* * *

Sarah, no, Park Hyeyeon opened her closed eyes. Tears were flowing endlessly in both of her eyes. Hyeyeon, who was slowly blinking and shedding tears, soon staggered out of her seat.

“……It was this. I remember not being able to return to this body, and not remembering anything when I woke up in Sarah Millen’s body.”

She smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks with both hands. She was afraid. Even if she turns back time, will she ever be able to fall in love with Ethan again? Can she make Claude happy this time? Even though she made all the hints until just before turning back time, she was so afraid that it was hard for her to even breathe.

“Well done……, you did a great job, me.”

But it was fine now. Claude succeeded in transforming Ambrosia’s power into healing power. The power of Ambrosia was the power to achieve what you longed for. Perhaps it was Claude’s strong will and his longing for not wanting to lose Sarah that led to such a result. With only that power, Claude would not repeat the terrible future that Park Hyeyeon saw last time.

“I miss the Duke.”

If she could go back, she wanted to confess everything and be praised by him. Maybe he’ll smile sweetly and say Sarah is a great person. She missed that low voice and warm embrace so much that she couldn’t bear it.

“Before that……”

She took out Oliven’s soulstone, which was shaking in her arms. She seemed to know all the reasons why she had written ‘I want to slap him so bad’ on her notebook. That was why the tone was so stilted. It was all because of this guy that there were scars left by black magic all over the continent. Black magic was the power to defy time and providence. That was why even when she turned back time, it still remained there.

“I bet you saw it too. Because you took part of my soul and brought it here……”

As if answering her words, Oliven’s soulstone wept bitterly. Hyeyeon cut off the back of the teddy bear left in the bedroom and put Oliven’s soulstone in it. Then, the threads of the doll entangled themselves and filled the gaps.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

She asked, looking at the teddy bear, and the teddy bear dripped tears down its black eyes, as if it were alive.

-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Master…… I was wrong, ah ah, ahhhhhh…….

The teddy bear sat down and screamed. Through Sarah’s soul, Oliven saw all of her past. What she did before turning back time. How unhappy his master became and how desperate she was. Oliven, who shared all his senses with her soul, felt like vomiting even while confined to the doll’s body. It was disgusting, it was terrible, it felt like his heart was being ripped out by despair he had never tasted before.

-How, how can I, to Master……, how……

He thought it was just complaining. Because his master was kind, because she was strong, this level of grumbling could be tolerated. This would only be enough to tickle his master. He had been thinking that way all along. He must have thought so in the past. But he only realized after sharing a soul with his master and feeling her pain as if it were his. There were things that she couldn’t do before because she had great power, and because of that, she lost the despair of not being able to protect her loved ones. It was unbearably disgusting and disgusting for Oliven to have made it with his own hands.

-What, what I did……, Master, I……! Aaaaargh!

Oliven’s soulstone inside the teddy bear could not withstand the impact and began to break apart. Oliven struggled with soul-crushing pain, but Sarah’s despair he had just tasted made him even more painful.

“……”

Hyeyeon just listened to Oliven’s desperate cry. Her foolish disciple must have felt for the first time the despair she had been through.

“When I go back to Sarah Millen’s body, I’m going to leave you here.”

-……Heuk, heuuuk……

“When Park Hyeyeon’s body dies, if only a faint fragment of your soul remains until then, you can return to your original body.”

Perhaps for nearly a lifetime, Oliven would no longer be able to face his master. For a lonely child, there would be no worse punishment for him than this.  In this way, he would chew on the pain of his master he caused, and even if he fell down in despair, Sarah, who comforted him and raised him up by holding his hand, would no longer exist in this world.

“That’s the last chance I will give you.”

Hyeyeon raised her hand and covered the eyes of the weeping teddy bear. Then Oliven’s screaming voice could no longer be heard. Hyeyeon’s face hardened heavily when she saw the back of the doll, who had returned to the normal teddy bear, again.

“……”

The soulstone, which had been clean without a single scratch, was cracked here and there and looked miserable. At this rate, perhaps Oliven’s soul would perish before Hyeyeon Park’s body could end her life.

“……That’s also your share.”

Hyeyeon muttered in a cold voice and put the teddy bear with Oliven’s soulstone down on the desk. And she looked at the notebook she was writing.

‘You no longer have to proceed with your work in the midst of a misunderstanding of memory.’

The last sentence stuck in her eyes for a long, long time. Now she had to wait. May Claude and Ethan call her back to that world. She will eagerly wait until they desperately want her back. Just as Claude’s desires were transformed into healing powers, Ethan, she believed, could do the same.

“I miss you, Duke, Young Master Claude.”

Her voice, murmuring like a sigh, spread bitterly. It was the beginning of a long wait. But it wasn’t hopeless. Because she wouldn’t just wait with her hands off.

“I should try everything I can”

Sarah had Oliven. No, to be precise, it was the old black magic power that Oliven had learned at will.

“I’ll be able to give them a little bit of a hint.”

