washed over her.

“No, Erteo!”

Her childhood memories flashed through her mind.

The memory of Erteo dragging an actual celestial body closer simply because she had said she wanted a star.

The memory of that planet nearly colliding with Earth and almost causing humanity’s extinction.

Only now did she remember.

“Stop! Are you trying to destroy the Earth?!”

Even then, Erteo didn’t stop.

Luciena hurried over, clung to his arm, and forced him to stop.

“Please! Stop already!”

Only then did Erteo slowly lower his arm before chuckling.

“Don’t worry.”

“After that incident, I practically quit using magic.”

“I no longer have either the method… or the power… to bring stars down from the sky.”

“Huh…?”

“W-Why?”

His unexpected answer completely stunned Luciena.

“I know that almost caused a catastrophe…”

“But why would that make you quit magic?”

He came from the bloodline of the greatest archmages.

With overwhelming magical power, he should have been the ideal successor of his family.

Yet…

He had abandoned magic?

It made no sense.

“They called me a danger.”

“A danger? You?”

“So now, all but the minimum amount of my magic has been sealed away.”

“And the reason I was suddenly sent to the North was the same.”

“They called it studying abroad…”

“But in reality, it was no different from exile.”

It was something Luciena had never known in her previous life.

The real reason Erteo had suddenly gone north to study…

The reason he had abandoned magic and chosen the path of a knight…

It had all happened because of her childish request.

She had never imagined it.

“What’s with that look?”

“You don’t need to feel responsible.”

“And you certainly don’t need to pity me.”

“But…”

“I can still use basic magic with what little power I have left.”

“And more importantly…”

“I’m going to become the greatest knight in this kingdom.”

Erteo smiled casually.

His life had changed completely after that day.

But Luciena had no way of knowing what kind of painful life he had lived in the North.

“You look guilty.”

“Then at least walk me out.”

“Instead of chasing me away every single time.”

Luciena quietly nodded.

The two left the mansion together and strolled through the snow-covered winter garden.

‘Because of my childish request, your entire life was turned upside down…’

‘How could you never once let me know?’

Learning the truth for the first time shook Luciena to her core.

Not once…

Not even once…

Had Erteo ever blamed her.

If their positions had been reversed…

If she had been Erteo…

She would have cursed the person who had ruined her life.

Yet Erteo never had.

“Hm? Over there…”

As they crossed the garden, Luciena suddenly stopped walking.

“Wait… did our estate always have a place like that?”

She and Erteo headed toward a secluded corner of the garden.

After weaving through the paths, they arrived at a small vegetable patch beside a low stone well.

“Look at these plants.”

“It’s amazing they’re still alive in the middle of winter.”

“Do the servants grow them?”

“Probably.”

“This is the first time I’ve ever noticed this place.”

“It must be some kind of secret garden.”

Since hardly anyone came here, it was a place no one would ever find unless they intentionally searched for it.

“They’re growing so well without dying, even in this freezing weather.”

Luciena bent down and reached toward the vibrant winter greens.

Just then—

“What do you think you’re doing over there?!”

“Take your hands off them this instant!”

The deep voice of a woman rang sharply through Luciena’s ears.