“……It disappeared.”

He was clearly just behind me, seemingly within reach, but the moment we crossed the forest boundary, everything vanished.

Even all traces of where we had walked until now.

The last moment, his startled expression as he looked at me was vivid in my mind. His hand that regrettably couldn’t reach me too.

‘Let’s go back and apologize.’

I must have had the same expression in his eyes.

How surprised must he have been when Rose disappeared to have such an expression.

It’s already shocking that his beloved younger sister disappeared, but I vanished right before his eyes too. I wouldn’t be surprised if the castle has entered a state of emergency by now, suspecting some kind of dark magic.

“This green light, can I trust it?”

As I entered deeper into the forest, the glow was becoming more intense and larger. It was guiding me like a beacon, and although dubious, I had no choice but to follow this light for now.

“Ugh……”

At that moment, I heard someone else’s breathing. A dying breath.

“Rose Temery!”

Under a huge tree that reminded me of the poplar tree in the castle, Rose was lying down.

And green fireflies were covering her body.

“No!”

I screamed as those green fireflies looked like they were sucking out Rose’s life force.

“Rose, wake up! I didn’t want to find this place like this!”

In the original story, the female protagonist found the northern treasure beside the dead Rose. I too was searching for the original story’s treasure.

It seemed as if Rose was trying to show me the location of the treasure by dying, just like in the original story.

If Rose dies, this must be the right place where the treasure is hidden.

Suddenly, a phrase I had seen in a book while researching the legend came to mind.

Between the valleys, where the Wind Valley begins. Where the blood of the rose flows, when the full moon’s gate opens…

The moon was rising. My mind was reeling. The legend was unfolding.

“All who inherit the will of the North Wind are your descendants. Give us the treasure for your descendants!”

I embraced Rose and shouted towards the sky.

Rose, no. Don’t die. The full moon has risen now. We can get the treasure now. Fool, just hold on a little longer.

“All who inherit the will of the North Wind are your descendants. Give us the treasure for your descendants!”

The door of the storehouse hidden in the legend would open, and if we enter there.

“All who inherit the will of the North Wind are your descendants. Give us the treasure for your descendants!”

We can warm Rose’s cold body.

But.

‘In the original story, the door of the storehouse opened as soon as the female lead chanted the spell…’

Why is nothing happening? Just like Rose, slowly dying in my arms.

“Open your eyes, Rose Temery. Before I make you copy etiquette books in front of me every day.”

Rose’s lips are pale white. As if showing her remaining life force.

“What……”

It was then. Rose smiled faintly and opened her mouth.

“I wanted to see Brother Darius’s face at the end, why is it you of all people?”

Shut up, don’t talk like you’re really going to die.

“It’s cold.”

Rose burrowed into my arms. Despite hating me more than anyone else.

‘I won’t lose to this damn original story.’

I won’t cry, I won’t despair.

If Rose dies exactly like in the original story, what happens to my death flag from the original?

“So, Rose Temery, you have an obligation not to die!”

I held Rose tightly and shouted towards the sky once more.

“You said all who inherit the will of the North Wind are your descendants! Are you going to kill your domain’s people like this, you stupid ancestor!”

‘Is it a bloodline issue? The female lead could do it. I came to the right place, the moon has risen, so why!’

Rose reached out into the air.

“Lord Dari……us.”

No.

Rose’s neck fell to the side with a thud, and at that moment, the moon grew larger and the world went dark.

* * *

「……Contractor, contractor, wake up.」

“……Mmm.”

「New contractor who follows the oath with a friend.」

“Rose Temery!”

At the voice that seemed to echo in my head, I came to my senses, searching for Rose.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a new place. Whoosh, I heard the sound of gold coins collapsing behind the arm I had swung.

I should have been in the forest?

“Where is this?”

「This is the space where I made a contract with the ancestor of the Inkharts. It’s also where he sealed the treasure.」

Rose Temery, legendary treasure, new place.

My head was spinning from the sudden flood of information. The being before me babbled on as it pleased, regardless of my confusion.

「I said it didn’t matter if it wasn’t someone of the bloodline, but to think someone who’s not even a descendant of the Inkharts found these treasures. Are you going to get rich with these treasures?」

The luxurious space was filled with mountains of gold coins. Among the piles of gold coins, as if to say “shouldn’t there be these too?”, there were art pieces, swords, bracelets, and such.

