「Holy Calendar Year 903, Month of Sprouting, day 4.」
「Golden Plains, Knowledge City Camelot.」
Inside the hotel room, the central fireplace burned fiercely. The firewood in the fireplace crackled as it burned, its warm waves dispelling the chill of early spring.
However, in a certain instant, the burning flames abruptly froze in place.
The gray-haired witch sitting on the sofa suddenly opened her eyes wide. Silvia's beautiful eyes flickered with a gray-silver brilliance.
A rich dusk surged around her, halting everything, whether the flow of the breeze or the transfer of heat in the air.
Around her, an illusory river of time coalesced and spiraled upwards. The normally placid river of time, at this moment, raged and roared like a torrent, churning violently.
Brother Shiayar... has he succeeded?
As an occupant of the Throne, Silvia could distinctly feel it. The Imaginary Zone, which once stood tall at the boundary between the end of the Third Era and the beginning of the Fourth Epoch in the river of history, was now crumbling away.
The owner of the golden Sacred Sword was Princess Enola, whom Silvia had met a few times. Under the protection of the Sacred Sword, Her Royal Highness was also being carried downstream by the Corrective Force, gradually returning to the correct course of history.
Although he was a King who defied the trend of history and created the Imaginary Zone, he still managed to return to the stream of time unscathed... Brother Shiayar, how exactly did he accomplish all this?
Even with Silvia's perspective as the White Tower Master and her broad knowledge, this was a feat unheard of, unseen before. No, it could even be said to be a unique miracle in the world.
But at this moment, Silvia had not the slightest intention to ponder how Shiayar could have accomplished such a miracle. She just stood in silence downstream in the river of time, gazing upstream. She was waiting for Shiayar to return safely from the upper reaches of the river of time, according to their agreement when they parted, following the connection with the Sacred Spear and her own guidance.
But—
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
What responded to Silvia was still only the roaring, tempestuous tide of time. The figure she longed to see had yet to appear.
And Silvia's heart, along with the wait, gradually plummeted to the abyss, bit by bit growing cold.
Countless thoughts and details surged into Silvia's mind once more. Shiayar's determined gaze before departure. The words that seemed not so much to encourage, but rather to comfort her. And that inexplicable conversation between Enola and Shiayar before entering the Echo of History.
Thus, the hypothesis that Silvia was unwilling to confront slowly took shape in the mind of the Gray-Silver Witch, growing increasingly heavy.
Brother Shiayar... did he never intend to return from the beginning?
Silvia suddenly turned to look at Enola next to her, and frantic light golden script appeared in the air.
"And you, you knew from the start? Then why didn't you stop him?"
Opposite her, the blonde girl blinked her blue eyes and was just about to speak. But the next moment, a piece of white letter paper suddenly burst into a bright Magic Power glow.
Upon the blank letter paper, lines of black text began to appear. Both Silvia and Enola were all too familiar with the writing on the letter paper. It could not be mistaken; it was indeed penned by Shiayar's own hand.
This was a magictech mechanism set by Shiayar that would only be activated at a certain point in time, revealing the hidden content to Silvia and Enola.
Silvia's gray-silver eyes suddenly contracted. With a slight movement of her pale fingers, the light of dusk surged. The next moment, that white letter paper quietly appeared in Silvia's hands.
The soft light of the magictech lamp shone upon the letter paper, making the text strikingly clear. Silvia used Magic Power to project the contents of the letter into the air.
"My dear Silvia, and little Ennie.
"I believe that by the time you read this letter, everything about the Imaginary Zone of Escarnia a thousand years ago has settled, and Her Royal Highness has safely returned.
"However, I did not come back from the Echo of History with Her Royal Highness as I had promised you.
"I am sorry, I did indeed deceive you before.
"Her Royal Highness, she was trapped too deeply in that incorrect history, bearing a millennium of sin. How could I bring her back without paying any price?
"Yes, that's right.
"I think by now, Ennie aside, but with your intelligence, Silvia Babe, you must have guessed how I did it.
"Using an ancient Sacred Relic, I usurped the identity and authority of Her Royal Highness—no, the Scarlet Queen—as the King of the Imaginary Zone. I also took on all the twisted karma of history she bore.
"Haha, burdened with all the evil and sin of this world, as the final Lone King watching over my own land from the throne, until everything was erased by the Corrective Force. Isn't it cool?"