Chapter 15

After returning to the academy’s infirmary, Talli lay dazedly on a long sofa.

Because Theresa had fainted on the spot, all the medical staff were frantically busy and crowded into Theresa’s room. This place was quiet and deserted, almost as if Talli had been forgotten.

But that was fine. Talli preferred being alone.

She had just escaped from death and needed a peaceful rest.

At that moment, the door creaked open — “Creak—” — followed by the soft sound of footsteps approaching.

“Hey, are… are you okay?”

An unwelcome voice sounded near her ear.

“……”

The annoying one had arrived.

Talli tugged her blanket up and didn’t even open her eyes. “None of your business.”

“……”

Surprisingly, the other party didn’t argue with her for once.

After a while, something cool was applied to her arm, which was exposed outside the blanket. The skin instantly burned with pain, causing Talli to open her eyes and sit up abruptly.

“What are you doing?” Talli tried to pull her arm back.

“You’re injured.”

Carl pressed her left arm onto his thigh and used his fingers to apply ointment to her wound. “Don’t move! The wound’s already so deep — do you want to die from the pain?”

Only then did Talli realize, now that her strength was coming back, all the pain she had ignored came rushing in. Her brow twitched with each throb.

“I told you to take care of your sister. What are you doing here bothering me? It’s just a small injury — I can handle it myself.”

“This isn’t the only one,” Carl’s hand pressed a little harder. “If you don’t treat your wounds properly in time, they’ll leave scars.”

After saying that, his eyes lingered on the pink scars crisscrossing Talli’s palm. He fell silent.

“That still has nothing to do with you, right?”

Talli knew—he was only acting decent now because Theresa wasn’t around. Their opposing positions meant he always had to go against her.

She had no intention of being nice to him.

“How is it none of my business?”

Carl finished applying the ointment and suddenly stood up, clearly angry. He threw the small bottle of ointment and bandages into her lap, frowning deeply as he glared at her.

“…Aren’t you the same?!”

“What do you mean?”

Talli was confused.

Carl didn’t speak, turning his face away.

Talli wrapped her own bandages, silently repeating to herself,

“…What am I?”

She really couldn’t understand. Was Carl out of his mind?

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

Carl seemed unhappy. He watched Talli clumsily wrap her bandages, his hands a bit awkward. He couldn’t help but scratch his head in frustration, bending down to help her instead.

“I just came to remind you of one thing. Don’t forget, tomorrow evening is when the school’s illusion realm opens. You’re badly injured, and if you want to take time off to rest at home, you need to submit a leave request in time. Otherwise, your credits will be deducted.”

He paused. “The illusion realm is quite difficult, especially for you. It’s dangerous. Although the brooch your father gave you saved you from that beast’s claws… without any magical power, it’s still a bit too much to handle.”

He tied a knot, stood up, and clapped his hands.

“I’m leaving.”

The door gently closed.

Talli, however, looked down at her arm and started to think.

She remembered the plot in the original book, specifically the part about the illusion realm.

In the illusion realm, Mustafa, who had been carried into it, was separated by a barrier from the abyss outside, trapped inside the illusion realm. This created a beautiful two-person moment between the female lead, Theresa, and another male lead — the Lord of the Abyss.

As far as Talli remembered, the original version of her character, Talli, hadn’t participated in the illusion trial because she was too weak, so she had stayed outside, monitored by others, enduring gossip and torment.

She didn’t recall much of the specific plot since the book’s descriptions were scarce.

All she remembered was that, at the time of the final sacrifice, the original Talli’s spirit had completely broken down. Before she died, she had tried to use a knife to threaten Theresa, trying to drag her down with her. Unfortunately, she didn’t even get to touch the hem of the Saintess’s dress before Mustafa’s claws pressed her into the ground, piercing her palm.

She was then dragged to the altar, her blood staining the path.

Enough of that.

Talli slapped her forehead.

Now wasn’t the time to think about that.

The original had no ability to enter the illusion realm, but she might not be the same. Wherever she stayed, it would be better than being watched by Fred’s people, who had been keeping an eye on her every move since the banquet.

Ever since the party, she had noticed a lot more hidden eyes around her.

She felt uneasy.

But first…

Talli sat up from the sofa, putting on her shoes while looking around for something.

Not seeing that figure, she decided to go back to the scene of the accident and check it out again.

Talli didn’t find the brooch in her bag, it was probably dropped somewhere.

Just as she was about to leave, another girl came to visit her and brought her some lunch and milk. Talli remembered that she was the curly-haired girl who had praised her horse-riding skills earlier in the morning, though she still couldn’t remember her name.

While drinking the milk, Talli walked over to the area, noticing that the resting zone was cordoned off, with several teachers standing nearby, taking notes. Someone saw her and waved her over, handing her something wrapped in cloth.

Talli untied the knot and saw that it was a nearly shattered gem brooch.

“Is this yours?” The teacher recognized the owl pattern of the family crest and patted her shoulder, sighing softly. “It’s worth it if it saved your life. You should go rest now.”

Talli twirled the broken ruby between her fingers, squinting one eye as she looked at the sun.

It was just a little past four in the afternoon, and the sun was still beautiful. It was reflected in the gem, casting a dazzling array of colors. The ruby, like a red prism, coated the sky with a dreamlike tint.

Suddenly, a fluffy little animal face appeared in the cut surface of the ruby.

