CH 224

Unable to shake the unnerving feeling, Cecile fell silent. Seeing Cecile lapse into thought, Ruin continued his explanation.

“The sages and Taoists of the Hyun continent… I think they’re called priests and mages here? Well, according to them, something strange has been occurring for hundreds of years.”

“Something strange?”

“They said that something, or more precisely, a certain ‘character’ not originally written in the records would appear.”

“What do you mean?” Cecile asked, shooting him a look of confusion.

Ruin scratched his head and hummed, “How should I explain it? This same person appears in every story. Take for example, there might be a scene where someone is taking a stroll but absolutely nothing happens, but then one day it’s suddenly altered to having that person bump into someone else. Or… there’s a birthday celebration, but suddenly an uninvited guest makes an appearance. In this manner, unknown characters suddenly materialize in the books.”

Cecile felt a chill as the doubt that had been lingering in the depths of her mind suddenly rose to the surface. Could this be related to those books that kept appearing in her time of need, which all featured a recurring character—Cecile? “Does the Ender share the same name as me?” she asked.

Ruin shook his head and said, “We didn’t know the name, at least not until recently. That’s why that person came to be known as the Ender.”

It was finally becoming clear to Cecile what all this talk about the Ender was about. After a pause, she asked, “But why do you think it’s me?”

“The sages and Taoists collected every bit of information from books over the centuries. They were scattered in such tiny fragments that it was said to be impossible to pinpoint no matter how much they gathered. However, after some hundreds of years, every piece of evidence pointed to none other than…” Ruin paused and released the beak of the blue phoenix, before he continued, “None other than you, Empress Cecile.”

“But to call it the Ender? Doesn’t that sound like a story character in itself?” Ruin had just described this character as a person that appeared with such infrequency that hardly any information was left behind, so why was the role given such a grand title? Cecile comforted the blue phoenix that had returned to perch on her shoulder and was glaring at the prince, as she waited for his response.

“No, you see… Once you appear in the story…” Ruin looked at her with a steady gaze and his serious tone grew grimmer as he continued, “You always reappear at the end. You are always standing at the end. Not just in the story of the books, but even beyond that.”

Cecile became convinced by the grim tone that the crown prince believed he had just revealed something secret and of extreme importance. ‘It doesn’t seem like anything I say will get across to this loon.’ Originally, she intended to hear the man out a little and hopefully persuade him to return her to Estian’s side as quickly as possible. However, it turned out he was utterly mad! Bonkers mad! And to make matters worse, he was delusional too! In other words, he was the type you should never get close to.

Pretending to console the blue phoenix, Cecile became determined to buy some time. She trusted that Estian would somehow catch up to them, as long as she could drag out the time. All she needed to do was humor the man and hold a long conversation. Having resolved herself, Cecile asked, “Fine. Let’s assume I am that Ender. So, why are you kidnapping me?”

She was generally curious to hear the answer. If she was as amazing as they made her out to be, why were they trying to take her away instead of sending a letter of praise congratulating on a job well done?

“Well, that’s because I have to take you to the Hyun continent, and there’s no way that emperor would ever send you off nicely. That being the case, what choice do I have but to take you by force?”

“Why do I have to go to the Hyun continent again?” Cecile heard it took a month by boat to cross the sea. Just the thought seemed to inflict her with a queasiness from sea sickness that she had never experienced before. Besides, visiting the Hyun continent wasn’t on her bucket list!