Book 1 Chapter 1007

1007.

It was the Seiyrun Academy entrance briefing, which was in full swing.

Seiyrun, the founder of the school, silently took in the sight.

‘It has changed a lot. Even the Elf society.’

Elves were a stuffy and boring race.

They were an arrogant and insolent race who valued harmony, disliked change, and thought they were the best.

That's why Seiyrun hated her own race.

A truth she had never told anyone.

Seiyrun closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

The Tingel family, into which she was born, was originally renowned as a prestigious family.

After the Age of Calamity ended.

The Eisar family of Berkhia, the Fairy Knight, could have produced an Elf king.

‘Because their tradition was sufficient.’

Berkhia was none other than Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula, and the hero Arion.

And a disciple of Kail, the Hero of Beginnings.

Furthermore, he was a great hero who revived the world and led the <Great War> against Tartaros to victory.

Therefore, the Elves elevated Eisar to the royal family of the Elves.

But the Eisar family did not sit on the throne.

They wanted only one thing.

The formation of the Grand Council.

‘And one of the families that formed that Grand Council was Tingel.’

It was the birth of the families called the Seven Seed Families.

The leaders of the Seven Seed Families served as the Grand Council presidents of the seven nations in the northern continent.

In that sense, Tingel could be said to be a family boasting a tradition no less than Eisar's.

Two thousand years after the Seven Seed Families were founded.

Before the Age of Creation dawned, only Eisar and Tingel were the two families that maintained their seats on the Grand Council.

The Berkhia family, who founded the Seed Families with the Eisar family at the forefront, made it so that the position of Grand Council President could not be inherited by bloodline.

They created a law that allowed families lacking ability to wither, and new families that bloomed with potential to be re-elected to a seat in the Seed Families and as Grand Council President.

And the Eisar family was also included in that sacred law.

The goal of the Seven Seed Families was only one.

The revival of the <Star Magic> left by the progenitor of the Nebula.

Thus, countless families withered and bloomed again, repeating this for 2,000 years.

At the end of those immensely long years, the raison d'être of the Seed Families finally bore fruit in the Tingel family.

Seiyrun, who was born into the then declining Tingel family, succeeded in restoring the <Star Magic>.

All Elves praised and blessed Seiyrun's existence.

But Seiyrun hated her own kind.

‘Star Magic isn't just for Elves.’

Luna wanted the Star Magic to illuminate the world brightly.

At some point.

She hoped that when darkness came again, it would guide many, like the stars in the night sky.

Therefore, the moment Star Magic became the exclusive property of Elves, it lost its value.

Originally, the only being who could use Star Magic besides Luna was the human, Kail.

‘The reason why Star Magic couldn't be revived for 2,000 years was also because of the terrible exclusivity of the Seed Families.’

The purpose of the Seed Families' existence was the revival of <Star Magic>.

But they never shared their research results.

It was due to the terrible exclusivity that <Star Magic> had to be achieved within their own family.

And the ambition that sprouted within it.

The ambition to revive <Star Magic> and ascend the throne that had disappeared long ago.

Initially, the Seed Families bloomed and blossomed like fresh sprouts, but over time, they harbored such desires.

And as plants with rotten roots often do.

They withered and became fertilizer, nourishing other families.

The Tingel family was no different.

In a sense, it was able to survive for 2,000 years because it was pure.

But eventually, it rotted and embarked on a path of decline.

It was during that time that Seiyrun was born.

‘It was strange. Only Eisar was like a vibrant flower.’

Despite surviving for 2,000 years, Eisar did not wither.

They were the only family that actively shared their research.

‘And they still maintain that position.’

Seiyrun thought of Eiran.

3,000 years ago.

The head of the Eisar family who lived in the same era as Seiyrun.

‘Annelie.’

Annelie Eisar herself denied it, but.

‘Without Annelie, <Star Magic> could never have been completed.’

When Seiyrun restored Star Magic.

No, even to this day, the revival of Star Magic is known solely as Seiyrun's achievement.

However, the restoration of Star Magic was the product accumulated by Elf society over 2,000 years.

And it was Annelie Eisar who purely conveyed its essence to Seiyrun.

Annelie believed in Seiyrun's talent, whom she considered a friend, without a doubt.

And as expected, Seiyrun restored <Star Magic>.

Although the credit went entirely to Seiyrun, Annelie was genuinely happy.

‘Seiyrun! Thank you! Thanks to you, we could fulfill our ancestors' long-cherished wish!’

The image of Annelie smiling brightly and shedding tears came to mind.

‘No matter what happens, I'll protect you! Even if it means sacrificing my life!’

The sight of her making that vow was vivid in her eyes.

‘…Don't cry, Seiyrun. I just kept my promise.’

The image of her smiling brightly even while dying in the fight against Erebus came to mind.

She looked like a saint.

A smile just like Luna, the progenitor of the Nebula.

‘Seiyrun… please… will you take care of my child?’

Annelie's last words, asking Seiyrun, whom she considered her dearest friend, to take care of her newborn child.

A shadow fell across Seiyrun's eyes as she looked at the changing Elf society and the sprouts that were beginning to change.

‘It will change even more in the future.’

