Creed leaped over the walls of the palace with a speed that surpassed that of a horse. The boy did not know why he was running.
"Seek the red eyes."
It was the voice of a woman submerged in sorrow that dominated Creed.
He instinctively knew where to find the red eyes. He could distinctly feel the strong magical waves piercing his skin from a certain point.
There it is.
That's where the red eyes must be.
As Creed ran faster, deep blue magic swirled around him like afterimages. He moved along the exterior walls of the mansion through the wide-open main gate, stepped on the terrace, and leaped up to the balcony.
And finally, the third floor.
Crash!
Creed broke through the window and entered the room.
Standing tall under the moonlight, the boy turned his head at the sensation of a presence.
There stood a pale girl, like moonlight streaming from the sky. The girl, sitting up in bed, opened her eyes wide in shock.
Creed clutched his head, seized by a sharp headache.
"Argh!"
The red eyes.
He had found the red eyes.
'What next?'
He lunged at the girl with murderous intent.
Navia stretched out her hand.
It was but a feeble gesture against an attack, especially from someone radiating blue magic from his entire body.
Magic was food for the Black Moon.
But before the Black Moon could absorb it,
Bang!
Suddenly, a semi-circular shield, glowing with a faint light, materialized.
Then, Creed, blocked by the shield, was caught by a large hand.
"You dare touch my daughter, do you wish to die?"
Feeling the murderous intent, Lark had teleported to Navia's room.
"Grgh-!"
Creed, gripped in Lark's hand, made a beast-like sound.
'An experimental subject from some laboratory?'
Lark was about to mercilessly twist the neck when he hesitated.
The child he was about to kill outright was emitting an immense magical power from his entire body.
That magic was resonating with Lark's own.
Lark frowned.
'Is this child's magic being absorbed by me?'
It wasn't an illusion.
He was indeed absorbing all the magic emitted by the boy, not just for himself but for the entire Eseled estate.
Then Navia shouted.
"You can't kill him!"
As Lark turned around, he saw Navia getting off the bed and approaching.
He reached out his hand to stop her from coming closer.
"He tried to harm you. It's dangerous, don't come near."
"But, that child is..."
'What should I do? Should I tell the truth?'
Navia, well aware of how suspicious she already appeared, couldn't help but speak.
"...He's Prince Creed, the son of Queen Estelle."
She couldn't explain how she recognized the boy as Creed immediately, nor why she was sure about it.
Doing so would mean revealing her status as a returnee.
'I'll probably be seen as crazy, right?'
Or viewed with suspicion.
Navia recalled her past in a flash.
"...A returnee?"
The third time she confided to Nikan about being a returnee.
Foolishly trusting and seeking his love, she tried everything to prove her status.
Nikan extracted all information from her.
And then he said,
"You are a dangerous child."
Navia became his bane, and the result was death.
Since then, Navia understood that others found the fact of her being a returnee terrifying and kept silent.
'But the Duke is different.'
The man in front of her was nothing like the trash Nikan.
Even now, Lark was patiently waiting for Navia's next words, despite her seemingly bizarre request.
'He must think I'm strange.'
She was nervous. It took courage.
But Navia decided. She couldn't let Creed be in danger because of her.
"The child in your hand, Duke, is Prince Creed, the son of Queen Estelle."
Lark listened quietly to Navia's story, his eyes calm and deep.
The boy in his hand was not an ordinary child.
Unbeknownst to Navia, the child was on the verge of awakening as a 'Grand Mage,' a figure of legend, with all his magical power unleashed.
'I've never seen this in all my returns...'
Lark sensed traces of mental magic in the immense magic emanating from the boy.
The reason the boy was acting like a beast, devoid of reason, was due to the mental magic sealing his sanity.
This boy had many unique qualities.
And Navia looked at him as if they had always known each other.
As they watched each other, Suleiman arrived on the third floor, riding the wind.
"What's going on!"
After hearing that an assassin had infiltrated earlier, Suleiman had laid a barrier in Navia's room.
He trusted in the power of his lord, but couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
He had just felt a powerful force shatter the barrier and hurried over.
Lark saw Creed struggling and growling like a beast and then summoned a restraint to bind him.
"It's an intruder. Lock him up in the prison."
Suleiman's face showed shock at the wild magical aura emanating from Creed.
'I wouldn't feel such magic even in the heart of a magic stone mine.'
"What is this boy?"
Lark shrugged his shoulders.
"He's the second prince."
"…What?"
"He's a royal, so lock him up well in the underground prison."
Then Creed, bound by the restraint, twisted his body and emitted a murderous aura.
"Argh!"
Suleiman felt confused by the strange combination of language and the state of the boy-prince.
But still, with the experience of serving a lord full of secrets, he nodded and accepted it.
"…I obey."
As the conversation seemed to conclude, Navia looked at Creed with a sense of relief.
'I heard he grew up with wanderers and then came here.'
What could be the reason for his current state?
Navia realized there was a different past for him than what she had heard.
'Highly likely… related to the Empress.'
Navia clearly remembered the former Empress's excessive anger, astonishment, and fear towards Creed from her eighth round.
'The deposed Empress Estelle gave birth while imprisoned in the cold palace.'
Then she heard both the prince and empress died. There had even been a funeral.
Navia thought she should inquire with an information broker about this matter.
'But does he really need to lock him up in the underground prison? Creed was supposed to become the adopted son of the duke.'
Navia felt guilty about using a nice room while Creed was locked up.
But Creed's condition was certainly dangerous.
As he tried to attack her with a murderous intent, it seemed best to follow Lark's actions for now.
'By the way, how did I end up sleeping through the night?'
She had planned to sleep for only 30 minutes, but when she woke up, it was already dawn.
'No, that's not important.'
Navia lifted her head and then hesitated.
She had accidentally made eye contact with Lark, who had been watching her.
After Suleiman left, the two remained in the bedroom. A cold wind blew in through the broken window.
Lark turned away first.
"The window's broken, so we'll have to use another room until it's fixed."
"Yes."
Navia quietly agreed, but waited to ask Lark how he knew and was so sure about Creed's identity.
"I'll fix it soon, so it's better to use the room next door for now. I'll move your things."
Snap!
With a flick of his finger, all the furniture in the room disappeared.
"Let's go to the next room."
Lark left without asking further, sinking into the darkness where not even the moonlight reached.
'This isn't right.'
Navia felt something was odd.
She didn't know him very well, but this didn't seem like Lark.
She had braced herself for interrogation, even though she couldn't answer.
"Duke."
It was when his upper body was submerged in darkness.
"Aren't you going to ask why I know this child?"
Lark turned around.
"Would you answer if I asked?"
"…No."
She couldn't speak the truth yet. She couldn't judge if it was the right thing to do.
She couldn't predict what would happen after revealing she was a returnee.
If something bad happened, she wouldn't be able to handle it with her abilities.
Even if Lark believed her, she didn't know about his illness, nor how to cure it, and feared only bringing despair.
'I'm an incompetent returnee.'
Navia weakly clenched the hem of her pajamas.
She wanted to tell him the truth. 'I've returned eight times. This is my ninth life.'
But Navia was afraid Lark might find her strange for being a returnee.
They had just started holding hands and taking a step forward.
She didn't want to lose this precious happiness she had barely grasped.
…She was a coward now that she had a family.
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