When urged like that, Karl finally got up from his seat.
Saying, “Don’t go alone, it’s dangerous—.”
And so we ended up exploring the interior of the ruins together.
Upon examination, as I had thought, the interior of the ruins was not vast.
That wide space where I had fainted seemed to be the ‘central hall’, apparently the largest space here.
The ruins had a structure with small rooms attached in four directions – east, west, south, and north – centered around that space.
Among them, the eastern room seemed to have been a storage area, filled with jars containing unidentifiable grains.
The western room, judging by the chairs densely arranged, appeared to have been used as a space for people to gather and talk.
The southern room might have been a bathroom? Something like a communal toilet was set up.
Lastly, in the northern room, there were very old, completely decayed beddings.
Given that facilities essential for living were in place, this ruin clearly seemed to be a space where people had lived.
Not just one or two, but quite a number of people.
I could be certain that those who lived here were ‘humans’ because of the mural drawn like a scribble in the corner of the northern dormitory wall.
“Look at this. There’s a picture drawn here.”
Hearing my words, Karl also approached my side and closely examined where I was pointing.
“This is… I’m not sure, but it looks like monsters and humans?”
“Yes, it seems to be depicting people fighting against monsters. And fighting quite fiercely…”
I gently stroked the crudely drawn mural and spoke again.
“I’ve always thought about this, but maybe in the past, there were as many humans living in this world beyond the rift as in our world? Otherwise, there’s no way such traces of humanity would remain.”
Those fighting monsters in the mural were unmistakably human.
Not humanoid monsters, but humans who looked exactly like us.
Karl, who had been quietly watching me stroke the mural, muttered.
“Then those humans…”
“They might have been invaded by monsters like us. So they fought hard… really did their best, but in the end, they were defeated and disappeared.”
Imagining their final moments, I continued.
“If we’re not careful, our world might end up the same way. If knights like us are annihilated, the remaining weak ones would hide in remote places like this. Just as the people who lived here built this small building in the desert and hid to survive.”
“So this was indeed a refuge? If humanity hid here like criminals to escape from monsters… that’s bitter.”
“Yes, maybe even this small drawing was made by a child hiding here, with hope. Barely surviving in a world already dominated by monsters, but hoping that someday in the distant future, humanity would have its day of victory.”
If my guess was correct, the child who drew this mural would have died in terrible despair at the last moment.
Because the victory of humanity that the child had wished for was never achieved.
I had been to the world beyond the rift countless times, but I had never once met a human there.
The humans of this world had disappeared without a single one remaining.
If this isn’t the defeat of humanity, what else could be?
Looking at the mural, I renewed my determination once again.
“Let’s fight hard. Even more than now.”
“Yes, because we have to protect people.”
After that, we stopped looking at the mural and left the ruins.
As daylight had broken while we were exploring the ruins, it seemed about time to move outside.
Let’s not be careless this time.
With that inner resolve, I walked with Karl towards the oasis where Quinn would be.
Inside a small banquet hall in the imperial palace, filled with luxurious extravagances.
Nobles of all genders and ages gathered, sipping wine and chatting quietly.
These were the attendees of the party hosted by Ernant.
It was usually a gathering where elegant conversations on topics like philosophy or art took place, but that wasn’t always the case.
Sometimes, gossip about dresses, jewelry, or someone else’s love life would be exchanged, and right now was one of those times.
The nobles… especially the young ladies’ interests were entirely focused on the dresses they would wear to the Empire’s Founding Day ceremony.
“Your Majesty, have you heard that news?”
Lady Riffenberg, who was sitting closely next to Ernant, opened the conversation with such words.
Ernant, who had been momentarily lost in thoughts of Yulia, belatedly responded to Riffenberg.
“News?”
“It’s about the Empire’s Founding Day ceremony coming up soon. The young ladies were all preparing to have the best dresses made for that day. So they flocked to the shop of Devery, who’s famous as the empire’s best designer… but my goodness, some quick-witted rich person had already hired Devery exclusively!”
