“Cough!”

It hurts. It hurts. I pushed the sword deeper into my throat to end the pain.

I could feel the assassin letting go of the hilt, not expecting my action.

Ah, well, thank you then.

I thrust the sword into my neck.

“Gah…”

I felt my eyes roll back.

Thud.

My body, losing balance, fell beneath the carriage. The pain in my neck was so intense that I couldn’t feel any other pain.

Ah, my vision is fading.

I closed my eyes.

Slowly, I opened them again.

“Oh, I’m back.”

Clatter, clatter.

Fortunately, I was sitting inside the carriage heading toward the lake by the temple.

With a sigh of relief, I looked at Carlothian. But then.

“Why do you have that expression?”

Carlothian’s expression was unusual.

He looked as if he had frozen. His eyes were wide open, and the corners of his slightly parted lips trembled slightly.

“Carlothian?”

I called his name once, worried about him.

“Just now…”

“Excuse me?”

“What did you just do?”

“What do you mean, what did I do?”

What are you talking about that I did something?

When I looked at him as if I didn’t understand, he returned my gaze with an expression that seemed even more confused.

“You were in danger.”

Carlothian looked like he didn’t know how to explain himself.

“So, you just threw your life away again?”

At those words, I let out a small “ah” without realizing it. So that’s why.

“Carlothian, that was the best way.”

“It’s not about being right or wrong…!”

He shouted. His hand seemed to rise as if to grab my shoulder but then trembled and fell back down.

I could feel him trying not to hurt me.

I spoke calmly.

“Let’s stop the carriage first.”

“…….”

I knocked on the wall of the carriage to signal it to stop. I heard a squeak, and the carriage came to a halt. I looked at Carlothian and reassured him.

“You couldn’t fight properly because of me, and I was actually taken hostage. The best option there was to rewind time.”

“Ariadeline, I’m not saying there’s a right answer.”

Carlothian frowned as if he were about to cry.

“You treating your life like that is the problem.”

“Why is that a problem?”

I asked in confusion.

“You killed me like that. How I treat my life is my own business, isn’t it?”

At that, his face turned to despair.

As someone who loves him, it was truly heartbreaking.

‘What was I supposed to do there?’

In any case, if I were taken hostage and Carlothian died, my life would be as good as over.

The result would be the same, regressing.

“Ariadeline, please. Value your life.”

I looked into his eyes. Pain and despair were evident in his gaze. I didn’t understand his feelings at all.

“I understand.”

I nodded willingly for his sake. But despair didn’t leave his eyes.

What about me made him despair?

I moved past the situation without understanding. Carlothian seemed reluctant to push further and kept silent.

So, we abandoned the carriage and rode horses towards the temple.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

The sky was dark, and gray clouds covered the sun. Mark, who worked as a laborer in the village, looked up while wiping his sweat with a shovel in hand.

“It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Let’s finish the work quickly.”

The western village of Donia, far from the capital, was a small place made up of just twenty houses.

Mark was going to go home and rest as usual today, with nothing special happening.

“If we want to use this field, we need to pull out that big tree over there.”

His colleague, Smil, pointed to a large tree planted in the middle of the land they were preparing.

Having been in the village for quite a long time, he had grown fond of it, but since they had decided to turn this land into a field, that tree had to be pulled out.

“Let’s go pull it out quickly.”

Smil pointed, and Mark nodded. They approached the tree with their shovels.

And then it happened.

Rumble—

A beastly roar echoed from the sky. Both of them looked up simultaneously.

“It looks like it’s going to rain soon?”

Smil moved closer to the tree. He turned back to Mark and said, “If it rains, the ground might be less hard, so it could be easier; let’s hurry…”

Rumble—

Mark suddenly felt a wave of unease. He reached out his hand toward Smil.

“Smil, wait a moment.”

Just as he was about to say, “Get away.”

Boom—!

A sound like something exploding rang out. His ears felt deafened. As a result, Mark stumbled backward.

Covered in dirt, Mark hurriedly got up. He gasped for air.

