Due to the depletion of her magical energy, coupled with her physical exhaustion, Aurora slept for ten whole days.
When her tightly shut eyes finally opened, the room was still plunged in darkness.
For a moment, Aurora thought she was still in that pitch-black forest, hiding from the monster’s attack.
But when the sharp, pungent scent of medicine reached her nose, she realized she was in the apothecary.
How long had she been asleep? Surely not another ten years?
At the thought of that, fear crept into Aurora’s heart. If she really had slept for more than a decade again, she might go insane.
Eagerly, she tried to lift herself from the bed to see just how long she had slept.
Just as she was about to support her still-weak body with her hands, she realized her arm was tightly trapped by something.
That… seemed to be a person?!
Struggling free with one hand, she pulled back the blanket and saw a red-haired woman clutching her fiercely.
She wore black lingerie that accentuated her curves, and Aurora’s arm was nestled deep in the softness of her chest as she held on.
The woman seemed desperate for security, burying her face into Aurora’s chest, her pale thigh pressed against Aurora’s leg.
Aurora could confirm the identity by the faint, sweet scent—this was her younger sister.
Had she been living here all this time during Aurora’s unconsciousness?
It sounded absurd, but knowing her sister’s personality, Aurora felt this was entirely possible.
Her eyes landed on a wooden training sword by the door, her armor, and a book she often read lying on the desk—proof that her guess was right.
“Mm…”
Lorabell, feeling the chill as the blanket was pulled away, snuggled closer into Aurora’s embrace, tightening her hold.
Gently brushing aside the strands of hair falling over her eyes, Aurora noticed a tear trickling down to her fingertip.
Only then did Aurora see the clear tear stains on Lorabell’s cheeks.
She must have been crying for some time; the warmth on her chest wasn’t from her breath but from her tears.
Her clothes were soaked through by the tears, and her body trembled slightly.
“Sis…”
Aurora reached out and softly stroked Lorabell’s hair.
As she did, she began to hum a lullaby into her ear.
This was the same lullaby she used to sing to her sister when putting her to sleep, during nightmares, or whenever Lorabell was scared or uneasy…
“Dark, dark skies hanging low, bright, bright stars follow close. Bugs fly, bugs fly, who do you miss tonight.”
The song was once sung by a traveling bard who told them it was passed down from his ancestors. Lorabell loved it, so Aurora had memorized it and often sang it to her.
Clearly, the lullaby still comforted her sister now.
As the soft melody ended, Lorabell’s trembling ceased, and the tears stopped flowing.
Aurora gently pulled the blanket back over her and decided to wait until morning to tell Lorabell she was awake.
With that thought, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, breathing in the faint fragrance of her sister…
*****
“Aurora… I will never forgive you… never again!”
“Who… are you?”
When she opened her eyes again, all she saw was darkness.
A familiar voice echoed by her ear, filled with coldness, anger, and hatred—seemingly intent on drowning Aurora in its black emotions.
A flicker of purple appeared before her. Aurora reached out to touch the strange color.
The moment her fingertip made contact, the purple turned into sludge, enveloping her entire body.
She struggled fiercely, but the more she fought, the stronger the sludge binding her became.
The air was gradually being stolen away; the familiar sensation of suffocation crept in.
“Air… gone…”
She tried to take deep breaths, but her mouth and nose were blocked by the sludge, and no matter how hard she tried, it was useless.
Just as she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, a black silhouette appeared in her vision.
Her face was twisted, filled with fury, and her body was the sludge holding Aurora captive.
In her hand was a red chain, and the other end was wrapped around Aurora’s neck.
Purple sludge dripped from her mouth, which opened and closed as if speaking to Aurora. Though she couldn’t hear the words, a voice echoed in her mind…
“I will find you… I will kill you… I will trap you forever in this sludge…”
“Can you hear me, Aurora?”
Awakening with a start in her sickbed, Aurora looked around and realized it had been only a nightmare.
The sun was already overhead; she had slept for an astonishingly long time.
Lorabell’s figure was nowhere to be seen on the bed—where had she gone?
Just as Aurora tried to search the room, a familiar, heated argument came from outside the door.
Aurora slowly got out of bed, steadied herself against the wall, and approached the door step by step.
When she opened it, she heard her sister’s cold, murderous voice.
“My sister has been unconscious for ten days. It must be your dark magic that caused this!”
“Her vital signs are stable, but I don’t understand why she hasn’t woken up yet.”
“You say you don’t know, yet you want to deny responsibility?!”
The clashing sound of a drawn sword echoed through the apothecary, followed by another familiar voice.
“Wait, wait! Calm down, calm down!”
“This isn’t the First Kingdom where you can just draw your sword whenever you like. If we get reported, we’ll all be sent back!”
“But Princess, my sister has been unconscious for ten days because of her—how am I supposed to stay calm?”
“Misha has been investigating the cause these days. Please don’t take rash actions before the results come out.”
“If it really is because of her healing, then we can deal with her later.”
“If my treatment truly caused this, I wouldn’t even mind if you kill me.”
“Then, um…”
A weak voice came from behind the group—one that Lorabell knew all too well. The moment she heard the first word, she confirmed the owner of the voice.
“Sis!” Lorabell exclaimed happily as she turned around.
She hurried over to Aurora’s side, reaching out to support her.
“Don’t get out of bed before your body is fully recovered!”
A female apothecary in a white coat approached quickly upon seeing Aurora.
Before she could get close, a blade suddenly pressed sharply against her neck.
“Take one more step toward my sister and I’ll kill you.”