The Way to End the Story: Ciel Merlin

A girl with snow-white hair and beautiful ruby eyes introduced herself as the great mage and lord of Kraheim. 『Please find our forgotten king and pay your respects.』

The key to ending the Catastrophe-grade ghost story Kraheim had literally fallen from the sky.

'But is she really the king?'

No matter how I looked at her, she was just a tiny girl. This little one was supposed to be the real forgotten king?

"Aaaah!! That look in your eyes is doubting me right now!! You can't believe that someone as small, cute, sexy, and genius-level as a mage could be a lord, can you?!"

I must have been staring at Ciel with suspicion without realizing it, because the girl jumped up and down, venting her frustration. Her bouncing was pretty cute, though.

"Small, yeah, but I didn't even think about all those extra descriptors."

"Kuhuhu, don't lie! I know all men like me!"

"You're pretty, sure... but honestly, I've met quite a few loli girls like you, so it doesn't feel that fresh."

"H-How can that be...!"

Right behind me sat Victoria and Emilia. Then there was Leah, probably snoring away at home right now. And finally, my princess Luna, with her beautiful silver hair and golden eyes.

'Ciel's plenty cute... but Luna's still a bit cuter?'

Well, my moonlight princess was unreasonably beautiful, after all. She'd probably still be cute even as an SD character.

As I got lost in wistful memories of Luna, Ciel trotted right up to me and pointed her index finger at my face.

"Hehe! I'll make you feel firsthand just how beautiful and great a mage I am!"

"No, what does beauty have to do with magic?"

"Stay still! I'll show you my amazing, magnificent magic right now!"

—Ting.

Ciel slyly pulled a magic wand topped with a small bell from her bosom and began drawing a circle of sparkling light in the air.

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Letters that looked kinda like the alphabet but were completely unreadable.

'This kid's a real mage, huh?'

Soon, Ciel's red eyes gleamed as she chanted the incantation from her lips.

The moment the girl uttered the incomprehensible phrase, the ground trembled, and a golden magic circle spread out beneath my feet.

"Hmm... this doesn't feel dangerous or anything—"

"Hehe, too late!"

—Whoosh!!

The magic circle erupted in explosive light in response to Ciel.

But the next instant—

Pop!

With a weird vibration like something snapping, the magic circle in the air went bang! and shattered.

"Wha...?!"

Ciel's eyes went wide in shock. From her reaction, it looked like the spell had fizzled out.

"What? It started off all dramatic, but that was nothing."

"Wh-What are you saying?! That was just... my hand slipped a little!"

Sweat pouring down her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face, Ciel hurriedly chanted another spell.

This time, bluish gears spun in the air toward me, but—

—Clatter...

They soon crumbled and vanished into thin air.

"Hic...! Th-This can't be...?"

"Ciel, I get that you're a mage now, so don't strain yourself—"

Refusing to give up, Ciel steadied her breathing and stepped back from me.

"Sh-Shut up! It was just a hiccup messing with my focus!"

"Sigh... In the spirit of Korean hospitality, I'll give you three tries. If the last one fails, we're done. Got it?"

I grinned playfully, and Ciel, sweating bullets, chanted her third spell. This time, unlike the others, she stabbed her wand into the ground.

Something flickered in the air in response to Ciel's chant, but—

—Crash!

The magic circle shattered to pieces again, with not even a trace of magic left.

"Fnyaaah...?!?"

After three straight flops... er, three straight bangs, Ciel looked like she couldn't believe it.

I was worried she'd start bawling loud enough to shake the world, but surprisingly, she didn't seem sad.

'Not crying—in fact, she looks deep in thought?'

Ciel tapped her wand a few times and started muttering to herself.

"This is weird... My time magic definitely activated perfectly. But the moment it reached that guy, it shattered..."

Her voice was so soft it didn't reach me.

"Ciel, I believe you're an amazing mage, so you can stop now."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. And I never said I didn't believe you in the first place."

"That's a relief, but... I still feel something off. My magic defies even the laws of the world— Fnyaaaah?!?"

—Grab!

While I was talking to Ciel, Victoria and Emilia suddenly lit up and pounced on her.

The two girls groped Ciel's body all over with their small hands.

"Hyaaah?! Wh-What is this rude behavior?! How dare you touch my body so freelyyy—!"

