Chapter 14

I staggered through another stretch of swirling confusion, but for now, I decided to focus on just one thing: getting out of this dungeon.

With these S-rank non-awakened people around, defeating the Ant Queen would be like lying down and chewing gum.

Whatever happened and whatever the reason, I could grab Himong by the scruff later and force the truth out of him.

I approached the others with Linus, who was considerate enough not to question me further about the status window.

Heide, convinced that he and the other two were the only experienced dungeon conquerors here, began explaining the situation to Linus and me.

“It seems this place is an ant nest.”

I covered my mouth and acted shocked as if hearing this for the first time in my life.

“Then what should we do, Your Highness?”

“Since a black hole has not appeared immediately as it did last time, it means there must be another monster we need to defeat.”

Heide looked deeper into the cave, where darkness swallowed everything.

Cheryl, her long red hair cascading behind her, approached and stood beside him.

“We might have to find the black hole that formed somewhere in this cave.”

As she finished speaking and raised her hand, a torch-like ball of fire floated above her palm, illuminating the dark cave.

With an unreadable expression, Cheryl stared at Heide.

The fireball was as red as her hair, but her eyes were darker than the depths of the cave.

Cheryl was always unpredictable, and since this scene never appeared in the novel, I quietly tensed up.

Even Cheryl wouldn’t throw that fireball at Heide… right?

But she had taken a heavy blow from the emperor earlier, so I was even more uneasy.

Maybe Larienne sensed the same tension, because she stepped between them and spoke.

“Whatever the case, let’s look quickly. If we take too long, people will start worrying.”

At Larienne’s gentle urging, Heide turned and took the lead.

Cheryl and Larienne silently followed behind him.

Wow, the tension.

In the original story, there was no point in this timeline where these three should be together. They should have been piling up misunderstandings from their separate circumstances.

Maybe that’s why seeing them together made me want to go home immediately.

I swallowed a sigh and started walking when a large hand suddenly rose into my field of vision.

When I looked up at its owner, he was smiling as if drenched in honey.

“If walking is too hard, shall I carry you, Ayrbet?”

It felt like the sun had risen inside the ant nest.

He was illuminating the cave with his face alone. Linus was performing miracles with his looks.

If we were alone, I would’ve jumped into his arms instantly, but instead, I held his offered hand and shook my head.

“I’m fine. You know I walk just fine.”

“A shame.”

Linus smiled, the corners of his eyes folding softly.

He was dangerously good at using his face.

If I kept looking at him, I really would end up carrying him instead, so I quickly resumed walking.

With Linus quietly following at my side, his hand in mine, I praised his performance from earlier.

“I didn’t know you were that skilled with a sword.”

“I must have shown you something rough. I am embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? You were amazing.”

There’s no one who understands how annoying soldier ants are in battle better than someone who’s fought them.

Even if Heide was the male protagonist, handling that swarm alone would’ve been difficult, and if Linus hadn’t been there, I would’ve had to rush in myself.

I was only praising Linus for preventing a disaster, but he suddenly stopped walking.

“Linus?”

I tugged on his hand and called his name, but he only stared at me with trembling eyes.

I wondered what was wrong and tapped his cheek lightly.

Then Linus trapped my hand between his cheek and his own hand and asked,

“Was I… amazing?”

His voice trembled just as much as his eyes.

Why did he get emotional this often?

With that face, isn’t it harder not to be amazing?

Both my hands trapped in his, I let out a soft laugh and nodded.

“Yes. You were very amazing.”

At that moment, an unknown pressure burst downward from the ceiling of the cave and swept all the way to the floor.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was simply there, that was the only way to describe it.

His memories and even his existence began from that moment.

Linus was lying sprawled across dozens of corpses.

In a small village so insignificant it did not appear on any map, terrified vigilantes tied him tightly and dragged him to the nearest office.

There was no need to check the charges. Murder.

Drenched in another man’s blood from head to toe, he could neither say his name nor explain the situation.

As an official rifled through his belongings, the man found a sheet of parchment tucked inside Linus’s clothes.

And Linus was immediately taken to Piction Duchy.

Baron Julius, a retainer of House Piction who had examined the late duke’s will, questioned him.

“How did you come by this will? What is your relation to the former duke?”

“I do not know.”

It was as if he were using his voice for the first time, awkward and sluggish.

A mysterious man who appeared carrying the dead duke’s will.

The retainers of House Piction argued through the night.

“You want to recognize him as duke without even knowing who he is? I refuse!”

“But the will clearly states that the title must be passed on to a man named Linus who bears the crest of House Piction on his chest, does it not?”

“He does not even know his own name!”

“But the crest engraved on his chest is unmistakably that of House Piction. I cannot ignore the former duke’s final will!”

After a fierce debate, Linus became the Duke of Piction.

The retainers then taught him, in the fastest way possible, the bare minimum he needed to know to act as a duke.

His speech became courteous, but his demeanor did not.

Even while making excuses that Linus was the late duke’s illegitimate son, they did nothing to stop rumors spreading about who he really was.

When the once-feral Linus began acting somewhat human, they sent him off to Arendel, the empire’s capital.

The Piction territory, now practically without a true lord, fell into the retainers’ hands, while Linus remained shrouded in uncertainty.

Everything felt fogged over, as if a film covered his vision.

The radiant spring sunlight, the fresh green leaves, the wide-open sky.

Until the day he met Ayrbet, everything had been blurry.

“I-it’s all right.”

A small voice rang clearly.

Until now, every sound had felt muffled underwater, but only her voice reached him vividly.

Her pink hair, sweet enough to taste like sugar, was vivid.

Her small face and mysterious purple eyes, and even the sunlight, the green leaves, and the sky — everything became sharp and bright.

In that moment, Linus understood.

This is the person.

I exist to meet this person.

He did not know why. He did not want to know.

Even the lost memories that had tormented him no longer mattered.

The certainty that everything would gain meaning so long as he was with Ayrbet sent a shiver through him.

Yes, a shiver.

A trembling that made him realize he was truly alive for the first time.

“You were very amazing.”

Ayrbet was smiling at him.

In overwhelming joy, Linus trembled once more.

As he forgot even how to breathe, the compressed weight of air pressed down from above his head.

In the next moment, the atmosphere of the ant nest around them changed completely.

Ayrbet glanced around, then hurriedly whispered in the smallest voice,

“Status window.”

And after checking it, her brows twisted tightly.

Immortal Queen A 98%

□□■■□■□ ■□

The dungeon, previously rated C, had been upgraded to A.

She had never heard of a dungeon’s rank changing mid-clear.

Naturally, she had no way of knowing what happened in such a case.

Worse, the numbers on the status window began changing rapidly.

Immortal Queen A 95%

□□■■□■□ ■□

“Wh-what is this?”

Immortal Queen A 90%

□□■■□■□ ■□

“Hey, wait. This isn’t right!”

While Ayrbet shouted at the empty air, Linus also sensed the terrifying surge gathering around them.

And he felt something rushing toward them from the deepest part of the cave.

Ayrbet, too, sensed the approaching soldier ants and turned toward the cave interior.

Linus gently tugged her hand, guiding her gaze back toward him.

“Do not worry about anything, Ayrbet. I will protect you, no matter what.”

Lowering his lips softly to the back of her hand, Linus smiled sweetly, as if he might melt on the spot.