Chapter 09
1. When the Family Collapses, Society Collapses, and the Empire Collapses (7)
Beneath the shade of her hat, vivid blue eyes blinked slowly as they lowered. Watching her cherry-blossom-like eyelashes flutter, Selena felt her chest warm.
Now she understood why people smiled just from looking at a calm, quiet cat.
“Finish thinking after lunch. If you need a hint, tell me.”
“Okay.”
Selena found one of the cleaner-looking restaurants and went inside.
The place was lively.
The customers were a mixed bunch, but none of them looked particularly shady. They seemed to have gotten lucky with the choice.
After making brief eye contact with a busy server, they sat at a slightly secluded table near the edge.
A freckled boy approached briskly and spoke cheerfully.
“Welcome! What would you like to order? We’ve got corn soup, roasted chicken, cheesy steamed potatoes, and rye bread. Today’s special is mountain rabbit stew—it’s five copper coins. For drinks, we have dark beer, milk, or water.”
Gayeon chose immediately, without hesitation.
“Mountain rabbit stew and milk, please.”
“I’ll have the cheesy potatoes, rye bread, and one dark beer. Here’s the money. Keep the change.”
When Selena handed over a silver coin, the boy’s face lit up.
“Yes, thank you very much! I’ll bring it right out!”
As the server trotted away excitedly, Gayeon glanced at Selena.
“You tip generously.”
“I’m rich. And anyway, it’s money I’ll throw away once I go back home.”
“That’s true.”
“And more importantly, he’s a cute kid with freckles. It’s fine to give him a bit extra.”
“Are freckles your type?”
“No. My favorite.”
Thinking of the favorite she’d been forcibly separated from, Selena drifted into memories.
When she went back to her original world…
It would be finished by now, wouldn’t it?
After opening seven dimensions and gathering information from other worlds, she’d discovered something surprising: the flow of time didn’t differ much between worlds. That meant Earth, too, had advanced thirty-three years since her death and reincarnation.
Thirty-three years was more than enough time for any series to conclude, release spin-offs, and even publish side stories for popular characters.
She’d seen up to the escape from the execution platform at the final battle.
He must’ve escaped safely. Even if not, losing an arm or a leg like that red-haired guy would still be acceptable. Rolling your favorite character around was part of the fun.
How exciting. She would definitely buy it. Carefully avoid spoilers, bathe and purify herself properly, then read each chapter reverently, one by one.
Thinking of all the top-ranked wishes on her list of 1001 things she wanted to do after returning home, Selena’s determination to go back burned brighter.
But after hearing her answer, Gayeon’s expression turned subtle.
“A freckled favorite… you don’t mean the older brother of the protagonist from that pirate series where they fight over who becomes king, do you?”
“That’s right! You know it too? Well, he is pretty famous.”
“Yeah… he even trended in search rankings, and someone in my class once burst into the room shouting about him…”
“Really? Was our guy that popular? I saw up to the escape during the final battle. Come to think of it, you probably know parts of the serialization I don’t. No spoilers, okay? That’s something you have to see for yourself.”
Excited at finally being able to talk about her favorite after thirty-three years, Selena hurriedly stopped Gayeon, who looked like she was about to say something.
“…Right. Things like that should be seen firsthand.”
As expected of polite, kind, and lovely Gayeon—she understood immediately.
Just then, the drinks and food arrived.
So much for “it’ll be right out.” They hadn’t been exaggerating at all.
Selena and Gayeon began eating.
After days of barely surviving on jerky, dried fruit, and hard biscuits, eating properly cooked food was immensely satisfying.
“Unni, have some of this too. Eat a lot.”
Gayeon suddenly seemed extra attentive, but Selena didn’t think much of it.
People tended to get gentler once good food reached their stomachs. That was all.
Together, they happily tore into the chewy rabbit meat and savored the stretchy, delicious cheesy potatoes.
“Eating like this is nice.”
“Should we eat at restaurants from now on?”
“Would that be safe?”
