Gawin naturally couldn’t understand what she meant.
Just as his brow furrowed, Odely reached out with her bloodstained hand and grabbed a small stone lying on the floor.
The moment his grip loosened ever so slightly, she twisted free from his grasp.
Before he could seize her again, she brought the stone down onto the intricate pattern carved into the floor.
It happened in an instant.
The Purification Circle, passed down through generations.
The ritual that had sustained House Cardel for centuries…
“St-stop! Stop right now! I said stop!”
Shattered beneath the motion of her hand.
“You crazy bitch! Have you lost your mind?!”
Gawin lunged at her in a frenzy, but by then, her hand had already swept across the center of the pattern.
“…!”
Slowly turning to face him, Odely said,
“If God is truly on your side, what could possibly happen from destroying this?”
Then—
Boom!
With a blinding flash, the circle engraved into the floor shimmered like a mirage before beginning to break apart.
“Th-this… This can’t be!”
Instinctively, Gawin stumbled back a step.
Above the place where the circle had been, a tiny light began swirling.
It was the final remnant left behind by the Purification Circle.
The instant Gawin saw it, his eyes went wide.
As though desperately trying to grasp the hand of the god who had abandoned him, he shouted,
“No! It’s not over yet! Not yet!”
He bolted toward the entrance to the secret chamber.
“Call the mages! Restore the circle! Before the barrier collapses, hurry!”
Before the sound of his footsteps had even faded, his shouting echoed through the corridor, along with the sounds of servants being berated and kicked aside.
Odely immediately ran in the opposite direction.
With the circle gone, a hidden passage had opened along the side wall.
A secret escape route, built in case the family’s secrets were ever exposed.
It was the same passage she had shown Ludville in her first life.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped inside.
Silently, she followed the darkness.
Gawin’s furious shouts echoed behind her, but she never looked back.
Past the foul stench of the sewers.
Past the filthy water soaking beneath her feet.
She kept moving, guided only by the faint light far ahead.
At last, she reached the end of the tunnel.
“…Haa.”
Odely took a deep breath.
Fresh air filled her lungs.
She lifted her head and looked toward the sky.
The enormous golden barrier, which had covered the entire Empire like a great dome, was trembling violently.
The Ancient Barrier.
Or rather, the Purification Veil— the lie House Cardel had maintained for centuries.
Now, that veil was cracking apart.
Seeing the disturbance, people across the Empire instinctively looked up.
In the marketplace.
Beneath the city walls.
Before the temples.
Everywhere, people stared at the sky, murmuring in confusion.
“What is that?”
“The sky… it’s splitting apart?”
“The barrier? Don’t tell me the Ancient Barrier is cracking!”
“Impossible! The restoration ritual just succeeded! How could this happen on the Day of Protection…?”
“Th-this is an omen! Not even during the Great War did anything like this happen! God has abandoned us!”
“Has House Cardel lost its power?!”
Fear spread rapidly.
Some people fell to their knees in prayer.
Others grabbed their crying children and fled.
Leaving all the chaos behind, Odely quietly watched the collapsing barrier.
“…Only now, are they finally beginning to see.”
It was beautiful.
Looking up at the golden curtain, breaking apart like countless falling stars,
Odely smiled softly.
It wasn’t a bad beginning.
Heavy snow poured from the sky.
There was no sign that it would stop anytime soon.
Brushing the snow from her robe, Odely stepped into a shabby roadside inn.
“Welcome! Will you be dining, or staying the night?”
“…Just a meal, please.”
After ordering, she sat near the fireplace and warmed her hands.
It had already been three months since she escaped House Cardel.
On the surface, the Empire appeared peaceful.
House Cardel had quickly restored the Purification Circle,
then immediately released an official statement.
“We ask everyone to remain calm. The barrier remains secure.”
“It was only a temporary disturbance. The barrier has been fully stabilized.”
The people believed them.
After all, the trust House Cardel had built over centuries wasn’t something that would crumble overnight.
The markets bustled as always, and merchants loudly called out, trying to sell their goods.
Odely had expected this.
There was no way a Purification Circle, maintained for hundreds of years, could be permanently destroyed with nothing more than a scratch from a stone.
But even if they restored it, what did it matter?
The one thing they needed most— the Purifier— had already escaped.
Even now, House Cardel was desperately searching for Odely.
Missing person reports.
Search orders.
Official notices.
Avoiding every one of their search networks
had been an exhausting ordeal.
They’ve probably hired assassins by now.
If they couldn’t control Odely, they would simply kill her and wait for a new Purifier to be born.
She needed to get as far from the capital as possible.
To some quiet countryside where few people lived.
She knew that.
And yet…
“……”
Why am I heading north?
Odely sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.
The truth was, ever since returning, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him.
He never came to save me.
His actions were completely different from the previous life.
Perhaps… only the person who regressed retained their memories.
After all, through all the countless times Ludville had turned back time, Odely herself had never noticed anything unusual.
If that was true, then perhaps it was for the best.
She wanted him to forget everything and finally find peace.
*Not meeting me… would be better for Ludville.*
From the beginning, Odely had already spent years being used as a Purifier.
She was destined to die before reaching thirty.
That never changed, even in Ludville’s memories.
To be exact, she always died during the winter at the age of twenty-nine.
Five years left…
Odely decided, it was time to stop dwelling on the past and settle down in Shiloen.
The quiet little countryside village where she had worked as a healer in her previous life.
She would spend the rest of her days there.
Just as she made up her mind—
“I never imagined Grand Duke Exepsion would change so much.”
She caught a quiet whisper.
…Who changed?
Odely stopped what she was doing, her full attention turning toward the nearby conversation.
Judging by their clothes, they appeared to be travelers and merchants from the North.
As they raised their drinks, they quietly exchanged rumors about Ludville.
“Another banquet tonight?”
“Of course. He’s still searching for that woman.”
“At this rate, the Grand Duke’s castle looks even more extravagant than the Imperial Palace. Gold decorations everywhere, crystal windows, glowing mana stones…”
Another banquet tonight?
Still searching for a woman?
Living more lavishly than the Imperial Family?
…Who in the world were they talking about?
Just as Odely began doubting her own ears, one of the travelers asked,
“So who exactly is this blue-eyed woman the Grand Duke keeps searching for?”
The moment she heard those words, her heart seemed to drop into her stomach.
Blue eyes?
Ludville… was searching for a woman with blue eyes?
Don’t tell me…
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