It was already autumn before I knew it.

'Time flies so fast...'

As I thought so to myself, I closed the book and swept my face. I still couldn't find any answers in this book either.

'I think I've skimmed through almost all the witchcraft books in the library...'

Since there was no concept of forbidden books, I could just take dangerous books without raising any warnings from the Actilus Imperial Palace library. Nevertheless, even in such a place, the magic that Eden spoke of couldn't be found.

As expected, the accessibility of this field was very poor in this world.

'There's no mention of something similar in this world, let alone the content of transplanting someone else's souls.'

While I had hope for the necromancy part, the descriptions were very lacking. Most of them were focused on bringing the dead back to life, and even that was followed by this description...

'There are no stories about people that came from another world to this world.'

It seemed that Eden and I were unique and unprecedented.

So, my reasoning was now leaning towards the idea that it was an accident that he and I were possessed into this world. Even if someone's witchcraft intervened, the possession of Eden and I might not have been what the person intended. Either there was a huge error in the spell, or the spellcaster did something wrong...

If so, Eden's grand dream of finding the magic that brought us here, dispelling it, and returning to the original world was tantamount to burning away.

'Uggh...'

I would have to talk to him.

'Though he won't give up his hope.'

I also remembered Eden's mentions of the great archives of the abandoned sanctuary. Still, I was skeptical because if it were bordering the land of demons, it would've been the area of influence of the Temple of Tunia in the past. Even if it was in the past, would it have been free to bring witchcraft-related books to the temple?

Common sense tells you it wouldn't have been.

Still, it wouldn't be bad to try to find it at least once in the sanctuary.

There was only one thing...

I would only be sending Eden and letting go of all the information I was curious about. Besides, Eden would feel like a burden if I went with him.

Anyway, the day of the subjugation was approaching.

Preparations for the expedition were also going well. The 1,000-strong punitive force directly commanded by Raniero, and the goods to be consumed by them were procured frighteningly quickly. I was supposed to have four separate bodyguards attached to me, but I declined. It was because I thought their presence would hold me back in an unexpected situation since I still couldn't abandon the plan that if Raniero ever met Seraphina and fell for her, I would need to run away.

Recently, he suddenly brought up the topic of Seraphina, and I was on edge.

'...But why is he talking about the Saint all of a sudden?'

Even just thinking about it, my heart dropped.

I sighed.

Although he said he wouldn't be interested in the Saint, the Emperor periodically brought up her story. In fact, I had to act resolutely to pretend that it was no big deal so that he would draw attention from the Saint, but whenever he mentioned Seraphina, I was dizzy and almost cried, especially since I couldn't control such things at will.

Whenever Raniero brought up the topic of Seraphina, I couldn't come to my senses, and the topic always ended with him bursting into laughter and hugging me.

It was obvious that he was joking though I grew increasingly anxious.

'And, the handmaids I'll be taking...'

In order to prepare for an escape in case of emergency, it was better to keep it minimal.

First of all, Cisen.

And... Sylvia.

Sylvia was still circling among the other maids. It was only natural that the higher my value became, the lower her reputation would be. That was based on the extremely Actilus-like law of the jungle. Many thought I was showing off the victor's composure by taking her as a trophy, so it meant that she was so weak that she could only become someone else's trophy.

There was nowhere to put such a person whose existence was a humiliation by their existence.

No one listened to her.

Even if I showed a little suspicious movement in the subjugation ground and Sylvia found out about it... She wouldn't tell anyone. At best, the sister of the traitor, Henry Jacques, would be judged to have framed the Empress again.

On a slightly different note, I thought she was really strong.

In a harsh environment where no one spoke to her, Sylvia was doing her best as my maid in silence. Of course, I wouldn't dare to complain. On the contrary, a part of me admired her, and another half of my heart was worried that she would go astray and attack me. Last time, when I held her hand in private to thank her for always working hard, Sylvia's hand trembled slightly.

At that moment, I realized... that I was the only one she could hold onto, so taking her was good for both of us.

Not only to give her a chance to breathe but also to give me a chance to breathe as well.