Free Web NovelChapter 100: Chapter 100: Between Worlds
Chapter 100: Between Worlds
Silence settled over the chamber with a weight so immense that it seemed capable of smothering even the smallest sound.
The room was bathed in the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun, its golden light pouring through towering crystal windows and spilling across polished marble floors.
Outside, the Silver Forest swayed peacefully beneath a cool breeze, its shimmering leaves dancing beneath an endless blue sky. It was a scene so breathtakingly tranquil that it should have inspired comfort.
Instead...
It only made the stillness inside the room feel all the more unbearable.
Upon the grand bed at the center of the chamber lay a young woman whose peaceful appearance mocked everyone gathered around her.
Or rather...
The body Aelith had painstakingly created for her.
Celia’s homunculus rested motionless against layers of pristine white blankets, her chest rising only by the faintest degree, so subtle that no ordinary person would have noticed it.
Her long brown hair fanned elegantly across the pillow beneath her head, framing a face that looked almost unnaturally lifelike. There was color in her cheeks. Warmth remained upon her skin.
If someone who knew nothing of the situation walked into the room, they would have simply assumed she had fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Only Aelith knew the truth.
Her soul...was gone.
Dozens of tiny pixies fluttered tirelessly above her body, their translucent wings illuminating the room with soft silver light. Some hovered above her forehead while others rested gently upon her shoulders or chest.
Every few moments, they released delicate particles of magic that dissolved into her skin like falling stardust before disappearing entirely.
The enchantment was almost imperceptible.
Yet it was the only thing preventing the artificial body from collapsing.
The homunculus had never been designed to exist without a soul for long.
Without the pixies continuously supplying it with life, it would have begun to deteriorate hours ago.
Even they...
...were beginning to grow tired.
Several of the smaller spirits wobbled unsteadily in the air before another pixie gently nudged them aside and continued the work in their place. It was as though every creature inside the room had silently decided that no matter how impossible it seemed, they would continue waiting for Celia’s return.
No one dared disturb that fragile hope.
Not Sebastian.
Not Damien.
Not Ezekiel.
Not Matthias.
Not even Aria.
Their attention remained fixed upon the young woman lying peacefully before them, each carrying a different expression yet burdened by the same unbearable helplessness.
Sebastian stood nearest the window, his hands folded neatly behind his back as they always were whenever he forced himself to remain composed. To anyone else, he appeared perfectly calm. His posture remained immaculate. His expression revealed nothing.
Yet the rigid set of his shoulders betrayed him.
He had not taken his eyes off Celia since entering the room.
Meanwhile, not far from him, Matthias remained standing like a knight guarding his sovereign even though no battle remained to be fought. One hand rested upon the pommel of his sword while the other hung stiffly by his side. He had survived countless wars. He had witnessed comrades fall beside him. He had buried friends whose names history would eventually forget. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Yet somehow...
Watching one unconscious stranger lying quietly upon a bed hurt far more than every battlefield he had ever crossed.
His jaw tightened.
Damien stood silently near the doorway, his gaze alternating between Celia and Aelith.
His expression was difficult to read.
Only hours ago he had crossed into the Elven Kingdom prepared to wage war if necessary. Every step he took toward this palace had been driven by a single purpose.
Bring Aria home.
Instead...
He found himself staying because of some stranger falling unconscious.
On the other hand, Ezekiel’s golden eyes never once left the unconscious homunculus.
Magic flowed quietly through his fingertips as he observed every fluctuation surrounding her body. Threads of mana invisible to everyone else drifted gently through the room, weaving around the pixies before disappearing into Celia’s chest.
The flow was stable.
Artificially stable.
Like a river being forced to continue flowing long after its source had dried up.
His breathing became uneven.
It was wrong.
Everything about this was wrong.
Yet the laws governing souls refused to offer him any explanation.
Even he...
The empire’s greatest archmage...
Could do absolutely nothing.
Then there was Aria.
She stood quietly near the foot of the bed with both hands clasped tightly against her chest. Every so often, her eyes drifted toward Celia before lowering again, unable to endure the sight for long.
Guilt consumed her.
It clung stubbornly to every thought that crossed her mind.
She remembered the conversation they had shared only yesterday.
She remembered Celia smiling, laughing with her, and pretending everything would be alright.
She remembered the playful wink she received moments before they parted.
At the time...
She had believed Celia was simply trying to reassure her.
Now...
She understood.
Celia had been saying goodbye.
The realization sent another sharp ache through her chest.
If only...
If only she had refused to leave.
If only she had told them everything before they walked away.
Perhaps...
None of this would have happened.
A quiet sob threatened to escape her lips, but she quickly bit the inside of her cheek.
She had no right to cry.
Not while someone else was grieving far more deeply than she was.
Because beside the bed...
Aelith remained completely motionless.
From the moment Celia collapsed in his arms, he had refused to leave her side even once.
Hours had passed.
Perhaps longer.
No one had bothered keeping track anymore.
He still sat exactly where he had first lowered himself after carrying her back to this chamber.
One hand remained intertwined with hers. The other rested gently atop the blanket covering her body.
