I didn't understand what happened.

In one moment, I started to lose myself in the madness and the resentment, and in the next moment, I felt a soothing and comfortable sensation wash over my entire body, alleviating a lot of the darkness that I tried to consume.

Lifting my head, I looked around, but—

"There's nothing."

I found that I was the only one standing within the white world.

It was just me and the silence.

Julien...

He was gone.

That was also the moment that I came to a sudden understanding.

"I see."

So it was him...

He was the reason for the sudden clearing of all the negative emotions. While I hadn't seen it or felt it, I was almost certain of it.

Especially when I thought back to the little fragments of the past that I had managed to glimpse while I was in that state, it became clear to me. That was the moment I truly began to understand him.

Julien was indeed a ball made out of darkness and resentment.

At the same time, however, he was also a victim of the resentment and darkness.

He had once been nothing more than an innocent child, slowly warped and consumed by the darkness. I knew better than anyone how terrifying and invasive the voices could be. I had nearly lost my own mind to them.

Julien, on the other hand, lived with such voices in his head.

'It's no wonder he became who he was. Anyone would go mad when subjected to that...'

The more I thought about it, the more pity I felt for him.

At the same time, however, I also understood that he no longer had to bear the weight of the voices or the resentment. I had taken most of it into myself, and my chest throbbed with every breath, the darkness inside making its presence unmistakably clear.

"It might take some time for me to fully digest everything, but this is a start. I can control it, and that's what's important."

This was a massive boost to my emotive magic.

While I was still at the fifth level of emotive magic, I could now clearly sense the path that stretched beyond it. The sixth level.

Just what sort of absurd concept would the sixth level be?

"It's interesting."

I could tell that it was going to be incredibly powerful.

However, for now, there were other things that I needed to take care of.

Staring around and finding no other soul in sight, it truly dawned on me that it was just me now. Julien was completely gone.

From this moment forward, this body was going to be mine and mine alone.

I was now... the only soul within this body.

"Haa."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, reaching inward to feel my connection with the body.

It was there, faint but undeniable.

The sword...

When I opened my eyes again, my focus locked onto it, the world around me growing unbearably bright as a sharp pain tore through my chest.

"Huerk—!"

Blood spurted from my mouth, the strong scent of smoke filling my nostrils and mixing with the sharp tang of iron as my chest rose and fell in uneven bursts. Looking down, I caught sight of a pair of shoes before slowly lifting my head, my gaze meeting a pair of cold gray eyes.

The moment our eyes met, his gaze trembled. He didn't speak, but I understood immediately what he wanted.

For just the briefest of moments, the world grew incredibly quiet.

But then—

I nodded.

"Y-yes. I'm... back."

Leon's lips trembled, and his face grew slack.

Thump!

Falling to his knees, Leon let himself go from exhaustion as he grabbed the ground and tried his best to keep himself steady. In the meantime, the sword that was impaled in my body started to slowly move out before falling to the ground.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The moment it did, the surroundings that had frozen in time suddenly started to move again as I felt an overwhelming sense of hatred directed in my direction.

"You...!"

"I'll ki—Huh? What's... going on?"

Seeing the state I was in, Leon's condition, and the sword behind me, the girls grew confused. I could understand their confusion.

In one moment, Leon had impaled me with the sword, and in the next moment, he was on the floor before me.

Time had frozen, and as such, the three were completely unaware of what had happened during that time.

I leaned my neck a little and massaged it while looking at the three of them.

"You can stop your nonsense. I'm back."

"What...?"

"What are you talking about?"

Strong fluctuations rippled out from their bodies, each wave carrying an oppressive weight that pressed against my chest. They were powerful enough to make my stomach tighten and my breath pause, yet I forced myself to hold it together, meeting their gazes without flinching.

"I know none of you three are stupid. I'm sure you can tell that someone else has taken over my body. I'm back now."

I looked at Evelyn for a brief moment before turning my attention towards Aoife.

"You of all people should be aware of this. After all, I did tell you all about this."

