Selina advanced, cutting down the monsters in her path. As Karen had said, the monsters in the underground labyrinth were extraordinary — dealing with them was far more exhausting than usual.

‘If they just charged like mindless beasts, it would almost be easier. But they have strange abilities that make them harder to kill.’

The monsters here had evolved peculiar powers, either to protect themselves or by feeding on the miasma of the place. When the stone statue that she had mistaken for a real one suddenly crept up and tried to pierce her throat, she was overcome with a chill before she could stop it.

‘This definitely isn’t a normal place.’

At the end of the winding passage, another chamber appeared.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve read about a place like this before.’

Selina had read many books at the monastery as a child, including tales of knights that had ignited her sense of adventure. One tale described underground dungeons — dark places buried deep beneath the earth, where monsters lurked around every corner. Yet at their end lay a tremendous reward. Once the prize had been claimed, however, the dungeon would lose its purpose and become nothing more than an ordinary underground maze.

‘It feels strangely similar.’

Each time she vanquished the monsters in a stone chamber and moved on, another room would appear. Some were filled with edible plants that she could harvest, while others were teeming with monsters. Sometimes, she would find remains of the dead, half-rotted and slowly crumbling back into the soil.

Selina gently closed the eyes of one such corpse, which had died without the mercy of a quick death, before moving on to the next chamber.

‘…This room is a bit unusual.’

The moment she stepped inside, she could smell a sharp, stinging odor in the air. At first, she thought it was coming from the flowers, but the pale, thread-like substance filling the room suggested otherwise. When she touched it lightly, it clung to her fingers like a spider’s web.

‘Is it a spider monster this time?’

If she had encountered it outside, it would probably have been nothing more than a giant spider spinning its web. But in this place, it was a different story altogether. Just the thought of it leaping out and launching a razor-sharp attack made her whole body go rigid with tension.

‘Huh?’

But her expectations were wrong. Aside from the spiderwebs, the room was completely empty. All that tension—bracing herself for a spider to leap out—suddenly felt ridiculous.

‘So I worked myself up for nothing.’

Relaxing her body, Selina followed the light emitted by Ari. As she turned another corner, she came upon a large chamber opening directly before her. The sight of the remains lying peacefully with their eyes closed also felt eerily familiar.

Perhaps it was only her imagination.

However, after circling around once more, she found herself back at the same corner, facing the same chamber.

‘Am I… going in circles?’

Her thoughts fell into disarray. The path Ari indicated should have been correct, yet she kept returning to the same place over and over again.

“Ari. Is this really the right way?”

Selina asked urgently.

At that moment, the light she held began to blur and spread.

“Uh…?”

From there, the scenery before her eyes became hazy, as though moisture had seeped into her pupils. Her vision swayed violently, making it difficult to keep her balance. Selina steadied herself against the wall and lowered her head.

‘Don’t tell me… am I hallucinating?’

Her thoughts were becoming increasingly foggy. She realized that she must have fallen under an illusion spell while passing through the chamber filled with webs. A hollow laugh escaped her lips. It was shocking enough that monsters capable of wielding illusion magic existed, but it was even harder to accept that she had succumbed to it without offering any real resistance.

‘My senses must be dulled.’

If she had to blame anything, it was the fact that she had spent far too long in darkness. For Selina, darkness was poisonous.

For now, she decided to steady her breathing and break free from the illusion. Leaning her back against the wall, she gently closed her eyes.

Yet something was wrong.

“Selina.”

For a hallucination, the voice ringing beside her ear was far too vivid. The unfamiliar sensation sent chills down her spine, and she snapped her eyes open.

“Say it.”

In that instant, a man with red eyes straddled her. His gaze, burning with raw possessiveness, fixed on Selina.

She couldn’t believe it.

Calix had never appeared to her with such overwhelming clarity before.

“Calix…”

This was an illusion. No matter how real it felt, there was no way Calix could be here. Selina knew that better than anyone—yet she still reached out toward him.

“Did you ever truly love me?”

He had once asked her that question. He had asked her if she loved him. Whether this question had arisen from genuine doubt or a cruel impulse to corner her, she did not know.

