Mia followed Kefi, stumbling through the thick snow, one step uneven after another.
Time went back to about twenty minutes ago.
A muffled crunching sound came from underfoot. She looked up at the two-story wooden house, but a faint sense of unease stirred in her heart.
The snow in the yard was shockingly deep, almost up to her calves, and there were no signs of it being cleared at all.
Fluffy snow piled all the way up to the front steps, and even a thin layer of ice had formed under the doorknob.
“Did it snow this much last night…” Mia muttered softly.
She glanced up at the gray sky, no longer snowing, and the doubt in her heart brushed past like a feather, but it didn’t linger long.
Maybe Kefi’s mom and younger sister just hadn’t had time to clean up yet. After all, it was a remote border town with few people, and it was freezing.
Thinking that, she saw Kefi, already ahead, eagerly trotting up the steps, her face glowing with the excitement of coming home. Mia suppressed the odd feeling and hurried to catch up.
“Come on in! It’s cold out there!”
Kefi turned back and beamed at them while pulling out a key to unlock the door.
The wooden door swung open, and a cool draft of air rushed out—not the warmth of a fireplace she had expected, but the stale, dusty chill of a room that hadn’t been aired in a long time.
As Mia stepped inside, the first thing she felt was cold.
Not much warmer than outside.
Her eyes quickly swept the living room—the fireplace held no flames, only cold ashes.
The furniture was covered in visible dust, especially the wooden table, where the dust was thick enough to write in.
There was even a cobweb hanging in the corner, swaying gently in the faint light filtering through the window.
This… didn’t look like anyone had lived here recently.
A chill shot up Mia’s back.
But Kefi seemed completely oblivious.
She set down her luggage, her smile so bright it almost hurt Mia’s eyes, and raised her voice toward the empty staircase:
“Mom! Kelin! I’m home!”
The upstairs was silent, not a sound.
But Kefi acted as if she had actually heard her little sister’s cheerful footsteps.
She turned, faced the empty area at the bottom of the stairs, and opened her arms, her face filled with a doting, happy smile.
“Kelin!”
Mia watched helplessly as Kefi bent over toward nothing, stretched out her hands, and made a hugging motion, as if she had actually caught a little girl who had rushed into her arms.
Then Kefi held “her” and spun around lightly, saying:
“Did you miss your big sister? Your big sister missed you too!”
Her movements were so natural, so real, as if there really was a warm little girl in her arms.
But in Mia’s eyes, and in Ellaria’s, who had followed her in—
Kefi was just alone, her arms wrapped around empty air, spinning elegantly and eerily in the dusty living room.
Mia felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen solid.
She blinked in disbelief. She even wondered if she had fallen asleep on the train and was still in some absurd dream.
She instinctively turned her head to look at Ellaria beside her. The usually dignified and gentle princess’s emerald eyes were also wide, her face drained of color, filled with the same bewilderment and shock as Mia’s.
Ellaria’s hand unconsciously gripped the edge of her scarf, her fingertips turning white.
Clearly, it wasn’t just her hallucination.
Just then, the door to the backyard creaked open—
To Mia, it was just the door hinges groaning from the wind or pressure.
Behind it was the dark entrance to a cluttered storage room, completely empty.
But Kefi seemed to see someone carrying firewood come in.
She set down the “air” in her arms, turned toward the door, and greeted with a warm smile:
“Mom!”
She walked quickly toward Sefina, ready to introduce her:
“Mom, these are…”
“Kefi.”
Mia’s voice came out dry, trembling slightly.
She tugged at Kefi’s sleeve, her eyes fixed on Kefi’s still-smiling profile.
“Who… are you talking to right now?”
Kefi was interrupted, stunned for a moment, then tilted her head slightly.
Her gray eyes were full of confusion and amusement:
“I’m talking to Mom. Mia, what’s wrong with you? Did you get fuzzy from the cold? Mom is standing right there.”
Kefi pointed at the empty doorway.
Ellaria took a deep breath, her voice ringing in the silent, cold room:
“Kefi… there’s clearly… nothing there.”
The smile on Kefi’s face gradually faded, replaced by confusion.
She looked at the doorway, then at the stiff, pale faces of her two friends, and frowned deeply:
“You two are being really weird. My mom and little sister are right here. Mom just brought in firewood, and Kelin just jumped into my arms…”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling sick from the cold on the way?”
Kefi’s tone was concerned and sincere, with even a hint of worry for her friends’ strange behavior.
Mia and Ellaria couldn’t help but take a half-step back, a chill creeping up their spines.
The Kefi in front of them was so normal, yet so abnormal.
They both turned their pleading eyes to Teacher Sefina, who had been silent since entering.
Sefina stood near the doorway where light and shadow met. Her cream-colored coat looked especially cool in the dim light.
Her wine-red eyes calmly swept over the dusty furniture, the cold fireplace, the empty room, and finally landed on Kefi’s confused and concerned face.
There was no surprise or horror in her expression—as if she had expected all of this.
Kefi also looked at Sefina, as if finding a pillar of support. With a hint of helplessness and a plea for help, she said:
“Teacher Sefina, look at Mia and Ellaria… Did they get hit by some curse or spell? Why are they talking nonsense and not seeing my mom and sister?”
Kefi walked toward Sefina, her expression one of genuine anxiety.
Sefina watched quietly as Kefi came up to her.
The girl’s eyes were clear as a spring.
But between the warm world she saw and the cold, dusty reality, there was an unbridgeable gap.
A faint sigh crossed Sefina’s heart.
She had come to this remote border town for Kefi in the first place.
Because the Former Saint of the Western Order was Kefi’s mother.
Light magic specialization itself was an extremely rare magical constitution. The Church, which revered light, would recognize a light magic specialist as a Saint or Saintess.
The reason Kefi had that constitution was because she was the Saintess’s daughter.
And the thing that could reveal the truth the most was the old wand Kefi always carried.
Because it was left behind by her mother.
Sefina had crossed paths with that Saintess when she was on the western continent before, which was why the wand looked familiar.
Some wounds, even if you don’t touch them, won’t heal on their own.
Some truths, no matter how hard they are to bear, must be brought to light.
Sefina met Kefi’s confused and trusting gaze, took a deep breath, and spoke in her usual calm tone:
“Kefi…”
She paused, her wine-red eyes staring directly into the girl’s suddenly frozen eyes.
“They… are already dead.”