The waitress appeared at the same time as the man called me. Having received the paper bag, I quickly took out three gold coins and handed them to the waitress.

“Five boxes of lemon-flavored candies and five watermelon-flavored, please pack them quickly. And take the rest as a tip.”

“Yes, I understand. Please wait a moment, guest.”

The waitress swiftly moved to attend to my request.

With three gold coins, I could purchase fifteen candies and still have a considerable amount of money remaining. Meanwhile, I couldn’t shake off the memory of the man who had referred to me as the saint. No one else had ever mentioned the term ‘saint’ to me or if they were actually a human being living in the present, apart from what I had heard from Cassandra.

Oh, there was one more instance. It had slipped my mind earlier, but now it resurfaced.

Indeed, Oscar had mentioned it once. Back then, I was intrigued by the idea that non-humans had lived together. Though he stated it rather briefly, he had undeniably mentioned saint.

Who said that…?

Searching for my memories, I asked the man who was still keeping his eyes fixed on me with his mouth open.

“Are you a turtle shapeshifter?”

“Oh, that’s right. Master. His name is Paul, the turtle shapeshifter. The idiot who was captured by me and the slave trader before.”

“Shh, Oscar.”

“No, well… Nice to see you.”

Oscar shrugged his shoulders in an awkward manner before accepting the paper bag I offered. From his pocket, he fished out a crumpled letter and handed it over to Paul.

“This is the letter he asked me to deliver to you. I was going to visit the outskirts of the capital one day and deliver it to you, but I didn’t expect to meet you like this?”

“…Thank you, white fox.”

“Heh, I have a name now.”

“…I see… congratulations.”

Curious about his slow speech, I asked why, and he explained it was because he was a turtle shapeshifter. I found myself gazing at him with a mixture of intrigue and belief.

Just then, the waitress returned, holding out two paper bags.

“This is the lemon-flavored candy, and this is watermelon-flavored candy.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Please come again.”

“I will.”

I handed the lemon-flavored candy to Paul. I whispered softly to the man, who looked bewildered.

“I’d like to talk to you outside for a while.”

“…Yes, saint.”

This time, his response came slower than his usual speed. As I observed his expression, it was evident he was intrigued by something, which made me slightly uneasy. Despite him not displaying any ill intentions, I decided to let it go.

Passing the watermelon-flavored candy to Damian, I stepped outside. In the alley with the three shapeshifters, I turned my attention to Paul.

Meeting the shapeshifters themselves wasn’t a simple task.

Their numbers were so small that even if they were nearby, it was possible not to recognize them. While Oscar’s appearance clearly marked him as a shapeshifter, Damien was harder to spot unless he explicitly revealed his nature. He resembled a human both in looks and behavior.

Even in their human forms, shapeshifters sometimes exhibited animalistic tendencies.

Although Oscar didn’t entirely conceal it, Damien did a fairly good job of hiding his shapeshifter traits. Meanwhile, Paul, who appeared more natural than Damien, exhibited a level of skillful behavior but had an oddly delayed rhythm.

Yet, his eyes were blatantly shining and staring at me.

“Why do you call me the saint?”

“…Because you are the saint.”

“How do you know if I am the saint?”

Paul smiled softly at my question before he responded, “There is no way that I, who served the saint up close, would fail to recognize her.”

I widened my eyes in amazement at his answer.

…He served the saint up close.

How old was he then?

“…I heard it was over a thousand years ago.”

“…It’s close to a thousand years. But not over a thousand years.”

“But history books often say that it was a thousand years ago. Of course, there is no story about the saint, but isn’t that the time when the empire was founded?”

The history books I ordered from Amber before had many differences from the ones we officially learned. I thought it was an exaggeration that there was a hidden truth in history, but it was worth reading because there were quite a few more facts that I didn’t know about.

“I’ve seen a history book written about the devilkin. A long time ago, not only monsters existed, but also devilkins who commanded monsters.”

“That is true. It was our old enemy. At that time, the saint declared war to get rid of the Demon King and his followers.”

