🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 49
The group covered the straight distance at a terrifying speed.
They smashed every obstacle in their path and sent any minor enemies or thugs flying along the way.
Finally—
“Princess!”
They spotted the restroom up ahead.
Caesar skidded to a stop with a squeak, urgently.
He tossed Lirian upward.
“Hoit!”
With Caesar’s magical push, Lirian performed a spinning aerial trick and landed perfectly inside a stall.
“Princess, did it work?”
“Yes!”
“Haah…”
“Thank goodness.”
The couple shared a look of accomplishment, the relief and pride of parents who had cleared a crisis-level “quest” for their child.
Meanwhile…
“Why me…?”
“I can’t leave a little child alone in a strange place, Elie.”
Elie, who had just experienced being carried by someone for the first time in his life, looked up at Lessa with a wronged expression.
Lessa gently stroked his head.
Elie flinched.
He always twitched whenever the couple treated him like a child—even though he wasn’t their own.
Regardless of his status or the fact that he had reincarnated, the duke and duchess still saw him as a child in need of care.
Instead of being upset, Elie felt oddly… embarrassed.
“This isn’t a safe house, so it’s better to hold hands. Is that alright?”
“…Y-Yes. Thank you.”
As Lessa set him down, Elie gave a small nod.
The warmth of her hand in his was unfamiliar, making his ears faintly red. Somehow, his chest felt a little ticklish.
Meanwhile, Lirian emerged from the restroom after a happy moment.
Being a tidy child, she stood on her tiptoes to wash her hands in the oversized sink, scrubbing them squeaky clean.
“All done!”
Beaming proudly, she opened the door to return to her family.
“I’m finished—huh?”
But instead of the corridor she had seen before, a dark, empty space appeared.
Lirian blinked in surprise and looked around.
The door and the restroom had completely disappeared.
“Am… I lost?”
She pouted, distressed.
“Why isn’t she coming out?”
“Maybe her stomach hurts.”
“I’ll go check.”
The group waited while chatting quietly, but after ten minutes with no sign of Lirian, they became seriously worried.
Finally, Lessa decided to check the restroom herself.
“Lirian! …Lirian?”
When no response came, Lessa, increasingly anxious, flung open every stall.
“…She’s not here?”
There was no sign of the child anywhere.
She ran out, her face pale.
“Lirian’s gone!”
“What? The princess is missing?”
Naturally, the group panicked.
Even with Caesar using detection magic and Lessa asking a “friend” for help, they couldn’t trace Lirian.
When the usually composed duke and duchess were completely losing their composure, Elie noticed something others couldn’t, thanks to his previous reincarnation experience.
‘This is… an anomaly?’
He saw remnants of black moss-like matter clinging to the door frame—a trace of magical energy from a spatial rift.
“Sir, over here.”
“What is it?!”
“It’s an anomaly. A teleportation-type… Looks like an abyss mage using dark magic.”
Elie realized from the leftover mana waves that teleportation magic had been cast.
Normally, the general knowledge is that the warp spell can’t be performed by an individual mage.
That is, under normal magic.
But with black magic capable of twisting the laws of the world at a terrible cost, it was possible.
“That means—”
“The rift probably hasn’t left its original area, so she was likely teleported randomly within the auction hall.”
Caesar, having studied records over the years, knew much more about anomalies than most people.
Plus, he had been informed about this by Elie and Lirian themselves, in the future.
Finally tracing Lirian’s location, Caesar’s frustration and anger erupted.
“How dare…!”
He clenched Cain tightly.
“How dare you kidnap my daughter—!”
A dark blue aura roared around Caesar.
Meanwhile, the kidnapped (?) Lirian was exploring her surroundings.
Where is this? Who am I?
“I’m Lirian… no, Luna… I don’t know where this is.”
“Rose, do you know?”
Lirian hugged the doll Rose, which Lessa had tied to her waist to prevent it from being lost.
All she had with her were Rose and a matching miniature parasol.
She spoke through the Rose doll.
“No, I don’t know either.”
The two became one, surveying the dark surroundings, when Lirian noticed something strange.
‘Iron bars?’
She touched them, hearing a rusty creak.
She realized too late that the bars completely surrounded her.
“I… I’m trapped?”
Instinctively, she reached for the parasol weapon on her back.
Then—
“It’s useless.”
A voice, hoarse and cracked, came from a corner.
“Don’t even dream of escaping. You’re going to be sold anyway…”
Lirian jumped.
‘Didn’t I sense their presence?’
She turned toward the voice.
There, five scruffy children huddled together, staring at her nervously.
Her eyes widened.
‘Friends… they must be in pain.’
She stepped forward, but the children shrank back, making her pause.
The oldest-looking child spoke, wary:
“When were you captured? You weren’t here a moment ago.”
Captured?
Her small fists clenched briefly—then—
‘I saved you all, Lirian.’
The gentle voice ringing in her head calmed her.
She took a deep breath.
Seeing the frightened children, red warning lights went off over her head.
‘Are friends hurt?’
-> Must help.
‘But they seem scared.’
-> Must not scare them.
‘What should I do?’
-> Show Rose.
Rose is everyone’s friend!
With this plan in mind, Lirian clenched her hands on the parasol.
‘I can do this!’
She extended the Rose doll so the children could see it clearly.
The sudden appearance of the doll elicited a mix of caution and curiosity from the children.
Being kids, they were naturally interested in the doll.
“Hello, I’m Rose.”
She mimicked the doll, waving its hand.
Two younger children followed suit, only to be glared at by the older child and quickly lower their hands.
Lirian didn’t give up.
“The black-haired one behind me is Luna, and we snuck into Cookie Garden.”
She whispered.
“This is a secret—”
It turns out kids, like anyone else, love secrets.
Even the older child held his breath, waiting for her next words.
Clearing her throat, Lirian said:
“We’re spies! We came to defeat the wicked villains.”
“Gasp.”
“They came to defeat villains?”
“But aren’t spies villains too?”
The children murmured.
Lirian squared her shoulders confidently.
“Yes. We are villains who defeat villains.”
She pressed the Rose doll.
-By the villain’s name, I shall reform you!
The doll spoke Moonlight Witch Rose’s signature line.
Then—
“Hic!”
“Villain!”
“Nooo, I hate villains!”
The children burst into tears.
‘…Uh? That’s not right.’
Lirian panicked.
She didn’t realize that children this age overwhelmingly preferred heroes to villains.
‘What’s wrong with being a villain!’
She pouted briefly but didn’t have time to dwell on it.
“Why are these kids so noisy?”
Because the ‘real’ villain appeared outside the bars.
“Even without contact from above, this is unsettling… huh?”
A light shone on Lirian.
The man scanned her from head to toe.
“Never seen you before… Looks like a noble. Are you a noble, little lady?”
“Yes! Luna is a prim noble girl.”
As Lirian followed her setup, the man’s eyes gleamed.
“This could be profitable.”
Creak, clank.
He forced open the barred door and entered.
Lirian felt the children behind her freeze in fear.
Her eyes were the Spirit Sight, capable of piercing the essence of the world.
She could distinguish human goodwill from malice, sense spirits in nature, life energy, and divinity unseen by ordinary humans.
Through her eyes, the man was surrounded by a dark, ominous aura.
It was malice.
Malicious man in front, frightened children behind.
‘So, he’s the villain.’
Her violet gaze shone brightly.
Though there was no wind, her black hair began to ripple.
As the ends of her hair glowed violet, she gripped her parasol handle.
‘The villain—’
“Got you…!”
‘Must reform you!’
She dodged his hand, stepped precisely, and swung the parasol like a sword.
“Reform!! Defeat!!!”
