Book 1 Chapter 1007
1007.
Seirun Academy was in the midst of an admissions briefing.
Seirun, the founder of the school, silently took in the scene.
‘It’s changed a lot. The elf society too.’
Elves were a stuffy and boring race.
A proud race that valued harmony, disliked change, and thought themselves superior.
That’s why Seirun hated her own kind.
A fact she had never told anyone.
Seirun closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
The Tingel family, to which she was born, had always been a renowned noble house.
After the Age of Calamity ended.
The Eisar family of the Fairy Knight Berkeia could have produced an elf king.
‘Tradition was certainly enough.’
Berkeia was the disciple of Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula, and the hero Areon.
And the hero of the beginning, Kyle.
Moreover, she was a great hero who revived the world and led the <Great War> against Tartarus to victory.
Therefore, the elves elected Eisar as the royal family of the elves.
However, the Eisar family did not sit on the throne.
They wanted only one thing.
The formation of the Grand Council.
‘And the Tingel family was one of the families that formed that Grand Council.’
Thus began the birth of the Seven Seed Families.
The heads of the Seven Seed Families took charge of the Grand Council of the seven countries in the northern continent.
In that sense, Tingel could be said to be a family boasting as much tradition as Eisar.
2000 years after the birth of the Seven Seed Families.
Only Eisar and Tingel were the families that maintained their positions in the Grand Council until the dawn of the Age of Creation.
The Berkeia family, which founded the Seed Families with the Eisar family at their forefront, made it impossible for the position of Grand Council Speaker to be passed down by blood.
They enacted a law that allowed declining families to wither and new families that blossomed with potential to be re-elected to a position within the Seed Families and as Grand Council Speaker.
And the Eisar family was also included in that solemn law.
The Seven Seed Families had only one goal.
The resurrection of the <Star Magic> left by the progenitor of the Nebula.
Thus, countless families withered and bloomed repeatedly for 2000 years.
At the end of that distant time, the purpose of the Seed Families finally bore fruit in the Tingel family.
Seirun, born into the then-declining Tingel family, succeeded in restoring the <Star Magic>.
All elves praised and blessed Seirun’s existence.
But Seirun hated her own kind.
‘The Star Magic is not just for elves.’
Luna wanted the Star Magic to brightly illuminate the world.
At some point.
She wished it to be a guide for many, like the stars in the night sky, when darkness descended again.
Therefore, the Star Magic loses its value the moment it becomes exclusive to elves.
In the first place, the only being besides Luna who could use the Star Magic was the human Kyle.
‘The reason why the Star Magic could not be revived for 2000 years was due to the extreme closed-mindedness of the Seed Families.’
The purpose of the Seed Families was the resurrection of <Star Magic>.
However, they never shared their research results.
It was due to their extreme closed-mindedness that they believed <Star Magic> had to be achieved by their own families.
And the desires that sprouted within them.
The ambition to resurrect <Star Magic> and ascend to the throne that had disappeared long ago.
The Seed Families, which initially bloomed like fresh sprouts and then fully opened, harbored such desires over time.
And as plants with rotten roots do.
They withered and became fertilizer, nourishing other families.
The Tingel family was no different.
In a sense, they were pure, which allowed them to last for 2000 years.
But eventually, they rotted and walked the path of decline.
It was during that time that Seirun was born.
‘It was strange. Only Eisar was like a vibrant flower.’
Despite enduring for 2000 years, Eisar did not wither.
They were the only family that actively shared their research.
‘And they still maintain that position.’
Seirun thought of Airan.
3000 years ago.
The head of the Eisar family who lived in the same era as Seirun.
‘Annelie.’
Although Annelie Eisar herself denied it.
‘Without Annelie, <Star Magic> would never have been completed.’
When Seirun restored the Star Magic,
No, even to this day, the revival of the Star Magic is solely known as Seirun’s achievement.
But the revival of the Star Magic was the culmination of 2000 years of elven society’s efforts,
And it was Annelie Eisar who passed on its essence entirely to Seirun.
Annelie trusted and had no doubt about Seirun’s talent, whom she considered a friend.
And as she expected, Seirun restored the <Star Magic>.
Although the achievement was entirely taken by Seirun, Annelie was genuinely happy.
‘Seirun! Thank you! Thanks to you, we can fulfill our ancestors’ long-cherished wish!’
She remembered Annelie’s tearful, radiant smile.
‘No matter what happens, I will protect you! Even at the cost of this life!’
Her determined look was vivid in her memory.
‘…Don’t cry, Seirun. I just kept my promise.’
She recalled Annelie’s bright smile even as she died fighting Erebos.
A smile like a saint.
A smile that closely resembled Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula.
‘Seirun… please… will you take care of my child?’
Annelie’s last words, entrusting her newborn child to Seirun, whom she considered her dearest friend.
Seirun’s eyes cast a shadow as she watched the changing elven society and the budding new generation.
‘It will change even more.’
The aspects Seirun hated so much would gradually disappear.
