Chapter 141

141.

“Lady Sergia, please stand up straight.”

“Yes.”

“Please smile a little more benevolently.”

“…Yes.”

“Your voice is trembling. Is something troubling you?”

‘Something troubling me? There are plenty of things.’

Sergia calmed her trembling lips.

‘It’s because of you and your ridiculous insistence on these d*mn etiquette lessons!’

As she entered the dressing room, Sergia shouted in her mind.

For Sergia—or rather, Lunia—this moment was truly a terrible time.

Dozens of maids were moving about solely for her benefit.

They kept bringing luxurious dresses and dressing Lunia in them.

They all looked incredibly expensive, causing everyone to marvel at their beauty.

Even Lunia, with her bold nature and being the right age to enjoy getting dressed up, couldn’t help but find some fascination in the beautiful clothes and elegant accessories.

‘But there’s such a thing as moderation, you know!’

It had been several hours since entering the Hero Dungeon.

When she first realized her situation, she had agreed to the situation out of tension and a need to gather information, careful not to make a single mistake.

Although Lunia found the elven etiquettes stifling, she had been raised as the heir to a noble family of heroes from a young age. Recently, she had also been excelling as the representative of her year at Seirun, maintaining her role as a top student wherever she went.

Being stifled and doing it poorly were two different things. And so, Lunia possessed a considerable amount of confidence in elven etiquette.

But this was going too far, crossing every line.

‘If I take a deep breath, they scold me. If I blink, they point it out. If I don’t smile, they complain. Seriously, is it too much to ask for a moment to breathe when we’re still preparing?!’

Faced with the relentless etiquette lessons from the man in front of her, Lunia was almost at the brink of a nervous breakdown.

And this was supposed to be preparation for a party, filling her with mounting irritation.

How much attention to detail would be expected at the actual party?

‘I might lose my mind.’

Even the strict etiquette teachers of Seirun who were known for their perfectionism seemed like child’s play compared to this man.

‘Calm down, calm down. I need to understand the situation first.’

Lunia looked at her own reflection in the mirror, the face of the woman named Sergia she had taken over.

Her hair was a shade of blue that reminded one of water, and her large eyes were the color of a tranquil lake. She was a girl around Lunia’s age.

Staring intently at her reflection in the mirror, Lunia faintly smiled.

‘While I may not have princess syndrome, I can certainly say this much: I’m prettier.’

Lunia believed she was more beautiful than this girl.

‘Besides, my personality is kinder.’

Leo might have joked about how she “polishes” her kindness if he’d heard, but alas, Leo wasn’t here.

‘Still, what kind of era is this, and what’s this girl’s status?’

Within the confined space, Lunia tried to gather as much information as possible.

But none of the dozens of maids were willing to speak to her kindly. Not only that, but they avoided making eye contact with Lunia and quickly looked away if they accidentally did so, as if they were terrified of Sergia.

Lunia found this very unsettling.

‘Even in olden times, the maids’ reactions are way too abnormal.’

While authoritative families certainly existed even in the present, and she had seen her fair share of arrogant fools at Seirun, no one in the elven community treated their own kind with such fear. In the elven society, excessive authority was considered a defect. Setting up rigid class distinctions was seen as something only crude people would do.

And yet here, the division of ranks was all too clear.

At even the slightest movement or gesture, the maids flinched and tightly closed their eyes, as though they feared physical punishment.

It was easy to guess how hysterical and cruel this girl was on a regular basis.

‘Looks like she’s someone with terrible character. What kind of ancient era am I in?’

Though it might be from an unimaginable past she could not possibly fathom.

‘Still, I can’t exactly ask what era this is.’

Saying something odd might raise suspicion and derail the dungeon run. For now, every action had to be taken with caution.

Chack—

Leaving the dressing room, Lunia stood before the only person she could currently converse with.

The man stared intently at Lunia, frowned, and then pointed to a dress.

“Seems like this one suits you best.”

“It’s the one I wore earlier.”

That was the first dress Lunia wore after entering the Hero Dungeon.

“Yes, it truly does seem most fitting.”

A vein popped on Lunia’s forehead.

‘Then why did you make me suffer for so long?’

Suppressing the urge to shout at him, Lunia went back into the dressing room and changed into the dress once more.

While adjusting her accessories and makeup to match the new dress after exiting the dressing room:

Tap tap—

“Come in.”

“Master Ether.”

“What is it?”

“There is a small problem…”

“What kind of problem?”

A man who looked like a knight walked into the room.

Lunia perked her ears at the conversation between the two men. Glancing at Lunia briefly, Ether gestured with his chin for the knight to go outside.

‘Hmn, seems like it’s a secret conversation.’

Chak—

The door closed.

This was an opportunity to get information. Even if it was minor, Lunia didn’t want to miss it.

She tilted her sharp ears, amplifying her hearing.

“There has been an intruder in the underground prison.”

“Intruder?”

“Yes. The one who harmed your fiancé during today’s class has escaped.”

“What?”

‘Haha! Heard everything! You guys.’

Lunia let out a meaningful smirk in her mind.

No matter how sharp an elf’s hearing, if untrained, they wouldn’t have caught the conversation. But Lunia, as an aspiring Hero recruit, was different.

Even though she couldn’t manipulate aura, she had trained hard to enhance her senses using mana.

‘If I don’t train, I won’t be able to catch up to him.’

Thinking of Leo, Lunia focused on listening to the conversation further.

‘The way they talk so openly indicates that this guy doesn’t have high mana abilities. I need to be cautious about using magic or spirits in front of others. And there’s a fiancé too, huh…’

Gathering clues from small details, Lunia’s mind raced.

“Hey.”

“Yes, yes!”

The maid applying make-up on Lunia’s cheeks turned pale when spoken to.

