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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Dream of the Pond
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It was a dream.
Lellia was walking somewhere.
“……”
Her steps were heavy with exhaustion. Realizing it was a dream, she looked down at her own body.
Her arms were far thinner and filthier than they were in reality. It wasn't just her arms. Her legs, too, were covered in wounds.
Moreover, she had no strength left in her body, making even a slow walk an arduous task.
‘What is this? Where am I going?’
Even though she was aware it was a dream, she couldn't control her body.
It was a dark night, the moonlight veiled by clouds.
Lellia walked on through the dark forest for a long while.
She arrived at a pond deep in the forest, a fair distance from the tower where she stayed.
Though small, the pond's depth was unfathomable, much like a swamp. Lellia stood before the pond for a moment.
‘…What am I trying to do?’
An inexplicable anxiety began to creep over Lellia, who was aware she was dreaming. The eerie atmosphere made the feeling all the more unsettling.
Lellia's body, which had been staring blankly at the dusky sky, soon leaned over to gaze at its own reflection in the pond.
As the moonlight emerged from behind the clouds, the face reflected in the pond was revealed.
‘……!’
The eyes of the Lellia reflected in the pond were vacant, utterly hollow.
As if she were soulless.
Seeing a gaze so entirely different from her own, Lellia felt a chill run down her spine.
In that instant, Lellia extended one foot over the pond.
‘Wait, surely not…’
Her hesitation was fleeting.
Lellia threw herself into the pond.
‘No…! Help me!’
She struggled, trying to get out, but it was as if her body had lost the will to breathe.
Water surged into her mouth and nose.
Her breathing slowed, and only a gurgle of air bubbles rose to the surface.
The pond was very deep and dark. Her body accepted the darkness with a quiet resignation.
