247 Diary [3]

There was still one last problem that I needed to tackle, which was to find the exit.

"But where is it?"

I looked around. Everything was in ruins, and smoke rose from certain parts of the area.

I narrowed my eyes in looked for an exit. My previous theory had been the pipe organs, but those were now gone.

Looking through that area, I was disappointed to see nothing.

"What are you looking for?"

"The exit."

I answered, looking back at Leon. He was standing behind me with his usual expressionless look, but I could tell from just a glance that he was anything but pleased with me.

.I didn't blame him. I did after all call him a snake in front of everyone.

The best part was that while he did betray me, I also did kill him during the fog.

I was just shifting the attention from that fact so that he wouldn't bring it up.

"If you're looking for the exit then it's probably there."

Leon pointed towards the altar.

"There?"

I looked at him in confusion. How did he know?

Was he making it up or something?

"You can say that I have good instincts."

So he said, but I found the reasoning to be even more concerning.

He frowned upon seeing the look that I was making. He opened his mouth before closing it and shaking his head.

Then, with a sigh, he walked towards the altar where he raised his foot and stomped down.

Bang!

A powerful explosion resounded throughout as the altar collapsed from within.

Leon's sudden actions caused some of the cadets to flinch directly and some to even yelp in surprise, but their expressions were soon marred with looks of surprise as a staircase appeared from within the altar.

"."

I stared at Leon in silence and he looked back at me.

I wasn't sure about what face I was making, but it probably wasn't too different from Leon's stony one.

"So"

Breaking the silence was Kiera who peeked at the staircase.

"Should we?"

"We should."

Leon nodded before stepping to the side so that she could go in. He thought she would, but she didn't and instead turned to look at Aoife.

"Go."

"Uh? Why me? You're ahead of me. You're clearly trying to use me."

"Use you? No, what bullshit!"

"You're lying through your teeth."

"No, that's not the case."

Kiera shook her head and put on a very serious expression.

"Aren't you the Black Star? I'm just respective the hierarchy."

"Ah."

It was then that Aoife couldn't argue back. She seemed to want to, and her eyes fell on me several times, but I shook my head.

'Still your title.'

"Haa"

Aoife eventually sighed as she lowered her head in defeat.

"Fine."

She knew she had lost.

Kiera had firmly gripped onto her weakness.

Without looking back, she went down the flight of stairs, her back disappearing into the darkness. Kiera stared at the sight with cold eyes.

Just when she couldn't hear Aofie's steps any longer, she looked towards us before saying,

"If she dies, we celebrate."

"..I can hear you."

Too bad Aoife could still hear as Kiera's expression contorted in annoyance.

"If you can hear then it means you're not moving fast enough! Go! DiEh, go find the exit."

"."

Her words were met with silence.

I stared at the two before looking towards Leon who looked at me in understanding.

'You've missed a lot since you were gone.'

'Yeah, it does seem to be that way.'

Shaking my head, I looked in the direction of the stairs before moving towards them.

"Uh? What are you doing? Shouldn't we wait for Aoife to die before going in?"

"Die?"

"Oh, right. To find the exit."

Kiera didn't even attempt to fix her mistake as she dismissively waved her hand.

I yet again shook my head and stepped down.

"There's no need. There's nothing that can hurt us down here."

The only thing I would need to worry about would be the Archbishop's followers, but they were no longer a problem since I was now in full control of them.

"Uh, if you say so."

Kiera stepped to the side and I went down.

Tak

My step echoed as darkness took over my vision. Looking ahead, I caught a glimpse of a certain light in the distance and headed for it.

Tak, Tak

My steps continued to echo throughout the tight space as they rang loudly in my mind.

I walked in silence, slowly getting used to the memories of what had happened, and within that time, the light in the distance grew brighter and brighter until eventually, I found standing in front of a narrow gap that was covered in moss and leaves. Ducking down, I crawled from beneath it and stopped when I noticed a small barrier.

'Ah, this must be the reason why reinforcements still haven't found us.'

I brought my hand forward and bypassed the barrier before going out and finding myself standing in the middle of a large forest.

".We're out."

Aoife stood not so far from me as she looked around with a look of relief. In the meantime, I patted my clothes which which were covered in dirt.

Her gaze eventually fell on me, or more specifically, the ring on my hand.

"What are you going to do about that?"

"This?"

I raised my hand to show her the ring. She looked at it with furrowed brows and it was there that I understood that she knew exactly what the ring was.

"The royal family will probably not be happy if I hold onto this, right?"

".Yes. They won't be."

Aoife nodded her head without denying it.

I could more or less have predicted such a response.

The Ring of Nothingness was one of the most notorious rings in the world.

Why would the Royal Family want anyone to have it?

It was a walking disaster if held in the wrong hands.

"Your best option is to hand it over so that you won't be implicated in anything."

"Yeah, you're right."

Her words made sense, I knew that.

"But"

Aoife sighed while holding onto her forehead.

