Making Little Merlin realize she is worthy of being loved, making her realize she can act spoiled toward her mother at any time and does not need to act tough. From this perspective, becoming Little Merlin is not entirely a bad thing. The biggest problem with Adult Merlin is that she is too stubborn, like a stone that cannot be warmed up no matter what. Before her eyes, Little Merlin is as well-behaved as a soft, sweet cake.
‘I hope she can keep a bit of this frankness even after turning back into Adult Merlin.’
Ophelia tightened her arms, holding the little one in her embrace even more closely. Perhaps feeling the fluctuation in her mother’s emotions, Little Merlin rubbed her furry little head against Ophelia’s chest in an act of attachment. Ophelia looked down and happened to lock eyes with the crescent moon shapes of Little Merlin’s eyes.
“Hehe.”
The smile was bright and pure, without a trace of impurity. Yes… this is the childhood Ophelia has dreamed of, the one Merlin should have had… Watching this smile, a warm current surged in Ophelia’s heart, but it was immediately followed by a wave of sour regret.
If only… if only I could have found Merlin sooner. If I could have come to her side earlier, would she not have had to experience that past, a past so painful she wanted to give up on love? Carrying this complex and profound thought, Ophelia walked out of the private exit with her daughter.
‘I hope to heal Merlin’s childhood for a little while longer.’
The moment the door was pushed open, the bustle was left behind, and the cool evening breeze blew against their faces, gently lifting the hair of the mother and daughter. The night wind gradually took away the heat accumulated by everyone indoors, blowing over them in such a pleasant way.
“Let’s go home.”
The wide road converged into a small path, and everyone strolled along leisurely. A huge silver plate hung in the center of the firmament, not obscured by a single cloud, its brilliance almost excessive. The Star Moon Festival at Zelion Academy is both a school anniversary and a day for the brightest moon of the year. The gentle, watery moonlight looks down upon this land; tonight is a full moon.
It is late autumn, and the evening wind rolls through the academy’s tree-lined path, causing the withered yellow leaves to rub against the ground with a rustling sound, like someone whispering in the shadows.
Lucia had originally been following behind Ophelia, staring blankly at the mother and daughter’s backs, but her steps came to a sudden stop when she stepped into a patch of moonlight. She seemed to be caught by some invisible thread, and she jerked her head up. A familiar yet strange Magic Vibration permeated the air; it was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, and a sense of incongruity spread through the quiet night.
“Unh-huh～”
‘And this magic power…’ Lucia’s originally bored expression instantly vanished, and she squinted slightly; it was a scent that felt inexplicably familiar to her.
“Lucia?” Mahina noticed her abnormality immediately. She turned to the side, her gaze following the direction of Lucia’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Lucia quickened her pace, with Mahina following close behind. The moonlight pierced through the sparse foliage, casting mottled shadows on the ground. The two passed through the silent corridors, the withered leaves crushed into fine cracks under their deliberately lightened footsteps. Finally, they stopped in front of an old building.
The outer walls here were covered with ivy, looking particularly eerie under the pale moonlight.
“This is…” Mahina looked at the building in front of her. “The Southern Library?”
Lucia turned to look at her. “You know this place?”
“Of course. Because nobody ever comes here; it’s very quiet… I often come here to read during lunch, and I first met Mia here before.”
Upon hearing that name, Lucia’s eyes turned cold, and she muttered to herself. “So it really is Mia, huh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just sensed traces of her magic power. You said she came to this library before? What is Mia up to?”
Coming here from the Holy Kingdom in the extreme south without warning, and then wandering around in the most remote library in the academy in the middle of the night? If it happened once, it was a coincidence, but twice is not.
Lucia looked at Mahina with a pleading look, and Mahina, understanding her meaning, nodded. The two held their breath, and Mahina skillfully cast a spell on them both to eliminate their presence and the sound of their footsteps. They did not take the main entrance but jumped onto an open windowsill on the second floor, sneaking inside.
The library was filled with a unique scent of old paper and dust, and the tall bookshelves stood like silent giants, casting large, heavy shadows under the moonlight.
‘No one on the second floor…?’
The two exchanged a look and walked lightly toward the third floor.
There was a soft shimmer moving about. It was the Light Magic belonging to a Saintess; Lucia was attracted here by this magic power. After all, she possessed Light Magic herself, and she was more than familiar with it. Besides, even if it were just ordinary Light Magic, the scent leaked differs depending on the user, and in this academy, the only one with the same intensity of Light Magic as Lucia is Mia.
Lucia and Mahina hid behind a row of bookshelves, peeking inside through the gaps between the books. They saw Mia standing alone in front of a bookshelf. She was wearing her Zelion uniform, holding a floating ball of light in her hand for illumination. She appeared completely normal and was not meeting with any suspicious people.
She was just reading. Her expression was focused, her fingertips gently brushing over the spines of the books. Occasionally, she would pull one out, flip through a few pages, shake her head, and put it back, like an ordinary girl passing the time because of insomnia. But this scene was too normal—so normal that it made the alarm bells of incongruity in Lucia’s heart ring loudly.
Mahina lowered her voice, her tone filled with confusion. “She’s reading… it really looks like she’s just looking for information. Why are you so wary of her?”
Lucia did not answer, instead staring fixedly at Mia’s back. The clouds of suspicion in her eyes not only failed to dissipate but grew even heavier.
Just then, Little Merlin was carried by Ophelia to the front of the library. She stared quietly at the slightly chilling building. Mahina looked at Little Merlin outside the window; for her, Little Merlin was obviously more important. Just as Mahina wanted to persuade Lucia to leave—it was at this instant that a sudden change occurred.
Mia, who had been aimlessly browsing in front of the bookshelf, seemed to have noticed the movement behind her and was just about to turn around. The old book Mia held open suddenly erupted with a blinding light without warning.
“What—?!”
A silver-white radiance, like a falling full moon, instantly swallowed Mia’s astonished face and everyone else present. The solid wooden floor beneath their feet disappeared, replaced by a sense of weightless dizziness. The surrounding bookshelves began to distort and stretch, and space was reorganized like a shattered mirror.
“Whoa!” Little Merlin instinctively grabbed Ophelia’s hand.
When the light faded and everyone opened their eyes again, the old library had vanished. They had been forcibly pulled into the Full Moon Labyrinth.