Chapter 14.8

She barely managed to swim out of the lake.  

The force pulling her down had been so strong she’d nearly lost her breath.  

“Huff… Huff…”  

She’d barely survived.  

As soon as she got out of the water, she collapsed on the spot, gasping for air.  

Her rough breathing echoed in her ears. Annoyed, she wrung out her hair, now limp like seaweed from swallowing water, and glared at her dagger.  

“…It was you, wasn’t it? You did this?”  

She interrogated it, but the dagger, annoyingly, gave no response.  

No matter how many times she threatened and questioned it, it stayed the same. In the end, it just made her look silly, so she gave up.  

As she wrung out her soaked shirt, she suddenly froze.  

‘My notebook…’  

Her notebook, filled with a week’s worth of bl＊＊d, sweat, and tears.  

Her face began to turn pale.

‘Was it possible that my notebook had gotten wet? No… worse than that… Had it sunk to the bottom of the lake, lost forever…’

“Ahhh!!!”  

Cielie screamed at the extreme end of her imagination.  

But the thoughts about her notebook that had filled her head moments ago vanished.  

It was only natural.  

“…Where is this?”  

She was sure the lake she’d fallen into was the one inside the Grand Duke’s castle… but here, there were buildings scattered about, and it was nothing like the neat grounds of the castle.  

Forgetting all about her recent despair, Cielie slowly surveyed her surroundings.  

Everything was green.  

There were nameless trees and wildflowers, and on some trees, unmistakable poisonous mushrooms grew.  

Staring at the overgrown grass that seemed untouched by human hands for ages, she quickly reached a conclusion.  

…Was this a forest?  

Muttering softly to herself, she clapped her hands when she decided her guess was correct.  

“Is this really something to be happy about? I ended up in a forest where no one ever comes!?”  

Her voice echoed through the quiet woods.  

‘Is this a dream?’  

Unable to believe reality, she decided to ignore the situation.  

Yes… She must be so tired that she’d dozed off and was dreaming.  

…When she opened her eyes again, she’d be in the library or her room.  

Sitting up straight, she closed her eyes and then opened them again.  

But nothing changed. She tried again and again, without panicking, but it was the same.  

Finally, after pinching her cheek hard, she accepted reality.  

It was long after she’d crawled out of the lake.  

“For now… I’ll try moving.”  

Now a little calmer, Cielie stood up.  

Her body felt heavy. It was only natural after nearly drowning.  

She started walking.  

People say if you get lost in a forest you should stay put, but…  

‘I hadn’t seen a single person pass by, so if I waited here, I’d probably be found dead. Or maybe not even then.’  

Imagining that grim fate, she quickened her pace.  

How far had she walked?  

“Huh…?”  

A faint scent drifted from somewhere.  

It was the first unusual smell she’d noticed in the forest, which had been filled only with the scent of grass.  

Her hope grew as she walked toward the source of the scent.  

And where she arrived was—  

‘…A grave?’  

In the midst of the overgrown woods, she stood before a well-kept grave.  

Why was there a grave here…?”  

Pausing for a moment, she managed to pull herself together and stepped closer.  

The grave, which looked as if someone cared for it, was starkly different from the ruined scenery of the forest.  

After glancing around, she looked down at her own messy state.  

Getting here hadn’t been easy.  

The undergrowth made it hard to see, and there were fallen, dried-out trees—she’d tripped so many times.  

She’d even seen bones she couldn’t tell were human or animal…!  

Recalling those creepy scenes, she shuddered slightly.  

‘I was sure… It was like that…’  

It was a place that deserved the terrifying nickname “cursed forest.”  

But the grave before her was an exception. She narrowed her eyes.  

It was well-maintained, but so old that the tombstone was hard to read.  

“Ol…li…via! Olivia Valentine!”  

She stammered over the letters on the tombstone, then shouted as she recognized the name.  

The moment she realized the name on the tombstone, she smiled brightly, feeling relieved.  

But her face quickly stiffened.  

If it was Olivia Valentine…  

“The Grand Duchess?”  

In other words, it was Erden’s mother’s grave.  

Realizing this, Cielie was flustered. It was only natural.  

She’d heard the Grand Duchess had been caught up in an attack by the organization and had died in a rampage somewhere in the forest.  

And… when a Gifted Individual rampaged, it was usually impossible to find the body.  

Even finding just a part of the remains was considered a blessing from God.  

The Grand Duchess was no exception.  

News of her death had been widely reported, so Cielie remembered it vividly.  

That was why she’d heard the Grand Duke had closed the forest and sometimes stayed there to mourn his departed wife.  

‘…Simply put, it meant outsiders were forbidden.’  

So why was she here? Or rather, how? All she’d done was fall into the lake and swim out.  

She’d never heard that the castle lake was connected to a forest so far away from the castle.  

No, physically, it should be impossible. Unless it was some kind of magic…  

“Oh, is it magic?”  

But who would do that? And why her?  

Questions with no answers kept swirling in her mind.  

She knew no one could give her a clear answer right now, but her thoughts kept going in circles.  

Frozen in place, she stared at the smoke from the incense drifting into the air.  

How long had she been watching the smoke float aimlessly?  

“Ah!!”  

Suddenly, she realized.  

The incense was still burning and the scent was strong—someone must have just been here.  

She glanced at the small bouquet and the photo of the Grand Duchess placed before the grave, then started walking.  

Faint but fresh footprints were visible.  

She decided to follow them.  

‘Ah… I’m saved.’  

She mumbled a promise to God to live a good life from now on, and hurried her steps.  

Somehow, she felt a small hope that she could get out before it got dark.  

Maybe that was why she was so excited—she didn’t notice her dagger trembling quietly.