"Are you really a mage? How do you use that? What's the principle behind it? Where do you draw the energy from?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Emilia poked and prodded Ciel with her sparkling coral eyes.

"Hmm, I've seen plenty of awakening abilities similar to magic, but this is the closest to real magic I've encountered. So intriguing!"

Victoria buried her nose in Ciel, sniffing her scent to satisfy her own curiosity.

"Y-You there! Save me!"

"Sigh, what a troublesome lord."

Normally, I'd leisurely watch three SD beauties rolling around, but now wasn't the time.

"Girls, stop bullying Ciel. We still have stuff to do, right?"

"Hmmm... I still have so many questions."

"Ciel, show me some more magic later. Got it?"

"Uuu... Now I can never get married."

I straightened Ciel's disheveled clothes and asked her a question.

"Ciel, tell me how to end Kraheim's story."

* * *

The heart of the Cradle of Oblivion, the Destroyed Clock Tower.

This bizarre building, haunted by mismatched gears and strands of time, carried an inexplicable gloom and sorrow.

"Ciel, what's this place?"

"This is... a place of both my pride and my shame. A place where memories I want to forget but can never forget slumber."

Ciel placed her hand on the firmly shut door and softly chanted a spell.

—Rumble...

The massive door split open to both sides, revealing the clock tower's interior.

Broken clock hands, stone tablets, and research materials littered the floor endlessly. In the air, gears slowly turned, unable to find their missing pairs.

Ciel scanned the interior slowly with slightly sad eyes, then turned to us.

"I have one question for you all. Have you ever thought about turning back time?"

At Ciel's sudden question, Emilia and Victoria answered in turn.

"Of course. The happiest moments of my life... were back in the orphanage as a kid. Even now, I sometimes wish I could go back."

"I want to go back to before I was cursed by the ghost story. Back to when I could hang out with people without any walls... I miss it a lot, honestly."

"Si-hyun, have you ever thought about turning back time?"

Me? Way too many times. Like when I got drafted into the army, or when I was late for work, stuff like that.

'Honestly, it'd be harder to find someone who hasn't thought that—'

As I tried to recall another time—

—Bzzt!

"Ugh...?!?"

A massive headache hit, and unknown memories started flooding my mind.

Zzzing— My head felt like it was splitting open.

Sudden memories of some man poured in.

'Ugh...! What the hell is this...?!'

It hurts. So much. This isn't me. Not my memories. Who the hell are you? Why do you keep invading my head?

"Ugh... grk...!"

As the immense pain nearly made me black out—

—Squeeze!

Victoria and Emilia from both shoulders, and unexpectedly Ciel too, rushed in and hugged me tight.

"Shin oppa...! You okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"Si, Si-hyunni!! What's wrong?! Snap out of it!!"

"You...! Are you alright?! Did a bad memory resurface?! "

As the three girls hugged me with all their might and patted me, the headache gradually faded, and my condition improved like magic.

What was that memory just now?

I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and forced a smile to reassure the girls.

"Sorry, sorry. Guess some fatigue from fighting those toys lingered."

"Shin oppa... really okay...?"

"Si-hyunni, you should rest a bit."

"Si-hyun, are you really fine? You looked like you were recalling something very painful."

"Hahaha, it's really nothing, so don't worry. More importantly, Ciel, why'd you ask that?"

I quickly shifted the topic back to Ciel.

I had no idea what that memory was, but right now, solving Kraheim came first.

Ciel looked at me with worried eyes and spoke again.

"The reason I asked you all that... is because I thought the same thing. Very ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intensely."

Ciel floated slightly into the air and tapped a clock in midair.

"Si-hyun, you realized it the moment you entered, right? Kraheim is a country where time has stopped."

"The name itself is The Timeless Kingdom, so yeah."

"Yes. Because of my foolish greed, this place became a prison of time. That's why my people turned into toys—neither dead nor alive."

—Click.

Ciel pulled out a large hour hand floating in the air and descended.

"I waited and waited. For someone to end this foolish story. For someone to punish this idiot who denied destruction and stopped time."

"Wait, Ciel, don't tell me...?"

The girl smiled faintly and held out the hour hand to me.

Tears welled in her red eyes, but Ciel pretended otherwise and whispered softly.

"Si-hyun, with your hand... end Kraheim's king... end me..."