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Chapter 3
“Lili? Why all of a sudden…?”
“Let’s go, Sister. We—we can’t stay here. Hurry!”
Ignoring Caliona’s bewildered reaction, Liliope immediately grabbed her sister’s hand and tried to run out of the dining hall.
But at that exact moment, several magicians wearing deep-blue robes opened the door and entered.
“All right, everyone, quiet down. The banquet ceremony is about to begin, so line up in order and follow the magicians here.”
The heart that had been pounding anxiously just moments ago seemed to drop into her stomach.
Regardless of Liliope’s despair, the children in the dining hall had already begun filing out through the door one by one.
All the Northern Magic Tower magicians had brought in from outside that day were orphans with no family or connections, and the children, their guard lowered by the food, obediently followed their instructions.
“Come on, Sister. Let’s quietly slip away before they notice us.”
Liliope blended in with the other children and first left the dining hall. Then, while the magicians were briefly distracted, she hurriedly turned down a different corridor.
“Lili, wait!”
Of course, Caliona had no idea what was going on with her younger sister, who had suddenly begun acting so strangely.
“You’ve been acting really weird for a while now. How am I supposed to know what’s wrong if you don’t tell me? Is it because of those kids earlier? Did that make you not want to stay here?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then why?”
But if anyone was confused, it was Liliope even more so.
“How can you not know, Sister? This place is…”
“You two over there! Why are you loitering in the hallway?”
Just as she was about to speak out of frustration, a sharp voice came flying from the end of the corridor.
The girls stopped in their tracks.
A stern-looking woman wearing a blue robe approached the sisters.
The two pairs of wings embroidered over the left side of her chest indicated that she was a higher-ranking magician than the ones who had brought them to the dining hall.
“Isn’t the banquet ceremony about to begin? Didn’t you hear that you aren’t to wander around outside until we call for you? Surely there wasn’t a shortage of food in the dining hall.”
Did a dream really need to feel this realistic?
If this wasn’t a dream, Liliope had thought that the place where she had reunited with Caliona must surely be heaven.
But perhaps she had been mistaken.
If this was the afterlife, then this place was probably closer to hell than heaven.
Otherwise, there was no way the two sisters would willingly walk back into this ant-nest-like Northern Magic Tower of their own accord.
As horrifying memories of the past resurfaced, nausea rose instinctively within her.
The only thought filling her mind was that she had to somehow take Caliona and escape this dangerous, disgusting place as quickly as possible.
“You… Now that I look at you, your expression seems strange. What’s wrong?”
As though sensing Liliope’s agitation, the magician, who had now approached quite close, narrowed her eyes coldly.
Liliope felt the woman’s gaze scrutinizing every inch of her face and tightened her grip on Caliona’s hand.
“You seem frightened. How long have you been out here? Where were you going?”
The magician interrogated her suspiciously.
“Come to think of it, this is the corridor with the exit to the outside. Were you trying to leave?”
What should she do?
The distance from this corridor to the exit wasn’t very far.
If she shoved that woman aside and ran outside right now, would something change?
If she managed to escape this cursed Magic Tower while holding her sister’s hand, could she change the future, even if only within this nightmare?
Yes.
Just as she had imagined countless times while remembering this day over and over again, perhaps…
[You’re being stupid from the very beginning. Stop right now.]
Just as Liliope, unable to resist the desire that had been buried in her heart for so long, was about to impulsively move—
[I’ve been willing to watch what you were going to do for a moment, but I really can’t tolerate this anymore. If you try to escape outside right now, the Bellegotes will kill you.]
Suddenly, the sound of someone clicking their tongue as though in utter disbelief rang beside her ear.
Every hair on Liliope’s body stood on end.
She nearly screamed instinctively, but through superhuman effort, she managed to suppress her emotions.
[You’re nothing but a fledgling who hasn’t even undergone the banquet ritual yet, and you think you can evade a fully-fledged magician with your bare body? What a stupid child.]
Who was it?
Who was speaking to her from inside her ear?
No.
The resonance of the voice was somehow strange. It almost seemed as though the voice wasn’t coming through her ears at all, but was instead speaking directly inside her head.
Then, all at once, Liliope realized that the voice sounded familiar.
[I shall grant your wish. But you must pay the price.]
Yes…
It was exactly the same voice that had spoken to her in that dark, rainy forest.
“Every now and then, we get children like you. I thought we’d make it through this year quietly, though.”
[Make up some excuse and go to the place where the banquet ceremony is being held for now. I’m giving you this advice seriously because I don’t want to lose my contractor already.]
“I don’t know whether you’ve been wandering around and overheard something somewhere, or whether you’ve decided that you’ve gotten what you wanted after getting a free meal and are now having second thoughts. Either way, this is why disobedient children are such a nuisance.”
But Liliope had no time to question anything or think deeply about it.
From ahead, she could sense an ominous ripple in the air, as though something sharp were scraping against it with vicious claws.
“Your hand.”
Liliope instinctively opened her mouth.
“My hand… My hand hurt so much. I’m sorry.”
The thin, trembling voice rang through the corridor, and at the same time, the murderous intent that had been slowly taking shape in the magician’s expression faltered.
“What? Your hand?”
Liliope didn’t know whether this was a dream or not, but since this was the time when she had first entered the Magic Tower, her body had apparently become younger as well.
“Some soup splashed here, and it turned red…”
As she spoke, her soft cheeks, white and delicate like freshly kneaded flour, moved slightly with each word, strangely drawing the woman’s gaze.
“But I shouldn’t have come outside. I was wrong.”
Her purple eyes, peeking out from beneath her fluffy, long blond hair, were moist as they blinked meekly like those of a young calf.
In truth, young Liliope was a girl with an angelic appearance that anyone could admire.
Her appearance was enough to subtly soften the magician’s face, which had previously held a merciless expression devoid of even a trace of warmth.
“Oh…? So you were looking for someone to help you?”
“No. I was just on my way to the bathroom to cool it down with cold water by myself.”
Caliona, who had been anxiously watching the situation unfold, stepped forward as though worried that her younger sister might get scolded.
“I was the one who brought her out. Lili wasn’t the one who suggested it first. I thought you might be busy, so I didn’t want to bother you and tried to take care of it ourselves, but we got lost on the way… I’m sorry if we’ve angered you.”
Fortunately, after looking the young sisters over one after another, the magician decided to forgive them as though she were doing them a great favor.
“Hmph. Fine. I’ll let it go this once. The banquet ceremony is about to begin, so I’ll take you to where the ritual is being held. Follow me.”
Liliope bit her lip as she felt Caliona’s worried gaze fixed upon her.
But for now, there was nothing she could do. She had no choice but to follow behind the magician.
It was strange, but this dream was eerily realistic. In her current state, it didn’t seem as though there was any way she could escape the Magic Tower safely, no matter what means she tried.
“Lili, are you all right?”
Suddenly, Caliona tightened her grip around Liliope’s hand.
Perhaps her younger sister’s anxiety had rubbed off on her, or perhaps she had sensed some inexplicable unease and danger from the magician’s attitude.
Whatever the reason, even Caliona’s face had stiffened with tension as she whispered softly.
The sisters’ hands were damp with cold sweat, though neither of them could tell whose sweat it was.