“……”
“So all the young ladies who were planning to have Devery make their dresses were completely disappointed. Who could it be? To take away that expensive Devery……”
As Riffenberg said, Devery was widely known as the empire’s top designer.
So whenever there was an event, young ladies who wanted to have dresses made by him had to go through fierce competition.
Because he was in such high demand, there were rumors that with the money Devery earned during event seasons, he could buy a small territory.
Someone had hired such a Devery exclusively.
And at the time when his value was at its highest, during the event season.
The interest of the social circles’ young ladies was focused on who this rich person might be, and Lady Riffenberg was no exception.
“I wish I could marry such a rich person too… I wonder who the lady is that won the heart of such a rich person? She must be truly beautiful and charming. I’m so envious……”
“Actually, that rich person is me.”
“……Pardon?”
To Riffenberg, who asked back blankly, Ernant spoke again clearly.
“I said, I’m the one who hired Devery.”
Hearing Ernant’s declaration that he himself had hired Devery, Riffenberg momentarily looked dumbfounded.
The other nobles who had been listening to their conversation were the same.
People looked at Ernant with faces that couldn’t understand.
Ernant looked around at them and showed a fresh smile.
“I needed to have a dress made as a gift for my partner. For some reason, she seemed to be quite angry with me.”
Ernant said so, recalling Yulia who had shown anger towards him.
He still didn’t know why Yulia was angry.
His imagination wasn’t rich enough to imagine that Yulia had died once by his hand and returned to the past through regression.
But even so, he clearly knew this one thing.
For his planned affairs to proceed smoothly, he needed to continue using Yulia.
And to do so, he absolutely had to win Yulia’s favor.
Lady Riffenberg, unaware of Ernant’s inner thoughts, opened her mouth with a somewhat gloomy face.
“So the rumor that you had already chosen a partner was true? As someone who had hoped for the position of Your Majesty’s partner, I’m a bit disappointed… So who is this glorious lady who has monopolized Your Majesty’s attention and Devery’s dress?”
To Lady Riffenberg’s careful question, Ernant slowly opened his mouth.
And answered.
“That’s a secret. You’ll see for yourself on the day of the ceremony.”
Those last words thrown by Ernant created another wave at the party.
The young ladies who had been discussing dresses were no longer interested in that.
Their interest was now entirely focused on who the lucky lady appearing with the emperor would be, and how beautiful she would be.
[This is the timeline separator]Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any other monsters while walking to the oasis.
It was truly fortunate that we didn’t have to fight the venomous type monsters I was most worried about.
So by the time we were almost at the oasis, the tension had eased somewhat, allowing us to engage in a bit of small talk.
“Deputy Commander, please stop going out from under the parasol. There’s an important event coming up soon, and neither you nor I should let our skin get damaged.”
Saying so, Karl pointed with his fingertip towards the sky where the hot sunlight was pouring down.
I laughed lightly and replied to him.
“What about skin? Since when have I cared about such things……”
“Still, we don’t have many days when we dress up nicely, so it’s better to look neat if possible. Especially you, Deputy Commander, aren’t you attending in a dress instead of your uniform for once?”
“……You heard about that?”
“Everyone’s talking about it. I heard that you were quite pleased about it too. As expected, you like receiving such favor from His Majesty, don’t you?”
It seemed the rumor had been strangely distorted in the process of spreading.
That I was pleased with Ernant’s gift of a dress.
I sighed with a dejected feeling and corrected the misinformation.
“I wasn’t pleased at all.”
Why She Is Still Unmoved (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He uses various methods to seek her affection, but she remains unmoved.
Synopsis:
Si Qingyu is a doctor who has saved countless lives and enjoys tranquility.
Luo Shaoxuan is ruthless, deeply scheming, and the top young master in the capital. He admires Si Qingyu.
Luo Shaoxuan: I want to be the only one in your eyes and heart.
Features a cold and calm female lead vs A noble and scheming male lead.
There will be both sweetness and torture towards the male after their marriage.
