The Spiral of Fate (5)
The seat of the rattling carriage was uncomfortable.
Normally, he would have made a fuss.
But Arthan did not.
“Coachman, speed up.”
Instead, he urged him to hurry.
The coachman jolted.
“Yes, yes? We are already fast enough. If we rush any more, something might happen. To begin with, this carriage’s maintenance is properly—”
“An order. Do not disobey.”
They had already noticed his absence.
It would take a little more time to figure out his destination, but not long.
He had to finish his work before the Imperial Guard arrived.
“Ah, I understand…”
Under the crown prince’s demand, the coachman cracked his whip.
Hiing— the horses galloped nearly at a sprint.
The area around the ruins was still undeveloped, rough terrain. That was why a dig there had uncovered a relic.
After racing for a while, the distant ruins slowly came into view—a spectacle of rainbow anomalies.
He felt fear, but excitement and zeal outweighed it. Today, he would achieve a hero’s feat.
“…I will prove I am no child.”
That way, he would make them realize they were wrong. He was the descendant of a hero, destined to become the emperor someday.
He would force them to follow his will. Arthan stared at the ruins with burning resolve.
“…Eh?”
But an abnormality occurred.
The strange phenomena that had wrapped the ruins suddenly vanished. They crumbled as if water had been poured onto a sandcastle.
It was strange.
However, Arthan interpreted it positively.
The heavens were helping him. The ruins had recognized him and opened a path.
He smiled genuinely.
“This… what is this!”
But the world does not always flow in one’s favor.
With a suspicious creak, the seat suddenly dropped. His body lurched downward violently and tumbled out.
“Wha—!”
The only thing visible was a vast forest far below.
His feet were in the air, and the world spun.
He was falling.
The last thing he saw was the coachman bolting away in panic and a broken wheel rolling across the ground.
The fall was instantaneous, and the inexperienced boy could not respond properly.
Luckily, his head did not hit first, but the impact was anything but light.
“Agh! Guk, kuhek…!”
He bounced off a rock once, then slammed straight into the ground. A terrible cracking sound came from his ribs.
Even after hitting the ground, Arthan rolled several more times. His whole body was a mess.
The pain came belatedly.
It was on another level from the swordsmanship training his knight instructor had given him. True, unadulterated pain.
Arthan’s vision blurred so much he could not even groan.
“Kuhluck, wh-who…!”
Even breathing hurt his lungs, but Arthan was no ordinary child.
Instead of despairing, he sought help. His bones were broken and his focus was shattered, so he could not escape with mana.
If he drew upon his mana to heal his body now, he would faint instantly. It wasn't impossible, just too risky.
This was his first real crisis. He felt fear, but not absolute horror.
After all, he was the crown prince.
In terms of importance, he was among the top two figures in this empire. Such a person would receive help immediately.
In the past, people made a huge fuss over even his smallest injury.
……Ten minutes seemed to pass.
Salvation was still nowhere in sight.
Swallowing dry air as his body grew cold, Arthan finally realized.
What he had done.
The knights who unconditionally guarded him, the attendants who pampered him, the Imperial Guards who always stayed by his side…
None of them were here. He had abandoned them himself.
No one was coming to help him.
Upon realizing that, the blood drained from his face. The fear he had deliberately pushed aside resurfaced painfully.
What would happen to him now?
“……”
He had lived peacefully in a greenhouse.
When fear reached its limit, he grew coldly rational. Arthan observed his inner self and his current situation as if through another’s eyes.
Self-mockery suddenly spilled out.
“……What kind of 'strong one' am I……”
The powerful shield that protected him was not his own strength, but something obtained by luck.
That was why he had been so obsessed with proving his true worth. He hadn't understood it then, but now he realized the truth.
He hated one-sided protection.
He hated being treated as weak. But even a slight glance made it obvious.
Why did the adults praise him as a genius while still treating him like a child?
Because he was a child.
—You little brat.
—What?
—That’s what people call kids like you.
The voice of a childhood friend rang in his ears.
At the time, he had complained, but perhaps she was right. While some called him a divine talent, her assessment of him being overly precocious hit closest to home.
Why did all the adults look down on him as foolish? Because he hated it so much, he had clung to these newly discovered ruins.
And this was how it turned out.
It was the first time he had ever felt such misery.
“Ugh……”
His vision wavered, so Arthan lowered his head. Uncharacteristically, he pressed his face into the dirt and choked back his sobs.
How much time had passed?
He heard footsteps.
“Ah!”
Was someone coming to save him?
Arthan raised his head, hopeful.
Then he froze.
“……”
Snow-white, mysterious hair fluttered like foam on the sea, and bright eyes sparkled.
The mysterious woman looked down at the crown prince with a cold gaze.
It was a look he had never received before.
Upon acquiring the Catalyst, the nearby anomalies had vanished.
It was only natural, since they were all caused by the artifact. My conquest was complete.
“Then next.”
She left the ruins, as there was nothing left to do there.
Arthan should have arrived soon.
She waited a moment, but when no sign of him appeared, she walked back along the path he would have taken.
Speak of the devil—a distant carriage came into view. It was shabby for a carriage carrying the crown prince, but there was no mistaking it.
She reviewed the plan.
‘I shouldn't stop the event itself.’
According to the original story, the carriage wheels would soon fall off, sending the crown prince rolling down the slope. If her goal was to show mercy, saving him beforehand might ruin his character arc.
