Episode 28
Sofia, clutching her anxiety, ran toward the garden, frantically looking around for Rune’s deep red hair. Even if she couldn’t find his hair, anything would do—as long as she could see some sign that he was safe and sound…
“Young Lady!”
Rucion, who had quickly followed her, grabbed her arm as she looked around with anxious eyes and called out to her.
“It’s okay! They said everyone in the garden has already been evacuated!”
“Ah…”
Upon hearing that both Deplin and Rune were safely inside, Sofia lost all the strength in her body and collapsed to the ground.
Why hadn’t she thought of that? She could’ve checked first whether Rune had been evacuated. There had been no need to come running all the way to the garden…
But she’d been so nervous. Rune’s death had occurred in every single life she’d lived, and that made it all the more terrifying. It felt far more real than the idea that someone who wasn’t fated to die might suddenly perish.
She thought she was fine. She thought she was used to it now. But that wasn’t true. The death of someone—no matter how many times you experienced it—never became familiar. It was never okay.
Even more so now, because something was happening that had never occurred in any of her previous lives.
Meeting a future she didn’t know—nothing was more terrifying than that.
“…I’m sorry.”
“For what? Oh, and by the way, the garden that man mentioned earlier wasn’t this one. He meant the greenhouse. Apparently, he said the wrong thing.”
“It does kind of look like a garden, though,” he added with a chuckle, easing her nerves a little. She placed her hand on the ground for support.
“Since Young Master Joshua went after him, they’ll catch him soon.”
“Right… yeah, they will.”
As she tried to stand, Rucion offered his arm without hesitation to help her up.
Just as she took his support and let her gaze wander briefly toward the flowers, she spotted the Salia—the one she and Rune always admired. But something about it looked strange.
The flower, which should’ve been white, had started to turn red without anyone even touching it, until it was dyed like a crimson rose.
As soon as she realized it, the bloom swelled to a size that could easily swallow a grown adult. Its center opened wide, revealing a hollow, empty void.
There weren’t any monstrous teeth or anything grotesque inside, but it was obvious—it was dangerous. And it was trying to consume her.
Sofia instinctively shook off Rucion’s hand, who had been helping her up, and shoved him hard, out of reach from the flower’s gaping mouth.
Even if it was just a split second, she hoped he would survive.
But Rucion instead grabbed her arm again and pulled her into his embrace.
“…It’s okay.”
He whispered softly and closed his eyes.
The breeze brushing her cheek tickled. The scent of grass on her nose, the feel of it on her skin…
‘…Huh?’
Realizing something was wrong, Sofia slowly opened her eyes and lifted her upper body.
What filled her violet gaze was a picture-perfect view of a vast meadow.
A peaceful countryside with windmills spinning rapidly. A clear blue sky without a single cloud.
No matter how she looked, this wasn’t the garden she had just been in. Blinking in disbelief that she was standing here, she turned to see Rucion approaching.
“Did we die?”
“What? No! Don’t say such scary things. We’re not dead.”
“Then where are we? This looks exactly like something out of a book.”
“Well… let me think… it’s a rural village at the easternmost edge. Gellis.”
Gellis? She had never heard of such a place. If it was in the east, it wasn’t even part of the Roberti lord’s domain.
But the scenery was truly beautiful.
“It’s pretty.”
“There are lots of other pretty places too. Let’s go visit somewhere even nicer next time.”
To Sofia, who was usually not allowed to go outside, those words were sweet as honey. She offered a faint smile to Rucion, who always said kind things to her, and looked around again.
Still—why am I here?
It felt like teleportation. Suspicion filled her gaze as she looked at Rucion. As if he couldn’t handle that look, he scratched his head and muttered.
“Ah, really… I didn’t want to get caught…”
Caught doing what? She continued staring at him, waiting for his explanation. Stammering, he continued.
“It was dangerous, so I had to move us. I mean, I…”
“….”
“I’m…”
He wouldn’t easily say the most important part. But she could already tell. There was only one kind of being who could make something like this happen.
“You’re saying… you’re a mage?”
“…Yeah. I guess that’s right.”
She remembered how he had avoided her gaze when she’d asked whether he knew Lorei was a mage. Now it made sense—he’d been hiding that he was one too.
