~ Side Story 39 ~
Meanwhile, that day.
Khalid faithfully carried out Rubian’s instructions.
“Ha… damn it. Is this really right?”
Bzzz! Scratch! Scratch!
A giant squirrel waddled proudly like a hero, its hips shaking as it carried the keepsake box.
While Rubian went to meet Rosetta,
Kal secretly took the keepsake box Leviathan had left behind.
Just as Rubian told him, he fixed the box and then… buried it somewhere in the wheat fields on the outskirts of Biltein.
“……”
But… maybe he buried it too deep?
He buried it deep so monsters wouldn’t dig it up, but—
‘Wouldn’t this make it impossible for anyone to find?’
He thought carefully.
This keepsake box would be discovered in the future and brought back by Balrog.
To make that impatient old man curious enough to start digging…
He had to hit Balrog’s taste perfectly.
‘What does that old master like…’
Khalid narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, he saw a scarecrow leaning crookedly in the distance.
Ah. That’s it.
A little later, Kal dusted off his hands.
“Good. Now I just need to meet Ruby and return to reality.”
The scarecrow gently swayed as if sending him off.
With two silver buns stuck neatly on top of its head.
Ch. 4
Rubian, 19 Again, Early Summer
I realized it.
The air touching my cheeks.
The mana brushing my skin.
The feeling of dropping somewhere!
Finally…
I’m back in reality!
Yahoo!
“Ruby!”
My body was spat out from the shining magic circle.
“Wah! I’m falling—!”
Dad, who arrived a few seconds earlier, and Khalid, who came right after, tried to grab me—
But my forehead and the ground were already about to meet.
“Ruuuuub!”
Luckily, someone hugged me tightly from the front.
“Void, big brother…!”
“Do you know how worried I was?! You, seriously! Do you know how much your brother—!”
I obediently got spun around by the crying Void.
At the same time, I checked my fluttering arms and legs.
Long, adult limbs!
I finally got them back!
“If you were going to run away, you should’ve told your brother first!”
“And if I did?”
“Well—”
Void sniffled.
“First, we’d pick the destination, then reserve meals, decide whether to wear a straw hat or a normal hat, and match outfits—”
“That’s not running away. That’s going out.”
Void is definitely a pass next time too.
“Then where’s Liam, big brother?”
Since a needle goes with thread, I asked.
Void scratched his cheek.
“Don’t know? He was definitely right next to us.”
At that moment—ding!
An alarm rang from my pocket.
Now that I was back in reality, the portable communicator seemed to be working again.
‘Wow… this message window I was so sick of.’
But the contents were even worse.
Everyone… when are you coming?
You promised to greet the youngest fairy first when she returned from time travel.
Honestly, this is too much.
What’s really too much is big brother’s sense of direction.
“Which cave is he wandering around in now?”
“No, I swear we were together! At this point, isn’t it on purpose?”
Grumbling, Void went off to look for his brother.
“More importantly, Ruby. Your body—are you hurt anywhere?”
Dad asked.
“I’m totally fine—”
“Ruby had a really high fever.”
Khalid quickly reported everything.
“What?”
“It was mana exhaustion! I’m totally okay now—”
“……Ha. Go home. Right now.”
“Okay. But first, I want to stomp this time warp device into dust!”
I rolled up my sleeves, snorting.
I was ready to drain all my mana and crush it—
“Stop.”
“Wait.”
Two men suddenly blocked my path.
“Why?!”
“Well… the mages want to study this device.”
“Oh… really?”
As the lord of the Magic Tower,
I had a duty to satisfy mages’ curiosity, passion for research, and intellectual hunger.
“…Fine. Then we’ll leave it with Elder Ashar and Elder Idelaine for now.”
Completely unaware of what the two men were really thinking,
I walked out of the cave.
Outside, it was already deep night.
‘Wow… I spent days in the past, but only one day passed here.’
In the distance, I saw Idelaine and several mages.
As I moved toward them, someone pushed through the crowd and came closer fast.
“Rubian.”
What is this, daylight?!
Licht, with dazzling lemon-colored hair, walked toward me, radiating beauty.
“Licht! Why are you here?”
