Time's Eternal Prisoner
But I refuse!!
"Si-hyun... End this lady's life with your own hand."
Yeah, that's it. Now it's really time to bring this tragic tale to an end.
A place where warm, pleasant breezes blew.
Among the twelve kingdoms, this one brimmed with the most children and youthful energy! The city with the highest birth rate! A nation perfect for raising kids!
"That's my kingdom, Crahim! Kuhihihit!"
"Your Majesty... Please maintain some dignity! And how many times have I told you? Who sits on the throne all crooked like that?!"
"Always nagging, nagging. That's why you've still not gotten married."
"Mention marriage one more time, and I swear I'll quit for real."
Crahim's sovereign, Ciel, got along with her retainers without any airs.
'Rule, but never lord over them.' That had been her ideal since childhood.
"Your Majesty, more importantly, you have to visit the Empire today. Surely you haven't forgotten?"
"Of course not. How could I ignore a summons from the Knight King?"
"That's true, but you're going alone again? At least take an envoy or guards."
"Kuhuhu, have you forgotten who I am? The title of Greatest Mage isn't for just anyone."
Going with other retainers would only waste time on the journey. And above all, Ciel hated making her people and subjects travel far just for her sake. She wanted them resting cozy at home.
A wild, scatterbrained girl like a hyper kid, yet overflowing with warm consideration—Ciel Merlin.
"I'll be back soon, so take good care of Crahim in my stead."
"Don't worry and go on. Oh, and bring some melon snacks on your way back. Hehe."
Today would be just like any other—ordinary and happy, Ciel believed.
But.
Upon arriving at the Empire, Ciel sensed something was off.
"Mage Ciel, the Knight King did not summon the Round Table knights today."
"What do you mean? I clearly received a summons."
"There must be some mistake. The Knight King hasn't even returned to the Empire yet."
The aide claimed it wasn't a day for Round Table meetings.
Something's wrong.
Ciel felt a chilling premonition crawling up her spine, like gears grinding somewhere.
"I don't know what's going on, but... I need to head back to my kingdom first."
—Roarrr!!
Rushing back to Crahim on uneasy instincts, what greeted Ciel was the city engulfed in crimson-black flames.
"S-save... me..."
"Ugh... uuuugh..."
"It huuurts... it hurts so muuuch..."
Crahim's people and retainers were all suffering deep stab wounds, slowly dying.
What in the world happened? Why had the barrier I'd set vanished without a trace?
Only another Grand Mage or a Sword Master knight could shatter a Grand Mage's protective barrier...
Questions swirled, but saving people came first.
"Everyone, just hold on a bit! I'll... I'll save you all!"
Ciel thought her healing magic could revive them easily. She was a great Grand Mage, after all. Sword wounds were child's play to mend.
But.
"Why...? Why isn't the healing magic working...?!"
Regrettably, it had no effect on the wounded.
—Shoooo.
The eerie, ominous aura blanketing all of Crahim rejected the healing magic, even slowly corroding the injured.
Ciel could only stare blankly as her precious people died.
"Just half a day. In the half day I was away..."
The place she loved most. The one she wanted to protect above all.
Now, it all crumbled to ashes before her eyes... Ciel couldn't accept it.
"Your Majesty... sorry. Looks like no melon snacks for me..."
"Lady Ciel, run! Touching that crimson-black aura is dangerous!"
"The black knight might come back... Hurry... escape!"
The people didn't blame the girl who'd returned a step too late.
"Your Majesty... it's not your fault..."
"Please... don't blame yourself..."
Far from blame, even in death throes, they worried for their king.
"I... I can't accept this irrational reality. No, I won't."
Shrrk.
Slumped in the street, Ciel opened the final page of the grimoire hidden deep in her bosom.
A spell she must never touch, defying the world's laws outright: the incantation for Time Seal.
Raising her staff high, the girl calmly intoned the forbidden words from the book.
"Arveron Chrona Vel'Thaem
✦ Silenzium Eternum..."
⟨ Time Seal ⟩
—Craaaack!
In that instant, an immense light enveloped Crahim's entire territory in a magic circle.
