Chapter 111: Claudia Kidnapped
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111: Claudia Kidnapped
‘A barrier? The High Priest can use magic, too?’
While I stood there dazed and dumbfounded, the High Priest quickly regained his stance and began to pressure Philip.
To think he was better with a sword than Philip, an elite of the Apocrypha, and could even use magic. Unlike the typical image of a High Priest, wasn't he a bit too much of an overpowered character?
Swept up in panic and not knowing what to do, I asked the demons.
‘W-what should I do now?’
[It’s dangerous, Master!]
‘…!’
Desmond’s voice echoed loudly in my head. At that exact moment, someone grabbed my body.
“Ugh!”
“I’ve got the Imperial Princess!”
Even though my appearance had been altered by Hamilton’s magical tool, the fanatic recognized me instantly. It was only natural, considering I was the only child in the trading company.
I couldn't let myself be caught like this. I had to escape somehow. Since it was easier to give orders to a demon than to cast magic, I was about to call out to Bibi when—
“Mmph!”
“Just sleep for a while, Princess.”
A white cloth covered my face. The voices of the demons clamored noisily in my head, but I couldn't respond to them.
In an instant, my vision was dyed black.
*
‘Ji-ah.’
‘Huh?’
I heard a voice I missed dearly.
I opened my eyes cautiously and looked around. It didn't take long to find the person who had called me.
‘Mom…?’
As if unable to believe it, I stared blankly at my mother standing beside me, my mouth hanging open.
My mother, who had been gazing at me intently, gave a soft smile.
‘Ji-ah, why are you sleeping like that again? I told you to sleep in your bed if you’re tired.’
‘What?’
Blinking at my mother’s gentle words, I finally took in my surroundings.
This was the room in the house where I had lived in my previous life. I’d had no choice but to live in that man’s house—my biological father—until my school years, but perhaps because I’d lived there so long, it looked familiar even after all this time.
It seemed I had been sleeping facedown at my desk. Textbooks, workbooks, and notebooks were scattered messily in front of me. Writing utensils were rolled across the wide desk.
‘Oh, I must have dozed off again. I guess I’m really tired, haha.’
Without even having time to think, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. A look of worry crossed my mother’s face.
‘Don’t overdo it just because it’s exam period. You need to get proper sleep, okay?’
‘Yeah.’
My mother had never once gotten angry with me. She always spoke in a kind, persuasive tone. I simply nodded obediently.
Is this a dream?
The thought occurred to me naturally. The sensations were too strange for it to be reality. I just stared endlessly at the face of my real mother, whom I had missed so much.
‘Mommy.’
‘Yes, my daughter.’
When I called out to her, drawing out the end of the word like I was acting spoiled, Mom would always indulge me and pull me into a hug.
Perhaps because it was a dream, I couldn't feel any warmth, but my startled heart began to calm down. Since dreams show you what you want anyway, it wasn't strange for my mother to appear.
‘Mom, I really missed you.’
‘Hmm?’
‘No, it’s nothing.’
Since the mother in my dream had never been apart from me, she looked puzzled by my words.
I shook my head and hugged her tighter, hearing a small chuckle from above my head.
‘My daughter must be really exhausted. Come on, let’s go to bed, okay?’
‘But…’
‘Mom is fine even if you aren't ranked first in the whole school.’
Speaking as if it were a joke, Mom patted my back. Those words were likely sincere.
My mother never got angry with me and never nagged me to study. She was a person as rare as a unicorn.
My greed for studying was entirely my own will. I wanted to grow up to be a proper adult and make sure I got my mother out of that hellish house.
In that wide, empty house, my mother had never been happy. The reason she didn't get angry or nag me was partly her personality, but likely also because she didn't have the energy left to do so.
‘No. I’m going to study hard and become a great person. So that…’
Back then, I had never told my mother about my plans for the future. I was certain of myself, but I thought that as a mere child, I would seem unreliable to her. So I vowed to tell her once everything was certain.
