EMDL 03

Episode 3 

Celine was dazed for a moment, then protested fiercely.

“It’s not like I want to die!”

“Really? Wearing clothes like that in this weather seems like suicide to me.”

“……”

Celine had no rebuttal.

No matter how hard she searched the mansion, all she could find were the thin summer dress she’d been wearing when she possessed this body and a single nightgown.

It was November now—bitterly cold.
But if she stayed inside that cursed house any longer, she felt like she’d go insane, so she preferred to sit outside in the courtyard whenever she could.

“Come to think of it,” Leonhardt said gravely, “you’ve even died of the flu before. Why don’t you wear something warmer?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Not a single winter coat? That’s impossible.”

“This is all I have.”

Celine admitted honestly.

“……”

Now it was Leonhardt’s turn to look shocked.

“How could that be!”

“You can check if you want.”

“No, that’s fine.”

He waved his hand dismissively, his eyes scanning the crumbling mansion.

“I’ve seen enough of that accursed place.”

The broken windows, rusted doors, and ivy-covered walls all reminded him of the nightmares he’d suffered there.

I’ll dream of it again tonight.

Leonhardt frowned deeply. Celine gave a small, bitter laugh.

“I hate it too.”

“Good. You’ll be living in the North from now on.”

“What?”

Leonhardt raised an eyebrow at her shocked reaction. He had already decided to take her north for investigation before they’d even arrived here.

He hadn’t even considered she might refuse—who wouldn’t welcome a chance to leave this horrifying mansion?

“Why, you don’t want to?”

“N-no, it’s not that, I just…”

Suddenly, Leonhardt recalled his informants’ report and his face hardened.

“Now that I think about it, my men said they tried to bring you in but somehow lost you. Don’t tell me you like this house that much…”

“That was your people?!”

Celine’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Of course. But if you’re that fond of this place, I won’t force you.”

“No! It’s not like that at all. It’s just—there’s some kind of curse. I can’t go far from the house, that’s all.”

“And if you try?”

“It’s like… something pushes me back. And if I go too far, I just—end up back inside again.”

Leonhardt frowned as he watched her trembling.

“So that’s what it was.”

“What was?”

“I think I know how to break your curse.”

Celine’s heart plummeted. Her vision blurred, and for a moment she thought she heard a voice screaming in her ear—

It’s a curse! One that can be broken!

Leonhardt only realized what she’d been hoping for when tears began to gather in her eyes.

“Not that curse—the one that keeps you trapped here.”

“Oh.”

Her arms, which she had raised in tense expectation, dropped limply to her sides.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed. Still, it was far better than being forever stuck in that dreadful mansion.

And besides… this Leonhardt seemed normal.

In the game, Leonhardt had always been bloodshot, feral—more beast than man.
But the man before her was every inch the refined noble.

She dug through her memory, trying to recall the scattered lore from early in the game.

Leonhardt Bernui.
The Young Wolf of the North, master of the famed sword Rashir, and the Empire’s guardian.

He was the Empire’s only magic swordsman, burdened from age fifteen with the duty of exterminating all dark magicians and monsters.

It was only natural that such a weight would eventually drive him to corruption.

The reason he fell—or why he tried to kill the protagonist—was revealed only in the true ending.

If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve read the spoilers…

Celine sighed. She’d avoided spoilers because she hated them, and now she regretted it deeply.

Leonhardt hadn’t said so outright, but his offer to go north clearly implied he intended to keep her alive—or perhaps keep her under watch.

Still, it’s a difficult decision.

Leonhardt waited patiently. Celine seemed completely absorbed in her thoughts, muttering to herself.

Even if it’s a cursed mansion, leaving your home isn’t easy, he thought.

At last, she raised her head.

He almost betrayed his surprise—her eyes were filled with a resolve he’d never seen before.

“All right. Please, get me out of here.”

“Don’t expect too much. It could fail.”

“It’s been a long time since I expected anything.”

The bitterness in her voice caught him off guard, and he quickly changed the subject.

“It’s a long journey north. Tell me what I should be cautious about. Exclude the last month and a half—I’ve already seen those events in dreams.”

“Hmm…”

She hesitated.

“There’s nothing?”

“No, there’s too much.”

Leonhardt frowned. Did that mean she’d been dying long before a month and a half ago?

Celine began listing them off.

“If I climb a mountain, I die.”

“I hate climbing anyway.”

“If I get on a boat, I die.”

“You’re rather delicate, aren’t you.”