“Smil…!”

There lay Smil, charred black. Mark was left speechless and trembling.

“Smil. Smil!”

He rushed toward Smil and saw the charred corpse up close.

“Ugh…!”

The smell of burnt flesh spread ominously. Mark doubled over, gagging on the ground.

In that moment, he saw something strange.

“Ugh. Ahhh—!”

Black tree roots were crawling toward Smil’s corpse. Mark fell backward with a thud. From that position, he looked up at the tree.

The tree, struck by lightning, had turned completely black. Though it should have caught fire or split apart, the tree stood intact, its color the only thing that had changed.

It looked as if it had always been black, with branches stretching out smoothly in various directions.

The black roots wrapped around Smil’s corpse, slowly pulling it toward the base of the tree. Mark gasped for breath and hurriedly got to his feet.

“Ahhh, ahhh—!”

Mark ran toward the village. Behind him, the black roots coiled around Smil’s corpse as if devouring it.

Creak, crack. Snap—

The black tree shook slightly, as if it were laughing.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

“I heard that such an event occurred.”

I sat with Carlothian in the High Priest’s room, listening to the circumstances that led to our summons.

“A monster tree that exudes dark magic…”

“The priest who stayed in that village said he could definitely sense the aura of black magic from the tree.”

I furrowed my brows. The fact that black magic was beginning to emanate from a tree struck by lightning was certainly not a good omen.

“What about purification…?”

At my question, the high priest sighed and shook his head.

“Since then, there has been no movement, but he said he simply cannot purify it with his divine power.”

“So what will you do?”

“I believe the village of Donia belongs to the territory of the Duke of Denaves…”

Carlotian replied.

“That’s correct.”

“Allow us to investigate that land.”

He nodded without difficulty.

“Of course.”

“And Ariadeline, no, now the Duchess.”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“I will send priests and paladins to perform the purification ritual for the tree. However, if we fail, I plan to move that tree here.”

I pinpointed one issue.

“But if the purification fails even after sending the paladins and priests, then that means…”

The minister nodded with a grim expression.

“It means the tree is close to a cursed object.”

A cursed object. It’s like the dagger that Princess Yermondi created.

Could such a thing occur naturally?

It feels ominous. Strange.

Hearing that, I could think of nothing else. Perhaps the minister felt the same, as he let out a deep sigh.

“The cursed sword that appeared then is now in the temple. It hasn’t been purified yet.”

“So how are you managing it…?”

“The best way is to store it with the holy artifacts, using their divine power to prevent the aura of black magic from leaking out.”

“I see.”

I nodded. Since it was the expert speaking, I had no sharp counterarguments.

“Are there any records of a cursed object being dealt with?”

Carlothian asked.

“Since cursed objects rarely appear, we’re in the process of finding the records.”

I interjected in the meantime.

“May I also take a look at the materials?”

“You?”

The minister seemed to ponder for a moment. After a short while, he nodded as if he had made a decision.

“However, you cannot take the books outside.”

“Understood.”

After saying that, I turned my head toward Carlothian.

“I’ll take a look at the records here, so you can go ahead.”

Seeing the determination in my eyes, Carlothian nodded.

I was worried about the assassins who had attacked us before we turned back time, but I knew Carlothian would be fine alone.

“I’ll go back and send knights to the temple.”

“Got it.”

There were seven assassins in total. If I sent more knights, the attack would likely be abandoned.

Carlothian stood up from his seat.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. I will approve and respond to the documents regarding the territory investigation as soon as they are sent. High Priest.”

“I appreciate that.”

With that, Carlothian opened the door and left the room. The minister looked at me and continued.

“And when that tree arrives, I would like to ask for your help.”

I blinked in surprise and asked,

“My help? Could I be of any assistance?”

The minister gazed at me intently and then spoke slowly.

“Dorothea mentioned that you overcame the wounds inflicted by the cursed object.”

“Oh….”

At those words, I let out a short hum. How could I explain this? I couldn’t just say I turned back time with black magic.