Who Stole The Empress

***

[ … ah… hmm… noah… hmm…]

[Yes…yes…Kera…]

[I’m …… wino………. lar. ………….]

She heard very distant and unfamiliar voices.

It was a voice that flowed from beyond her distant memories that she had never thought of.

The voice, which struck and chilled her in some unknown way, sounded like it was singing or even whispering.

But the strange thing was that even though it was not a loud sound, it pierced her ears.

‘What the hell is this sound?’

Roselyn managed to lift her sleepy eyelids, twitching her ears.

She thought she was hearing a foreign language she didn’t know.

But no matter how much she heard, she had no idea what the language was.

It wasn’t Tamon’s voice………..

Roselyn woke up with sluggish, blinking eyes.

At that moment, a gentle, warm hand gently patted her head.

Roselyn looked up and saw ‘someone’ stroking her head.

It was strange. There was definitely a shape, but the face looked like a whitish watercolor.

She panicked and opened her mouth and a voice that was not hers at all came out.

Nyaa. This was a definite animal cry. It was a very cute and charming sound of a baby animal.

“Shh.”

The “she” who had been patting Roselyn’s head raised a finger.

No, to be honest, Roselyn couldn’t even tell if it was a “she”. She could see ‘her’, but ‘she’ was scattered like a shimmer, and she had no idea what ‘she’ looked like. 

Even the voice she heard was difficult to distinguish between male and female. But still, the master of the hand stroking her head seemed to be a “she”. 

‘…Is it a dream?’

When she thought to herself, she must be dreaming something strange, then the voice, which had sounded like a foreign language, began to sound more and more vivid.

 [You’re dancing to the max, but the damage level is much greater.]

 [Yes! If we leave it like this, I think the demons of Tumulus will try to eat that world!] 

[If you take your eyes off them for a moment, they make ‘gaps’ all over the place…it’s so diligent.]

When Roselyn heard the ‘similar’ voices clearly, each one of them had their own personality. The first voice was meek, while the next one seemed to be holding back its anger.

 The last voice was strangely full of water. It was too unfamiliar to be a dream.

Weren’t dreams originally based on something you knew or imagined?

While Roselyn was unsettled, “she” who had been stroking her head said in a gentle voice: 

[It’s a natural result since they’re tearing up the barrier. But I think the bigger problem is that their interest in ‘that world’ has disappeared.]

At a word from her or him, all the voices fell silent.

Then Roselyn caught sight of them.

There was no table, but seven chairs, each towering at a different height, and there they “were”.

In a way they were very far away, in a way they were very close, but they were glowing with their own colors, without their exact appearance appearing.

The being who had been stroking Roselyn’s head said to the multicolored lights,

[Please don’t feel so uncomfortable. I invited you here to finish this matter.]

[……… finish?]

[Tumulus’ dogs will eventually break the gap to feed on our remaining “talented”. If you leave power halfway there, something halfway there will interrupt you. Are you about letting go of ‘that world’?]

[…… No. It means it’s time to make it an ‘independent world’.]

[Independence?]

[The seeds we sowed have finally sprouted. It’s time to harvest them. Wouldn’t it be better to leave it alone to create a world entirely on its own, rather than leave it as it is and let Tumulus’ dogs consume it?]

[Can you tell me exactly what kind of harvest this is? The child we had been watching began to collect the “relics.” What that child wants is to eliminate ‘Hormus’ influence forever.]

The air buzzed quietly with her words.

The blue light that had been watching intently said.

[If we can use the device to make a direct appearance, then we can completely collect the ‘talented’ we’ve spread. Yes. My child is there, I can collect it through him. If only you would give me the authority to do so.]

At her last words the light shapes sank quietly.

But after a moment, one of them jumped up.

[The conversation was over, wasn’t it? I will give the ticket to you.]

The red light handed her something and disappeared from her seat.

The other lights then promptly made their decisions. All the ‘they’ that left similar words disappeared.

Only ‘the being’ that had been holding Roselyn, on the floor and ceiling unknown, remained.

