Chapter 34

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 34

Celine struggled in the dark.

No matter how much light she turned on, it didn’t help because the roots had blocked her eyes. With the darkness on the outside, fears on the inside engulfed her. The roots tightened her under pressure that was incomparable to that in the Crown Prince’s Palace.

‘He told me not to use magic…’

She could never understand why.

However, Celina didn’t even try to use her magic. Because for now, she had to trust and follow Leonhard’s decision completely.

Fortunately, as she got used to the pressure that tightened her body, she could hear the conversation between Leonhard and the warlock.

“We will see if that’s the case.”

Just as she was wondering what the noise was, she was thrown away by a massive force into the dark.

Bang!

Her head hit the ground badly. Thankfully, she felt the soil. It looked like it was a dirt floor, not a stone floor.

‘I’m not going to die… Thank God.’

It was her last thought before she lost her consciousness in pain.

“Celine!”

A strong hand gently shook her with a familiar voice. Her eyes immediately opened. Leonhard gazed down at her worriedly.

Celine took a breath.

‘He shouldn’t have been here now!’

“Did you die?”

She was only able to squeeze an answer after she gasped once.

“N, no.”

“That’s a relief.”

Leonhard was relieved.

Her words were true. If she died once when she was alive, her eyes were always filled with pain and fear.

Celine gently pulled herself out of his hand and glanced around. They were in a dark, narrow passage. The ground was gray, illuminated by Rashir’s blue light, and the ceiling was only a span taller than Leonhard’s head.

Except for the pungent stench of a monster, it didn’t feel particularly threatening.

“Why… Here…”

“He threw you here.”

“Leonhard…!”

Even without explanation, she could tell that he had followed her and plunged into the crack. Celine felt a mixture of anger and confusion because he made the worst choice. Still, she should never die wherever she was, so that way, Leonhard could focus on the war against the warlock.

“…Phew.”

Leonhard sighed.

It was because he was able to guess what the woman who suddenly stopped talking and rolled her eyes was thinking about.

“He would have put me here, anyway.”

“But, Leonhard is strong. Without me, there would be no way you would have walked in here.”

“That… is true.”

He felt compelled to nurture his words as he could not deny Celine’s words.

“Still, how am I just going to look at you like that without doing anything?”

“That, too.”

She mumbled in a slightly resigned tone.

How could she blame him? He was just trying to save her. His biggest goal, the warlock, was in front of him.

Had it been a couple of months ago, she would have misunderstood Leonhard’s choice. Regardless, she wouldn’t die even if she died. However, why then, did the ruthless villain give up the chance to slay the foe before his eyes for a pointless rescue…?

Celine would have thought that Leonhard wanted to save himself from the nightmares if it was the old Celine.

‘…Though now, I know.’

If anyone other than her was present, he would have jumped into the crack.

‘Leonhard… is not a villain.’

During the time she spent at Bernoulli Castle, she was able to see his various aspects. Celine knew. He would be a good lord unless Bernoulli Castle became a ghost castle…

‘It will never happen… I’m going to stop it.’

She imagined Leonhard in five years and ten years from now.

‘Before that… I must have cleared the stage.’

Nevertheless, before her thoughts could go any deeper, Leonhard awakened her situation.

“I didn’t want you to come because I was afraid of this.”

His voice was far from a rebuke.

“I’m not dead yet.”

“You’re hurt.”

Leonhard’s gaze paused for a moment on her head, which she had bumped into, then she turned right to the ground.

“Isn’t it better…… that I’m hurt?”

“Because you’re not dead.”

Because her wounds only healed after death, he sometimes had the eerie thoughts that Celine would commit suicide if she lost an arm or a leg while she was fighting monsters without treatment.

“You should have taken the medicine before.”

“It’s a waste!”

Celine rolled her eyes. She did not expect that Leonhard, who had experienced the effect firsthand, would say it like this.

“Leonhard might get hurt like that in the future. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just die…”

“You can’t…!”

An angry word escaped Leonhardt’s mouth, though she didn’t blink.

“It’s true that Leonhard needs it more than I do. Even you wouldn’t take it for this kind of injury.”

“….”

“I, too, will take it if I get as injured as Leonhard then.”

“…Promise me.”

In the end, Celine nodded her head and smiled. As expected, Leonhard was a really nice person.