I almost said Your Highness the Crown Prince, but didn’t want to get that sharp smiling look again.
I just called his name.
He smiled brightly and carefully examined me.
“I just happened to be here. More importantly, are you hurt? I brought healers, so if anything feels wrong—”
“I’m fine!”
“I’m glad you came back safely. You almost—”
Almost?
“You almost got your head chopped off by Duke Zebert.”
“Can you not smile while saying terrifying things?”
Isn’t that treason?
“So… did you achieve your goal?”
Licht asked gently.
While I was choosing my answer, he looked behind me and smiled deeper.
“Oh, you’ve got a leaf in your hair.”
The Crown Prince, who had been standing politely with his hands behind his back, reached out.
At that moment, my body spun around.
“Let me see.”
It was Khalid, now standing behind me.
‘Ah… Kal is back to normal too.’
Kid Kal was cute.
But—
‘Adult Kal feels reliable too.’
Though losing that height difference is a bit sad.
His gray-blue eyes stared down at me, then slowly lifted toward Licht.
“…There’s nothing there.”
Licht smiled and stepped closer.
Then he gently removed a leaf from Khalid’s hair.
“It was on you, Sir Knight.”
Khalid’s expression darkened instantly.
“How careless.”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Were you hoping I’d pat your head?”
I squeezed between the two men, narrowing my eyes.
‘Why does it feel like their relationship is getting worse…?’
These days, Khalid had at least +1 social skill.
He didn’t growl at just anyone anymore.
It almost felt like Licht was openly provoking him.
‘No way. He’s the symbol of kindness and generosity.’
Unaware of the intense sparks crackling somewhere above my head,
I pushed both of them aside.
“Anyway, could you move? You’re both tall and blocky, always squashing people—”
At that moment, someone pulled me away.
“Ruby!”
“Mom?!”
I felt Dad flinch behind me.
“…Thank goodness. When I heard you suddenly disappeared, I was so shocked. At the estate, only Father and His Majesty were there…”
She must have run all the way here—her breathing was rough.
But the arms holding me were firm.
‘Mom’s arms… it’s been so long!’
Mom really is better than ‘big sister.’
“Hehe, sorry.”
I smiled brightly to reassure my pale mother.
Dad then walked toward her.
“Rose.”
Her body trembled.
After giving orders to the knights, Dad gently pulled her closer.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
It was probably the first real conversation they’d had since their argument.
‘Dad, you can do it!’
I cheered him on silently.
Dad glanced at me and let out a short sigh.
A cold wind blew through the ancient ruins, heavy with the passage of time.
Leviathan quietly looked at his wife.
“……”
Thump.
Thump.
‘Damn it.’
His heart was racing like a rookie’s.
Only then did he realize how much he had missed her.
As he hesitated and tried to speak—
“Rose, so…”
“I’m sorry.”
Leviathan frowned at Rosetta’s sudden words.
She rubbed her eyebrow and spoke slowly.
“I… couldn’t control my emotions very well.”
“……”
“Everything precious to me was already here. I don’t know why I was so obsessed with that old keepsake box I had forgotten.”
Rosetta smiled softly.
Then she gently took Leviathan’s hand.
“I don’t need to confirm my mother’s love anymore. Right?”
“Rose.”
“If you lost my key… well, you must have had a good reason.”
“……”
“So that’s enough now. I won’t insist on going back to Biltein to look for it. I even dragged the kids into this mess… ha.”
“Wait. Just a second.”
“I said it’s fine. Honestly, I can’t even fight with you anymore. When we were young, I don’t know where all that energy came from. We’d ignore each other for weeks… but now? I can’t do that anymore.”
Rosetta grabbed his clothes and tugged them.
“So tonight, come back to my bed.”
His body reacted immediately.
“…That is nice to hear, but no—wait—”
“Ah, what is it now? Just stop talking and let me cling to you—”
“Ruby found the key.”
“…What?”
Rosetta blinked.
Leviathan took a small key from his chest and placed it in her hand.
“The keepsake box key.”
“…Ah…”
The wind blew.
Rosetta held her fluttering hair and stared blankly at the golden key in her palm.
It was the very key Rubian had successfully copied.
