episode_0222

“Wow….”

A pure exclamation of awe came from behind.

Lia couldn’t close her mouth, as if seeing the massive and magnificent ancient ruins for the first time.

“It really… existed….”

“How is it?”

“It’s a strange feeling. To actually see the house I’ve only ever seen in my dreams….”

With that, she slowly walked towards the large house and began examining various things.

The girl’s ruby eyes burned with intense curiosity and a passion for exploration.

It seemed she didn’t want to miss anything in this house, no matter how small.

She placed her hand on the fence, feeling the damp texture of the wood that was slowly decaying from the daily morning dew.

She even plucked a pinch of moss caught in between and felt it.

The rough texture of the tree rings against her fingertips, the cool valley humidity blowing over her shoulders, and the refreshing pine scent of the Dragonez Forest filling her chest.

Lia, finding everything marvelous, gazed blankly up at the large house, speechless.

I remained silent for a moment.

I didn’t want to disturb the pilgrimage of a girl reveling in a sacred moment.

No matter how many hundreds or thousands of times one saw a vision, even if that vision felt real.

It was never the same as the shock of facing reality.

After lingering for a long time, Lia finally stood before the wooden door.

She held a small wooden block and dropped one into an empty groove.

Clink.

However, the door did not open.

The girl asked me.

“Mister, do you know the password to this door?”

“I do.”

“Can you tell me?”

“Well.”

I smiled.

“Since it’s the house that appeared in your dreams… isn’t it related to you? Perhaps—you might already know the password.”

Lia blinked.

Her expression was one of not understanding the enigmatic answer, then she looked back at the wooden door with a thoughtful gaze.

A moment later.

Slowly, she raised her hand and began to move the wooden blocks.

Clink- thud.

Clink- clink- thud.

After moving each wooden block one by one.

When she moved the tightly locked latch—.

*Click!*

The firmly locked wooden door opened easily.

“No way….”

Even after opening the door herself, Lia shook her head in disbelief.

“Why is the password… my birthday?”

November 3rd.

Princess Deseo’s birthday.

Even now, a very grand festival is held in Deseo on that day.

Because she is the only daughter of the great Queen who rules this nation.

It is said that every year, countries send gifts to match this date, to the point where harbors are filled with ships.

Furthermore, local lords, along with the Queen’s birthday, let their workers rest well on that day and held banquets to commemorate the sacred day.

It is a day filled with much meaning for the people of this world.

But I didn’t change the wooden door’s password for that reason.

That day, for me—.

It was a day I could never forget throughout my entire life.

“This house is where your mother lived when she was a child.”

“What…?”

Lia turned her head and looked up at the house again.

I didn’t know what kind of person this girl considered her mother to be.

But for a princess who had only lived in the royal palace since birth.

The fact that this nameless dilapidated house was her mother’s childhood home seemed quite shocking.

“Haven’t you heard?”

“No. Mother doesn’t like to talk about the old days.”

After saying that much, she suddenly looked up at me.

“More importantly, you knew.”

“Of course I would. You’re the spitting image of the Queen’s beautiful looks.”

“Heh—I’ve heard such flattering words so many times that I’m not impressed.”

“Do you think it’s flattery? I was just being honest.”

“Eek…!”

Flustered, Lia averted her gaze and hastily changed the subject.

“Then, Mister, are you friends with my mother?”

“Something like that.”

“Then, what about ‘Father’?”

“…….”

No answer came.

Lia waited for my answer with curious eyes.

Before long, she realized the question wasn’t good and apologized.

“Ah, I don’t know much about Father either. I’m sorry.”

“I see.”

“Um—then… can I go inside this house?”

I nodded.

Hesitantly, Lia gathered her courage and passed through the wooden door.

She crossed the stone bridge in the garden, stepping on each stone, then quickly ascended the stairs two or three steps before placing her hand on the front door.

“…….”

Watching her, I thought—should I stop her, even now?

It wasn’t just now.

In fact, I had been thinking about it all the way here.

This destiny that had arrived so suddenly and naturally.

I had expected it to come someday.

So I had prepared myself mentally, discussing it countless times with Marie.

Nevertheless, my mind was excessively agitated.

If I was going to stop it, I should have done so long ago.

I shouldn’t have shown her this house.

The moment I heard Louis’s story, I should have immediately driven this girl out of the village.

But I couldn’t.

My belief that my heart had been completely emptied was a complete illusion.

When I actually saw her daughter in person.

All our predictions shattered into pieces.

My heart, which had been silent for so long, began to pound erratically again.

Just as my younger self had been swept away by that girl like the wind.

I was being swayed just as much by her daughter, Lia.

Was my decision truly the right one?

If the unsuspecting princess were to face all the facts with her ability to ‘see the past’—.

What kind of change would our world undergo again?

I couldn’t dare predict that future.

Completely lacking conviction, I ordered Louis to bring Marie, but Marie hadn’t appeared even now.

It was already enough time for all the news to have been delivered and for her to have rushed here.

There was no sign of Marie at all.

“…Is that so.”

I think I understand why Marie hasn’t appeared.

My wife had already answered.

By ‘not appearing.’

*Creak—.*

Lia pushed the door open with her hand and peered into the dim interior.

Her eyes were still burning red with curiosity.

She examined various places and scanned every corner.

She looked around the house for a very long time, as if everything her eyes touched was unfamiliar.

