EUILV 18

Chapter 18

“Why?”

There was no response.

“There’s no way it’s this quiet.”

Just by briefly holding the weapon, it could read the soul of its wielder.

So even if the shell was different, the spear would surely recognize that the soul belonged to Seraphine.

“There’s no chance it’s a replica, either.”

She, who had created the weapon, would know best whether it was fake or real.

She quietly stared at the Spear of the Cross.

“Even after five hundred years, it hasn’t rusted and still functions properly. The soul inside is the same.”

And yet, the lack of response could mean only one thing:

It refused to be touched by someone weaker than itself.

“Maybe it hasn’t fully awakened yet and doesn’t recognize me.”

Without hesitation, Seraphine picked up the Spear of the Cross.

“It must be too heavy for you to hold.”

Madam was worried, since the weapon was both vicious and quite heavy for her frail granddaughter to carry.

She also feared the weapon’s dark reputation might negatively affect her only granddaughter.

Ignoring that concern, Seraphine called its name silently.

At that moment, the soul resonated and cried out.

At the same time, a strong dizziness overtook her, and she staggered.

“Seri!”

Startled, Madam hurried to support Seraphine. But Seraphine rejected her touch.

“I’m fine.”

It wasn’t a good situation.

As if the great weapon was testing her, tremendous magical power poured into her.

“If I can’t even endure this, it probably means I should just die.”

Fitting for a weapon containing the soul of an arrogant man, its resistance was fierce.

“Five hundred years, and he’s still as unpleasant as ever. If only the race were different, I might’ve believed he was Leonhardt’s ancestor.”

Men who grew arrogant with power were common.

And this soul was one of them.

“Please step back.”

“I can’t do that. I’ll call for the physician right away.”

“No, please… Ugh.”

Seraphine felt a strange flow of magic at her back. The carefully held magic circle had begun to unravel.

She drove the Spear into the floor to support herself and shoved Madam away roughly.

The next moment, wings larger than her own body unfolded like they were stretching.

It was a moment that inspired awe.

But Seraphine had to bite her lower lip at the foreign sensation on her back she had never felt before.

“The flow of magic is a mess. But I’ve used strong magic before, even if I didn’t have wings. I can endure this much.”

Due to the wild magic swirling around her, Madam Rubia couldn’t approach her granddaughter.

Fearing she might harm Madam, Seraphine tried to calm her magic as quickly as possible.

Then, suddenly, a flustered male voice echoed in her mind.

[…Princess? That can’t be. I heard you were dead.]

It had been a long time since she’d heard that voice.

“Exactly.”

When that lukewarm reply came, the soul inside the Spear of the Cross erupted in undignified curses.

Even though it wasn’t a situation to laugh, Seraphine couldn’t help but smile at the raw string of profanities.

Perhaps it was because she’d thought she was completely alone, and yet she’d met someone from her own time.

Technically speaking, not a “someone.”

“If this keeps up, my body won’t hold out.”

It felt like someone was pulling her limbs in all directions, trying to tear her apart.

Seraphine believed in her own ability—but sadly, her physical body couldn’t keep up.

“This is the best I can do.”

Fortunately, she avoided the worst-case scenario—where all her magic was drained into the wings.

That was thanks to her skill in controlling magic.

And if the Spear of the Cross hadn’t recognized her and had pushed a little harder, things would’ve turned truly dangerous.

“Ah…”

But she couldn’t stop her vision from blurring and her eyes from closing.

The magnificent wings that had spread from Seraphine’s back vanished like a mirage.

At the same time, she lost consciousness and collapsed.

Had Madam not caught her quickly, she would have fallen ungracefully to the floor with the Spear.

Despite the chaos, Madam looked down at her unconscious granddaughter, still clutching the Spear, with a hint of a smile and disbelief.

Unaware of all this, Seraphine, unconscious, whispered the Spear’s name:

“Metatron.”

He was the first soul to be trapped inside a weapon—over five hundred years ago—and had once been Seraphine’s fiancé.

