CHAPTER~08
The Witch’s Tomb (5)
Around the same time.
Inside the secret passage within the tomb.
Kyrus and I had to pass through the maze-like corridors in every direction to avoid the “woman.”
The woman spun her head like the blades of a fan.
Her hair was so long that as her head rotated a full 365 degrees, her hair whipped around like a flag.
Every time that hair brushed against my body, it tried to strangle my neck.
It happened dozens of times.
Even worse, my vision had been pure white the entire time we ran.
All I could see was endlessly smooth, white stone, over and over.
Honestly, I thought I was going to develop a mental disorder while running away.
Still, Kyrus showed off his nimble footwork as he darted around.
Thanks to him, we managed to shake off the ghost-like woman before long.
We finally reached a mysterious room located at the end of the passage.
Only then could Kyrus and I catch our breath.
Cold sweat trickled down my neck, and I had to keep wiping it with my hand.
But my situation aside, I felt a little guilty toward Kyrus.
He had to carry me while running, so he must have been several times more exhausted.
And indeed, he was gasping far harder than I was.
I bent my knees slightly and approached Kyrus cautiously.
“Um, you’re… not okay, right?”
“N-no, no, hoo… Any man of the Amir Empire should be able to carry a woman or two. Ahaha…!”
“Your arms are shaking, though.”
“…Y-you must be mistaken. You saw wrong.”
Saw wrong?
Your arms are trembling like they’re stuck inside a massage machine.
A moment ago, he’d sounded so confident, insisting he could carry me and run with no problem.
Sweat collected on his bangs and streamed down under his eyes, so much that he almost looked like he was crying.
When I looked at him with sympathy, Kyrus cleared his throat.
“Ahem, well, let’s set aside such trivial matters. Do you think the woman chasing us is gone now?”
“Probably.”
“Then now…….”
Kyrus looked at me with a mix of curiosity and caution.
“May I ask why a lady like you is alone in such a dangerous place?”
I tried to keep my expression calm while my mind spun rapidly.
‘I need to get through this as naturally as possible. And leave a good impression while I’m at it.’
Kyrus would soon become the Chancellor.
In the Amir Empire, the Chancellor was equivalent to a Prime Minister in Korea.
And Kyrus was also the one who would save the dying world.
If I remembered correctly from the debut novel, he played a major role—preventing a plague outbreak, stopping a massive swarm of insects, things like that.
Someone who prevented crises like those must not be allowed to die.
If he were harmed here, then even if I escaped from Kallio safely, my life wouldn’t be peaceful.
Anyway.
A future Chancellor-in-training like Kyrus wouldn’t be here to rob a tomb.
He must have come for research or sightseeing.
The Kyrus I designed was kind, curious, and especially obsessed with magic.
‘If that’s the case, our goals might overlap.’
I studied his expression and opened my mouth.
“I heard there’s a mana stone here called the ‘Awakening Stone.’”
“…The Awakening Stone?”
“Yes. They say even non-mages can use magic if they possess it.”
And since I was lying anyway, I decided to make my story similar to his.
“So I wanted to study the stone.”
Ah, lies are fine as long as they’re not caught.
Fortunately, my crude improvisation seemed correct because Kyrus’ expression immediately brightened.
“Ah, I see! I also came to find that stone for research. Did you also read about it in a book, like I did?”
“Yes, well… something like that. I like studying. I skimmed through the , read the , and lately I’ve been interested in magic tools, so I just finished reading .”
I spewed out lies without hesitation, even though back in university, before possessing this body, I’d been on academic probation.
While I was busy sacrificing my conscience for future survival, Kyrus fidgeted with his fingers and kept fanning himself.
No way.
‘Did he already realize I’m lying?’
As I became nervous from his unreadable reaction, Kyrus finally spoke.
“Ah, um. Sorry. It’s just a bit hot. Please don’t mind it.”
Hard not to mind when your face looks like it’s been roasted over a fire.
But something seemed to be bothering him, and he tilted his head.
“But if you’re searching for the Awakening Stone for research, are you a scribe? But in the Amir Empire, we don’t have female scribes.”
“…….”
“May I ask what institution you belong to?”
“Well, I’m actually… the Empress.”
“…What?”
A suffocating silence followed.
Given my status, it was only a matter of time before my identity was exposed, so I revealed it immediately.
Kyrus’ bright expression shifted into something unreadable.
His eyes and mouth widened as he repeatedly covered and uncovered his mouth with his hand—like a malfunctioning robot.
Come to think of it, why didn’t a scribe like him know who I was?
‘Ah, right.’
Before and during the wedding, I was wearing a veil.
And after the wedding, I had only been in the underground prison, the bath, and the Empress’ Palace.
Kyrus, a man and still only a scribe, would have no chance to see my face.
He may have heard rumors of the Empress, but never knew that the rumored figure was me.
“Are you… the one who spent the first night with His Majesty the Emperor?”
Kyrus whispered to himself.
Yes, that’s me.
I wanted to say it, but it was too embarrassing, so I held back.
In the silence, Kyrus tapped the floor lightly with the soles of his feet.
His mysterious behavior made me tense for no reason.
But the thing is—
‘I don’t have time for this…’
Thinking about the incense burning away like my lifeline made my stomach twist.
Honestly, impressing the male lead mattered less than finding the Awakening Stone quickly.
I needed the stone to escape safely from that bastard husband, Kallio.
First things first—find the Awakening Stone.
‘The Awakening Stone.’
Like I told Kyrus, that stone allowed even non-mages to use magic.
But the magic granted by it was extremely special.
Normally, when a non-mage used a magic tool, they could temporarily use “ordinary magic.”
For example, using a wind-related magic tool would let them conjure a large gust of wind once.
But the Awakening Stone was different.
If someone became its owner, they could freely use the “Unique Magic” engraved within it.
Unlike ordinary magic, Unique Magic could only be used by one person in the entire world.
That’s why it was also called an “Ability.”
In short, acquiring the Awakening Stone meant becoming an ability-user.
‘This was a setting I used not only in the debut novel but in every story afterward.’
So finding the stone was extremely important to me.
Leaving the shocked Kyrus behind, I began examining the room.
The room looked like a puppet theater stage.
There was a raised platform at the center, and above it hung a portrait.
‘The person in that portrait… Somehow…….’
Just as I was about to continue my thought, Kyrus, now recovered from the shock, spoke.
“Ahem, the woman in that portrait resembles Your Majesty… quite a lot.”
You see it too, huh?
Of course, the hair color and eye color of the person in the portrait didn’t perfectly match Rivie Radi Mahgar.
But the gentle impression, the sharp jawline, and the slender frame made the woman seem like Rivie’s relative.
But why was someone who looked like me hanging here?
While I wondered, Kyrus offered a similar thought.
“But why would that portrait be in this tomb? She doesn’t seem like the Former Empress.”
“Yes. In scribe training, we memorize the faces of all former imperial family members. But this is my first time seeing her.”
An unsettling aura clung to the portrait.
‘Let’s leave that alone for now.’
I shifted my gaze to the pile of objects stacked on the platform.
As I stepped onto the stage and inspected the items, I found something.
An old book.
Its title was .
My lips curved upward.
‘Found it.’
Anyone could tell this book had deep ties to magic.
There was a high chance it contained clues about the Awakening Stone.
.
.
.
But soon after—
My excitement at becoming an ability-user quickly vanished.
My joy from moments ago evaporated as I skimmed the contents of the book.
Why?
Because it wasn’t a magical record at all.
‘Record of the Witch, my foot! This is just a romance diary!’
It was basically a love journal describing what kind of man she met and how well he treated her—like a romantic message board.
