Was what she had heard really true? Could Elna truly be the Ancient?
Until now, she had met only two people who possessed the same power: the old woman and Elna. But if the old woman had been Elna as well... then there was only one person left.
İlyara looked down at her hands, aching within Elna's grasp. She wanted to pull them away, but she couldn't. It was as if her body had frozen.
"Ah, İlyara," Elna said. "It's me. The one you slept beside. The one who taught you how to control your power."
Then she gently cupped İlyara's chin and lifted her head until their eyes met.
"The only person who understands you."
For a moment, İlyara studied Elna's smiling face.
How much of it was real?
Were these gestures nothing more than an act?
Maybe if she could enter Elna's memories, she could discover her true intentions as well. But she couldn't even reach her emotions. To İlyara, Elna was far better at concealing them than she was.
İlyara averted her gaze.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ancient," she said.
"Elna," Elna corrected. "Call me Elna. Those ungrateful people were the ones who gave me the name 'the Ancient.'"
For a brief moment, her expression tightened as she spoke those last words.
İlyara gave a small nod. Then she turned her gaze to the Oracle. His demeanor hadn't changed at all. It was as if he had known all of this from the very beginning.
Maybe she should have listened to Arın and left this place.
No.
She had to face it.
She had to free herself from this Shadow nonsense... and from this cursed world.
"Actually..." she began. "...the reason I came here was to return to my own world."
"This is already your world," Elna said with a smile.
İlyara tried to smile back, but couldn't.
"No, it isn't," she said. "I was trapped here because of a tree."
Elna gently stroked İlyara's hair.
Did she pity her?
"Where is this tree?"
"Deep within the forest," İlyara replied. But the moment the words left her mouth, she covered it with her hand.
Was it the right thing to tell her that?
"So... deep within the forest," Elna murmured. Then she took a sip from her goblet.
"I've heard it's called the Root Mother."
The Root Mother.
"Do you know how I can go back?" İlyara asked. She could no longer hide the excitement in her voice.
But in an instant, that excitement disappeared.
"I've missed this feeling," Elna murmured.
Her eyes were closed. Leaning back in her chair, she wore a peaceful expression.
İlyara frowned.
"Did you absorb my emotion?"
"Our emotion," Elna replied calmly.
İlyara felt anger rising inside her, but she buried it immediately. Even if Elna was the Ancient, she needed her if she wanted to return home. At least, she hoped she did.
"I don't understand," was all she could say.
Elna smiled.
"After all, it's my Shadow's emotion," she said. "A reflection of me."
How much longer would she have to endure this nonsense?
"İlyara doesn't seem very fond of this whole shadow business," the Oracle said. He had been silently watching them for a while, but now he broke his silence.
What was he trying to do?
Was he trying to provoke her?
It made no sense.
"Perhaps she doesn't want to become the Ancient's Shadow," he continued, not giving İlyara a chance to respond.
The Oracle seemed to be enjoying all of this.
İlyara fixed him with a displeased stare.
"Were you still here?" Elna asked.
"I don't understand, my lady," the Oracle said. With confusion and fear, he clasped his hands over the top of his cane.
Elna turned to Kortegin, who had been standing behind her.
"Why is he still here?"
"I'll take care of it immediately, my lady," Kortegin replied, drawing his sword.
The blade was as pure white as its hilt, while thin golden lines decorated the grip.
The moment the Oracle saw Kortegin walking toward him, he turned his wide, frightened eyes to Elna.
"M-My lady," he stammered. "It's me... the Oracle. Your confidant."
"Hah..."
Elna tried to suppress her laughter.
"Who told you that?"
The Oracle's expression hardened. He began backing away with a limp, trying to put some distance between himself and Kortegin. But when his back struck the wall, he was forced to stop.
"I was the one who told you the prophecy!" he shouted.
"Good for you," Elna replied with a giggle. "I don't need you anymore."
İlyara's gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them.
Should she have intervened?
But how?
Instead, she merely shifted uneasily in her chair.
"You'll pay for this!" the Oracle shouted as he pulled something from beneath his cloak.
Just as Kortegin swung his sword, the Oracle threw the object onto the floor. Black smoke instantly billowed around him.
Kortegin's blade sliced straight through the smoke.
But the Oracle was gone.
"Where did he go?" İlyara asked in astonishment.
Elna shrugged.
"Forget about him," she said. Then she motioned for Kortegin to come to her side.
Kortegin slid his sword back into its sheath, then stood rigidly beside Elna.
"I have a surprise for you," Elna said. Then she motioned toward Kortegin with a tilt of her head. "Take off your helmet."