What I had once seen in that house were scenes entirely filled with black shadows.

A horrible sight, with fragments of disgusting, painful, and difficult memories seeping everywhere.

Since I stopped seeing visions, the black smoke pervading this house also became invisible.

But wouldn’t this girl, who inherited her father’s blood, see the same?

If she were to ask what these visions were.

At that time, I wouldn’t be able to avoid the obligation to answer.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t anxious.

I was making an effort to maintain a calm face, but I couldn’t calm down at all.

Because I had no idea what Lia was seeing.

When an eternity-like silence flowed.

Finally, the girl opened her mouth.

“It’s a really pretty house!”

Surprisingly, what I heard was pure admiration.

“To think Mother lived in such a cozy place… I can’t believe it! It’s like—seeing a small secret?”

Lia, who had walked lightly inside, had a face that found everything amazing.

Touching books and wardrobes, she seemed to be tracing the childhood traces of her mother, who was no longer there.

However, there was no hint of her seeing any visions.

She simply looked like an ordinary girl thrilled by a new house.

What is this?

Are the ‘memory visions’ not visible to that girl’s eyes?

That can’t be.

That child said she saw this house in her dreams.

Reality she had never seen before being reflected as a vision.

As far as I know, that mysterious power is only a curse passed down through Amon’s blood.

That girl, born with Amon’s blood, must surely possess almost complete abilities.

Similar to the old village chief.

If so, the traces of memories remaining in that house should be visible.

Why is she acting as if nothing is wrong?

She had entered the large house, but nothing had changed.

It simply retained its last appearance from just before she left.

Recalling the invisible memory visions, I asked blankly.

“Don’t you see anything?”

“Yes! This looks like a cloak. Mother used to wear this, right? Oh—it fits my shoulders perfectly!”

“No, more than that….”

I swallowed.

“In your eyes… do you not see something like a black mist?”

“Huh?”

Lia widened her eyes, looked at me once, then turned her head to examine every corner of the house.

As expected, she shrugged, as if she didn’t know.

“Black mist? Such a thing… I don’t see any? Ah! Wait. I think there’s something sparkling over there.”

Suddenly, as if she had discovered something, she quickly ran towards it, still wearing the cloak.

And she picked something up beside the bed.

At that moment.

“…Oh?!”

Lia’s shoulders recoiled.

Ah. That reaction.

I now know for sure.

She saw a memory vision.

“Ugh…?”

That girl must have faced all the truth in a fleeting moment.

I don’t know what she witnessed.

But it’s clear that an intense reaction will burst forth soon.

So, I must face it with all my might, right here, right now.

Focus.

The opponent is ‘Fosao’s daughter’—.

Perhaps to that child, the enemy is ‘me’.

What I can do right now is…….

“Wow—! I can see Mother as a child!”

An excited voice pierced right through my tightly held guard.

“And she’s with a black-haired boy…. Who is that?”

Lia innocently began chasing the vision.

She ran past me, who had just been thinking dangerous thoughts, and dashed into the backyard.

She pointed at the vision, invisible to my eyes, and spoke.

“Mother and the boy are playing together. It looks like they’re playing with wooden swords.”

“You can see that?”

“Yes. I’m a little bewildered too. It looks like magic? A ghost? Or a mirage? Something like that, not real, but… it also feels strangely familiar.”

“What you are seeing is a ‘vision of the past’.”

Lia looked precisely in my direction.

It seemed she could freely overlap reality and the vision while maintaining her consciousness.

I had been unable to do that.

So, a complete Amon’s bloodline could do even this much.

“Visions of the past?”

“Yes. The reason you saw this house in your dreams was also because you saw visions of the past. Perhaps your mother stroked you while you were sleeping. Through that brief contact, you accidentally saw your mother’s old memories.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. Is that… possible?”

“Your mother is also someone who can see the past, just like you. That’s why you, her daughter, can see it too.”

“But I’ve never seen such a mirage before! And Mother seeing the past… she’s never told me anything like that….”

I couldn’t explain that question either.

If the ability was this powerful, its signs would have appeared from a very young age.

Even if she didn’t want to, she would have seen visions of the past from anything she touched.

She would have realized the principles of this tremendous power on her own, even without anyone telling her.

Lia truly seemed to have been unaware until now.

“But how do you know that, Mister?”

“Because I also once possessed such an ability.”

Lia, turning her gaze back to the memory vision, furrowed her brow.

Was there something strange in the vision?

She even moved closer to the empty air, craning her neck this way and that to examine it closely.

“Then—this boy next to Mother is….”

“Yes. That’s definitely my younger self. Your mother and I practiced swordsmanship together here.”

“You said it was from the past, right?”

“That’s right. In terms of time—it was 14 years ago.”

Lia tilted her head.

“But why… is young Mister calling my name, not Mother’s?”

“Hmm?”

What does that mean?

I turned my head towards the place the girl was looking, towards the vision that shouldn’t have been visible.

Staring blankly at the quiet backyard where only the wind rustled.

“Ah.”

I realized.

The reason this girl with Amon’s blood hadn’t seen memory visions until now.

And why the great Queen had allowed the Princess to go out.

“So that’s it….”

I had forgotten.

That our story had already passed a long time ago.

What Lia was seeing—.

It wasn’t our past at all.

It was something more beautiful.

‘Their future.’