My Dream is to Get My Own House - Chapter 114

Episode 114

As blood dripped, I felt a dizzying flicker before my eyes.

Time and space before me seemed to tangle while I remained still.

Clearly, there was a tower heavily piled with perennial snow in my sight, yet suddenly it turned as black as if painted over.

From my ears, a continuous noise echoed as if lightning was striking.

Clutching my stomach, I hesitated, sitting down and leaning against the roof.

My stomach was so hot that I wanted to cool it down with something.

A dizzying sensation dug into my ears, and a shiver that felt like insects crawling covered my entire body.

Just when I thought I might die soon, a massive pendulum clock appeared before my eyes.

The hour hand spun wildly fast and then abruptly stopped, pointing to midnight.

‘What’s that?’

Instinctively, I raised my hand to touch the halted hour and minute hands of the pendulum clock.

However, nothing could be touched.

After several futile attempts in the air, my hand brushed against the surface of the pendulum clock.

The moment my hand made contact, the second hand of the clock began to spin rapidly again.

I could instinctively tell.

Finally, the turmoil within me settled, and the two opposing forces found balance.

And I could even discern the fact that the power exploded and time briefly turned back.

‘Why did time turn back, perhaps….’

As I gazed down at the heavily accumulated perennial snow, I eventually raised my hand.

Perhaps the new power I had acquired….

“Is it time magic?”

As the words left my mouth, I gained conviction.

I raised my hand and placed it on the worn-out roof of the tower.

The timing for certainty had come.

But it was precisely at that moment.

“Child!”

From behind me, Duke Saboia’s voice echoed.

My grandfather, who walked rapidly atop the snow-covered roof, shouted once again.

“Why are you here, no…!”

Only then did Duke Saboia grasp my hand with trembling hands and whispered softly.

“You’ve broken through your limits.”

Did he figure it out right away, being a grand sorcerer and all?

Nodding my head, I lightly pressed my hand against the roof of the weathered tower where the patina had faded.

The worn-out roof began to shine like new.

“This is….”

“Seems like you’ve gained the ability to manipulate time, right?”

The one who had remained silent for a long time murmured with a trembling voice.

“Yes, that’s right. You’ve regressed to the time when the roof was first built.”

I looked at the shimmering roof and smiled at the corner of my mouth.

Duke Saboia, staring at the roof as if he couldn’t believe it, mumbled to himself absentmindedly.

“Did your father achieve his dream?”

“What do you mean….”

“What he wanted all along was the ability to manipulate time freely, dear. Your father was an eccentric magician.”

Since then, the stories about my father that Duke Saboia shared sounded truly like those of an eccentric magician.

He carried a pocket watch and would say things like, ‘I want to pull time forward to meet our daughter in the future!’

If someone said, ‘Our daughter will see me soon anyway,’ he would reply, ‘We don’t know if I’ll be in our daughter’s future or not,’ and he’d laugh.

Remembering the playful image of my father, my eyelids trembled.

Grandfather reminisced about the past, lost in memories, but the fact that I would never be able to see my father’s face again weighed heavily on me.

At that moment, Grandfather cleared his throat and murmured.

“How much he would cherish seeing you now.”

Grandfather, standing like a fortress, had tears welling up in his eyes.

“He would be delighted to see how much you’ve grown, right?”

With trembling hands, I wiped away the tears from the corner of Grandfather’s eyes and smiled.

He smiled back at me, looking into my eyes.

Now that the moving reunion was over, it was time to reveal the new revelation.

“And, Grandfather, you see….”

“Do you have more to say, dear?”

Right at the moment when time turned back.

As if the worn-out film of the past became clear again, all my memories came rushing back.

“Yes, that’s what I mean. I remember everything.”

I looked at him and said with trembling eyes.

I couldn’t understand it at all, but….

“I have a savior in my life.”

“Who is it? We need to act immediately!”

“Dylan… (Pause) *

In an instant, Grandfather’s expression changed mischievously.

“It’s Lotvart.”

And at the mention of Lotvart, even his blood pressure seemed to rise as his eyes widened.

But it was all true.

Dylan protected me, and Lotvart saved me.

I began to recount the slowly returning memories.

When my parents died, I became a target of the Red Castle.

I was telling the story of the day I met Lotvart.

* * *

That day, the one who quickly dispelled the wind magic constricting my throat rushed over to me, who was coughing violently.

‘People are passing by, you need to be quiet if you want to survive.’

Just as he said, the sound of <Red Castle> people passing by in a hurry could be heard.

As he shielded my small body, I tilted my head in wonder.