* * *

The continent’s peace was broken. Led by the Blight Empire, the principality of Senia and the Kingdom of Domeruls declared war on the Crombell Empire in turn. They united as an alliance under the name of the Continental Army and tried to punish the Crombell Empire in the name of God.

“All you have to do is hand over the body of the evil First Prince, but it is clear that the Emperor of Crombell has finally lost his mind!”

“Just because of his son’s corpse, the blood of the Crombell Empire will be shed!”

Everyone spat and cursed at Emperor Crombell’s foolish decision. The magic tower hid itself again, expressing ‘deep regret’ for the Emperor’s decision. As a result, Crombell became an enemy of the entire continent as an empire that worshiped black magic. Under these circumstances, the countries with which they normally interacted had no justification to reach out to Crombell. The Crombell Empire randomly dragged untrained young men into the battlefield to increase the number of soldiers it lacked.

“Not my son……, no, Sir Knight!”

“Be honored to be able to devote himself to Crombell as an Imperial soldier when the Empire is at stake!”

“My son is only fifteen, so please take me with you! Aargh!”

“Mother, Father!”

The wails of parents who lost their sons were heard all over the place. And it was ruthless to the extent that it did not cover the status.

“Isn’t that too much? Why should my son, who is alive and well, be taken to his extremities because of the Emperor’s dead son?”

“Heuk heuk, I’m not getting any reply from my fiancé. The last news was that he was badly injured in the last battle! Ah ah, Sir Zurby……”

“This time, it is said that the second son of Viscount Bellucci’s family was taken prisoner by the Blight Empire…… The Viscountess Bellucci is said to have lost her mind when she heard the news.”

Even in the social world, there was a vicious atmosphere every day. The dissatisfaction of the nobles who lost their precious ones on the battlefield was, of course, directed to the Emperor, whose judgment became clouded.

“This is crazy. We must hand over the corpse of the criminal Kazer de Crombell and stop this war.”

The Third Prince, Eleon de Crombell, was forever expelled from the Imperial Palace for offering sincere advice to the Emperor.

“All military power is handed over to the Second Prince, Ilior de Crombell. If you protect your older brother’s corpse, this throne will be yours!”

And the Second Prince, Ilior de Crombell, seized the opportunity. However―.

“……”

Even though he was closer than anyone else to the long-awaited throne, Ilior’s hard face did not know how to relax. He, too, was vaguely aware. The Crombell Empire fell into the greatest crisis in the history of the Empire, and the cause was the Emperor who had completely gone mad.

“Was Ethan Ambrosia…… able to abandon the Empire without much regret because he knew this would happen?”

The Second Prince Ilior muttered in such a bitter voice and headed to the middle of the war. That was how a year passed.

“It’s been a year since the Continental War broke out.”

“I heard that the Continental Army occupied the castle of the Marquis of Bollun last night.”

“Heok, the castle of the Marquis of Bollun is the closest estate to the capital! How can they do that already!”

“The momentum of the Continental Army is terrifying. It won’t be a problem that the capital will fall soon.”

“My family has already planned to leave the capital.”

“What do you mean leaving the capital?”

“It is easy to leave the capital……, in a situation where you have fled from your territory.”

The nobles who had gathered in the capital trembled with anxiety and could not sleep comfortably for a day. It was the same not only for the nobles, but also for the refugees of the Empire who had fled to the capital. The momentum of the Continental Army was so fierce that, within a year, the Crombell Empire Army could not develop its momentum and began to collapse.

“Come to think of it, is there still any news about the Duke of Ambrosia?”

“Rumor has it that he avenged the loss of the Great Elder in the magic tower.”

“Oh my, the rumors I heard say that he became a naturalized citizen to another kingdom because he was disappointed in His Majesty the Emperor?”

Among the nobles, there were constant rumors about Ethan Ambrosia’s whereabouts. However, unlike the rumors of those nobles, other rumors were spreading among Crombell’s people.

“If you want to live, go to the monster’s forest, not the capital. If you go there, you will be protected by Ambrosia.”

“Are you sure of that? But isn’t the monster’s forest right next to the Alton Estate that became the land of death? They say that even the Continental Army is afraid and avoids it……”

“So we have to go there even more. Haven’t you heard that Duke Ethan Ambrosia embraces the people of the Empire who lost their way to war?”

“The Ambrosia family is missing, isn’t it?”

“Where will he leave the Crombell Empire? He couldn’t rebel against the Emperor, nor defend the First Prince who used black magic, so he chose to cover the Emperor’s eyes and protect the people.”

Refugees from the Crombell Empire who could not head to the capital heard rumors one by one and headed to Alton Estate. And in the middle of the monster’s forest, adjacent to Alton Estate.

“Father, Nanny still hasn’t woken up today.”

“……Let’s wait. She promised she’d be back, so she’ll definitely be back. Sarah doesn’t lie.”

The two father and son were guarding the magician who did not open her eyes.