Safe, huh. Selena took a bite of the fragrant rye bread and thought.
Under normal circumstances, there’d be nothing to worry about.
How would you catch someone who fled via teleportation without leaving physical traces? She even used a cognition-disruption spell while moving around—there wouldn’t even be witnesses.
But the opponent was the Emperor.
Even with cognition-disruption magic in place, judging by his behavior, he’d definitely be pressuring high-ranking knights and mages in each city to send out patrols.
They might sense the magical irregularities and investigate.
And even if they couldn’t pinpoint an exact location, there was a high chance they’d track traces of long-distance teleportation used in each city and at least figure out the direction—north.
Connect the locations of those teleport traces with lines, and the route would emerge.
Of course, detecting teleport residue wasn’t easy.
Mana didn’t pool without reason—it naturally flowed and dispersed.
To find “mana traces,” you’d need to be at least a seventh-class mage.
And even then, you’d have to do it within three days, while mana still lingered. After that, even an archmage would struggle.
So normally… it would be impossible.
“Still, it might be a little risky.”
Selena would bet her staff that immediately after she fled with Gayeon, the Emperor had summoned every reachable seventh-class mage in the Empire.
Weighing the risks carefully, Selena made a decision.
“Even so, let’s eat at restaurants.”
“I’m fine with that, but… are you sure?”
“If we live on preserved food all the way to the Frost Mountains, our condition will drop. Neither of us is particularly physically strong—we’re a mage and a spirit user. If one of us gets sick, that’d be really bad. Even if we get spotted occasionally, it’s better to knock them out and run again.”
“But wouldn’t it be worse if pursuers start swarming in?”
Gayeon still looked uneasy.
As a former empress, she probably knew better than anyone how powerful the empire’s forces were. And she was right.
“Officially, they’re not known, but there are groups like the Shadow Knight Order or the Crimson Thorn Corps… there are a lot of extremely dangerous elites.”
“…Who are those?”
“They’re people who secretly protect the Empire. Only the Rabbit and the Rabbit’s spouse know about them. When they were introduced to me, I was told they could even take down a master.”
Imperial assassins, then. So those were likely the ones used to eliminate opposing nobles.
Selena clicked her tongue, then reassured Gayeon.
“If they’re thick in the north, we can lie low until they disperse or detour west or east to throw them off. That’d delay things by at least a year, which I’d rather avoid—but honestly, we’re the ones in a hurry. Even if dimensional travel gets delayed a bit, it’s not the end of the world.”
“That’s true. I want to go home as soon as possible, but safety matters too.”
“Yeah. Dying on the way home would defeat the whole purpose. As annoying as that is.”
As Selena sighed heavily, Gayeon tried to comfort her.
“Still, it’s better than you getting hurt. And if it comes to it, you can use me as a shield. They won’t even dare touch a finger on me.”
“Gayeon…”
Such a good kid. Selena felt genuinely moved by Gayeon’s voluntary “friend shield” offer.
Not that she had even the slightest intention of actually using her as one.
Just as Selena was about to say she appreciated it but refused—
The restaurant, which had been filled with steady background noise, suddenly erupted into commotion.
A man rushed in through the entrance holding a newspaper and shouted loudly.
“Did you hear? Count Kim has come to the north!”
The reaction was explosive.
“What? That kidnapper?!”
“My god. That terrifying Archmage who kidnapped Her Majesty the Empress came here?”
So their direction really had been exposed. And it was already common knowledge.
Well, it was hard to hide. They’d mobilized massive forces to pursue them—rumors were inevitable.
Clicking her tongue, Selena met Gayeon’s eyes. Her face had stiffened too. Fear flickered across it, just for a moment.
Given the emperor’s obsession, it was practically trauma for Gayeon—no wonder she was sensitive. Selena took her hand to reassure her. It felt slightly cold.
Just as Selena opened her mouth to calm her—
The man continued.
“But apparently Count Kim came north to force a marriage with Her Majesty the Empress!”
“No!”
Selena jumped to her feet without thinking and shouted the denial.