I couldn’t understand why he was protecting me.

‘Are you also from <Red Castle>?’

“…Yes. I’m going to become Lotvart, the boss of <Red Castle>.”

“Huh? You’re the boss?”

“The boss of <Red Castle> is said to be the one who will bring about the world’s destruction.”

“Oh, I really hate that. Go away!”

“…You, you said I have to do this with you…”

“I like this world! I’m going to live and meet my mom!”

My words seemed to greatly confuse the boy.

“Why?”

“Because if the world is destroyed, people in the world will suffer!”

“Then what about you?”

“Huh?”

He made a strange expression and covered his wrist.

“Do you want to live? Don’t you want to be with <Red Castle>?”

“Of course! I hate <Red Castle>!”

I heard the sound of bombs exploding in the distance. Voices like ‘He’s nearby!’, ‘Catch him!’ could also be heard.

Seeing me anxiously looking around, he whispered softly.

“…Then go.”

“Huh?”

“If we meet again next time, I’ll definitely not miss you. Just stay alive for a while.”

“You’re planning to play with me later?”

“Perhaps. So for now, go.”

I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

He slipped a small note into my pocket.

“Take it.”

Even as he quickly left the spot, I saw him causing a commotion from behind. It was as if he was secretly covering my escape.

“We’ll meet again later. At that time, things will be different from now. I’ll be waiting for you…”

Uncertain about the exact meaning, I looked back.

A small gust of wind blew from his hand and touched my cheek.

Could it be black magic?

My eyes stung as if filled with grains of sand, and intermittent pain struck near my heart.

I grabbed my heart and took rapid breaths.

Ancient runes were engraved and disappeared near my heart, without me knowing.

It was a summoning seal.

“In the distant future, on the day of the masquerade, let’s meet.”

It seemed like a seal that would allow him to summon me at a certain time.

Unaware of everything, young me left the village through the path he had opened.

Was it due to the impact of the dark magic that hit my entire face?

As I fled along the path, I noticed my eye and hair colors slowly changing.

As I stumbled while walking, I didn’t notice the note that fell from my pocket.

It had very small writing that said, “[Promising the day we meet again].”

All those memories finally came rushing back.

After hearing my entire story, Duke Saboia dried his face.

“He saved you. What on earth… What does he want from you?”

“I don’t know either.”

Why did he save me?

He said we’ll meet on the day of the masquerade and cast a summoning spell. Does that mean he intends to summon me that day and kill me?

Everything was confusing.

But there’s one important thing.

I placed my hand on the heart where the summoning seal was placed and whispered,

“I must survive.”

To survive, to experience Dylan’s journey, and to live happily with my family for a long time.

That was the only thought in my mind.

The first step to survival.

“Let’s refine time magic and purification magic to elegantly eliminate that guy.”

“Certainly, Grandfather!”

Walking with Duke Saboia, my grandfather, I began to refine my time magic skills, albeit clumsily.

When I touched the half-wilted violet, it bloomed back to life vividly.

It was as if I had reversed time.

I laughed with short breaths, filled with exhilaration.

“This is all I can do for now, though.”

Duke Saboia looked puzzled, holding my hand.

“…Are you alright, dear?”

“Of course!”

I nodded vigorously.

But right at that moment, blood dripped from my nose.

“Doesn’t look good…”

Madness, a nosebleed!

Startled, I dabbed my nose with my sleeve, and Duke Saboia cast a light healing spell while saying,

“Time magic has side effects. Let’s find a way to manifest time magic without side effects.”

I looked at Duke Saboia with a stopped nosebleed, finding it strangely amusing.

“Yes, I’ll try my best.”

“Don’t worry, dear. After all, time is abundant.”

Can we truly say that time is abundant?

I recalled the prophecy written in the prophecy book.

“There’s only one moment in which everything can be turned back. Beyond this moment, when the three blue moons rise and set, the end will be destruction.”

“On that day, those who wish for the world’s demise will gather and open the masquerade.”

“When the masquerade begins, the world will head towards destruction.”

“All these tangled threads will be caused by the one who built the Red Castle, Lotvart.”

The day when the summoning seal he engraved on my heart would activate wasn’t far off.

But I wasn’t afraid.

I smiled warmly at my grandfather.

“Impressive, my child.”

He patted me gently and spoke with encouragement.

“So that you can deal with that guy, let this old man assist you in your training. Did you know that time magic can also be used as an offensive spell?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard that!”

“Good, I’ll teach you right away.”

“I’m ready!”

From that moment on, the hellish training in time magic began.