The things Seiyrun hated so much will gradually disappear.

‘There will be more Elves like Annelie.’

More Elves who can look at the world with a broad perspective and transform it will increase.

The narrow-minded, rigid, and insidious Elf supremacists, whom Seiyrun detests so much, will disappear.

‘Yes. Elves like me… should disappear.’

Seiyrun closed her eyes, feeling disgusted with herself.

‘The fact that I was your friend… I'm proud of it.’

The image of her friend, leaving her last will and taking her last breath, was vivid in her eyes.

‘No, Annelie. I'm not your friend. I don't deserve to be your friend.’

She was the one who ridiculed her for loving a human slave and bearing the slave's child.

Because one couldn't call such a person a friend.

Seiyrun bit her lip, recalling her terrible self from that time.

***

Leo approached Karl, who was coming out of the men's waiting room.

"Karl."

"Oh! Your name is… Leona, wasn't it?"

"Look at me for a moment."

"Huh?"

Karl was flustered, looking at Leo who grabbed his shoulder and pulled him.

Meanwhile.

"…Is Karl inside?"

Eliza, who had come to find Karl to show him how beautifully she had dressed up for once, frowned when she saw that Karl wasn't there.

Abad smiled faintly at Eliza's question.

"He left with some woman a little while ago."

"A woman?"

"Yeah. She was a white-haired Elf woman. Looked like a participant?"

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you worried? Your fiancé is with a pretty woman."

As Abad teased her slightly, Eliza curled up the corners of her lips.

"That fool wouldn't dare to do anything stupid, would he?"

Having said that, Eliza headed in the direction Abad pointed to find Karl.

Meanwhile, Karl, who had been dragged to a secluded place, shrieked in terror.

"W-wait a minute! I may look like this, but I'm a soon-to-be married man…"

"It's me."

"Huh? Uh-uh-uh-uh-ACK?!"

As Leo released her perception-inhibiting magic, Karl screamed.

"What? What?! Hahahahahahaha! This is totally awesome!"

Karl held his stomach and laughed.

"What is that disgraceful appearance?"

Leo let out a small sigh, looking at Karl who was laughing heartily, even pointing his finger.

"Ah! It's Senior Lil's wish! Wow~ Senior Lil is so tough! How could she think of using a wish like this? So, Leo. You should have teased her less normally!"

"I'm regretting it, so can you stop teasing me?"

"Wow! Can't we take a picture of this? I bet it would sell really well!"

Karl giggled, not stopping his teasing of Leo.

‘If not now, when else would I get to tease Leo?’

Leo's gaze turned askance as she looked at the delighted Karl.

"So? Miss. What do you need from me?"

"I have a strange feeling."

"Huh?"

"I can't explain it, but it feels like something has happened."

"What? What is it?"

Karl's face turned serious.

‘It's an ambiguous expression for Leo…’

But if Leo felt something, then something was definitely going to happen.

"I'll prepare for it first."

"Please."

"Hmph. They say a woman's intuition is scary, don't they?"

Leo, who had been looking at Karl teasing her until the end, grabbed Karl by the collar and pulled him.

Suddenly, their faces were so close they could almost feel each other's breath.

"Oh?"

While Karl was flustered.

Leo distanced herself from Karl and said.

"The next is tonight, right? I'll be looking forward to it."

"What does that…?"

While Karl was flustered, unable to grasp the situation, Leo ran in the opposite direction.

"What in the…"

"Hoo?"

"Huh?"

Karl turned his head at a voice heard from the opposite direction Leo had run.

He spotted Eliza pulling out a whip and hastily shouted.

"Eliza. No! That's not a woman, it's…!"

"Die!"

"Aaah! That's Leo! It's Leo! Please listen to me!"

***

Luna narrowed her brow, seeing Lena's suddenly changed atmosphere.

‘What is it. Her atmosphere has really changed.’

The slightly clueless atmosphere from a moment ago was gone.

It suddenly felt like she had become an adult.

Her personality also seemed to have changed a little.

‘What on earth is it?’

As Luna tilted her head.

[She's looping.]

"…?"

Luna flinched and turned her head at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice from behind her.

"Lady Luna?"

Lena, seeing Luna like that, looked at Luna and the direction Luna was staring in with a puzzled expression.

‘There's nothing there…?’

[I think it's better not to tell that child that I can be seen. She's probably going to loop again.]

‘…Who?’

A surprisingly beautiful face.

But a very familiar face.

It had to be.

It was the face she saw in the mirror every day.

The only difference was that she was an adult.

‘Me?’

She puffed out her chest and 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!]

Luna thought as she looked at the progenitor of the Nebula, who spoke with her chin raised.

‘This self-absorbed airhead is my future self?’

Luna sighed deeply, looking at her future self.

At those words, a vein popped on the progenitor of the Nebula's forehead.

And.

*Squeeze!*

"Gah? Cough! Cough!"

"Lady Luna? Why are you suddenly hurting yourself?!"

Unconsciously, Luna's hands were strangling her own neck.

Luna immediately realized this was the progenitor of the Nebula's doing.

‘I'm really becoming a pathetic adult.’

In her fading consciousness, Luna could only truly lament.