Stars were falling in the Black Forest.
These weren’t ordinary stars; they were stars made of flowers, crashing onto the dark, damp earth of the Black Forest.
The fallen stars made no loud noises.
They simply drifted down gently, scattering brilliant petals in every direction.
The petals, scattered across the Black Forest floor, shimmered faintly for a moment before dissolving into light and disappearing.
Chesha, Kiernan, and Hylon stood frozen, watching the surreal scene unfold before them.
Kiernan, his gaze fixed on the disheveled golden hair, moved his lips.
“…Rose.”
Kiernan uttered the name like a painful sigh and hurried toward Rose.
He stumbled, nearly tripping, but managed to kneel safely in front of her.
He carefully reached out to her, who seemed to shine with her own light in the dark forest.
His hand, trembling pitifully, was about to touch Rose’s cheek.
Kiernan’s eyes widened in shock.
His hand passed right through Rose.
“…Ah.”
With that short sigh, everything shattered.
The fragmented world reformed into a new scene.
This time, it was Snake Castle.
In the garden, bursting with flowers so vibrant it was hard to believe it was the usually gloomy Snake Castle, two babies were arguing noisily.
Sitting on a mat laid out in the shade of a tree, they screamed at each other, making unintelligible baby noises, and flailing their little fists, even though they couldn’t yet speak properly.
It wasn’t a serious fight.
Their arms were too short to land any real blows; they just swung them around.
A boy with a blank expression sat next to the babies.
The boy was quietly reading, and occasionally, when the two babies’ fists came too close, he would gently block them with his hand.
The boy, leisurely turning the pages of his book, suddenly looked up.
“Belzeon!”
The boy’s face, which had been sullen, brightened at the clear voice.
However, he didn’t show too much joy and calmly got up from his seat.
“Mother.”
Rose, with her long, curly golden hair, smiled brightly as she hugged a large basket.
Rose sat down next to the small Belzeon.
She put down the basket and kissed Belzeon’s forehead with a smack.
“Take good care of your siblings, too. You’re so dependable.”
“…It’s only natural as a brother.”
He answered casually, but Belzeon’s cheeks flushed faintly red.
It was a happy moment for a close-knit family.
“Guess what Mom brought? Something from the kitchen……”
“Rose!”
Kiernan, who ran up in a hurry, knelt next to Rose and called her name.
“…So the chef made a sandwich……”
“Rose, Rose!”
Kiernan called her name several times, his voice cracking with desperation.
But Rose couldn’t hear Kiernan’s voice.
She just smiled brightly and showed off a long baguette sandwich to Belzeon.
It was a familiar sight to Chesha, who had crossed timelines several times.
“Rose……”
Chesha approached Kiernan, who couldn’t even bring himself to touch Rose for fear of shattering her again, and desperately called her name.
Chesha looked down at him and carefully explained.
“The Fairy Queen can travel through time. I think we’ve all traveled to the past together.”
“……”
“Even if you travel through time, you can’t change the past. You can only watch……”
So you can’t intervene in any way; you just have to observe.
She explained with a heavy heart.
“……”
Kiernan said nothing.
He just stared blankly at Rose, who was alive and breathing right in front of him, smiling happily.
Chesha’s eyebrows drooped with concern.
‘I had a hard time when I first went back to the past.’
The fact that I couldn’t change anything and just had to watch was so terrible and painful.
The pain Kiernan would experience was so obvious.
‘Why did we have to come to the past of all places?’
The three powers were mixed together.
Kiernan’s black magic, Hylon’s divine power, and even the fairy power that Chesha poured out last.
Each one was powerful enough to change the world.
This was because Kiernan, Hylon, and Chesha had poured out all their power.
‘Moving to the past is the work of fairy power.’
It was impossible to know what kind of variable black magic and divine power would act as here.
If it acted in a bad way, all three of them might be trapped in the cracks of time forever.
It was really the worst-case scenario.
‘It’s not bad enough now, but.’
Instead of reviving the dead, I got to see the past that would stir up Kiernan’s wounds.
But, but……
‘Mom smiled like that. Belzeon and the twins were cute when they were young.’
Chesha stared intently at the past she had never experienced.
Because she knew it was a moment that would never come again.
After watching for a while, she slowly turned to the side.
Hylon was quietly staring at Chesha.
“…Sorry.”
Chesha apologized again.
Hylon asked a question instead of accepting the apology.
“Are we trapped in the cracks of time?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so. How to get out of here……”
Chesha smiled bitterly.
“I got trapped here because of you.”
“No.”
Hylon cut off Chesha’s words firmly.
“It’s my choice.”
The blue eyes that said that were unwavering.
Hylon continued in a calm voice.
“I will find a way out. There must be a way. Since there are people with this much power gathered together. And even if we can’t get out forever……”
At that moment, his cold eyes slightly curved.
Chesha’s eyes widened at the smile that didn’t fit the current situation at all.
He reached out his hand.
The hand that gently cupped Chesha’s cheek was big and warm.
“It might not be so bad either.”
Chesha couldn’t say anything, and her face turned red.
To think that there was a man who said that he would be happy if he could just be with her, even in this situation.
‘Really… weird.’
To ease the awkward atmosphere, she turned her head to the side and said.
“I’m going to get out of here no matter what. There will be people waiting outside, too.”
Then suddenly, a cold question flashed through her mind.
‘Is it okay to go out?’
Chesha hurriedly looked around her.
The rabbit doll was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where did the crown go?’
She used her power again while pouring out her life force and dying.
Perhaps Chesha’s body was already broken, and only her spirit remained.
Chesha’s face turned pale at the chilling assumption.
‘Let’s just think about getting out for now.’
Even if I can’t get out, I have to send Hylon and Kiernan out.
They were dragged into the past because of me.
At that time, Kiernan, who had been kneeling, slowly got up.
His eyes were black and lifeless.
He stared at Rose with eyes that didn’t reveal his thoughts, then reached out to her.
The hand still couldn’t touch anything and passed through Rose.
And once again, the world began to change.
In the next timeline, many things had changed.
The lively Snake Castle had sunk back into darkness.
The whole castle was filled with heavy gloom and the bitter smell of medicine.
Kiernan, standing blankly in the corridor of the castle, headed somewhere without hesitation.
Hylon and Chesha hurriedly chased after him.
Kiernan threw open the door of a room.
There was Rose, dying there.