It got close to the gem, startling Talli, causing her to fall back onto the grass. The little fox leapt onto her lap, its front paws resting on her arm, its tail flicking lazily. The expression on its face seemed to say, “What are you doing with this pointless thing?”

Talli pulled the gem away, staring at it for a few seconds. The two—one person and one beast—locked eyes for a while before Talli, seemingly helpless, raised a hand to tousle her hair, surrendering.

“Fine,” she said, as if talking to the fox, or maybe to herself. “Looks like I picked up something extraordinary.”

The fox lifted its chin and turned its face slightly.

“But—”

Talli’s tone suddenly turned serious. She looked at the lazy creature and said seriously, “Next time, don’t jump onto me.”

“…”

“Do you know how heavy you are?”

“…” The fox seemed slightly annoyed.

“And I’m still injured.” Talli rolled up her sleeve and extended her arm toward it. “Look, I’m still wearing a bandage…”

Before she finished speaking, as she moved her arm, the little fox took a half step back, its back paw accidentally landing right on the injured spot on her right leg.

Talli inhaled sharply.

The culprit looked completely unconcerned, its ruby-like eyes turning to gaze at the sky.

“…”

Talli initially wanted to scold it, but she couldn’t help being captivated by those beautiful eyes.

Such pure, flawless red pupils were even more beautiful and clear than the sky she had just seen through the shattered gem.

“…Dusk.”

Talli suddenly spoke.

The little fox hesitated for a moment, then gently turned its head back to look into her eyes, seemingly puzzled by what she had said.

“This morning, someone asked me what your name is,” Talli said. “I hadn’t thought of one at that time, but now I suddenly have an idea.”

“The name I’m giving you is ‘Dusk.'”

The sky at dusk, filled with evening glow, is the same color as its eyes.

The more Talli thought about it, the more she liked the name. She raised her hand, gently rubbed its cheek, and quickly withdrew her hand before it could react.

“I’ll have the craftsman carve your name onto your collar later,” Talli thought for a moment and added, “We’ll do it tomorrow.”

The fox sat still on her lap for a while, and when it seemed to realize, it appeared quite angry. The air around it grew tense. It lifted its paw and knocked over the milk next to her, then lightly jumped off her lap and gracefully swished its tail as it left.

—

In order to prepare for the dangers of the Illusion Realm, Talli went to the market, sold some jewelry, and bought magic marbles and defensive formations.

She also spent a little money enchanting some of the items she made. This way, the weapons she launched would have greater power and higher attack strength.

She had dealt with such things in her past life, and her interest had driven her to study them deeply. Now, tinkering with them felt much easier.

Her mind was still sharp.

This reassured her.

No matter which world she was in, this was her skill, and no one could take it away.

While waiting idly at the front desk of a leather-sculpting shop that also did gemstone repairs, Talli took out the broken defensive brooch from her pocket and wondered if the shop could fix it.

The things given to her by the Fred family weren’t ordinary items. She felt regretful that it had been damaged.

The shopkeeper peered at the brooch through a single-lens magnifier for a while before shaking his head.

“The damage is too severe. Most importantly… the gemstone is too precious. We don’t have the materials, and we can’t guarantee we can restore it to its original state.”

Talli sighed in regret.

“Ah, miss?”

A gentle, refined voice spoke beside her.

Talli looked up to see the young man slightly bowing his head toward her. His slightly curled hair gently rested against his cheek, his white robe pristine, and his indigo eyes showed a hint of surprise when he saw her.

“What a coincidence, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Mm.”

“Are you here to have something repaired?”

“Yes.”

She had expected him to say something like “I hope we won’t meet again,” but it seemed he didn’t remember that conversation.

Talli prepared to leave the counter.

However, Ryan seemed to take a strong interest in the broken gemstone in her hand, and his words stopped Talli in her tracks:

“With the toughness of this gemstone, ordinary methods wouldn’t be able to cause any damage to it.”

Talli halted and turned around, seeing the puzzled expression on the priest’s face: “…Moreover, this gemstone brooch is the emblem of the Fred family, right? To be damaged to this extent…”

Talli asked, “Do you know how it was damaged?”

“What?” The priest paused before asking.

“If what you said is true,” Talli lowered her head, looking at the shattered ruby, its jagged edges sharp and wrapped in a soft handkerchief.

“…Can you determine what kind of force would be needed to shatter it like this?”

“I can’t draw any conclusions right now,” the priest shook his head, “All I can say is that this level of damage definitely wasn’t caused by simple pressure or falling.”

Talli thought of Mustafa: “What if it was caused by a magic beast?”

“A magic beast?” Ryan hesitated slightly.

“In a battle, if the brooch was caught in the power of a magic beast… could that be possible?”

“It depends on the type of magic beast,” Ryan said, extending his hand toward her. “Miss, if you don’t mind, could you temporarily lend it to me? I’d like to take it back and study it… perhaps I can give you an answer in a while.”

Talli tightened her grip on the gemstone brooch, thought for two seconds, and then gently placed it in Ryan’s palm.

“Thank you,” Talli said, “I’ll leave it to you then.”

“You’re welcome.”

The priest was momentarily stunned, then smiled.

However, before leaving, he added one more thing to Talli: “Even with high-level magic beasts, unless the brooch directly takes their attack head-on, it would be difficult for it to be shattered to this extent. Miss, if it really was… I hope you’ll be extra careful in the future.”