episode_0022

Lloyd didn’t like Hector’s crooked gaze.

This guy has been like this since I first met him.

The eyes that looked down at me from the carriage.

The eyes that were glaring back at me while I was training.

I didn’t like anything about it.

I was just taking note.

But now that all mental restrictions have been lifted.

Lloyd couldn’t find any reason to endure it.

Lloyd put his hand to Hector’s still face.

Gently lift his eyelids.

The most perfectly spherical organ in the human body, felt beyond his eyelids.

Lloyd enjoyed the elasticity it gave him as he slowly swept it down.

“Um.”

Actually, there is only one worry.

A situation where Ortega awakens after seeing a lot of blood.

Lloyd was a little more aggressive in his pursuit of Hector’s eyes, as he just had to avoid that situation.

Even if you gouge out your eyes, there won’t be much blood coming out, right?

Kkukkuk.

Lloyd’s fingers tightened as he grabbed Hector’s eyeball.

“You.”

A voice was heard.

It was a quiet but powerful voice at the same time.

It was impossible.

Because time in this room must stop.

Lloyd squeaked and turned his head.

In front of the door where everything should have stopped.

Her pure white hair was fluttering from the outside.

— Again

The sound of footsteps echoing in the silence.

Lloyd stared at her frozen as if he had seen a ghost. She looked to be in her late teens. Her blue eyes sparkled like jewels.

Lloyd blinked quietly.

It wasn’t just a metaphor. The girl’s eyes were really shining. Light was streaming from her blue pupils. The blue light was rotating as if it were a magic circle.

An endlessly heterogeneous sight.

“… … Reverse?”

Lloyd muttered blankly.

Reverse Eye. The ultimate talent that a wizard can possess, something that has only existed a few times in history. An overwhelming talent that is impossible to judge by value, capable of destroying the existence of magic just by ‘seeing’ magic.

A being with such talent was walking through stopped time.

— Jeokbuk

The girl came and stood in front of Lloyd. She glared at Lloyd and opened her mouth.

“Get your hands off that kid. Stop.”

The girl’s voice was unhesitating, as if she was familiar with the command. That gave her an idea of the child’s identity. Still, she had to confirm it. Lloyd insisted on asking.

“Who are you to give orders?”

The girl laughed in vain.

Then he took a deep breath and straightened his back.

He opens his mouth and naturally looks down.

“I am a descendant of the great bloodline Estrid. Julia Estrid.”

Julia Estrid. A familiar name. She is definitely one.

“As the third princess of the Britannian Empire, I command you to stop. ”

A character who would later be called the Princess of Rebellion.

It was unexpected.

Lloyd thought she had red eyes like Ortega. The eyes were filled with madness, and she had a ferocious yet confident gait. He thought she would be a little more like a rascal.

‘It looks rather cold.’

Blue eyes too.

In this situation, a calm voice is also needed.

A neat and outstanding appearance at the same time.

Her air is clearly closer to that of an ordinary emperor than a tyrant.

Lloyd took his hand away from Hector’s eyeball.

Of course, I bent each finger backwards… … .

“Stop.”

I had to raise both hands at the princess’s command.

Because she is the new master that Lloyd must serve.

◆

The third princess of the empire.

Julia Estrid.

She got lost while visiting the Grey Duke’s household.

To be exact, I pretended to be lost.

The reason was simple. While walking down the hallway to go to the bathroom, I felt a flow of mana that was not ordinary at all. The mana in one area of the mansion seemed to have frozen. It was a pause in mana that I could read because I was born with the talent called ‘reverse eye’.

It wasn’t hard to find the hidden passage leading to the annex. Mana always leaves a trace. Fortunately, the place where Mana stopped wasn’t far from the passage. This would be a good excuse to get caught wandering around.

“Is this the employee’s room?”

Surprisingly, the source of the incident was blocked by a simple wooden door. Julia opened the door naturally. At that moment, her eyes were forced open.

‘…What is this?’

Julia stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t believe what was happening in the room.

Dust that remains suspended in the sky.

A curtain that has frozen in place as it was fluttering.

People who are rigid and do not move at all.

Time had stopped.

‘You can stop time?’

I’ve never heard of such magic. It goes against the natural order. It doesn’t make sense. Julia thought to herself in bewilderment.