“…Demon King?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t know the meaning of the word itself because the Demon King was a character that often appeared in fantasy novels.

Still, I didn’t know that the Demon King would exist here as well.

“…Before the creation of the Leonis Empire, city-states existed centered on temples… The reason those city-states came together was to defeat the Demon King.”

His tone was slow, so the message being conveyed was clearly audible.

I listened to Paul’s story like possessed.

“So, the Leonis family, which occupied the largest land, decided to become the royal family. Below that, the Leon family, and the Bourgne family…”

The family Paul was talking about the high-ranking noble families in the empire.

“So, you mean those families were originally the heads of the city-states.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then, can you answer my question?”

“Anything.”

“I’ve been having dreams for some time. The place is the maze forest. Why is it the maze forest?”

Listening to my question, Paul’s auburn eyes darkened. His words were slow and his actions were slow, but his eyes were cold and sharp, like his gentleness somewhere was a lie.

“…The old name of the Maze Forest is Melis. It was named so because it enriches the taste of food, like honey and sweets. At the time, it was a richer land than anywhere else… it was the site of the temple.”

Paul’s words brought to mind the image of the white building from my dream. While I couldn’t confirm its existence in reality, it did raise the possibility that the building was a temple.

Things began to align more clearly now.

My thoughts, previously mere speculations, found a well-ordered structure through Paul’s explanation.

This made me consider that my decision to venture into the maze forest wasn’t solely guided by my own instincts. It felt as though something grander and beyond my reach had intervened.

According to the information I gleaned from my dream, it appeared I was inevitably destined to make that journey. If that was the case, then waiting was out of the question. I wanted to conclude everything before Duchy Leon encroached upon the territory and firmly establish a world where nothing could jeopardize me and Lucian.

As these reflections occupied my mind, Damian drew near from behind. I lightly tapped his hand, which still exhibited signs of separation anxiety.

“May I ask for guidance?”

“…Are you planning to go to Melis?”

“Yes. I already had that thought. But, meeting you… I don’t think it’s just a coincidence.”

Paul’s face, which had been showing a stiff expression, softened. He seemed to be full of joy as if he had waited for it. It wouldn’t be my mistake.

I would no longer reject others.

While it was a small start, I would change the main factors that make up my mind. The one who made me dream all of this…

Lucian.

‘Wait for me… I’ll be back soon.’

I would take complete ownership of Rachel’s body and go back to him proudly. Not with a sick mind, not with half a body…

I wanted to become a healthy and perfect person.

‘I want to be happy.’

For my simple yet hard-to-achieve dream, I stepped into the maze forest with them.

* * *

Lucian was running frantically somewhere… no, he was actually flying. The red flowers seemed to be in full bloom under his feet, but he could feel the heat.

The way the whole world looked like they were rising, as though they had fallen into a pit of fire, was so bright that it looked beautiful from a distance. Among them, there was a place that looked the most beautiful. A single white flower that grew between the red flowers shone brightly as if it was devouring the red flowers around it.

He was flying towards it.

As he descended while his robe was fluttering, flames, spears, and arrows flew around him. He glanced at his arm moving spontaneously even though he didn’t mean to. Unlike his sword-wielding arm, the skinny but solid-looking arm moved quickly and the flying objects evaporated in an instant.

“Selena.”

The name escaped from between his lips. Somewhere, a very familiar voice kept calling someone in a desperate tone.

“Selena, please! Get out of there!”

Despite the desperate and earnest voice, the person did not answer.

Lucian wanted to close his eyes.

The identity of the familiar voice was Enzo. Even though he had no desire to know anything about Enzo’s past, why did he have this dream now?

He didn’t have time for this…

He had to get up and stroke Rachel’s hair and give her a nice kiss…

He had to go to her with her seasonal fruits, her favorite cold honey tea, and her favorite soft potato soup and spicy cold pasta. He still had to wake her from her sleep and calm her from somnolence, then start the day with her bright smile for him.

So…

‘I don’t want to see your past.’

Let me go, Enzo.

The moment he thought so, Lucian was able to lift his heavy eyelids.

__