22. The Spirit King Sylphid  

“…Gone.”  

He had been right behind me, close enough to touch, but the moment I crossed the boundary of the forest, everyone disappeared.  

Even the traces of the path I had walked vanished.  

The last image burned into my mind was his stunned expression as he looked at me. His hand, which had failed to reach me, lingered in my memory.  

‘I’ll go back and apologize.’  

I must have had the same expression in his eyes.  

How shocked must he have been by Rose’s disappearance to look at me that way?  

Losing his little sister he cherished was shocking enough, but then I disappeared right before his eyes. It wouldn’t be surprising if the castle had declared a state of emergency by now, suspecting dark magic or something similar.  

“Can I trust this green light?”  

The light grew brighter and larger as it led me deeper into the forest. It seemed to act as a guide, pointing the way. Suspicious as it was, I had no choice but to follow it for now.  

“Ugh…”  

At that moment, I heard someone else’s breathing—labored, as if they were dying.  

“Rose Temeri!”  

Under a massive tree that reminded me of the poplar tree at the castle, Rose lay sprawled.  

Her body was covered in green firefly-like lights.  

“No!”  

The lights looked as though they were draining the life out of her, and I screamed.  

“Rose, wake up! This isn’t how I wanted to find you!”  

In the original story, the heroine found the Northern treasure next to Rose’s corpse. I, too, had been searching for the treasure from the original story.  

It felt as though Rose, just like in the original, was pointing me to the treasure’s location through her death.  

If Rose died, it would confirm that this was the place where the treasure was hidden.  

A phrase from a book I had read while researching the legend suddenly came to mind.  

Between the valleys, where the Wind Valley begins. Where the blood of roses flows, the gate of the full moon will open…  

The moon was rising. I felt a wave of dizziness. The legend was unfolding.  

“To the one who inherits the will of the Northern Wind, grant the treasure for your descendants!”  

I held Rose tightly and shouted toward the sky.  

Rose, no. Don’t die. The full moon is out now. We’re so close to obtaining the treasure. Hang on just a little longer, you fool.  

“To the one who inherits the will of the Northern Wind, grant the treasure for your descendants!”  

If the door to the hidden treasure vault opened and I entered, I could warm Rose’s cold body.  

But…  

‘In the original, the heroine only had to chant the spell for the vault to open…’  

Why wasn’t anything happening? It was as if Rose, who was slowly losing her breath in my arms, was being mirrored by the lack of response.  

“Wake up, Rose Temeri. Before I make you copy etiquette books every day in front of me.”  

Rose’s lips were pale, seemingly reflecting her dwindling life force.  

“What…”  

At that moment, Rose gave a faint smile and opened her mouth.  

“I wanted to see Brother Darius’s face one last time. Why does it have to be you?”  

Shut up. Don’t talk like you’re about to die.  

“It’s cold.”  

Rose burrowed into my arms, despite being someone who hated me the most.  

‘I’m not going to lose to this damned original story.’  

I won’t cry. I won’t despair.  

If Rose dies exactly as she does in the original story, what happens to my death flag in the original?  

“So, Rose Temeri, you have an obligation not to die!”  

I held Rose tightly and shouted toward the sky once more.  

“You claim that those who inherit the will of the Northern Wind are your descendants! Are you going to let your people die like this, you foolish ancestor?”  

‘Is it because of bloodline? The heroine managed just fine. I came to the right place, and the moon is out, so why!’  

Rose reached out her hand toward the empty air.  

“Dari…us…”  

No.  

Rose’s head slumped to the side, and at that moment, the moon grew larger, and the world went dark.  

* * *  

「…Contractor, contractor, awaken.」  

“…Ugh.”  

「A new contractor bound by an oath with a friend.」  

“Rose Temeri!”  

Hearing the sound of a voice echoing in my head, I regained my senses, searching for Rose.  

When I opened my eyes, I was in a new place. Behind me, the sound of gold coins tumbling echoed as my flailing arms knocked them over.  

I had been in the forest, hadn’t I?  

“Where is this?”  

「This is the alternate dimension where the founder of Inkheart and I made our pact. It is also where he sealed the treasure.」  

Rose Temeri, the legendary treasure, a new location.  

The sudden flood of information made my head spin. The being before me continued speaking, indifferent to my confusion.  

