Chapter 39
It was well into the deep of night by the time I finally closed the book.
Maya yawned once and asked me,
“Are you all right, my lady?”
To be honest, there was no way I was fine.
I had taken a short nap earlier in the day just to keep myself on my feet, but this body was still far too frail for such long hours of reading.
“I’ll go to my room now.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea… Oh my, it’s already midnight.”
Maya helped me down from the library chair, then carried me in her arms out of the library.
The magic stones lining the hall provided a soft indirect light, so the corridor wasn’t too dark, though the world beyond the windows was pitch-black.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Mm… but…”
Thinking of what I’d just read, I fell silent.
The thoughts swirling in my head were far too tangled to put into words.
Soon, we arrived at my room, and the maids who had followed behind opened the door.
On the bed sat the golden orb I’d received from Hector.
I doubted I’d be able to sleep easily, but I lay down beside the orb and closed my eyes.
I couldn’t help but feel uneasy, wondering what kind of dream would come tonight.
When I came to my senses, I was inside a grand hall built of white marble.
My vision expanded, and I realized I was floating like a ghost.
Around my feet swirled darkness the color of true black flames—yet it felt strangely warm.
— Father.
A girl of about twelve in a watery blue dress entered the room. The long-haired man with tied-back black hair turned to look at his daughter with a haggard face.
The girl had red-tinged hair and blue eyes.
The man’s uniform bore the crest of House Taylors, and I instinctively knew—this was Caissa Taylors.
The infamous figure who had brought forth a terrible curse a hundred years ago.
The girl’s face was steeped in fear, while sparks of anger flared in the man’s eyes.
She clutched an orb in her trembling hands.
— So it was you who dared to steal my dreams. Insolent brat!
Just as I thought, the girl must be Eshir Taylors.
— You mustn’t make a deal with evil! Persetos is lying!
Even in her fear, the girl shouted bravely at Caissa Taylors.
— He’s trying to use you to break the seal! If you’re wrong, the entire Empire will—
— Silence! I…
The man drove the girl into a corner, his expression as terrifying as a demon’s.
— Through Persetos, I will punish evil and make the Empire and the world a better place… I…
— Darkness isn’t evil! Winchester is… a balance…
But her words were cut short.
A gray miasma poured from Caissa Taylors’ body, sealing the girl’s mouth.
Her eyes grew ever more fearful.
— I will be the Empire’s hero and savior. I will be the strongest of all.
The orb slipped from her grasp with a thud.
Ash from the man’s body filled my vision, and a terrifying warning flashed before me:
[This information may destroy the mind of the manifestor.]
But I steeled myself and drew closer to Caissa and Eshir.
This was nothing more than a vivid fragment of thought engraved upon an artifact.
— I am the chosen one. The Elder Dragon… Mechius has chosen me. He desires that the impious be cleansed and the world be filled with light.
Caissa’s eyes were not normal—they were hollow, addicted, unseeing.
“Eshir!!”
I called her name loudly.
Hector had told me to find out why Caissa had harmed Eshir.
And the answer was clear: Eshir had used Queln’s ability to steal Caissa’s warped dreams and learned of his scheme.
This vision confirmed it.
But there was still one more detail that bothered me.
That was why I’d dug deeper into the books—only to find a passage stating that Caissa had used Eshir in an experiment to summon the Elder Dragon Mechius to question him. Though the attempt had failed.
What did Caissa intend to confront Mechius about?
“….”
Eshir looked my way.
I knew I wasn’t truly here with them.
This was merely Eshir’s past, replayed through her golden orb.
Still, I reached toward her with all my might.
“Eshir!”
At that moment, the ash shrouding her oxidized into white dust, and her figure came into sharp focus before my eyes.
Eshir was looking right at me.
Her red hair and blue eyes resembled someone I knew all too well—someone I had seen only once, only to part with forever.
— The day will come when evil swallows good.
— I entrust Queln with an ancient mission.
— The Key of Mechius will gather your dragons once more.
— This is surely the Elder Dragon’s message.