Later in the original plot, Arthan himself mentioned that this exact event had a profound influence on his growth.
Today’s pain was necessary—the growing pains of a genius breaking through his limits. It shouldn't be prevented.
What she needed to do was briefly comfort the boy while he was reflecting on himself, then escort him back to the capital.
‘That should be enough.’
He was a good-natured boy at heart; he would certainly appreciate the favor.
Soon, the carriage collapsed, and the scene unfolded exactly as expected.
The startled coachman fled in the opposite direction, just as predicted.
If the crown prince suffered fatal injuries, the driver wouldn't be able to escape execution, so he ran away. Later, a weakened Arthan would deal with him.
She followed the path downward to where she could see him.
“Uhm……”
The crown prince’s reaction to experiencing real pain for the first time was, honestly, a bit odd.
Well, highborn nobility had their own complex troubles, no doubt……
Anyway, seeing him look so despondent, he seemed to have gained some enlightenment.
Arthan looked up, and their eyes met.
The blond crown prince. The future wise ruler. His path ahead was solid, so she lightly stepped forward.
“You are……?” Arthan muttered blankly, looking bewildered.
She struggled to find the right words. What could she say to win his favor?
Then she remembered his original target had been the ruins.
“Were you trying to explore the ruins?”
Her tone came out a bit cold, but it was fine.
It was going as expected. However, she needed to add something more—something that would catch Arthan’s interest……
She pulled out the Catalyst and showed it to him.
“It is already too late.”
A harsh, aloof statement.
In that moment, she internally questioned her own mouth and ears.
‘Were those really the words coming out of my mouth? I wouldn't normally go that far!’
More importantly, why did the automatic speech translation turn "This is an artifact" into something so overly dramatic?!
Arthan, who had been mesmerized by the spell's blue light, suddenly snapped back. His eyebrows shot up in outrage.
“What? Are you mocking me right now?!”
A complete disaster.
Today, the automated "demoness persona" setting was even more uncontrollable than usual. At this rate, she might end up accumulating resentment instead of showing mercy.
She had to pacify him immediately.
“What do you think I am…… What?!”
If words wouldn't work, physical force would.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck her. She grabbed Arthan’s arm.
With that, she transformed her mana into a fluffy cloud and rose into the sky, carrying the boy along.
“U-ugh! What—let go!”
The boy struggled, but with his injured body, he couldn't do anything. Carrying another person caused her mana consumption to skyrocket.
She pushed her speed to the maximum to avoid falling mid-air.
After landing safely on the ground, she released Arthan.
He looked around, then muttered in shock.
“Magic……? Transforming a human body into energy…… This is……”
His eyes widened.
It was natural to be surprised. Body-transformation magic was an extremely difficult art with almost no modern development.
This shape-shifting spell wasn't just a standard ability, either; she had personally created and mastered a technique that didn't originally exist in this world.
In short, even high court archmages couldn't pull off this trick. Though, given its extreme difficulty, its actual combat utility wasn't particularly incredible……
Either way, the shock had completely erased his anger. She felt a secret sense of relief, but she couldn't let things end here.
Otherwise, this whole effort would be pointlessly wasted.
This time, she decided to address the core worries weighing on Arthan's mind. A deep conversation should help improve their relationship.
She offered an empathetic remark:
“A flower raised in a greenhouse will wither the moment it is taken outside.”
Her quiet words sounded unexpectedly aggressive.
Arthan’s eyes widened dramatically. He clenched his fists, his hands trembling.
“……Perhaps you are right.” He bit his lip, shaking. “But who are you to say such a thing? What do you know about me!”
His youthful eyes stared straight at her. The despair and regret from earlier were gone, replaced by heat and vitality.
‘Oh, strangely enough, that reaction wasn't bad.’ She decided to push a little further.
“There are only two paths for one born in a greenhouse.”
She spread her slender white fingers.
……It felt a bit odd to think of them this way, but they were her hands now.
“One is a path distinct from common weeds—noble, abundant, unscarred, and untouched.”
Her delicate voice echoed like rolling jade beads.
Arthan listened intently for her next words.
“And the second……” She paused.
“Once the greenhouse is gone, a path where you are capable of doing absolutely nothing.”
Her words were brief.
But the impact was immediate.
Arthan’s battered face was the absolute definition of "stunned."
“Which one are you?”
She finished her sentence more coldly than ever.
Unusually for her, she had spoken quite a lot today. He would certainly remember this conversation.
Arthan had a strange look on his face, as if he had either been struck on the head or achieved a sudden epiphany.
It was a risky approach, but she had managed to break through to him.
This should have established a strong presence in his mind.
When he later looked back on this foundational turning point in his life, wouldn't he remember her fondly? Wouldn't he naturally want to repay the favor?
It hadn't gone perfectly, but she had succeeded in forging a connection. Now she just needed to escort him near the capital.
Just as she prepared to depart, the sound of multiple approaching footsteps echoed nearby.
“……Eh?”
At first, she thought they were guards from the ruins or Imperial Guards looking for Arthan.
But when she turned around, a group clad entirely in black emerged.
Every single one of them had sunken, hollow eyes. They were definitely not imperial soldiers.
An ominous feeling settled over her.
As she tried to discern their identity, one figure stepped forward. Surprisingly, it was a familiar face.
The girl with striking purple short hair…… Sigilla, the mysterious master.