And then an anecdote hits her in the head.

past.

So, her ancestors’ ancestors’ ancestors. The black hole that you encounter as you go up the bloodline. The only blemish on the great Estrid. Ortega Estrid.

Among the stories that only Estrid could relate, there was one related story.

Ortega said he could stop time.

Julia stared quietly into the room.

There was a child moving in the stopped time.

He was a strange boy with black hair.

The boy was trying to grab a man’s eyeball.

Julia opened her mouth reflexively.

“Stop.”

The boy looks back.

And the moment she saw him head-on, Julia got goosebumps.

It was because of the boy’s eyes

The boy’s eyes were glowing red.

Like Ortega’s eyes, which I had only seen in portraits.

Julia took a step reflexively.

The boy had to be restrained.

In the frozen time, only she was able to move forward.

Because she had a reverse eye. The most brilliant talent of the Estrid bloodline that she never revealed to anyone, reverse eye.

Estrid is blessed with two disparate talents.

One is the ‘madness’ that Ortega possessed.

And the other one is the ‘reverse eye’ that Julia has.

It was also possible to subdue and seal Ortega, known as Estrid’s only infamy, because he was of Estrid’s bloodline, which possessed the power of the time.

In other words, Julia, who has the reverse eye, has a duty.

The duty is to subdue and seal Estrid, who possesses ‘madness’.

I don’t know why the boy in front of me has ‘madness’.

“As the third princess of the empire, I order you to stop. ”

As she spoke, gulped. Julia swallowed dry saliva.

What if it doesn’t stop? Will I be able to win the fight? Honestly, I wasn’t sure. But fortunately, the opponent stopped.

Instead of gouging out his eyes, he broke his opponent’s fingers, but even Julia could pretend not to see that. The boy stopped. Then he faced Julia.

“Why is the princess here?”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“It’s nothing special.”

The boy looked around and shrugged.

“Just educate the kids a little.”

“Are you saying that you are doing it while keeping all education at a standstill?”

The boy shrugged.

Red eyes that sparkle in the light.

Those eyes gave Julia a strange feeling.

No matter how you look at the boy’s body, it’s not Estrid.

Estrid only has two hair colors.

Either blonde or pure white blonde.

The boy had black hair.

So the body was not Estrid.

But the boy’s actions.

A somewhat rough and proud gesture that seems to stand above everything.

At first glance, it seemed like it belonged to Estrid.

“What’s your name?”

“Ah… Lloyd. Lloyd Arenberg. That was his name.”

Julia’s brow furrowed.

This kid. It seems like his body and soul are different.

An awkwardness that feels like it’s possessed by an odd soul.

“Lloyd. Come on.”

The boy tilts his head at Julia’s words.

“That’s normal. But don’t you know what kind of personality I have in the first place?”

The tone of speech was noticeably different from when we first spoke.

Julia was sure.

This child’s soul is now being taken by someone.

“Lloyd. You are being eaten by someone right now. Come to your senses.”

“No, that’s not true. I’m originally like this.”

Julia held a mirror in front of his eyes.

“Look in your mirror. Look at your red eyes. I can assure you. Your eyes are not red.”

Honey.

The boy’s pupils tremble violently.

The boy bit his lip as if trying to endure it.

Blood gushed out.

“You are being consumed by madness. Beware of your thoughts. Open your eyes and come to your senses.”

Only after she blurted out the words reflexively did Julia realize what had happened.

‘Madness’. That was the symptom that Estrid’s stain Ortega had.

And the fact that he, a stranger, was led here must mean destiny.

Julia took a step closer to the boy.

A shiver. The boy’s trembling fingertips.

His pupils also began to shake violently, as if he was fighting for control of his body.

30 years ago.

The deepest part of the palace’s basement.

The box that sealed Ortega’s soul has been released.

The emperor unofficially tried every possible means to track down Ortega, but failed.

The boy’s body trembles.

Julia opened her mouth as if to drive a wedge into it.

“Lloyd. Ortega is eating you up. You have to come to your senses and overcome it.”

The boy glares at Julia with gleaming eyes.

“Shut up, you woman in the station.”

He mutters with his mouth full of blood.

“I cooked it so well that it’s spoiling the dish.”

Toouk.

The boy fell to the ground.