I’m going to kill you! When Nari shouted that, thinking that only his laughter remained in her eyes,

Splash! Nari fell into her own tears.

“Ugh…!”

Drenched in water, Nari crawled up like a ghost from the riverside for a while.

“Goodness gracious. Really, what kind of tears are these! Just crying without end!”

Coughing, Nari spat out water for a while, silently cursing herself. Then, with a splash, she lay down by the riverside.

Before she knew it, the blue sky was facing Nari again.
“Once you accept it, it’s easy……. If this were reality, I would be dead.”

Feeling a pleasant breeze, neither cold nor hot, Nari stood up from her seat. Her clothes were rapidly drying.

“…I don’t know, I still really don’t understand.”

Muttering to herself, Nari held her knees and stood up.

To eliminate the limits of growth, one must go to this place, and after jumping in, everything will be fine— it was a completely incomprehensible way of speaking.

Perhaps it was a natural result since, even though she was a Sorceress class, she rarely talked to herself. However, one thing was clear.

Regardless of what had happened, she had to move forward. In the deep world, it was impossible to gauge how much time had passed.

Last time, she engaged in a light confrontation with the ruler of chaos and almost half a day had passed.

She didn’t know the situation outside, but she had to escape from this strange land as quickly as possible.

Nari, who discovered a path lying through the grass behind the river, where people seemed to have walked frequently, walked slowly toward that place.

“…Wow.”

Along the edge of the path, amidst various colored mushrooms and pretty flowers, Nari blinked her eyes as she discovered a charming brick house with smoke rising from the chimney.

The surface of the house was adorned with drawings that looked like they were made by children with crayons, and the garden was filled with all sorts of weeds blooming.
Carefully walking through the garden, Nari stood in front of the blue door, wearing a slightly hesitant expression.

“Can I go in?”

Nari glanced around, hesitating slightly.

However, since there was really nothing else around except for this house, she sighed and turned the doorknob, creaking it open.

“Excuse me?”

“…Oh.”

And there, she faced Jung Soo-ho, who was giving water to a baby in a crib.

Nari’s expression distorted momentarily, as if in disbelief.

“…What are you doing again?”

“I, I’m… the Blue Duke…”

“Really, it’s beyond words.”

The Jung Soo-ho before her chuckled lightly.

Taking a deep breath, Nari glanced around the house. Despite his noble title, the house was just a small two-room space.

Except for the area around the crib, where sunlight streamed in through the window, the rest of the space was filled with all sorts of odds and ends, leaving just enough room for one person to pass.

“Uh, yeah. Okay. Nice. Just a moment.”

Suddenly, when the baby’s cooing ceased, Jung Soo-ho reached out as if to pat it.

When the baby’s sound stopped, he put on a navy blue frock coat hanging on the nearby coat stand and fastened a cravat.

Then, he familiarly cradled the baby piled up in the crib.

“Hey, um, I need to go outside. Just move aside for a moment.”

“What? Where to?”

Despite saying such, Nari gradually opened the cabin door and headed outside.
Holding a blanket, Jung Soo-ho put on a hat and, after finally wearing his shoes, stepped outside.

“Yeah, I have to go for a trial…”

“A trial?!”

As they walked slowly towards a side path behind the cabin, Nari hurriedly followed.

The surroundings, which had suddenly changed, unfolded into a bamboo forest path and stone pavement, seemingly out of place.

“Yeah, I didn’t take good care of this one. It’s a request from the Queen.”

Coaxing the crying baby a few times, Jung Soo-ho chuckled charmingly. Nari glanced at him.

“Are you the Jung Soo-ho that was in my subconscious?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m… I’m not really Jung Soo-ho.”

Jung Soo-ho mentioned that he harmed Nari because he was ‘different from ordinary people.’

Carefully, Nari asked, hoping to get hints about the ‘difference’ in Jung Soo-ho.

“Well, do you know the state Jung Soo-ho is in?”

“Well… I don’t know that far. It’s you, the Jung Soo-ho you know.”

Nari sighed deeply, as she had expected. Carrying the baby, Jung Soo-ho, gazing at the front of the bamboo forest, spoke.

“But, is that important?”

“Isn’t it important? Jung Soo-ho ended up like that because of, well, my mistake.”

Jung Soo-ho scratched his chin, pondering something. Seeing Nari lowering her gaze, he laughed sideways.

“Well… but you, too, don’t want others to find out about you being Rood, right?”
“That’s true, right? Kang Ihyeon was somewhat fortunate.”

“So, um, in reality, wouldn’t it be better to wait for the real Jung Soo-ho to voluntarily tell you? Your… words to Jung Soo-ho and not knowing Jung Soo-ho’s condition are, um, separate issues.”

“…Is that so?”

Jung Soo-ho nodded. Upon reflection, it was indeed the case.

Nari’s criticism towards Jung Soo-ho and Jung Soo-ho’s condition were separate matters. Even if Jung Soo-ho was not like others, that was a matter that needed an apology.

Just as Nari didn’t want to reveal herself as Rood’s main character, Jung Soo-ho didn’t have to acknowledge it unless he personally spoke about it. It was appropriate to turn a blind eye even if the other person noticed.

“Well, he’s trying to fix himself… You don’t have to intentionally find out…”

“Got it. I understand what you mean.”

Nari let out a deep sigh. A small laugh escaped from Jung Soo-ho as he looked at her.

“Well, I have to go now. Um, this.”

“…Huh?”

Jung Soo-ho handed the baby wrapped in a blanket to Nari. Just as Nari lowered her head to check the baby’s face wrapped in the cloth, Jung Soo-ho turned around without saying a word.

“I have to go for a trial. So, um, Nari, please take care of this baby for me.”

At those words, Nari looked up. Jung Soo-ho, who was watching her, smiled gently.
The sunlight streaming through the bamboo forest created a backlight. Jung Soo-ho adjusted his hat again and disappeared through the bamboo trees.

Nari, left alone on the stone path, slightly opened the blanket enveloping the crying baby and took a deep breath.

As if questioning when the baby had appeared, inside the blanket, there was only a sky-blue envelope.

Nari put the letter inside her apron pocket.