Aoife's expression froze the moment her eyes landed on me. She was clearly caught off guard, her crimson hair, usually so fluid around her face, pulling back slightly as her power faltered.

"Y-you, that..."

I ignored her and turned to Evelyn.

"I know you're incredibly observant. You should understand better than anyone that the one who took over wasn't me. It was… the old Julien."

Evelyn bit her lip, her expression betraying the thoughts she tried to hide. She clearly understood, yet a flicker of hesitation lingered in her eyes. I could tell that she was struggling to believe me.

What if it's just a ruse? That could be...

Her thoughts were almost as plain as day.

I turned my attention towards Kiera.

She was the last person that I looked at, and the one that I had most trouble dealing with. Her crimson eyes shone within the darkness that surrounded her as I opened my mouth, ready to clear the confusion when—

"It's... him."

Leon's weak voice filled the air, his head slowly raising.

"T-that's... Julien. He's... back. I am sure of it."

The surroundings fell silent shortly after his words as the girls alternated their gaze towards Leon and me. I could still see the hesitation in their expression, but slowly, I could also feel the fluctuations that lingered in the air starting to die down.

I raised both of my hands when I saw that.

"If you want, we can all talk about it. I can clear up some of the confusion."

I was in no state to fight them.

While the mana inside my body was more than before, I was still mentally exhausted from everything that had happened.

Everything... felt unfamiliar to me.

Though only an hour had passed for me using the third leaf, the same couldn't be said for this world. Time had moved on, and as I looked at Leon and the others, they appeared familiar, yet something about them felt strangely unfamiliar.

It left a weird sensation inside my mind. Despite trying my best to adjust, it still felt weird.

Just how much time had passed?

"...Alright."

The silence was eventually shattered by Aofie as she lowered her hand and moved back onto the ground, her face still remaining cold as she looked at me.

"We can talk about this. I'd like to hear exactly what happened."

Her eyes narrowed.

"...Everything."

For the briefest moment, her tone unsettled me. The way she spoke, the way she carried herself... it was nothing like before. She radiated the presence of a Monarch now, her presence a lot more authoritative and serious.

Glancing at Evelyn and Kiera, I realized they had changed, too.

A bitter smile formed on my lips as I nodded.

"Sure..."

I was also curious to hear from them.

Just what had happened in the time that I was gone?

*

The moment I agreed to talk with them, the girls' aggression eased. They remained extremely cautious, but with Leon walking beside me, they placed a measure of trust in him.

The walk back was rather quiet.

Nobody said a single word; the sound of our steps echoing within the surroundings.

At some point, I was forced to change my appearance as an army appeared, guiding us toward a large tent. A large table stood in the middle of the room, and as everyone entered the tent and Aoife managed to cast a sound barrier around, all attention focused on me as Aoife sat at the head of the table, her arms crossed.

"Spit it."

She didn't restrain her tone as she spoke.

"...Explain to us what happened? Are you really the Julien that we know? If so, why did you only appear now? How can we trust you?"

Aoife pressed her hand over the table and leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as her tone remained cold.

"Make sure you don't leave anything out. I need something credible enough to be certain that something like this won't happen again. I don't know if you're truly Julien, but in the time that you've left, the world outside has gone to utter shit."

Gone to shit...?

I pressed my lips together, alternating my gaze between everyone present, eventually facing Leon's gaze.

Just one look in his direction, and I could see that he was also curious.

They all wanted to hear exactly where I had been the entire time, and as I felt their gazes, I could only smile bitterly.

"So...?"

"Would you... believe me if I said that I was only gone for ten minutes?"

The room fell silent, all expression pausing.

I could see the atmosphere starting to change, Aoife's gaze slowly twisting alongside the others. Even Leon was looking at me with a strange look, and as I felt the situation starting to turn sour, I sighed.

"The last memories that I have are of my time at the engagement ceremony."

The room turned completely silent, all noise stripping away from the place.

Biting my lips, I stared at my hands.

"...I am not someone who belongs in this era."

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