CH 68.1

“Do you mean that I can do something to save him?”

Isabella asked urgently as she glanced up at Ifrit.

“Listen carefully. I told you earlier that I would give you the details afterward, right?”

Isabella couldn’t remember much because she was too distracted.

But that wasn’t the point now.

“Please tell me how to save this man, Ifrit?”

“If you cross that boundary, you can turn back time three years before I was brought here.”

“Three years ago–”

“Yes. You can go back to the day you possessed Isabella’s body. To revive someone who died before I was brought here, we must return to three years ago. Every King and Queen of Spirit had a special clock that could turn back time, but it could only be used once. After that, people’s memories will also be erased in the past three years.”

Isabella’s blue eyes widened in shock.

“All those memories in the past three years will be erased?”

“Yes.”

“Me too? Am I going to forget everything that happened in the last three years?”

“A spirit’s memory is indelible. People with powerful energy wouldn’t have their memory erased. If you aren’t one of them, I will tell you what you need to know, who you love. But….”

Ifrit’s eyes turned to Duke Kyar as he lay in Isabella’s arms.

“Unfortunately, this man would lose his memories of you in the past three years.”

It didn’t matter.

It wouldn’t matter if Duke Kyar didn’t remember her as long as he survives.

All she cared about was that he lived and breathed.

“It’s all right.”

“Since the Demon King is dead, the boundary between these worlds will be closed soon.  We have to be there before that happens.” Ifrit said urgently.

Isabella’s hands trembled as she caressed Duke Kyar’s face for the last time.

Then, he closed his lids carefully.

“I’ll see you again, Isabella. For sure.”

Ifrit uttered it as a spell, and Isabella fell into her arms in a snap of a finger.

The Spirit of Fire exited the large window and flew towards a small gap in the boundary.

**

The clock was ticking fast, and Isabella lost consciousness.

She heard a solemn voice calling her name.

“Bella! Isabella!”

Isabella’s stomach growled.

When she opened her eyes, a familiar cabin entered her vision.

Blinking slowly, Isabella leaped to her feet.

Memories of the Archduke remained clear in her head.

It wasn’t erased when Ifrit turned back the time.

Did she go back to that time three years ago?

Was Duke Kyar alive?

The thought made Isabella impatient.

She would only feel relieved if she saw him with her own two eyes.

Isabella’s head spun when she tried to get up.

This was precisely how she felt three years ago, the first time she opened her eyes and possessed Isabella’s body.

Everything seemed similar.

It was also a moment when she realized that she would die of hunger.

She staggered, but a large red wing enveloped her from behind.

Was it Ifrit?

Isabella looked over her shoulder and saw a giant red bird.

Was it a phoenix?

The firebird?

Bewildered, she stared at the bird almost the same height as her.

She had never seen such a big bird in her life.

“Isabella, are you alright?” The big red bird asked her gravely, and it sounded familiar.

She saw Duke Kyar’s face at that moment, and she couldn’t breathe.

She heard that the Archduke trained by absorbing cold air around him as if he was in a deep sleep.

He was probably in that state now.

Now, she realized that his body was frozen during his training when she first met him.

This was her chance to examine him to her heart’s content.

Wait a minute.

A bird with that tone?

“Hey, are you… Ignis?” Isabella asked, surprised.

Ignis nodded and stretched his wings wide.

He raised his chin proudly as he looked at Isabella.

“Well, are you Ignis?”

“Right! I’m Ignis! It’s fortunate that I still have my memories, Isabella. How do I look? I look cool, right?”

Ignis was supposed to be a large phoenix, but Isabella had no idea he would be this big.

The small cabin near them shook every time Ignis flapped his wings.