A few hours later, Magnus stood at the open window, gazing out, yet not really looking, lost in thought. Alaric came quietly into the room, a tray in his hands: teapot and two teacups balanced precariously.
When he saw Magnus still standing by the window, he thought to himself, Since he'd gone through Selene's memories, he'd become like this.
What did he see? Alaric wondered
Placing the tray on the small coffee table, Alaric turned his attention toward Selene, sleeping deeply on the sofa but on the verge of falling off it. Just in time, Alaric could stop her from slipping off, gently adjusting her back onto the couch. He took a moment to study her peaceful face, then he glanced at Magnus very worried.
After an uncomfortable silence, he cleared his throat. "I've brought tea," he said quietly. Magnus didn't respond.
Finally, Alaric's patience wore thin. "Are you just going to stand there?" he asked. "Tell me what you saw. The suspense is… killing me.
Magnus sighed heavily and moved away from the window. He went to the armchair beside Selene's sofa and sank into it, pressing his temple as if he were trying to rub something horrible from his mind.
"Selene wasn't lying," he started to say slowly, his voice strained. "She is from another world where neither magic, demi-humans nor monsters exist.
"But the biggest dangers to humans there are beasts and natural disasters." He fell silent, his tone becoming milder. "They had to invent something called technology just to survive. And they developed ways of living far more superior to ours. Even the knowledge of the most common student surpasses that of a scholar here."
Alaric's eyes went wide with wonder. He listened to every word, trying to picture this world so unlike their own. Magnus went on, "Technology has enabled them to come up with what they term 'devices.' Machines that make everyday tasks easier and even entertain them." He looked at Alaric's bewildered expression and shook his head. "For example, there's a device there with which people can communicate with one another anywhere around the globe. There's another device that can get an exact picture of a moment in an instant. And another thing—games. Mobile games."
"Mobile games?" Alaric asked, still trying to wrap his head around it.
Magnus nodded. "When Selene—Eun-ji—wakes up, she can explain it better. But there's something else. In her world, there really are people who can predict the futures of other worlds… and through this 'mobile game,' someone managed to predict the events in our world."
He poured himself a cup of tea but his hands shook slightly as he brought it to his lips. He sipped, took a deep breath. "I saw Damion through her memories, Aldric, the two sons of Count Falkenrath, Cedric and Leo. I saw..." His hand squeezed the teacup until his knuckles was white.
"I saw her, haggard, bullied, and… all the ways she died, all the times at the hands of those boys." The teacup clinked against the saucer as he set it down, anger tightening his jaw.
"Despite being in another world," he continued, "Eun-ji felt pity for Selene. She was one of the few people who did. She even lost her own life while obsessing on trying to find a way for Selene to survive."
Magnus fell back, with a bitter smile on his lips. "I… I don't see why I didn't give her any attention. How could I let my own daughter suffer like that?"
Alaric glanced at Selene, who was once again about to slip off the sofa. He readjusted her before turning back to Magnus and said, "A...anyone blessed with a weak class would be treated as less than, especially by their own parents," he murmured. "However that's a different story when someone is blessed with a cursed class."
A Dark Priestess… anyone with a cursed class is looked upon as an outcast. They're feared, avoided… even despised.
Magnus's face contorted in self-reproach. "I... ignored my own daughter because of her class," he said, sounding hollow. "All my life, my goal was to never become like my father. But seeing her through Eun-ji's memories. it's obvious that I failed. I became exactly like him."
Alaric didn't have an answer.
He knew that he was also guilty. Once Selene had awoken, he felt repulsed by her and stayed away. If I, her father's closest advisor, could look at her like that… then how much worse was the treatment she received from others? He clenched his fist, feeling ashamed of himself.
Magnus let out a long sigh and said, "From Eun-ji's memories, it seems that there was a time in her world's history when prejudice and racism were as rampant there as they are here. But over time, they began to fade into the past, thanks to something they call 'unity.'" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "On Earth, if someone acts immorally, people unite to denounce that person. And if a crime occurs, they rally together, demanding justice. It's because of this that prejudice and racism have become widely condemned topics in their society. If anyone showcases them openly, they're quickly and harshly condemned by the public."
Alaric listened intently as Magnus continued, "They even write stories on prejudice and racism to stir up readers' emotions—to make them feel outrage and empathy. If someone in that world embodies these traits in real life, the backlash can be so severe that it can ruin their life. No one in their right mind wants to be branded as a racist or a bigot. People have even been known to use this as a weapon to frame innocent people. Those people have to fight relentlessly to clear their names, and if it's discovered that someone falsely accused another, the accuser suffers an even greater backlash."
Alaric sighed, "So… with all that information Eun-ji must have been an adult?"
Magnus nods.
"So when she awoke here, she already knew we'd be hostile towards her, didn't she? She must have put up a barrier to prevent her from coming near her, so why did she ask me to teach her how to use magic?" Alaric asked.
Magnus grimaced then replied, "Desperation. Magic doesn't exist in her world, so she doesn't know how to use it. Plus she had seen all the ways Selene in the game was killed and didn't want that to happen to herself."
The two men fell into a long silence. Then, Alaric's eyes widened as he recalled something important. "Magnus," he said, "do you remember what Eun-ji said about the kingdom meeting its demise? She mentioned that it would be due to the saintess making bad choices and that Selene's death would somehow play a role. What… what did she mean by that?"
Magnus's brow furrowed as he tried to piece it together. "I don't know," he admitted, shaking his head, "but the way she said it didn't make it sound simple. It feels… deeper. Like there's more to it than just those events."
They sat pondering the mystery for a while. Finally, Magnus tensed. "On Earth, they have tales of people dying and being reborn in other worlds as humans, demi-humans, or demons. Sometimes it's a god or goddess who sends them there, either because they accidentally killed them or because they need them to save a kingdom or world."
Alaric gasped, his mind racing. "What if… what if the goddess Eren brought Eun-ji to our world, placing her in Selene's body to prevent this disaster?"
Magnus's eyes widened. If that was true… then, where's the real Selene? he wondered, though he quickly shook his head, pushing the thought aside. Not now, he told himself. There's no time to dwell on that.
He finished his tea, setting the cup down. "If that's the case, we need to help her grow stronger. People already see her as a threat because of her dark priestess class."
Alaric nodded in agreement. "Especially the church. They've labeled her a scourge that must be eliminated."
Magnus nodded. "I have a plan. From her memories, Eun-ji has an ability to summon objects from her world… by using money. That could be useful."
Alaric's eyes widened in surprise. "So that's why she insisted we pay her for her lessons," he said.
Magnus snickered while Alaric blushed, recalling the incident where she nearly pulled down his pants. Magnus teased him over it, making Alaric stammer and wave his hands in protest.
But Alaric froze as he watched Magnus, It's been so long since I've seen him laugh.
Meanwhile, they were so lost in their own world that neither noticed Selene starting to roll off the sofa once again. This time, she toppled to the floor with a thud, jolting her awake. She sprang up, patting herself down as if checking for injuries, then looked around, bewildered.
"Wait… I didn't die?" she asked, astonished.