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THE world spun.
The shredded view changed as the pieces of mirrored glass inside shifted. A clear, high-pitched tinkling, like the brilliance of twinkling stars in the sky, accompanied each movement.
She felt it as the world spun around again that things had settled into the way they should.
Suddenly, she began to fall.
Numerous thin streaks of light flowed upwards from below, passing her as she fell. The streaks slowly increased in number. Alicia felt like she’d been swallowed by a meteor shower.
Before she knew it, she was standing on a hard marble floor. The cool air, the sounds of conflict echoing from far away, and the bronze statues staring coldly at her. It was all so familiar.
She was in the Hall of Time.
A shock ran through her chest as if something had hit it. Lowering her gaze, a dull sword stuck out of her body, and red blood spilled from the wound. Strangely enough, it didn’t hurt. It felt like she was watching a scene happening in a distant world.
“The Poisonous Rose of Ruin.”
The voice was familiar and unfamiliar at once. Following the tip of the blade, she looked up to see the Clovis from her previous life, and a sense of nostalgia washed over her.
“Blinded by love, you have turned your back on the people, and this is the result. Repent for your sins in the afterlife.”
Lying on the cold marble, she calmly accepted his words. She watched as Clovis wiped the blood off his sword with the hem of his cloak with a somewhat pained expression.
But that look soon vanished as he turned to his men.
“King Fritz is ahead. He’s probably going to escape through the waterway. But the people won’t rest until that plundering king is captured. After him! Hunt him down and end this rebellion!!”
“Yes!!”
At Clovis’s command, several men with swords rushed away. Soon, only one man was left standing beside Clovis. He was wearing a leather glove on his left hand.
“Will you take the queen’s head? It may convince the king to give up his escape.”
“Do not touch her.”
Clovis’s voice was hard without sparing a look at the other. The man shrugged.
“Oi, oi. Shouldn’t we kill without hesitation?”
“She was the last descendant of House Chester, blood of the king, and the people’s supposed last hope… She shouldn’t have died. Not here, and not like this.”
“Yet you killed her. She was nobody’s hope in the end. The Blue Rose Princess? How ironic now.”
The man’s lip curled. Clovis did not respond, changing his grip on his sword before stepping forward.
“Let’s go. We cannot afford to be—?!”
Clovis suddenly drew a breath, turning around with his sword ready. A loud clash of metal echoed.
The man had attacked Clovis. Alicia could only watch, dumbfounded, as Clovis cast a glance down the hall as their swords clashed again. She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened at the sight.
The men who had seemingly left the hall just now were emerging from behind the pillars. The others who turned back after hearing Clovis’s shout tried to ready their swords but were swiftly cut down, blood spurting as they fell.
What was happening?
Alicia couldn’t believe her eyes. Men lay on the floor, moaning in pain.
“Why…?!” Blocking another strike, Clovis screamed. “Just what are you—”
“Because we aren’t Heillanders.”
For the first time, an Erdalian accent colored the man’s voice.
No, Alicia wanted to scream, but her throat no longer worked, and she could only watch as a sword struck Clovis from behind.
Bright red blood spilled from his mouth as he fell to his knees, no longer able to support his own body. The man grabbed his hair, yet Clovis still had the energy to glare at him, desperately trying to focus through the pain.
The man drove his sword into his neck.
“Start a riot and escort King Fritz safely back to Erdal. That is Lord Yggdrasil’s order… No hard feelings; I am just following orders.”
Then he withdrew his sword.
Her vision was painted red.
She could only look at the fallen Clovis. His handsome face would look like he was sleeping if it wasn’t colored with the paleness of death. Something fell from his clothes and rolled towards her. It was the kaleidoscope.
Unable to speak, she looked at the item, then back at Clovis.
A single tear fell from her eye.
Clovis. Clovis.
She reached out desperately with a hand that wouldn’t move.