I had finally found it. The Grand Duke’s treasure vault.

But there was a tall person who shouldn’t be here, looking down at me. Beautiful blonde hair, elegant posture. I knew him.

“Lord Lucian…?”

Why here?

「No, I am not him. I merely borrowed a suitable form from your mind. Humans prefer having a form, after all. Do you dislike this person’s appearance?」

With a wave of his hand, Darius suddenly appeared in front of me instead of Lord Lucian.

“Hmm……”

The unknown person who had been looking at the long, sturdy limbs let out a groan.

「Let’s stop this. I don’t like this one. Seeing black hair reminds me of my old friend.」

The unknown being, back in Lord Lucian’s form, spoke to me.

「I am Sylphid, the Spirit King who made a contract with the founder of the Inkhart family. I’ve been guarding this place according to the contract. Much time has passed since my friend left this world. Yes, contractor who discovered this place as per the promise. What are you going to do with these treasures?」

“What? Spirit King? Ancestor? Don’t make me laugh! How dare you act so high and mighty after taking life force as a sacrifice!”

The words of the one who called himself Sylphid were utterly disgusting. Rose was dying of cold outside, and he had the nerve to speak to me in the form of Rose’s brother, Lucian.

It felt like my heart was being torn apart.

「What are you talking about? There seems to be some misunderstanding. I didn’t receive anything when I let you into this space.」

Sylphid, in Lucian’s form, blinked his eyes as if bewildered.

“I chanted the spell correctly, but you didn’t open the door. You only opened it after Rose died!”

「I don’t know what happened outside. I can only sense what’s in this space. It’s true that when Inkhart and I created this space, we put some restrictions to prevent any riffraff from inheriting our treasure. But still, taking a person’s life as a sacrifice? That’s something only demons would think of.」

“Some restrictions?”

If it wasn’t Rose’s life that was taken as a sacrifice, then why did Rose die in this forest both in the original story and this time?

“When I entered this forest, green fireflies guided me. And green fireflies were covering Rose’s dying body. As if they were sucking out her life force.”

「Those are fragments of broken spirits. They do chase after the vitality of living things, wanting to return to their original form. But to call them green fireflies. You’re certainly not a spirit user.」

Sylphid interlaced his ten fingers and assumed a sitting position as if there was an invisible chair in the air.

「In fact, according to the conditions we set, you shouldn’t have been able to come here originally. You’re underqualified, contractor who slanders people.」

But I was now in the legendary place, not outside.

Sylphid grumbled as if he had read my mind.

「You were cursing us so much outside that I thought I’d hear you out directly and explain! I’m not a petty spirit like you say.」

My face turned bright red. I couldn’t even remember what I had said in that urgent moment.

「So I went through the trouble of calling you here, and now you’re adding the additional insult of accusing me of human sacrifice.」

Sylphid clicked his tongue.

「The restriction we put in place was that only those with abundant holy power or spirit power could find the treasure.」

‘Holy power or spirit power?’

The female lead in the original story was a talented individual called a saint.

「Blind gold only brings calamity. We believed that those with holy power and abundant spirit power wouldn’t be swayed by greed and would use it for the world. As you know, this treasure was prepared to prevent calamities in the world.」

‘What? Then it really had nothing to do with bloodline. No wonder the Inkhart Grand Duke family couldn’t find the treasure all this time.’

I hadn’t heard of any outstanding spirit users or priests with holy power in the north, let alone the Inkhart Grand Duke family, in the past few decades. So even by chance, no one but the female lead could have discovered these treasures.

The northerners had also tried to find the northern treasure, believing this legend to be true. Those people had been on a wild goose chase from the start. Poor them.

‘Wait a minute, only people with abundant holy power or spirit power can approach the treasure?’

I’m now in the Inkhart Grand Duke’s treasure vault.

“Could it be that I’m actually a spirit user or a saint…!”

I can do it too, female lead of a romance fantasy novel!

「You ‘pretended’ to have overflowing spirit power and deceived me. You fraud.」

……My grand dream crumbled in less than 5 seconds.