This was the infamous underground labyrinth of Thalia. It was highly unlikely that anyone would enter it of their own accord just to rescue Selina. Her thoughts could therefore turn only in another direction.

Maybe another sinner was imprisoned somewhere within the labyrinth?

“Se—Selina!”

But she was wrong.

It was Calliope — someone who looked completely innocent — who was running towards her, calling her name frantically.

“A—are you okay? I was… I was so worried.”

Tears pooled thickly at the corners of Calliope’s eyes. Sniffling, she repeatedly brushed Selina’s cheeks as if to reassure herself that she was really there.

“H—how did you get all the way down here?”

“The elder helped me.”

“The el… der?”

Selina slowly turned her head.

Someone was approaching, stepping over the spider’s corpse. A sticky liquid, presumably from the spider, dripped steadily from the blade in his hand to the floor.

‘That man is… the elder?’

Trying to make out his face, Selina squinted at the man, whose features were still hidden in shadow. If he came closer, she thought, she might be able to see him clearly. But he stopped in his tracks and didn’t move another inch.

“When I told him Selina was trapped down here, the elder helped me.”

“Ah…”

It was unexpected.

It was the Elder who had held together what remained of Thalia. Selina had naturally assumed that he would despise her. She had thought he wouldn’t care if Duke Bryson’s daughter lived or died — yet here he was, venturing into such a dangerous place to save her life.

In truth, her suspicion outweighed her gratitude. Nevertheless, it was important to maintain a good relationship with the Elder.

After all, she would soon have to speak to him about Alter.

“Th—thank you.”

Just as Selina lowered her head to thank her, something hit her like a ton of bricks, blurring her vision. It seemed that she had not yet fully recovered from the spider’s venom.

“Ugh…”

She clutched her head and bent forward. Calliope, alarmed, grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently.

“Selina, Selina. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“N—no, I’m fine…”

But, despite her words, her body told a different story. As her vision faded to black, Selina lost consciousness.

‘I need to say it…’

After being unconscious for a long time, Selina had a dream in which she remembered that she had something to do. She needed to tell the Elder something. She had passed out without ever managing to say it.

‘I have to tell him.’

The moment the thought surfaced, Selina’s eyes flew open.

Looking around, she found that she was in a cramped room. Awaking on a bed of straw, she surveyed her surroundings. There was no furniture, just a small barred window.

“…Am I imprisoned?”

No matter how she looked at it, this place was a prison cell. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but it seemed that she had been held captive here the entire time after escaping the underground labyrinth.

Nevertheless, she had allowed herself a glimmer of hope because the so-called Elder and Calliope had come to rescue her. She hadn’t expected a warm welcome, but she believed that she wouldn’t be treated like a criminal.

Yet, contrary to her expectations, everything was going wrong.

“I have to tell him…”

Murmuring to herself without thinking, Selina suddenly stiffened and came back to her senses.

‘What was it that I was trying to say?’

She felt as though there was something she had desperately wanted to say in her dream. However, perhaps because she had been poisoned by the monster’s venom, she could not quite recall it.

‘Maybe I only thought I needed to talk about Alter.’

Dreams were vague by nature. It wouldn’t be strange if she were mistaken.

Just as she was thinking that, there was a loud bang.

The door to the room burst open and an unfamiliar woman stepped inside. Despite her shabby clothes, her straight posture suggested that she had once belonged to the nobility. After giving Selina a cold look, the woman spoke.

“I came to treat you. Fortunately, it seems you’ve regained consciousness.”

She set the basket she had been holding down on the floor and approached Selina.

“That’s good. Since you’re awake, come with me.”

“W—where to?”

“The elder instructed me to bring you to him once you regained consciousness.”

Selina had half expected to be locked away and ignored. At the very least, it seemed they had no intention of doing that.

‘That’s a relief.’

Just as she was thinking she should hurry and speak to the elder about Alter—

Click.

Wooden restraints snapped shut around both of Selina’s wrists.

“…Why are you putting these on me?”

“There’s always the possibility that you came here intending to harm the elder. We must take precautions.”

The woman’s tone was flat, but hostility toward Selina was unmistakably woven into her voice.