*

Seraphine had collapsed.

Upon hearing the news, members of House Rubia rushed to the estate in short order.

“Mother, why did you give such a dangerous weapon to a child!”

Duke Rubia raised his voice at Madam, unable to control himself as he looked at the pale and unconscious Seraphine.

“She didn’t even wield it properly. She only touched it briefly. If it had been dangerous, I would’ve taken it away immediately.”

“But you didn’t.”

The magic that had surrounded Seraphine had been so intense that even Madam Rubia—once famed on the battlefield—had hesitated.

“The legendary Spear of the Cross… Where did you even find such a thing?”

“It just happened to be along the way, so I picked it up. It was the first time since she was a child that my granddaughter asked me for something. How could I not bring it to her when it was right in front of me?”

She still regretted being unable to hold her tiny granddaughter’s hand at her daughter-in-law’s funeral.

So when a sudden letter from Seraphine arrived in her name, she couldn’t ignore it or question it.

If her granddaughter had asked for a star from the sky, she would’ve tried to fetch one.

“This is a relic, not a child’s toy.”

The duke let out a sigh.

Seraphine had made a questionable request, but the fact that Madam had actually brought such a thing back just because her granddaughter asked was astounding.

“Much magical power was released, but fortunately, they say there’s no serious problem. She’ll wake up soon.”

“You may not know because you’ve been away for so long, but that child has lived her whole life with weak magical power. There’s no way this didn’t hurt her.”

“If I had known it would come to this, I would’ve just let her look at it instead of touching it. I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t have brought it at all. What kind of grandmother gifts a relic to her granddaughter?”

“There is one! Right here!”

While the duke and Madam were bickering, Joshua, eyes full of curiosity, reached for the Spear.

Madam noticed first and glared at him.

Following her gaze, the duke frowned.

“Joshua.”

Startled by his father’s warning, Joshua froze.

“I—I wasn’t doing anything!”

“Even after seeing your sister collapse, you still want to touch the Spear?”

Yes.

Joshua had to swallow that word.

It was a relic he’d only heard about in stories.

There were few teenage boys who could resist the urge to touch a weapon said to grant immense power just by holding it.

Seeing the curiosity in Joshua’s eyes, Duke Rubia looked at his youngest son like he was hopeless.

“In this era without war, that weapon does our house no good. We should dispose of it—burn it, offer it to His Majesty, whatever works. Best to keep it far away from Seraphine.”

Madam nodded at the duke’s words.

“Yes, we have no choice.”

Though she had gone to the trouble of bringing it, the Spear was now an unwanted burden. Still, she didn’t object to the decision.

Because she kept recalling the moment when Seraphine’s wings had spread.

“Come to think of it, she did look like she was controlling the Spear… No, I must be getting old.”

As the mood shifted in silent agreement, Joshua spoke up again, cluelessly.

“Father, can I just touch it once? Just once?”

“No.”

“Just a brush with my fingertips—”

“Joshua.”

There was no chance of permission.

Since Seraphine’s collapse, the Spear had been tightly wrapped in cloth.

Joshua hadn’t even gotten a proper look at its shape, and now he pouted his lips.

Then quietly, Erez—who had been watching only Seraphine—pulled Joshua back by the shoulder, ending the moment.

Things were finally calming down.

Everyone would’ve returned to their places—if Seraphine hadn’t murmured the duke’s name in her sleep.

“F…Father…”

“Yes, Seraphine. Father’s here.”

Startled, Duke Rubia rushed to her side.

But Seraphine, still unconscious, had her eyes closed.

She hadn’t awakened. She was talking in her sleep.

“Please…”

Seraphine grimaced faintly, as if having a nightmare.

Her pronunciation was unclear.

Everyone held their breath and leaned in to listen.

“Please don’t kill me.”

“……”

“I… I wasn’t a good child…”

“……”

“…Is that why…?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Duke Rubia.

Their expression said the same thing.

Trash.