Thousands of clock hands tangled in the air, halting the world itself.
"This... this should do it. My kingdom will never reach that future of destruction."
Sealing time defied the world's laws. As penalty, Ciel was trapped in the Cradle of Oblivion.
A fate where her people turned to toys from the taboo magic's backlash, twisting bit by bit—and she could only watch, unable to die, eternally witnessing the horror she'd wrought.
That was the world's punishment for Ciel.
"In the end, I couldn't save my people... I just trapped them forever in time's prison out of my own greed. Now, I must set them free. But I can't end my own story. The world's laws won't allow me to die or look away..."
Ciel was smiling. And crying.
Si-hyun could say nothing to the girl recounting her failings so calmly.
She called it greed halting time, but the truth was different.
To save her people, unable to watch them swallowed by ruin, she'd invoked forbidden magic at the cost of her suffering.
Knowing her heart, Si-hyun couldn't grant her request.
"Ciel, I can't."
"Si-hyun... please. Break this cursed eternal loop. The taboo magic lifts when the caster dies. But I can't kill myself. Only you, who slipped through the laws' cracks, can kill me."
"Ciel..."
"And if you don't, you all can't leave either. Don't you hate being trapped here forever? Just prick this body lightly with a clock hand, and it's over. The girls behind will return to normal."
For some reason, the sole man immune to Crahim's laws: Yoon Si-hyun.
The only savior who could free the girl and her people from eternal torment.
I know my plea is utterly selfish. But even so, I have no choice but to beg... Please forgive me.
One more step, and he'd do it. This man was pragmatic; with escape right there, no reason to refuse.
—Swish.
As expected, Si-hyun gripped a sharp clock hand like a sword.
"Ah..."
Soon, that blade would turn on her. It might hurt a little.
Ciel closed her eyes, awaiting death.
"Si-hyun... thank you for granting this selfish lady's—"
Smack!!!!!
"Hyaaaat?!?!?! O-owwww!!!"
Ignoring her plea to stab her heart, Si-hyun smashed the clock hand full-force into the girl's noggin.
"Whiiiine...!! M-my head huuuurts!!"
"What a performance. I can see you trembling like a scared kitten. And a coward sniffling from one bonk asks to be killed? Quit acting tough, kiddo!!"
Squeeze! He grabbed her head with both hands and shook it wildly.
"What? Kill you? A kiddo bawling from a headache dares say that?!"
"Wh-whiiiine...?!?!?! Si-hyun, I'm dizzy...!"
"Listen up, Ciel. You're a kid!!"
"Th-this lady is a kid...?"
Si-hyun stepped closer.
"Kids, when things get tough, just bawl your eyes out and throw a tantrum at grown-ups!! Not this stupid bravado!!"
Listening to Ciel's past, I pieced together the situation.
Her claim that the magic ends with the caster's death was probably true.
But no way could I do it!
Why? That 'black knight' from her backstory.
With a lead on that guy, I couldn't just let Ciel die!
Mengmang-grade ghost story Noblesse.
The black knight cloaked in crimson-black aura, dooming nations—had to be Noblesse, no doubt.
In other words, Crahim and Ciel hold a fragment of a story tied 100% to Lea.
Finally, a sweet lore drop on our knight's backstory—and let her die? Hell no.
I have to end this story by saving Ciel, no matter what!
Fail, and we'd spin the ghost story roulette until another Lea fragment popped up.
No thanks!! Grinding farms in RPGs is enough!!
—Squeeze!
I yanked the sniffling Ciel into a tight hug.
"Wh-what...! S-Si-hyun! What are you—?!"
"Ciel, from now on, I'll protect you. No more worries."
"N-no...! Dragging this out more, the world's laws will reclaim—"
"World laws be damned, bring it! I won't let them take you!"
"Wh-why go so far to protect this lady...? We only just met..."
The girl fidgeted her fingers, face flushing, puzzled why I'd go this far for her.
I hugged her tighter and shouted proudly in answer.
"Obviously! Ciel's super precious to me—an ite... no, a super precious person!!!"