His emerald eyes had long since returned to their deep crimson hue, yet there was none of the terrifying madness.
Only the empty gaze of a man whose entire world had quietly slipped away without allowing him to follow.
Every so often, his thumb brushed softly across the back of Celia’s hand, hoping she would respond to even that smallest touch.
But she never did.
"...Wake up."
His voice was so quiet that it almost disappeared beneath the fluttering wings of the pixies.
"I’ve already lost once."
Another long silence followed.
His shoulders trembled ever so slightly before a bitter smile slowly appeared across his face.
"So this..."
A dry laugh escaped him.
"...this is your revenge."
His eyes never left her sleeping face.
"You finally found a way to leave me."
Aelith lowered his head until his forehead rested lightly against their joined hands.
"You promised you’d stay with me."
His voice cracked.
"You promised..."
Another laugh escaped him.
Only this one sounded broken.
"I should have known."
He closed his eyes tightly.
"You’ve always been better at keeping promises to everyone else than to yourself."
Fresh silence settled over the room.
It lingered long enough that even breathing began to sound intrusive.
Eventually...
Sebastian stepped forward.
He stopped several feet away from Aelith before quietly lowering his gaze.
There was no hostility left between them.
"...We should leave them."
His voice was calm, almost gentle.
No one argued.
Damien slowly nodded.
Ezekiel reluctantly withdrew his gaze from Celia.
Matthias released a slow breath before placing a reassuring hand upon Aria’s shoulder.
"...Come."
Aria hesitated.
She looked once more toward Aelith.
He hadn’t acknowledged Sebastian’s words.
He hadn’t even realized they were still standing inside the room.
His entire world had narrowed until only one person remained within it.
And that person no longer answered him.
Tears blurred Aria’s vision.
The others turned and walked toward the doors one by one without another word.
The enormous wooden doors closed gently behind them, shutting out the faint glow of the pixies and leaving Aelith alone beside the unconscious woman.
Outside, the hallway felt strangely colder than before.
No one spoke.
The only sounds were the echo of their footsteps against polished marble and the distant singing of birds somewhere beyond the palace gardens.
Each of them remained trapped inside their own thoughts.
Each carrying questions they no longer knew how to ask.
Only after they had walked a considerable distance away from Celia’s chamber did Damien finally release a long, weary breath.
"...Aria."
She slowly lifted her head.
He looked at her for several quiet moments before speaking again.
"There are things..."
His expression hardened.
"...we need you to explain."
Aria lowered her gaze.
The five of them continued walking in silence until the grand corridor opened into a wide balcony overlooking the Silver Forest.
From there, the entire kingdom stretched beneath them like a painting.
Normally, the view would have stolen anyone’s attention.
Today... none of them noticed it.
Aria rested both hands against the marble railing, lowering her head as she struggled to steady her breathing. Her fingers tightened around the cold stone until her knuckles turned white. She had rehearsed this conversation countless times inside her mind ever since Celia entrusted her with the truth.
Yet now that the moment had finally arrived...
The words refused to come.
The four men behind her waited with remarkable patience.
Not because they weren’t desperate.
But because every instinct told them that whatever Aria was about to reveal would change everything they thought they knew.
Damien was the first to break the silence.
"Aria."
His voice remained calm, but the tension beneath it was unmistakable.
"Speak."
Aria slowly turned to face them.
For several long seconds, she simply looked at each of them.
Sebastian stood with his arms folded across his chest, his expression composed, though the subtle crease between his brows betrayed his concern.
Matthias remained perfectly upright, but his attention never wandered. Every movement Aria made, every hesitation in her breathing, every flicker in her expression...
...he noticed all of it.
Ezekiel had not spoken once since leaving Celia’s room.
His golden eyes remained fixed upon Aria with unusual intensity, as though he had already begun assembling pieces of a puzzle no one else could see.
Damien... looked exhausted.
He had found Aria alive.
He should have felt relieved.
Instead...
Something inside him still whispered that the person he had truly come searching for had not been found at all.
Aria drew a slow, shaky breath.
"...Before I answer any of your questions..."
Her voice trembled despite her best efforts.
"...I need your promise."
Damien frowned slightly.
"What kind of promise?"
"No matter what you hear today..."
She swallowed hard.
"...please don’t resent Celia."
Sebastian was the first to react.
"...Resent?"
His brows furrowed.
"Why would we resent someone we’ve never met?"
Aria smiled sadly.
"You have."
All four men fell silent.
"You simply..." Her eyes lowered. "...didn’t know her name."
A cold breeze swept across the balcony.
For reasons none of them could explain...
Their hearts suddenly began beating faster.
Aria clasped her trembling hands together before continuing.
"The woman who laughed with all of you..."
She forced herself to meet their eyes.
"...the woman who changed the Valen Estate..."
"...the woman who firmly argued with Lord Ezekiel almost all the time..."
"...the woman who forced Sir Matthias to smile..."
"...the woman who made His Highness choose to follow her around like an ordinary servant..."
Fresh tears gathered in her eyes.
"...that woman...was never me..."
"...it was Celia."
There was a complete silence after her words.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Damien stared at her without blinking.
"...What?"
