Chapter 245: Wonderland – 48

Chapter 245: Wonderland – 48

Lumie, upon waking, immediately cloaked herself in Arno’s illusion. It had become a habit over the past twenty years, and the transformation was instantaneous.

As soon as she assumed Arno’s appearance, someone opened the door to the lighting room.

It was Karen.

Seeing him sprawled on the floor, she shouted down the hallway.

“Guys, I’ve found Director Arno!”

They were apparently just starting to search the surrounding area for people.

Time flowed differently between Wonderland and the surface, so the difference between her return and the previous team’s arrival was less than 30 seconds.

Lumie abruptly stood up.

Wonderstein had promised to follow right behind. Considering the time difference between there and here, he should have surfaced by now as well.

However, as soon as she stood up, a dizzying spell of vertigo hit her.

Her body burned as if in a fever. It was no surprise, given that her body had once been frozen solid due to the Reaper’s curse.

“Director, are you okay?”

Karen, alarmed, moved to help her, but at that moment, Ella’s voice echoed from downstairs.

“We’ve found him! Our Director!”

“Really? Director Wonderstein?”

Lumie brushed off Karen’s helping hand and headed for the stairs.

“Move aside. I need to go down.”

Her body was in such a state that it wouldn’t be surprising if she collapsed at any moment.

She wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest, but confirming that Wonderstein had returned safely was her top priority.

The backstage area was already crowded with people. They were gathered around Wonderstein, who was lying on the floor.

“What happened?”

Arno urgently asked. Ella, checking his pulse and breathing, shook her head.

“I don’t know. His body seems fine... but he won’t respond no matter how much I call.”

Lumie sighed inwardly.

It had already been a minute since she returned. That meant nearly two hours had passed there.

He should have been back by now. But his body remained motionless, as if his soul had vacated it.

Two, three minutes passed.

Lumi instinctively knew what had happened and closed her eyes tightly.

He had failed.

The image of his last smile flashed before her eyes.

­-Go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you.

Damn bastard.

Tears welled up in Lumie’s eyes.

His promise to return together had been a lie to reassure her.

He had intended to sacrifice himself to save her all along.

‘You jerk. Did you think I’d feel at peace if you left like this?!’

She recalled him standing protectively in front of her, facing the fearsome Reaper.

Lumie bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, trying to hold back her tears.

The others, unaware of what had transpired, were relieved to see everyone safe and exchanged smiles.

They believed Wonderstein would wake up soon, not realizing there was a problem because he appeared unhurt.

Their innocent and ignorant peace made her grief even harder to bear.

Just when she thought she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, he suddenly opened his eyes.

“He’s awake!”

“Director!”

Wonderstein lifted his head and looked around at the people surrounding him.

When he saw Arno among them, he sighed in relief and immediately began acting.

“Ugh, my head... What happened? The stage suddenly started shaking...”

Lumie almost burst into laughter at his audacity.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and glared at him.

How could he make her worry like this?

She flashed a lenticular message before his eyes.

­’What happened? Why did it take so long?’

­’Long? What...’

“Hmph, indeed. It’s been a while since I felt like this. Thanks to you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t found me back then, I’d still be stuck in a dream world.”

Lumie recalled what Oberon had said to her.

For twenty years, she as fairy hid in a illusion world.

The remark was spot on.

She lost her wings due to the pain of heartbreak, cut off contact with her friends, built walls between herself and the world, and lived alone.

Those years amounted to twenty long years.

The characteristic childishness and stubbornness of a fairy had taken a bad turn.

If there hadn’t been someone to pull her out, she would have lived like that until she died.

“Thank you. The week in Wonderland made me feel like myself again after a long time.”

“You could keep living like that, couldn’t you, ‘Lumie’?”

At his ticklish whisper, Lumie blushed.

Honestly, this guy is a master at charming women.

“Sh-shut up! It’s ‘Director Arno’! Get on with what you were doing!”

“Haha, understood.”

“Don’t laugh!”

“I’m always laughing, though?”

“Liar! In front of Kirku......”

“Well, then, please place your hand on my body.”

“Hmph. You don’t want to hear any embarrassing stories about yourself, huh? Here!”

She brought her hand to his mouth.

It was a thoughtless action.

She chose the exposed face because he needed to make physical contact to use his power.

But she overlooked what was on her palm.

Was the movement that followed really just a coincidence, or did her subconscious play a role?

The moment she placed her palm on his mouth, the lips on it sealed his mouth and slipped a tongue inside.

Then it bit down on his lips.

She realized the sensations climbing up from her palm were the same as those in her mouth and tongue, and she jumped in shock.

“Huh? Aaah! Hey, what’s going on......You, you......What did you do!”

“I was more surprised. This feels really weird. I never thought I’d be kissed by a ‘palm mouth’.”

“Who said it was a kiss! M-my hand moved on its own! Forget about it! A kiss should be done properly later......”

“Later?”

“No, no! That’s, um, well......! Hey, I said stop laughing! It’s not like that!”

Wonderstein laughed heartily, watching Lumie’s face turn bright red and her antennae perk up.

Just then, a bell rang from the stage.

It seemed the preparations for the play were complete.

A clown and five acrobats climbed onto the stage.

The three leaders took their places for their respective roles.

Just as the performance was about to begin again, the hall doors burst open, and the Marquis’s secretary rushed in.

“My Lord!”

His face was pale. The expressions of those following him were equally grim.

The acrobats recognized them.

They had seen them before the premiere.

They were experts in ancient texts and artifacts invited by the Marquis to authenticate the script.

“I told you not to come in without my permission.”

“My Lord...It’s urgent...It seems we’ll have to cancel tonight’s banquet and press conference.”

“What do you mean?”

The secretary, with a troubled expression, spoke.

“Well...the thing is...the authentication results...the script...was found to be fake.”

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Chapter 244: Wonderland – 47