".You're probably not going to do that, am I right?"

"You know it."

The ring was now connected to me, and it had quite the desirable features.

There was no way I was going to give it over.

"Haaa"

Aoife sighed.

".Even as so much time passes you are still the same."

She seemed to be complaining, but at the same time, she wasn't as she turned her head away.

"I'll pretend like I've never seen or heard a thing."

"Hm?"

I was a little surprised by her actions. She looked at me briefly.

"What? You saved me. Do you think I can't do this much? Plus, I don't think anyone knows about what the ring truly does. So long as I don't speak, you'll probably be able to keep it."

".And you'll do that?"

"That's what I'm saying."

Aoife almost rolled her eyes, but I still managed to catch it. I pursed my lips before finding the corner of my lips curl slightly.

"Let me thank you in advance then."

".Sure."

"Oh, I guess no one died."

Coming out from behind was Kiera who looked around before covering her face with her hand as she blocked the sun rays coming from above.

Squinting her eyes, her expression started to ease as she finally showed signs of relaxation.

Coming from behind her were the other cadets who looked at the surroundings in wonder and shock. Some cried while some hugged each other.

The built-up stress from the experience suddenly caught up to everyone as some even fell on the ground.

Thump.

I looked around me and then turned to look at the very back where Leon was.

He was the last one coming, and I knew that he was probably the one who had suffered the most out of all of this.

Indeed, coming out of the exit, he appeared to be limping somewhat.

Still, unlike the rest, he didn't let go of himself and looked around him.

He was probably thinking of what to do next, but he didn't have to do that.

Rustle~ Rustle~

Soon, the nearby vegetation rustled, and a figure wearing bulky silver armor appeared.

Their armor was filled with intricate inscriptions and designs, adding a certain majesty to them.

"."

Stopping a few inches away from us, the figure looked around before seemingly coming to an understanding.

Taking out a small pearl from their pocket, they quickly cracked it.

Crack!

A deep voice followed after.

"Reinforcements are coming. You are now safe."

Thump!

It was then that I heard another thump. I didn't need to look back to know who it belonged to.

It was Leon.

'He did well.'

Besides the betrayal.

That, I couldn't quite say he did well in that regard.

Still, I also started to feel a sense of relief from the situation. In particular, I wanted to get a better look at the diary.

Or more specifically,

The Records of the Emperor of Nothing

***

Megrail Estate.

Things were tense in the Megrail Estate.

"Quick! Warn the Emperor!"

"Someone go handle her!"

"You go!"

"No!"

The maids and servants rushed all over the place, barking orders to one another.

The entire state was in a state of a mess, and it was all solely due to the presence of a single person.

Delilah V. Rosenberg.

Sat in one of the guest rooms of the estates, she calmly drank the tea in front of her. Her etiquette was perfect, and so was her posture.

She was the epitome of perfection to those who watched her from the side, but at the same time, her oppressive aura made it extremely hard for people to look straight in her direction.

Therefore, many of the servants present could only look down and avoid making contact with her.

Tak!

Many of the servants flinched as she placed the teacup down, a tense silence filling the space.

Delilah's expression changed as she put the teacup down, and some of the servants felt their legs grow weak.

'Oh, no! We must've messed up!'

'We're going to die!'

'Who is the idiot that made the tea?!'

While everyone was panicking, Delilah was smacking her lips as her face contorted slightly.

'So bitter.'

As expected, chocolate was much better.

But it wasn't like she could outright ask for it. She had an image that she had to keep up.

Another one of the reasons why she was banned from eating too much chocolate.

"Tsk."

Delilah clicked her tongue.

"Ah!"

A yelp ensured after and Delilah turned her head in the direction of where the sound came from, utterly confused by the situation.

"Hiek! I'm sorry!"

Immediately, the one responsible knelt on the ground and profoundly apologized with a pale face.

Delilah stared at the scene with a dumbfounded look.

But if that wasn't enough,

"Please spare her! She's still new! She's young and she hasn't learned properly! Punish me instead!"

"Please spare her!"

Another one joined, kneeling down with their heads lowered.

""

Delilah stared at the scene speechlessly.

'What did I even do?'

She was so confused by the satiation, and before she even had the chance to address it, the door opened and a man entered.

"Cough! What's going on here?"

He looked sickly, but his appearance was hard to describe. He had a certain aura about him that made him look 'holy'. Looking around the room, his gaze paused on Delilah.

"Cough! I see what's going on.. cough!"

He approached her and sat on the seat opposite.

"It's been a while, Delilah."

His smooth and crisp voice echoed throughout.

"I hope you've been well. And"

He looked around,

"I hope you forgive them."

"."

Delilah didn't answer and just stared at the man in front of her.

It had been a few years since she had last seen him, and he was now looking rather sickly.

The current Crown Prince, and Aoife's brother.

Leaning back on her chair, Delilah nodded her head.

"Okay."