With a soft hand, ‘she’ patted Roselyn’s head lightly.

“It’s your turn now, child.”

She said, not in their language, but in a language familiar to Roselyn.

“If you live, your memories will grow again, and the things you love will grow each time.”

Roselyn began to feel sleepy as ‘she’ sang the words to her.

“It’s only when you’ve experienced great sorrow that the small and trivial things become important. Yes, you know it well enough……”

The voice that passed was very gentle and reminded Roselyn of her mother.

Her voice was very similar to her mother’s voice when she was a little girl singing lullabies to her.

“I like the story of you getting back up even after losing everything.”

“Ah…..”

Roselyn wanted to talk to ‘her’.

She wanted to ask if this was really a dream, ‘who are you and why am I having this dream?’

But ‘she’ did not listen to Roselyn’s voice.

‘She’ just smiled quietly, as if ‘she’ didn’t need to hear it.

“What’s important is that time passes.”

The whispering voice became more and more distant.

“…Time is a force that gives sorrow and joy their fair share. What is more important than memories and remembrances is to accept them as your own and move forward.”

Finally, Roselyn’s eyes flickered shut.

“Go on, child. To your…”

When Roselyn opened her eyes at a slow speed, a certain moment the space changed.

‘…… What is this, another dream?’

The blinding light and “she” disappeared, and Roselyn came to a familiar place.

When she was a child, she had caught a bad cold.

It was then that she saw her mother, who had nursed her through the night.

She could also see young Cain peeking into the room from behind the slightly opened door. Her mother whispered to her as she placed a cold towel on top of her forehead.

“It’s okay, Rosie. You’re strong. I’m sure all the pain will pass.”

“…Mother.”

It was a word she had never called her. Her mother smiled affectionately and patted Roselyn’s forehead. 

It was almost impossible to distinguish the voice of ‘she’ from that of ‘mother.’ But the hand stroking her forehead was so nostalgic and gentle that Roselyn didn’t want to let it go. As if to comfort Roselyn’s heart, a large hand stroked her cheek. 

“Rosie, be brave and open your eyes… you have something new and precious, don’t you?”

Roselyn reached out her hand, struggling. Then she hastily seized the hand that had been caressing her cheek. 

Fortunately, the warmth didn’t disappear and stayed on her cheek. The gentle fingertips gently rubbed her cheek. 

At that moment, Roselyn opened her eyes. The entity of warmth faced her right in front of her. It had red eyes as beautiful as jewels.

 “…Tamon?”

“You’re awake.”

For the first few seconds she was in a daze.

She felt like she was wandering around in a dream she didn’t understand and then forcibly brought back to reality.

It wasn’t just a feeling.

“Are you okay? You didn’t wake up.”

Tamon, who had been staring at Roselyn, asked in a low voice.

Hearing his voice, a sense of reality flooded in.

It was a voice that clearly distinguished the boundary between dreams and reality.

Her hands trembled as she grasped for reality, and she couldn’t help but squeeze Tamon’s hand with all the strength she could muster.

“I’m not going anywhere, so you don’t have to grab it so tightly.”

Tamon spoke slowly, as if teasing, and kissed her cheek.

The red eyes that loomed in front of her were full of affection.

The large hand caressing her cheek was the exact hand that had caressed her in her dream.

“Rosie… Didn’t you find something new and precious?”

The voice she had heard in her dream filled her mind again.

Her heart pounded as if she had been reborn.

Her neck, bandaged, was heavy with pain.

The unfamiliar and awkward emotions surged through her all at once, as if the dam had broken.

“Asha….?”

Roselyn pushed the handsome man away.

‘A new and important one…….’

As she looked at Tamon’s handsome face, she felt her face grow strangely redder and redder.

 ‘Did it happen?’

She tried to deny it so hard that it was ridiculous, an unfamiliar and gentle emotion flowing in like water.

“Please…..”

“Tell me anything.”

“Please leave me alone for a moment.”

She could see Tamon’s panicked face. Roselyn sighed and pulled the covers over her. It was time to organize her mind.