“If the horse runs too fast, I die.”

“……”

Irritation flickered in Leonhardt’s eyes. Celine hurried to add—

“Ah, and—you’re the one who kills me most often!”

“What…?”

Oops.

She wanted to bite her tongue off for blurting that out.

Leonhardt’s hand drifted toward his sword.

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

Celine bit her lip nervously. She couldn’t say she came from another world. She needed a believable lie.

“Can you… see the future?”

“……Yes.”

Her mouth went dry.

“But I’m not a dark witch. Please believe me.”

“Pffft.”

“Huh…?”

“Ha… hahaha!”

Leonhardt burst out laughing, shaking with genuine amusement. Celine stared blankly.

It had been so long since he’d laughed that hard. The woman before him clearly had never even seen a dark magician.

“If I thought you were a witch, I’d have cut you down already.”

“Ah…”

“A real witch would’ve attacked me the moment I drew Rashir. But you didn’t.”

“So that’s why you sheathed it.”

Leonhardt smiled faintly, tapping the hilt.

“Rashir isn’t a blade to be stained lightly. Now, tell me—what future did you see?”

“I told you I dream of my own death.”

“Right.”

“In those dreams, I die. Over and over.”

Leonhardt’s brows twitched.

“Do they always come true?”

“Some do, some don’t. But you often appear… and kill me.”

“Hmm.”

Leonhardt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. She wasn’t a witch, that much was clear.

Still, the future was uncertain.
If he ever truly killed her, it would likely be after she became one.

“You think I’ll kill you because you’ll turn into a witch someday.”

“Isn’t that it?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“No.”

He truly didn’t believe in prophets.
If he did, he’d have taken his own life long ago.

When the heir to House Bernui was born, a red star fell from the sky.

Every prophet in the Empire declared it an omen—that Leonhardt would one day bring ruin to the Empire.

But the Grand Duke dismissed it all as superstition, teaching his son from childhood to ignore prophetic nonsense.

So there was no way Leonhardt would believe a rookie seer’s words now.

“Believe me or not, I don’t care—just don’t kill me.”

Celine’s tone was indifferent.

Leonhardt extended a hand toward her.

“I won’t kill you. Just come with me.”

Celine buried her face in the thick coat Leonhardt had lent her. She’d never ridden a horse before, but he guided it gently, and she wasn’t afraid.

“You all right? Dizzy? Hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine.”

Leonhardt eyed her doubtfully as he rode. He already had one nightmare waiting for him tonight; he didn’t need another from negligence.

“Ah!”

Celine suddenly cried out and hunched over. Leonhardt pulled the reins at once.

“We can’t go farther,” she gasped, trembling.

“Here?”

He narrowed his eyes. The road ahead looked perfectly ordinary.

But Celine nodded firmly.

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, Leonhardt drew Rashir.

“W-what are you doing—?”

Before she could stop him, he swung the sword through empty air.

Clang!

Something shattered.

Celine stared, transfixed. The air looked unchanged, but Rashir’s blade glowed red—just as it did when it cut through dark magic.

No way…

Leonhardt sheathed the sword.

“A pathetic barrier.”

“A… barrier?”

Celine gasped.
All this time, she’d thought the force stopping her was some immutable game mechanic—something no character could defy.

But it was only a barrier.
A barrier that could be broken.

The horse began moving again. Celine tensed, every nerve alive.

How many times had she tried this road before, only to wake back in that cursed mansion?

“Don’t be too tense,” Leonhardt said dryly. “You might die again.”

“……”

She couldn’t answer. Her throat was tight with emotion.

Nothing happened.
She was still on the horse.

“It’s real… it’s really happening.”

“I don’t like lies.”

Celine looked ahead. The crimson sunset painted the road before them.

The road she had never been able to cross.
The world she had never seen spread open before her.

And from deep inside her chest, a strange, forgotten feeling began to rise—

Hope.

Tears welled in her eyes.

“What is it?” Leonhardt frowned. The woman in his arms was trembling softly, crying.

“Are you hurt?”

“N-no!”

“Then why are you crying?”

Celine looked straight ahead, tears still streaming.

“Because… I’m just so happy.”

Leonhardt had never known tears of joy. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t question her either.

He simply pulled her closer into his arms.

“What—?”

“You looked like you might fall.”

He said it gruffly, holding her steady.

Celine could only whisper one thing.

“Thank you.”

She closed her eyes.

For the first time in a very long while, she felt the warmth of another human being.