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Chapter 68
The old man nodded with a wistful expression.
“Yes… since you brought me a trace of my beloved sister, whom I will never see again, I will undo the curse’s side effects, no matter what it takes.”
“Then…”
Kiscel’s voice trembled as it left his lips.
“But undoing the side effects of a curse is a dangerous matter. Will you still do it?”
The old man looked straight at me.
It was not a question worth reconsidering.
“I know better than anyone how hard it is to remove a curse’s side effects. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
It is said that breaking a curse once cast is difficult, and erasing only the side effects is nearly impossible.
There were stories: of needing blood drawn right before death, or drinking a decoction made from rare roots found only in volcanic lands.
Each curse had a different solution, so nothing could be certain.
In short… removing my curse’s side effects may require an enormous price.
To avoid death, I might attempt this—only to truly die in the process.
But without trying, there was only death anyway. There was no other choice.
“I see. So that is your resolve.”
“So please, tell me. What must I do?”
“Then—sleep.”
“…What?”
The old man carefully tucked the earring away in his robes, then pressed firmly on my head.
“The side effects you carry… are the combination of the curse used to birth a Magic Swordsman, and the sorcery to be born as a boy.”
I swallowed hard.
“To undo both, time will be required.”
“Time?”
“The forbidden tome… you were born at the cost of a hundred children’s lives. The ritual lasted a hundred days.”
“…”
She had instantly guessed which forbidden tome was used for my birth.
“So once again, a hundred days are required. A hundred days to soothe the resentments that lasted for a hundred days.”
“That’s… all it takes?”
A hundred days.
To me, every single day was precious—too long to be lost.
But compared to ending this wretched, short-lived fate, a hundred days was far too short.
“That’s all, you say? Are you sure?”
The old man’s eyes widened, his mystical gaze pinning me like an invisible web.
“For the hundred days you sleep, I will put my all into severing this dreadful shackle bound to you. Perhaps, without enough time to eat or rest, I may die in the process.”
“Die? What do you mean…”
“If I die, you will remain in eternal slumber, never to open your eyes again.”
Kiscel gasped.
“And that’s not all. In your dreamscape, you must fight ceaselessly—against the resentment of the souls sacrificed before you were born. For a hundred days, you must endure alone without being consumed.”
“…”
“If that resentment devours you, it’s over. You die.”
My hands trembled faintly on my knees.
I could not answer—only my eyelids quivered.
“I need… a moment to think—”
“No. There is no time. Choose now. If you leave this place, there will never be another chance. I too stake my life on this.”
My mind spun.
If I sleep for a hundred days, what happens?
In the Lyman Empire, would they declare me missing?
If only this were Liberdro, I could excuse myself as having secluded at home. But here, in a foreign land, to vanish overnight without a trace—chaos would erupt.
I might really be declared missing.
Then the dukedom would pass to another.
Even if I survive, I might fail to fulfill my second wish—and return to before my regression.
A hundred days was more than enough to undo everything I had built since returning.
Another death awaited me either way.
But I had no choice.
“On second thought… I don’t need more time.”
I looked back at Kiscel.
He nodded.
That small gesture was enough to calm me.
It would be fine.
“I’ll do it.”
For my goal, there was only forward.
✦ ✦ ✦
The old man’s name was Mamel.
Following her instructions, I changed into the thin chemise she lent me and lay down on the worn bed, blinking up.
I saw Kiscel’s worried face.
I called him softly.
When he leaned down, I whispered a few matters into his ear—about the twins, about Eschde, about the Second Prince.
Things I hadn’t managed to explain yesterday.
After hearing it all, Kiscel pressed a hand to his waist and bowed his upper body deeply.
“Understood. Very well. Leave it to me.”
“As expected of you, Kiscel. Reliable as always.”
“Handling all that, a hundred days will fly by too quickly.”
He tried to sound lighthearted, raising his voice deliberately.
But his trembling hands betrayed him.
“I’m the one who has to sleep for a hundred days, so why are you shaking?”
I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down.
With Mamel’s permission to rise briefly, I pressed my forehead against his.
His warmth spread to me.
His hands were rough enough to hurt, but Kiscel did not pull away.
“Don’t worry. I’ll return safely—for your sake too.”
“…Then please return for your master’s sake as well.”
His words made me smile brightly.
“When I wake, there’ll still be a place for me, won’t there?”
“Did you forget how capable your retainer is? Leave it all to me. You can rest without worry.”
At his bold assurance, the tension I had been holding finally dissolved.
Then Mamel drove Kiscel from the room with her long staff and pressed my eyelids shut with her hand.
“Breathe deep. Once we begin, there’s no turning back.”
“I’ll trust you, grandmother!”
“Cheeky thing…”
“Haha!”
And then I closed my eyes.
As Mamel’s voice recited strange, rapid incantations I had never heard before, my consciousness slowly faded.
✦ ✦ ✦
When I opened my eyes, there was only blackness.
I tried to speak, but no words came out.
Am I walking? Or not? Are my eyes open, or shut?
Nothing touched my hands. There was no pain, no fatigue.
How long had I been like that?
Suddenly, goosebumps prickled all over.
Don’t tell me… do I have to stay like this for a hundred days?
I shook my head violently.
No—that couldn’t be it. I was told I must fight something in this unconsciousness.
Fight… what?
Ah.
I’d heard it, but—why couldn’t I remember?
Wait.
Who… am I?
In this pitch-black world, my mind turned blindingly white.
I collapsed—or thought I did.
I came here to do something, I’m sure of it…
Memories crashed over me like waves, tangling together.
I am… Inerua Mertiel, twenty years old.
Daughter of House Mertiel. Returned from the past.
These hands… stained with countless corpses.
Kiscel returned.
I met Eschde.
The twins, the Lady Jafino… and then… and then…
Wait.
What was I just thinking?
The memories that rose vanished faster than they filled my head.
Nothing remained.
Then, something seized my ankle.
“Kyaaaah!”
At last, my voice broke free.
A crawling, hideous sensation crept up my body.
“Aaaahhh!”
I thrashed, but it was useless.
Whatever it was, it slithered over me, slowly taking me over.
Hell—was only just beginning.
✦ ✦ ✦
Inerua fell into her hundred-day slumber.
The only task left for Kiscel was clear.
“Our master… what will she do without me?”
To protect her.
Not merely her defenseless, sleeping body—any child could know that much.
But to guard her from everything.
So that when Inerua returned, she could rise again.
To her rightful place—high above, where she could look down on all.