‘If I had come to harm him, I wouldn’t have come alone.’

To argue that she had no such intention would only lead to a pointless dispute. So, Selina pressed her lips together and calmly accepted being treated like a criminal.

“This way.”

Selina followed the woman, her wrists clasped in restraints. Once outside, she found herself in a surprisingly ordinary-looking corridor. She had assumed that she was being held in an underground prison similar to the one she had encountered when she came across the slave traders. However, as everything else was constructed in a perfectly normal manner, it seemed that only that single room had been deliberately built to serve as a cell.

Suddenly, the layout stirred a memory of the grand ducal castle she had once seen in Thalia. Perhaps because of that, as she walked behind the woman, Selina could not shake the sensation that she was passing through its halls once again. It felt as though familiar faces from that place might appear at any moment to greet her — and the thought nearly brought tears to her eyes.

“We’ve arrived.”

The Elder’s room was tucked away in a secluded corner. To reach it, you had to climb one flight of stairs and walk straight down the corridor. It was not far from where Selina had been confined. On the way, she hadn’t seen a single other person. It was impossible to tell whether the area had been cleared out deliberately or if there had been no one there to begin with.

Creeeak.

Following the woman, Selina stepped inside.

‘So this is it… I’m finally going to see the elder.’

The glimpse she caught of him in the slave trader’s building that day was both the first and the last. She had never seen his face or heard his voice. And yet he was a mysterious figure, carrying an oddly familiar air as if she had seen him before.

Assuming he was elderly, she was surprised to find that he seemed to be younger than she had expected, recalling the silhouette she had glimpsed in the underground labyrinth.

‘Just who is he?’

Feeling a mixture of tension and curiosity, and wondering what kind of person could unite the people of Thalia so firmly, Selina stepped further inside.

But the neat, orderly room was empty.

‘What…?’

As she glanced around in confusion, the sound of water came from one side of the room.

“He’ll be out shortly. Please wait.”

The woman made Selina kneel, then left the room.

Left alone in the sparse chamber, Selina knelt on the bare floor and listened intently to the sound of running water.

‘Don’t tell me… he’s bathing?’

Fear flickered through her.

Perhaps he hadn’t invited her here to talk, after all. Perhaps there was another, more unpleasant reason for summoning her.

The memory of what had happened at the slave traders’ hideout suddenly resurfaced. If Selina hadn’t revealed that she was the Duke of Bryson’s daughter, who knew how far things might have gone?

Back then, everything had happened too quickly — she had been completely unprepared. But this time was different.

‘I came all this way to save Alter.’

Securing a meeting with the Elder to discuss Alter’s rescue left her with very little time. If the situation escalated and tempers flared, there was a strong chance that she would be imprisoned here and never manage to save Alter.

Steeling herself, Selina rose to her feet.

With her wrists bound, she would be unable to draw the sigils required to summon a spirit. This meant that her only option was to use whatever she could find in the room. Fortunately, her eyes fell on a pen with a sharp nib when she glanced around.

‘This should be enough to threaten him.’

Gripping the pen tightly, Selina moved to stand beside the door from which the sound of water was coming. Pressing herself flat against the wall so she wouldn’t be noticed, she waited for the elder to emerge.

Drip.
Drip.

At last, the rushing sound of water stopped. The sudden quiet told her he would come out soon.

‘The moment he steps out, I’ll aim for his throat. Then I’ll bring up Alter first.’

That would force him to focus on her. It would also avoid giving him an excuse to twist the situation—no reason for either of them to lose face.

Having made her decision, Selina waited.

The door opened.

The instant the man stepped out, she lunged forward and leveled the pen at him—

“Ugh.”

Her restrained wrist was caught in the elder’s hand.

She twisted her body, trying to break free, and he whispered in an amused tone.

“Your movements are far too obvious.”

A shock like being scorched by fire surged through her entire body. The voice—slightly rough around the edges—was shockingly familiar.

‘He can’t possibly be here…’

Unable to believe it, Selina slowly lifted her head.

“Why did you come alone?”

Before her eyes—

“If you were going to capture me, you should have brought as many people as possible.”

—stood Callios.