‘How did such a good person become so…’

Thinking that, one side of her chest tightened. In the graphic in the game, she remembered Leonhard running towards the protagonist with bloodshot eyes. And, she hated him as much as the monsters in the games…

Nonetheless, she could not find anything in common with the current Leonhard and Leonhard in the game.

“What about Leonhard?”

“…What?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

“Then, shouldn’t we go out?”

It was when she took a step forward.

Suddenly, the entire passage shook as if an earthquake had occurred. Although her chest dropped, Celine pretended to be calm and opened her mouth.

“Is he going to bury us alive?”

“It can’t be.”

Leonhard shook his head.

“That person does not want to kill you.”

“….?”

Celine blinked her eyes.

She would be nothing more than a nuisance from a warlock’s point of view. Didn’t the warlock mention that himself?

‘Ah…’

An uncomfortable truth crept into Celine’s mind.

“Because he has to use me as a hostage?”

She hated to admit it. Still, she was now Leonhard’s shackles because she couldn’t use magic.

“No.”

Though he denied it with a sullen voice.

“Remember Sir Pavel being manipulated?”

Goosebumps sprouted all over Celine’s body. How could she forget…?

A man who lost his life at Leonhard’s hands, making a face that was not his own, and speaking words that were not his own…

“He wants to do that, too…?”

“He would use a more terrible number. He… will entice you to be like him.”

“It will never happen…!”

“Never?”

A bitter sigh escaped his mouth. He had heard the exact same thing years ago.

—Leonhard, I’ll never be a warlock.

Celine looked at him with anxious eyes.

“…You don’t believe me?”

“That’s not it.”

Leonhard was speechless for a while. Perhaps, he just wanted to remain silent, so she just urged him with her eyes.

“The wizards… Everyone seeks power. You know how attractive it is, right?”

“I know.”

It was because the more she mastered her magic, the more the magical powers flowed through her body, uplifting her and making her feel like an omnipotent god.

“What if that power could be made stronger?”

“I know what you mean, still…”

“You don’t know the power of a warlock until you see it for yourself.”

He couldn’t quite explain it. The power of a warlock was as powerful as the darkness between stars. No matter how many stars were in the sky, it was like pitch-black darkness that took up more space than that.

“The more you use magic here, the more you will be drawn to black magic. Even more so if you use it in front of him.”

“…Is there really nothing I can do?”

“Yes.”

It was a lie. He knew only one way a normal wizard could fight a warlock. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t say it.

…Maybe, for the rest of his life.

“All right. I will not write it.”

Celine gazed at him, sighing in relief and asked abruptly.

“Leonhard, do you know this?”

“…What.”

“I love my magic. The magic that blows the wind, illuminates the darkness, brings warmth, and creates new things with water and ice.”

“….”

“Of course, I can use it to burn something, destroy a structure with strong winds, blind with light, or freeze it to death.”

At his words, he smiled bitterly because his magic was far from creative.

“But, I use it to protect them. Leonhard is the same, right? Your magic can be used for slaughter and destruction. You could be the worst serial killer in history.”

“I have no reason to commit serial murders.”

Leonhard replied shakily.

“Black magic can be known intuitively that this is power only for slaughter. No matter how powerful it is, there is no way I will ever want it.”

“Warlocks know all kinds of magic. The person lived over a hundred years. I’m sure there’s a reason to entice an ordinary wizard.

Uttering so, he laughed bitterly.

“Furthermore… They have their own way of communicating. A wizard who has just become a warlock can’t join, but after a hundred years or so, they will be able to communicate with a warlock across the sea.”

“….!”

It was only then that Celine realized how menacing the warlock was.

“How do we win?”

“I don’t know.”

“…There must be a way.”

Leonhard didn’t say anything.

Seeing that, Celine grabbed his hand. Even though he was startled and tried to pull his hand back, she wouldn’t let go.

“I am happy to be here with Leonhard.”

“Why…?”

He couldn’t figure out why. What was the joy of being with a helpless person who couldn’t protect a single person like her?

“If I hadn’t been here, Leonhard would have to deal with such a person alone.”

“…Celine.”

He called out the name of the woman who was shining in front of him softly.

“We’ll get rid of that warlock, and we’ll completely get rid of this hundred-year-old monster pit. I can tell.”

Silence passed, but neither of them felt uncomfortable.

An unspoken trust was flowing between them. After a while, an even more intense vibration broke the silence.

Celine shook her hair to shake the dirt, though the grains of dirt kept falling.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“He was trying to force you to use magic. Look at the pattern… He’ll be here in person soon.”

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────