By Zephyria 
That range was so wide that I was slow to notice the foreign sensation. In short, I was trapped in an incredibly huge cage, so much so that the bars weren’t easily visible to the naked eye. I have no idea how much Mana it would have taken to bind a space this large. If it’s this wide, it’ll take forever to find the trigger to shatter the Cycle Shackling Space.
In the end, I couldn’t find a way and returned to the castle.
Ardian greeted me nonchalantly.
“Welcome back. Did you enjoy your walk?”
“…….”
“The soup got cold earlier, so I’ll bring you a fresh bowl.”
He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s casting such a wide-ranging Cycle Shackling Space Magic.
‘Shouldn’t he be a little tired?’
In so many ways… I thought he was crazy.
☠
After that, my escape attempts continued.
But finding the trigger to shatter the Cycle Shackling Space was too difficult, and since the Magic wouldn’t be undone even if Ardian slept, I had to at least knock him out, which was even harder.
I even tried ambushing him while he was asleep, but failed every time. In the meantime, I heard that the war had finally begun. It seemed there was only one way to stop him.
Whispering sweet lies that I would never leave his side.
If I tricked him into thinking I accepted everything about him, that I loved him, Ardian would pretend to be fooled and be satisfied with that, surely. That’s what I thought. Maybe that’s what he really wants.
“…….”
But this wouldn’t do.
Even amidst the confusion of knowing he’s Gilbert, there’s no hesitation in that feeling of liking him, which makes it even worse. I didn’t want to just patch things up without resolving anything and say, ‘Everything’s fine.’
If I did that, I was afraid that suspicion and anxiety would eventually erode even the ‘love’ I feel now… it was scary.
“What are you doing here, Ray.”
Then, a voice from behind pulled me out of my thoughts as I stared out the window. It’s Ardian. In this vast castle, there’s only me, Ardian, and Balkan who appears occasionally, so I knew who it was without even looking.
“I’ve been thinking.”
Ardian, who came closer as I mumbled, stares at me intently. Even though we’re so close that our elbows almost touch, he doesn’t make any contact with me.
It’s been like this ever since I came here.
Every time I feel that distance, I realize once again. That we’re only headed for mutual destruction this way. I couldn’t just outwardly appease him, pretending to be fooled and letting him pretend to be fooled.
Even if it means a war breaks out and people die.
That’s right. I’m selfish.
Seeing that I prioritize my future and relationship with Ardian over the thought that people might get hurt right now. But does it matter? Even though I was reincarnated as a human, I lived as Mephisto until recently, and I don’t hate humans, but I don’t particularly like humanity itself.
I chuckled softly. I felt strangely unfamiliar with myself for thinking this way.
And I felt the depth of my emotions anew. I realized that I had unknowingly given a lot of space to Ardian, who was devotedly circling around me and whispering sweet nothings. I still hate Gilbert, and that’s why it’s hard to truly accept that he loves me… but it’s okay for now. I thought it was a distance that could be narrowed.
“Why are you smiling?”
Ardian, who whispered softly, lightly brushed the corner of my lips with his finger and pulled away. It was a contact so light, like a feather, that it was hard to even realize it had happened. Even that small touch deeply soaked my heart with fluttering emotions. I wanted to forget all the other problems and be true to my instincts.
“…….”
If this guy rushed at me now, rubbing his lips against mine and pressing our bodies together, I’d curse him but pretend I couldn’t win and accept it. With complicated feelings, I faced him and then cast my gaze back out the window.
“…No. Nothing.”
And I continued the words I had been about to say earlier.
“I think I could regain more memories if I had the Divine Object… do you know anything more about it? I heard from Old Dragon that you asked for the Divine Object. How did you know the location of that Divine Object?”
Then, after a moment of thought, Ardian exclaimed as if recalling what I had said before.
“You said you regained some of your memories when you touched the Divine Object.”
I nodded. I was sure that he would actively cooperate in this matter. But Ardian paused for a moment in thought and then said.
“I don’t know if there are any other Divine Objects, but if I remember correctly, there won’t be any more Divine Objects with that kind of power. Because that Divine Object is something that a god directly imbued with power. The reason I know that is because a long time ago… I heard it from the first Old Dragon, who received a direct oracle.”
“Hmm.”
“And I think it’s okay if you don’t find your memories.”
To be honest, it was unexpected. I thought he would be happier than anyone else.
So I asked.
“Why?”
The answer came more easily than I thought.
“You… you weren’t immortal, but you could live forever. But you died anyway. I don’t want you to remember how, why, or by whom you died… because those aren’t pleasant memories.”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
Because I didn’t know what to say.
As the silence unintentionally grew longer, Ardian also seemed to be about to leave, dropping his body from leaning against the window. Following his movement, I turned my head, and Ardian spoke.
“Are you going to eat?”
“…I should.”
“I’ll get it ready, so come down to the dining hall.”
Ardian leaves first and goes down the hallway. Only after I no longer feel his presence nearby did I let out a small sigh.
That’s when it happened.
I heard the sound of wind from somewhere. It’s not coming from the window. Puzzled, I listened carefully and realized that it was a slightly different… foreign sound than the wind.
‘What is it saying?’
It sounded like someone whispering, so I strained my ears. But I couldn’t quite make out what it was saying. However, I felt strongly that it was calling me.
Where is the sound coming from?
I thought about going to Ardian and asking him, but I stopped. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like this sound was only audible to me. I started moving to find the source of the sound.
‘It’s coming from below.’
Going down to the first floor lobby of the castle, I sensed the sound coming from a little further down. Could there be a basement? I was embarrassed because I thought I had wandered around enough to know almost all of the castle, if not all of it.
‘I didn’t see a door leading to the basement.’
But the sound was definitely coming from down here.
“…….”
Whether I’m crazy and hearing ghost sounds, or there really is a basement, I’ll find out from now on.
I wandered around, following the sound that was getting stronger, to find the door leading down. As a result… there was no entrance to the basement in the castle. But the entrance to the basement must exist.
‘I can’t believe there’s a way to get to the basement in a place like this.’
Following the sound, I left the castle altogether and found a cleverly hidden passage behind the castle.
Opening the covered entrance, stairs leading down appeared. The whispering voice calling me is also heard louder and stronger from down here. I thought about Ardian’s words about eating, and hesitated for a moment, but soon moved my steps to the basement.
Curiosity won over hunger.
‘It won’t take that long, so it’ll be okay.’
Closing the entrance to the passage, it was too dark, so I went down the stairs using a ball of fire created with Magic as a light. Going down the long stairs and arriving at the bottom, a messy warehouse appeared.
‘It’s huge.’
After looking around a bit, I realized that it was a much larger warehouse than I had thought. And the whispering voice had disappeared somewhere. Just in case, I summoned a Skeleton, Sword from the shadows to guard the surroundings and began to examine the inside.
But the more I looked, the more I realized that it was just an ordinary warehouse with nothing special. The inside was full of dust, and it seemed that no one had touched it for quite some time.
Was it really the work of a ghost?
If so, that’s creepy and anticlimactic.
“Ha.”
I sighed softly and turned around. I knew there was nothing special, so I was about to go back. But something caught my eye as I turned around. It was an old wooden box.
‘Was there something like that before?’
I approached and examined the box. Seeing that only this box was dust-free, it was clear that it hadn’t been moved to the warehouse long ago. Who moved it? Ardian? But who did it isn’t that important. I slowly opened the lid of the box.
At that moment, the smell of burning hit me.
“…This is.”
I narrowed my brows and looked inside the box. Inside the box were someone’s bone fragments that were burned, partially blackened, and barely any shape left.