But the reason didn’t matter.

That day, Selina whispered like a sunflower turning mindlessly towards the sun.

“……I love you.”

He smiled a satisfied smile that was enchanting. That alone was enough to make Selina feel as though she held the entire world in her hands.

Yes, there had been a time like that: A time when Calix had been by her side. A time when he looked at her with eyes brimming with desire and whispered words of love.

But what about now?

The Calix who appeared in her dreams wore an expression as though he wanted to kill her. Sometimes his strong hand would close around her slender throat as though he could snap it with ease, refusing to let go.

Calix hated Selina.

Even if they were to meet again, that truth would not change. If, after enduring countless hardships just to reach him, he still hated her…

‘Then maybe it would be better to remain trapped in this illusion.’

What had started as an idle thought slowly spread through her body like poison, seeping into every vein. The more Calix, born of illusion, held her, the deeper Selina sank into it — until she no longer had the will to wake up.

Perhaps it was all right to remain like this.

At least here, Calix did not hate her.

Before she knew it, this idea had consumed her mind like wildfire. Like a butterfly caught in a web, Selina was ensnared by the illusion and unable to escape.

That was when—

“I may not look it, but I’m very good at judging people. I’ve never been wrong, not even once.”

A clear voice cut through the hazy fog, as though sweeping it aside.

‘That voice… I’ve definitely heard it somewhere before…’

To Selina, steeped in illusion, the words sounded distant, as if mumbled through water. She quietly rolled the voice over in her mind.

“Please, my lady—survive. And protect those who remain.”

“……!!”

The owner of that gentle, tender voice was threatening to reduce her to tears. In that instant, Rocheste’s face appeared before her. She remembered standing by his side in his final moments, and the promise they had made to each other.

‘You told me to survive. To protect those who are left…!’

How could she have forgotten that?

As her body shuddered at the memory that surfaced against her will—

A cold blade pressed beneath Selina’s chin.

“What could a mere marquis’s daughter possibly offer me?”

It was the day she had first met Calix in the Empire. The day she had sought him out and begged him to reconsider their arranged marriage.

She had thought about that day many times since then and regretted it every time.

‘If I hadn’t clung to Calix back then, his fate might have changed.’

Yes, if things had been different, then Calix’s fate would have been different, and Thalia would never have fallen. Selina would have remained locked away in an underground cell or the monastery, living on with the belief that Calix might one day come and save her.

However, what truly mattered was not the choice she had made that day.

No matter how many times she tried to go back and choose differently, no matter how often she was given the chance, one thing would never change.

“……I love you.”

Selina gripped the blade pressed against her throat with both hands. Although she knew it was only an illusion, she felt a burning pain flare across her palms as if she had been scorched.

But that didn’t matter.

Even if he hated her endlessly—

“I still love you.”

That was the unchanging truth. No matter how much Calix despised her, she had always been searching for him for the same reason.

Was it to atone for her sins?

Or to keep her promise to Rocheste?

Those were simply things she had to do.

There was only one reason she was searching for Calix: She still loved him.

“Kiieeek—”

At that moment, the fog clouding her mind dispersed. A gigantic spider filled the chamber, its sharp fangs clacking together as it loomed before her. Sticky fl*id sprayed from its mouth as it tried to swallow her whole.

She realized that the blade she had been clutching was actually one of the spider’s fangs.

‘Ugh… I can’t move.’

Had the spider’s venom poisoned her? Her body refused to respond, as if it were completely paralyzed. Her strength was gradually draining from her limbs. At this rate, she would be devoured whole.

‘I really wanted to meet Calix.’

Ever since she parted ways with him, Selina’s life had revolved entirely around finding Calix. The sole motivation behind all her actions until now had been to find him.

If only she could see his face one last time and tell him that she loved him, she would be able to die without regret.

As she closed her eyes, that unattainable thought consumed her.

Shraaaak!

In the next instant, the massive spider’s body was split clean in two.

Thud.

The spider collapsed onto the floor, spewing venom as it fell, utterly powerless.