‘More elves like Annelie will appear.’
More elves who look at the world with a broad perspective and can transform it will emerge.
Elves like the narrow-minded, closed-off, and insidious elf supremacists that Seirun detests will disappear.
‘Yes. Elves like me… should disappear.’
Seirun closed her eyes, feeling self-loathing.
‘I am proud… that I was your friend.’
She vividly remembered her friend’s face as she died, leaving behind her last words.
‘No, Annelie. I am not your friend. I am not worthy of being your friend.’
The one who was ridiculed for loving a human slave and having a child with that slave.
Such a person could not be called a friend.
Remembering herself from that terrible time, Seirun bit her lip.
***
Leo approached Kale as he emerged from the men’s waiting room.
“Kale.”
“Oh! Your name is… Leona, right?”
“Look at me for a second.”
“Huh?”
Kale looked at Leo, who was pulling him by the shoulder, and was taken aback.
Meanwhile.
“…Is it inside Kale?”
Eliza, who had come to find Kale to show him her beautifully made-up appearance, frowned as she saw Kale was not there.
Abad smiled at Eliza’s question.
“A woman went that way a moment ago.”
“A woman?”
“Yeah. A white-haired elf woman. She seemed like a participant?”
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you worried? Your fiancé is with a beautiful woman.”
Abad teased her slightly, and Eliza’s lips curved upwards.
“That fool wouldn’t have the guts to do anything foolish, would he?”
Saying that, Eliza headed in the direction Abad pointed to find Kale.
Meanwhile, Kale, who had been dragged to a deserted place, cried out in panic.
“W-wait a minute! Even though I look like this, I’m a soon-to-be groom…”
“It’s me.”
“Huh? Uh-huh-huh-huh-huh?!”
As Leo released the perception-inhibiting magic, Kale screamed.
“What? What?! Hahahaha! This is totally amazing!”
Kale clutched his stomach and laughed.
“What on earth is that outfit?”
Leo sighed softly as he watched Kale laughing heartily, pointing his finger.
“Ah! It’s Senior Lil’s wish! Wow~ Senior Lil is so ruthless! How could you think of such a wish? So, Leo. You should have teased me less usually!”
“I’m regretting it, so stop teasing me!”
“Wow! Can’t we take a picture of this? It would sell really well if we did!”
Kale kept teasing Leo with a chuckle.
‘If not now, when can I tease Leo like this?’
Leo’s gaze turned askew as he watched the excited Kale.
“So? My lady. What business do you have with me?”
“I have a nagging feeling.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t explain it, but something seems to have happened.”
“What is it?”
Kale’s face became serious.
‘Even for Leo, this is a vague expression…’
Still, if Leo felt something, something big was bound to happen.
“I’ll prepare for it just in case.”
“Please do.”
“Heh. They say a woman’s intuition is scary, right?”
Looking at Kale, who was still teasing him, Leo grabbed Kale by the collar and dragged him.
For a moment, their faces were close enough to touch.
“Huh?”
While Kale was flustered.
Leo distanced himself from Kale and said,
“So the next part is tonight, right? I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“What is that…?”
While Kale was confused, unable to grasp the situation, Leo ran in the opposite direction.
“What the…?”
“Hoho?”
“Huh?”
Kale turned his head at the voice that came from the opposite direction Leo ran.
Seeing Eliza drawing her whip, he quickly shouted.
“Eliza. No! That’s not a woman…!”
“Die!”
“Ahhhh! That’s Leo! It’s Leo! Listen to me!”
***
Luna frowned as she noticed Lena’s suddenly changed atmosphere.
‘What is it? Her vibe has really changed.’
The slightly vague atmosphere from just a moment ago was gone.
It felt like she had suddenly become an adult.
Her personality seemed to have changed a bit too.
‘What on earth is it?’
As Luna tilted her head.
[You’re looping.]
“……?”
Luna flinched at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice from behind and turned her head.
“Luna-nim?”
Lena, seeing Luna, looked at the direction Luna and Luna were looking with a puzzled expression.
‘There’s nothing there…?’
[It would be best not to tell that child that I can be seen. She might loop again.]
‘…Who?’
A surprisingly beautiful face.
But it was a very familiar face.
It was only natural.
It was the face she saw in the mirror every day.
The only difference was that she was an adult.
‘Me?’
She proudly crossed her arms.
[This body is Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula! Your future self who will shine brightly like the stars in the night sky!]
Looking at the progenitor of the Nebula, who spoke with her chin held high, Luna thought.
‘This conceited idiot is my future?’
Luna sighed deeply as she looked at her future self.
At her words, veins bulged on the progenitor of the Nebula’s forehead.
And then.
*Squeeze-!*
“Gasp? Cough! Cough!”
“Luna-nim? Why are you suddenly self-harming?!”
Before she knew it, Luna’s hands were strangling herself.
Luna realized instantly that this was the progenitor of the Nebula’s doing.
‘I’m really becoming a pathetic adult.’
In her fading consciousness, Luna could only lament sincerely.