Why are there so many mages hiding around me?
It even made her wonder if the mage who rewound her time might be lurking nearby too.
“Sigh…”
“…I’m sorry. But my feelings for you have always been sincere. You might not believe me… but still…”
“It’s fine. I don’t really care.”
Hiding his identity as a mage didn’t matter much. There was still fear and hatred toward mages, both in the past and the present, so revealing one’s identity wasn’t easy.
“More importantly, what was that thing just now? That flower…”
Even remembering it made her shudder. The image of a flower opening its mouth as if to devour a person was chilling.
As her hands trembled slightly from the memory, Rucion gently held them and answered.
“It’s a flower called Salia. It grows rapidly and releases a toxic vapor as it matures.”
“Toxic vapor?”
“Yes. The symptoms of Salia’s toxicity resemble a common cold, so it’s hard to recognize.”
“…Then the cold I had…”
“You were probably exposed to the toxin while visiting the garden. I’m sorry. I should’ve noticed.”
Rucion blamed himself, saying if he had realized it sooner, things wouldn’t have come to this.
“When fully grown, Salia recognizes the presence of a mage nearby and tries to consume them, drawing them into its toxin-filled body.”
“….”
“That’s what you almost experienced just now.”
A flower that devours mages. It had reacted because Rucion was near her. She had thought it was fully grown when she saw it with Rune, but apparently not.
“Salia is a flower created by Lord Edmond to kill mages.”
“A mage made a flower that kills mages?”
“Funny, isn’t it? But think about it—why do humans make weapons and poison?”
That shut her up. Humans created weapons to kill each other. Why would mages be any different?
“That’s all there is to it.”
Watching Rucion smile bitterly, Sofia lowered her gaze. Then she asked the question lingering in her mind.
“…Then what about Rune?”
“What?”
“Rune was closer to that flower than I was.”
Rucion opened his mouth as if to answer, then hesitated and closed it again. He seemed to be organizing his thoughts.
“Only specific beings are vulnerable to the toxin.”
He took a deep breath and continued.
“Mages.”
His answer wasn’t satisfying. If the toxin only affected mages, then she shouldn’t have been affected. Unless there was some exception—and Rune fell under it.
But Rucion quickly added, cutting off her concern.
“You’ve always had mages around you—like Lorei, or me.”
“That’s true.”
“Salia mistook you for a mage because of that.”
Meaning, there was no way Rune had been affected.
And Rucion was right. Rune, who had spent more time around the Salia than she had, had shown no signs of illness.
Lorei had never entered the garden when the Salia first bloomed, and Rucion, due to his insistence on keeping a distance, had only seen it once.
The only one regularly around mages—and thus affected—was Sofia.
“…Yeah. I understand.”
Maybe it was the complicated thoughts, but her head began to ache.
But even more than that, one thing bothered her. Why was such a flower in the garden?
Rucion seemed to have the same thought, as he spoke again.
“But that’s strange. There shouldn’t be a Salia here.”
“Rune said someone gave him the seed.”
“Salia can only grow from a special seed that Lord Edmond possesses. No one else could’ve given it to him—not even Edmond himself.”
“Why?”
“He’s not the kind to just hand out seeds to others… and besides, Lord Edmond has been bedridden for years now.”
At that, Sofia tilted her head in confusion. Bedridden? That made no sense.
“What do you mean? He visited the estate more than a month ago.”
“What?”
“I mean before you arrived—Lord Edmond visited this castle himself.”
Rucion shook his head in disbelief.
“That’s impossible…”
But she remembered it clearly. It was the day she collapsed after locking eyes with Edmond—that made it even more unforgettable.
So neither of them could understand what was going on. He hadn’t seemed ill at all.
“I don’t… understand either…”
“Young Lady?”
Sofia’s condition was deteriorating. She had been blinking more frequently, and now her body swayed unsteadily.
Rucion called out to her in alarm, but before she could respond, Sofia closed her eyes. Her already frail body lost all strength and crumpled into the grass.
“Young Lady? Young Lady!”
Having come face-to-face with the fully matured Salia, Sofia’s body had already been thoroughly infected by its toxic vapors.