Multiple voices overlapped—memories, prophecies—flowing from Eshir.
The Key of Mechius… the term I couldn’t find anywhere in the books shows up here.
Gather the dragons?
What could that mean?
Eshir’s words seemed to enrage Caissa, whose veins bulged in fury.
He believed himself the chosen one and that House Taylors would rule the Empire.
— Join hands with the Winchesters to prepare for the evil that will be unsealed someday? Silence. I will annihilate them and take their power for myself.
And then—I was seeing Eshir’s last moments.
She lay within a glass tube as liquid slowly filled it.
I stood on the other side of that glass, looking at her.
In her blue eyes, my face was reflected.
Her lips moved faintly.
“Sha… sha…”
And then—darkness fell, and text appeared:
[The black flame’s aura lingering in the artifact neutralizes the overwhelming memory.]
[You have successfully read all the thoughts within the golden orb.]
When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling of my room.
And I heard a familiar voice.
“You’ve come to.”
The voice, tinged with pure admiration, belonged to Hector Winchester.
I slowly sat up to look at him.
Behind him, Maya was clutching her chest in relief.
“You wouldn’t wake up no matter what we did… I was so worried, my lady.”
“Evil will be gone, they said! We have to stay together…!”
Inside the library, I relayed the message to Hector Winchester, seated across from me.
A hundred years ago, Caissa Taylors had killed his own daughter Eshir because she stood in the way of his ambitions.
Whatever the exact reason, perhaps because she had Queln’s blood, Eshir seemed to have received a divine revelation.
With a holy voice, she had declared that the four great houses must unite.
But Caissa believed he alone had been chosen by the Elder Dragon Mechius.
“Caissa wanted to be the best. That’s why he killed Eshir!”
[Quest complete: You have fulfilled Hector Winchester’s task.]
[Achievement: Intelligence +3]
Eshir had only been a young girl.
Was Caissa so far gone that he could do such a thing to his own daughter?
“So we should tell the other houses—”
“They already know.”
At Hector’s words, I flinched.
“Huh?”
“When the truth about Eshir came to light, the three houses joined forces and stopped Caissa.”
The truth I had just seen in the golden orb… was already known to everyone?
Then why, even now, did the houses still distrust and fail to unite with one another?
“You’re wondering, aren’t you? Why Winchester and Taylors still feud despite that chilling prophecy.”
“Because it’s been so long?”
I offered my own guess.
It had been a century—enough time for vigilance to fade.
Hector gave a wry smile before speaking again.
“That’s part of it, yes. But the real reasons are twofold…”
“….”
I focused on his words.
“First—pride.”
The moment he said it, it felt like a heavy weight dropped in my chest.
The evil sealed by Mechius—Persetos—could revive and destroy the world, yet they still clung to pride and rivalry?
“The rift between them has run too deep for too long. At best, they can only sneer at each other from a distance. Pride is also dignity—the very identity of a house.”
Hector went on.
“Unless one side bows their head first, nothing will change. Do you think that will happen easily?”
I frowned and spoke boldly.
“If the world ends, there won’t be any houses left!”
At my grim declaration, Hector burst into hearty laughter.
It was the first time I’d ever heard him laugh like that.
“You’re right, Shasha.”
After laughing for a while, Hector continued.
“And the second reason… is confidence. When they had a common enemy, the houses banded together to stop him. They judged Caissa, who had borrowed the power of evil.”
I stared blankly at him.
“So… if another enemy appears, everyone will gather their strength and wisdom again. No matter how strong the foe.”
The world described in The Head of House Taylors had been flat and simple.
Good and evil were clear-cut, and so were people’s roles.
But the world I saw… was different. It was alive, breathing, pulsing, and dazzling with light.
Even if this was the villainous family, and even if I was the villain’s daughter, each of us had our own story.
The golden orb on the desk glimmered in the sunlight streaming through the window.
Hector’s voice reached me after a brief pause.
“In any case, to have drawn out this much… I cannot help but acknowledge your remarkable strength of mind, Shasha.”