But that day never came. Just when everything I had yearned for was within reach, I got into a car accident. And I likely died in that accident.
In the end, I had suffered all sorts of hardships in my previous life and achieved nothing.
Feeling dejected, I hung my head. My mother leaned down and stroked my cheek.
‘Ji-ah.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Mom just… wants you to be happy.’
‘….’
I had never had a conversation like this with my mother in my memories.
Since it was a dream, it seemed my subconscious was making the dream-mother say the words I wanted to hear. But they were also words my mother would have naturally said.
‘Me too.’
I, too, simply wanted my mother to be happy. Other than that, nothing else mattered.
That was why I pushed through the hard times and studied until my nose bled. I never once regretted that time.
‘So, Ji-ah.’
‘Yeah?’
‘…do, and… the….’
‘What did you say?’
My mother was saying something, but I couldn't hear it well. I stared intently at her lips. Then, a voice rang out clearly.
‘Wake up now.’
‘…!’
At the same time, my eyes snapped open.
“Mom!”
“….”
A booming voice echoed in my ears. For a moment, I thought I was the one who had shouted.
But I wasn't. Turning my head with difficulty, I found a young girl wailing.
“Ugh, what on earth is…”
[Master, are you awake?]
“Huh?”
Hearing Desmond’s voice, I looked around. However, Desmond was nowhere to be seen. Then, his voice echoed in my head again.
[I couldn't stay in the direwolf’s body any longer, so I abandoned it and came here.]
‘Where on earth is this?’
[Well, even I am not sure.]
Along with Desmond’s voice, which was darker than usual, Bibi chimed in.
[There’s a barrier erected, so it’s a struggle for us just to maintain consciousness.]
‘A barrier?’
[Yes. It seems to be a Temple.]
‘Hmm.’
I recalled the last scene I saw before losing consciousness.
The fanatics had raided the trading company along with the High Priest, and I had been captured and knocked out. It seemed I had been dragged here just like that.
Since the person who used the fanatics to catch me was the High Priest, this place was naturally a Temple or somewhere similar.
But…
“Waaaaah, I want my mommy!”
“Hwaaaaaah!”
“….”
Why were there so many young children? Dumbfounded, I blinked in bewilderment.
“Ex-excuse me… Princess?”
“Huh?”
“You are the Princess, right?”
At the familiar voice, I turned my head to see someone I hadn't expected. My eyes widened as I looked at him.
“Lucy?”
“Why is the Princess here…?”
“Is it really you, Lucy?”
“Ye-yes.”
It was Luciano, whose bangs used to hang down like a broom. But now, his hair was shorter and swept back, revealing his fair, smooth forehead.
I didn't recognize him at first, but hearing his voice, it was definitely Luciano. And since my current appearance only had the hair and eye color changed by the magical tool, it seemed Luciano recognized me easily.
But looking closely, there was a new wound on Luciano’s cheek.
“Why are you hurt there?”
“Ah, this is…”
Luciano flinched and covered his cheek with his hand. But that hand wasn't in good shape either.
His entire right arm was wrapped in bandages, and through the gaps, I could catch glimpses of wounds that looked like they had been sliced by something sharp. Furthermore, the bandages were stained green here and there. It was an ominous sight.
“Don't tell me they did something to you here?”
“That’s…”
While Luciano stammered, the children’s crying grew louder.
“It hurts! It hurts so much!”
“I want to get out of here!”
Now that I looked, the other children’s bodies were also a mess. I remembered how there had been no one at the orphanage when I went there.
“These are all children from the same orphanage, right?”
“Well, most of them are.”
“Then the rest are… sigh, never mind.”
There was no point in interrogating Luciano. Besides, I felt like I knew what was happening without needing an explanation.
My head began to throb from the children’s cries, their screams, and the foul stench coming from their wounds. I raised my hand to press against my aching forehead.
At that moment, along with a loud noise, an even more unpleasant voice boomed through the area.
Bang!
“Shut up!”
“…!”
What now?
I looked up, knitting my brows as I glared forward.