「You’ve truly found this treasure, even though you’re not a descendant of Inkheart, as I had been told, it didn’t matter. Will you use this wealth to become rich?」  

The room was luxurious, filled with mountains of gold coins. Among the piles of gold were artworks, swords, bracelets, and other items, as if they had been casually tossed in.  

I had finally found it—the treasure vault of the Grand Duke’s household.  

But standing there, looking down at me, was someone who shouldn’t have been there. A tall figure with beautiful blond hair and an elegant posture. I knew him.  

“Sir Lucion…?”  

Why was he here?  

「No, I am not him. I merely borrowed a form from your mind. Humans prefer tangible forms. Do you dislike this one?」  

With a wave of his hand, Lucion’s form disappeared, replaced by Darius standing before me.  

“Hmm…”  

The unknown figure, observing Darius’s well-built frame, let out a low hum.  

「Never mind. I don’t like this one. Black hair reminds me of an old friend.」  

The unknown being returned to Lucion’s form and spoke to me.  

「I am Sylphid, the Spirit King who made a pact with the founder of the Inkheart family. I have guarded this place according to our contract. It has been a long time since my friend passed away. Now, contractor who has found this place according to our pact, what will you do with this treasure?」  

“What? Spirit King? Ancestor? Don’t make me laugh! You’re boasting so much when you’ve been taking life force as a sacrifice!”  

I was utterly disgusted by the being who called himself Sylphid. Outside, Rose was freezing and dying, and he had taken the form of her brother Lucion to speak to me.  

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.  

「What are you talking about? There seems to be a misunderstanding. I haven’t taken anything from you by allowing you into this space.」  

Sylphid, in Lucion’s form, blinked in apparent confusion.  

“You didn’t open the door even though I chanted the spell properly. You only opened it after Rose died!”  

「I don’t know what happened outside. I can only sense what happens within this space. It’s true that the founder and I placed some restrictions to prevent just anyone from inheriting our treasure, but taking someone’s life as a sacrifice? That’s something only demons would think of.」  

“Restrictions?”  

If Rose’s life wasn’t taken as a sacrifice, then why did she die in this forest, both in the original and now?  

“When I entered the forest, green firefly-like lights guided me. And those same lights covered Rose’s dying body, as if draining her life force.”  

「Those are fragments of broken spirits. They seek vitality to return to their original form. But calling them green fireflies… it’s clear you’re no spirit mage.」  

Sylphid clasped his hands together and sat in midair as if there were an invisible chair.  

「In truth, according to the conditions we set, you shouldn’t have been able to enter this place. You’re unqualified, you slanderous contractor.」  

Yet here I was, not outside but in this legendary place.  

As if reading my thoughts, Sylphid grumbled.  

「You insulted us so much outside. Calling us stingy ancestors, saying our offerings were a waste, accusing us of being cursed ghosts conned into bad real estate deals, and even vowing to dig up our graves if you ever got out. I decided to summon you to hear your complaints directly and clear up the misunderstanding! I’m not the miser you claim I am.」  

My face turned bright red. In my desperation, I hadn’t even remembered half the things I’d said.  

「And now, after all that, you accuse me of demanding human sacrifices.」  

Sylphid clicked his tongue in disapproval.  

「The restrictions we set were that only those with abundant holy power or spirit power could find the treasure.」  

‘Holy power or spirit power?’  

The original heroine was a saintess, a powerful figure.  

「Blind wealth only brings disaster. We believed that those with abundant holy or spirit power would use the treasure selflessly for the world. As you know, this treasure was prepared to prevent calamities in the world.」  

‘So it had nothing to do with bloodlines. No wonder the Inkheart Grand Ducal family hadn’t found the treasure all this time.’  

For decades, there hadn’t been any exceptional spirit mages or priests with holy power in the North, let alone in the Inkheart family. So, it made sense that no one but the heroine could have stumbled upon this treasure.  

The Northerners had truly believed in the legend and searched for the treasure, only to come up empty-handed. How pitiful.  

‘Wait, only those with abundant holy or spirit power could approach the treasure?’  

Yet here I was, in the treasure vault of the Inkheart Grand Duke.  

“Could it be… I’m a spirit mage or a saintess…!”  

I can do it, just like the heroine of a romance fantasy!  

「You tricked me into thinking you had an abundance of spirit power. You fraud.」  

…And just like that, my grand dream crumbled in under five seconds.