“Please forgive me! Please spare me!”

Seeing the maid kneel and beg for forgiveness, Lunia looked up to the ceiling in exasperation.

‘What kind of life has this girl been living?’

To be so terrified just from being spoken to.

“It’s fine. You’ve done nothing wrong. I was just curious and wanted to ask.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Is my fiancé alright? I heard he got hurt.”

“Yes… Lord Hirkyan was injured in an unfortunate accident during class today, but he’ll be able to attend the prince’s birthday party, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Prince?”

“Yes.”

The unfamiliar word caused Lunia’s face to twist uncomfortably.

With that, Ether walked back into the room.

His expressionless face remained unchanged as he bowed to Lunia, who had finished getting ready.

“You look beautiful enough to not disgrace the name of a princess, Lady Sergia.”

‘Princess? A princess?’

Lunia knew that the elven society had princesses in its history. But that was 5000 years ago, before the Era of Catastrophe.

‘Wait! Princess? So does that mean this is the world from 5000 years ago?’

“Let’s see His Highness before heading to the party, Lady Sergia.”

As Ether bowed and escorted her, Lunia’s mind raced.

‘If this is the world before the Era of Catastrophe… then this is one of three worlds we could have entered.’

The Hero Record only lists three heroes known to predate the Era of Catastrophe.

King of Wisdom, Lissinas.

God’s Blacksmith, Dwenno.

And the Progenitor of Star Cloud, Luna.

‘This world certainly has strong ties to elves! So if it’s before the Era of Catastrophe, that means this is Lady Luna’s world!’

She remembered her previous encounter with Luna.

The brief meeting after defeating the Skeleton King.

Contrary to what Lunia had expected, the legendary progenitor was overwhelmingly beautiful and captivating.

Back then, they hadn’t really had a proper conversation.

‘Oh! In this world, I might actually get to talk to the Progenitor!’

Lunia’s eyes sparkled.

Getting to converse with the progenitor!

What an unbelievable concept!

‘Discussing magic with Lady Luna! Receiving advice on magic from Lady Luna! Getting compliments from Lady Luna! All of this might be possible! Please, let this be Lady Luna’s world!’

Her heart pounded as excitement surged through her.

And yet, she maintained impeccable etiquette on the outside.

As Lunia walked down the hallway, she arrived at a massive door carved with images of trees.

Powerful-looking knights stood guard nearby.

After bowing to Lunia, the knights opened the enormous door.

Creeeeak!

On the other side of the door lay an abyss of darkness. An impenetrable blackness that blinded any possibility of sight.

Looking at that, Lunia felt her face stiffen.

‘What… is this?’

She quickly composed herself.

As the darkness dissipated, the scene of the reception hall unfolded before her.

‘Did I just imagine that?’

She thought she might have seen something that didn’t exist.

Still, Lunia swallowed hard.

Something deep inside urged her to prepare herself mentally.

She took a deep breath.

“Lady Sergia.”

Ether gave her a reproachful look.

Though normally it might have irritated her, Lunia didn’t have time for that now.

Ignoring Ether, Lunia carefully stepped into the reception room.

The moment she did…

She felt goosebumps all over her body.

She quickly suppressed the trembling in her body and feigned calm.

But inside, her mind was screaming.

‘What… is this place?!’

She wanted to escape.

Her breathing felt restricted, and cold sweat trickled down her back.

Yet, she was the only one feeling this oppressive atmosphere.

“Welcome, my daughter, the princess.”

A kind voice came from the lofty throne.

Looking up, Lunia greeted the Elven King, Ergen, with few words, acting in the role of a high-ranking princess.

A gentle smile formed on her face.

And at that moment, Lunia noticed something.

She understood why this place had invoked primal fear in her.

The vast hall was the interior of a giant ancient tree.

Unbeknownst to Lunia, this was the very center of the High Elf city, Barharun.

The interior of the World Tree located in Barharun.

Only opened during visits by the Elven King, this was a sacred place among elves.

This World Tree, known as a treasure among elves, was indeed vast.

It was used as the reception hall by the Elven King.

Behind the Elven King’s throne lay a vast empty space.

Though it seemed empty to everyone present, Lunia couldn’t tear her eyes away from what she saw behind Ergen.

She tightly clenched her nails into her palm to stop her hands from trembling uncontrollably.

‘…What… is that… thing…’

An abomination unlike anything Lunia had ever seen lay dormant in the empty space.

Unseen to the false inhabitants of this world, it could only be perceived through Lunia’s true eyes.

A scream didn’t even come close.

Breathing itself became difficult.

She barely managed to suppress the urge to gasp.

And she was thankful the creature seemed deeply asleep.

‘Is this from Tartarus?’

The creature itself radiated unimaginable dread.

The very essence of the being exuded destruction, enshrouded by a black flame that seemed ready to incinerate everything.

As that thought passed through Lunia’s mind, something stirred in her memory.

Suddenly, she remembered the fairy tale she had adored since childhood.

The very tale that had ignited her admiration for heroes and the great progenitors.

In that story, a villainous antagonist appeared.

‘The evil entity screamed: “Ahh! I’ll devour you all!”’

‘Cliché! Cliché!’

Why did the contents of the story, read with playful tones by her mother back then, suddenly resurface in her mind?

Why did her childhood memory of jeering at the embodiment of evil resurface?

‘As if the great heroes wouldn’t defeat him anyway!’

Was it a passing flash of memory?

Or was it because she realized that there were no longer any great heroes left to defeat that primal evil?

It didn’t matter.

Somehow, Lunia had figured out what the monster in front of her truly was.

‘It’s exactly like the fairy tale…’

Lunia tightly shut her eyes.

‘Erebus.’