Kortegin slowly removed his helmet. Then he shook his head from side to side, loosening the strands of hair that had been flattened beneath it.
His black hair fell almost to his shoulders. Having been trapped inside the helmet for so long, a few strands clung to the sides of his face. His dark brown eyes rested on İlyara without the slightest trace of emotion.
She had seen that same empty look in the members of the Council.
İlyara turned a questioning gaze toward Elna.
"Oh, right," Elna said, as though she had just remembered something. "You haven't met him yet."
Hadn't met whom?
Or was he someone like the Oracle?
"Your father."
Father.
İlyara felt the hand resting on the table begin to tremble.
Was it really this difficult to control one's own emotions?
"Wha..." Her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed hard before forcing the words out. "What do you mean?"
She could barely hear her own voice.
As soon as she felt Kortegin's gaze on her, she turned to him instinctively. She felt as though she had seen him somewhere before. Elna was still talking, but İlyara's attention had already drifted entirely to Kortegin.
Where had she seen him?
Ah.
In Veyra's memory...
In that small wooden cabin. He had been the one placing the swaddled baby into Arın's arms.
A single tear slipped silently from İlyara's right eye and traced its way down her cheek.
"Aww, that's so cute," Elna said.
İlyara couldn't take her eyes off Kortegin, not even for a moment.
"I've been keeping him for you," Elna continued, sounding as though she expected praise.
"Why are you doing this to me?" İlyara asked.
As she turned toward Elna, she wiped the tear from her cheek.
"What?" Elna said. "Would you rather have lost your father too, just like your mother?"
İlyara felt her anger rising again. But this time, she didn't care.
"I pulled him out of the middle of the war for you," Elna continued.
"What did you do to him?" İlyara asked. Her body had gone rigid.
Then she turned back to Kortegin and rose to her feet.
"What did I do?" Elna said. The displeasure in her voice was unmistakable. "I kept him alive for you."
İlyara stopped where she was.
"Why are you doing all of this for me?"
Elna took a long sip from her goblet. Then she set it down on the table with force. The sound of cracking echoed through the hall.
"I've already told you," she said. "He's a gift to make you stay with me."
İlyara stopped in front of Kortegin and looked him over from head to toe. She had noticed it before, but now... He seemed even more imposing.
Was this man really her father?
Kortegin continued to look at her without changing his stance. İlyara waited for the slightest reaction from him.
But it never came.
She drew a deep breath, gathered her courage, reached out, and gently touched his cheek.
"Dad...?" she whispered. "Is it really you?"
İlyara caught the faintest glimmer in Kortegin's eyes.
"Why can't I feel any emotions from him?" she asked. She withdrew her hand from his cheek and took his hand instead.
"Because I took them from him," Elna said with a deep sigh. "I couldn't let him kill me, could I?"
The moment black smoke began rising from İlyara's hands, Kortegin took a step back.
Realizing what had happened, İlyara immediately let go of his hand and stepped away as well.
She didn't want to frighten him.
Maybe this was what had been missing inside her all these years.
A father...
"Give him his emotions back," İlyara said. Her voice had grown deeper.
Elna placed a hand over her chest in surprise.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" she shouted. "I'm telling you, he was going to kill me!"
"I'll convince him."
Elna slowly shook her head.
"Please," İlyara said. Her voice softened. "Do it for me."
"You've disappointed me, İlyara."
Elna's jaw had tightened.
At those words, the hairs on İlyara's arms stood on end. An uneasiness she couldn't explain spread through her.
"How?" İlyara whispered.
"Kortegin."
Elna's voice echoed through the hall.
Kortegin immediately turned to her.
İlyara's heart tightened.
What was Elna going to do?
"This man..." Elna said, never taking her eyes off Kortegin. "Have you started valuing him more than me?"
There was disgust in Elna's eyes.
"I thought I'd finally found someone who truly understood me."
Elna picked up one of the dining knives from the table.
"I was wrong."
She slowly turned the tip of the knife between her fingers.
"You're just like the rest of them."
The moment the words left her mouth, she drove the knife into the table.
"I've been preparing a gift for you," Elna said. "And yet you've already started loving that gift more than me."
At first, Elna let out a quiet giggle. It gradually grew until it became laughter.
Then, all at once, she fell silent.
"You're ungrateful... just like all the others!"
Elna's voice rang through the hall. Then a heavy silence fell over the hall.
What had İlyara done wrong?
Elna pulled the knife free from the table. Then she grabbed Kortegin by the collar and pulled him toward her.
"I don't need you anymore either," she whispered into his ear.
But her voice echoed throughout the hall.
"No!" İlyara screamed.
Elna slowly turned her gaze toward her.
And drove the knife into Kortegin's throat.