However, when Shiayar turned a corner, the scene before him suddenly brightened.
Before him lay a verdant, though not particularly vast, grassland. Pink flowers dotted the green, and a massive tree stood there, its trunk so thick it would take several people to encircle it.
Beneath the shade of that tree, an old swing hung.
A girl with black hair and golden eyes, dressed in a classic dark gown, sat on the swing, swaying gently with the morning breeze.
Stacks of books lay behind her, and she held one in her lap, reading attentively.
The girl had delicate features, but her golden eyes seemed veiled by night, making them slightly indistinct.
Barely visible within her pitch-black hair was a pair of subtle protrusions. Deep shadows also flickered within the folds of her clothing. Her layered gown, though not overly intricate, was adorned with specks of starlight, reminiscent of the night sky.
More than that, however, was an intense curiosity—like that of a black cat, gracefully approaching to size up an uninvited stranger in its territory.
"'Welcome... stranger. Human.'"
Her crisp, pleasant words had barely left her lips when Shiayar interrupted, much to the golden-eyed girl's astonishment.
He, too, was observing the girl in the black gown before him.
Moments later, a faint smile appeared on Shiayar's face.
"'Actually, we've met a few times already. We're hardly strangers, are we?'"
"'Besides, despite already knowing everything that has happened, you're still here playing innocent, watching me stumble about in my ignorance.'"
"'Who would have thought that the 'Queen of the Night,' famed ruler of the Western Continent's gray world, would secretly possess such a mischievous streak.'"
"'Don't you agree...' Shiayar smiled. 'Miss Augustina?'"
As his words registered, he clearly saw the girl in the black gown blink.
The clarity and innocence that once filled her night-shrouded beautiful eyes vanished.
Replaced by a profound ancientness, as if she had traversed countless ages.
The indifferent darkness that had veiled her beautiful eyes receded slightly, revealing a Red Gold gleam within, like molten lava.
The girl in the black gown gazed deeply at Shiayar.
The next moment, as if judging Shiayar's words to be not a probe but a confident assertion, her delicately furrowed brows slowly smoothed. Her entire demeanor shifted abruptly.
Although her form, appearance, and aura remained utterly unchanged, Shiayar clearly sensed that the girl before him had become someone else entirely.
She was no longer the innocent-looking girl from before. Instead, she resembled a queen, one who ruled over night and secrets.
"'I did consider,' she said, 'that due to similarities in appearance and temperament, you might realize that Escarnia's Black Princess and the Augutina of later times are the same person. But... how did you determine that I, the one before you now, possess memories from the future?'"
Her voice was no longer that of the innocent girl from before. Instead, a hoarse and languid tone echoed in the quiet garden. Her words were a clear admission: she was indeed Augutina, the 'Queen of the Night.'
For the first time, genuine surprise flickered in Augutina's Red Gold eyes.
Even Thrones and Demigods, though they can perceive the River of Time to some extent, cannot truly traverse time and space at will. Otherwise, Silvia would have long ago journeyed back in time to uncover the truth of the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden. There would have been no need for her to build the White Tower and entomb herself for five hundred years. Even ordinary True Gods cannot accomplish such a feat. If they could, upon encountering any opponent, they could simply travel to a time when their foe was vulnerable and erase them. Such an ability would make one invincible and would be blatantly unfair.
Excluding the higher echelons beyond True Gods—entities whose very existence is uncertain—traversing time and space requires reliance on ancient Sacred Relics dating back to the dawn of creation. The Sacred Sword, for instance. Or...
Shiayar spoke softly, "'The 'Hourglass of Time.' If I recall correctly, the Dark Shadow Council possesses this Sacred Relic, and much of their intelligence is verified using it. And I know the 'Hourglass of Time' has another use: to deplete all the Sands of Time stored within it, sending one's consciousness to a point in the past where one's physical body existed. Miss Augustina, you must have used such power to send your consciousness back to the past, correct?'"
As Shiayar spoke, the glow in Augutina's Red Gold eyes intensified.
"'And to think,' she mused, the glow in her Red Gold eyes intensifying, 'not long ago in this current timeline, you had to visit the Dark Shadow Council just to purchase some not-particularly-secret historical intelligence.'"