Published: January 24, 2026
“――Who is Titania?”
Luna tilted her head in confusion as she asked.
It was an unexpected question.
A cold hand seemed to grip my chest, creating a blank space in my thoughts.
I had only exchanged words with Titania once.
It was last year, when Count Edington requested us to conduct dungeon exploration in the Reglyph Territory.
That encounter had been abrupt and fleeting.
Therefore, most of what I know about Titania’s temperament and nature is based on what Luna told me, conjectures built from her stories.
Whenever she spoke of Titania, Luna always smiled with joy.
—But now, she lowered her eyes, her expression filled with sadness.
“Why…? I shouldn’t know this… but when I hear that name… why does my chest ache so painfully…?”
Luna clutched her chest, her voice trembling as if she might start crying at any moment.
“Pixie, what does this mean…?”
Using spirit domination, I asked the fairy (Pixie) who is always by Luna’s side.
“…Orun, I thought you knew… that the queen’s footprints have been erased.”
Pixie’s small voice trembled slightly, yet quietly carried a tone of reproach.
“…The footprints have been erased…?”
I blurted out, and Pixie strained to continue.
“…Cavadel used his supernatural ability, equivalent exchange, to rewind time in this world.”
“I know about that.”
The time rewind refers to when I was defeated by the Cyclamen Cult in Tsutolairu, and my grandfather—Cavadel Evans—sacrificed his existence to reverse that event.
“…Cavadel offered his existence and ten years’ worth of footprints as payment… That’s why everyone recognizes him as ‘someone who died ten years ago.’”
I understood that much.
Grandpa was a genius magical tool artisan.
But there were people who disliked him, and he was persecuted and isolated.
Apparently, unable to endure the situation, he chose to end his own life.
However, in reality, he did not die—he came to Tsutolairu and quietly ran a small general store while watching over me.
Before time was rewound, there were a few who knew Grandpa was truly alive.
But after time rewound, even those people recognized he had committed suicide ten years ago, which I believed was the price for rewinding time.
“…But that alone was not enough… So, the queen also offered footprints dating back ages ago, including the mana that makes up herself…”
I see.
Grandpa paid not only with his existence but also with his past footprints.
If Titania also paid a price, it must be the same.
“…The fact that you met her when you were little, and the words you exchanged afterward… all that the queen paid as the price…”
Luna suddenly lifted her face.
“…Did I… really meet Titania…?”
“…Yes. That’s why you now feel sad without understanding why…”
“…”
Luna pressed her chest and looked down.
I searched for words to comfort her, when she turned her face toward me.
In her sorrowful eyes, there was yet a faint light of determination.
“…Mr. Orun, if you don’t mind… could you please tell me? …What kind of person was Titania…?”
I swallowed hard for a moment at her question.
Though her voice still trembled, she was trying to face forward.
“…Alright.”
I knew I had to answer.
“…Most of what I know about Titania comes from you, but I also met her once. Remember? When Count Edington commissioned us, you, me, and our apprentices went to the Reglyph Territory—”
Luna nodded and listened quietly without interrupting, even as I spoke.
I could tell she was trying to absorb every word.
When I finished, Luna spoke.
“…Thank you.”
Her voice was soft, but her expression still held traces of confusion.
It was understandable.
What I told her was something she had heard before, but to her now, it was merely a memory that lacked real feeling.
You cannot reclaim the outline of what’s lost with words alone.
Still—she was trying to grasp something left inside her.
“…It still feels strange. The more I hear, the more unsettled my heart becomes. Though I can’t feel it at all…”