The door opened with a metallic hiss.
The seals outside the glass observation room faded one by one.
Two mage officials entered.
"Move," one of them said, his face masked.
I stood up. My legs were trembling, but I tried not to show it.
They silently led me down the dim corridor lined with stone walls.
With every step, Lucian's voice, his face, his gaze... echoed off the walls of my mind.
When the interrogation room door opened—
Lucian was there.
Standing.
Hands clasped behind his back.
His posture straight, his storm-grey eyes locked onto me like a brewing tempest.
I saw the chair in the center.
Single. Metal.
Terrifying in its simplicity.
I walked toward it.
When I sat, the only sound was the creak of metal echoing in the silence.
Lucian didn't move.
He just stared.
Then, his words dropped like blades:
"Don't lie. Answer the questions clearly and directly. Otherwise, this room could become your grave."
I swallowed. "Okay…"
"Why were you at the mission site?"
"I… I was taking cake to Kai."
Lucian's brow furrowed. He exhaled mockingly.
"What a coincidence."
He stepped toward the table, tapping it with his fingers.
"So, you were just taking cake… and found yourself in the middle of a dark magic anomaly."
"…Yes."
"And then you got closer to me. Then wanted to become a mage. All just coincidences."
Lucian smiled—ruthlessly. He didn't give me a chance to speak.
"Lie."
He raised his voice suddenly.
"DROP THE INNOCENT ACT!"
The table shook. "Don't take me for a fool."
I was scared. But I didn't stay silent.
"It's the truth."
Lucian sat down. His hands were on the table.
His gaze changed.
"What I saw in your memories… that box."
He paused.
"That glowing, beeping device you played with… what was it?"
I looked. My breath quickened.
"A computer."
"What does it do?"
"It gives information… visuals… you connect with others. You play games…"
Lucian leaned forward.
"You were watching me on that computer."
"I saw myself and Elysia."
"How long have you been doing this?!"
"I can explain—"
"There was another Elysia on that screen. The person watching us was you. So where's the real Elysia?!"
"I told you. I… am that Elysia."
Lucian suddenly stood up. He shoved the table aside.
The noise echoed off the walls.
"STOP THIS NONSENSE!"
"TELL ME WHERE THE REAL ELYSIA IS, SOUL WANDERER!"
I stood from the chair. I stepped back, but I couldn't escape.
Lucian pinned me against the wall in one move.
His face was nearly touching mine.
"Did you come from outside this world?!"
"Did you get close to me to deceive me?! Were you spying on us?! For whom?!"
"I… I can't breathe…"
A pause… then his grip loosened.
I held my throat.
"Lucian… the person you saw in those memories was also me. That box… it wasn't for spying. It truly wasn't. It… was my escape from all the terrible things in those memories. It was just a game. A distraction."
Lucian narrowed his eyes.
He was listening, but still burning with anger.
"Elysia… did you write this script?"
"No. The one you asked about… I created her. I controlled her. I was playing a game. A game set in this world… with you in it."
Lucian approached quietly. This time, more controlled.
"So my life… was your toy?"
"No! Never—"
Lucian clenched his fist. But this time, he held it in the air.
"This is all madness!"
I didn't know what to do.
There was no logical explanation for any of this.
"I have no proof to convince you. I don't even know why I came here."
Lucian stepped back. But his eyes stayed on me.
He took something out of his coat—a small vial.
The liquid inside twisted like purple veins.
"If you have no proof…" he said. "I'll extract the truth from you."
I didn't look away.
I just nodded.
I took the vial from his hand.
Uncorked it.
And drank it all in one go.
The pain hit within seconds.
Like swallowing fire from my throat to my stomach.
Every nerve trembled.
My veins tightened.
My vision darkened, then cleared.
But there was nowhere left to run.
Lucian asked me everything.
My real name.
How I came to this world.
The game.
The computer.
Why I was brought here.
If I was a spy.
Who I was at the screen.
I… answered.
All of it.
Burning inside, choking, gasping.
The potion made lying impossible.
My lips raced to confess even the darkest corners of my mind.
And Lucian… didn't want to believe a single word, but listened like he was engraving it in his soul.
His brows furrowed, his face tensed, at one point he slammed the table with his fist.
But he made no sound.
He just stared.
Like everything I said… shattered his entire life.
Then—something I never expected happened.
He asked.
His voice… was strange.
Strong, yes. But underneath… something else.
A fracture. A pain. Maybe a glimmer of hope.
"When you got close to me during those missions… when you touched me—"
He paused.
Swallowed.
His eyes locked on mine.
"What about the kiss? Was that… part of your mission too?"
The taste of the potion was still in my mouth.
I couldn't lie.
I swallowed.
My eyes burned.
"…Yes."
There was a second of silence.
Then something collapsed in his expression.
He didn't turn into a stranger… but a light inside him died.
As if the man I called "Lucian" stood there, but had already left.
He turned around.
"I see."
He walked to the door.
But what truly broke me wasn't that.
It was when he stopped… and his voice came, like a whisper:
"For the first time in this world… I thought I'd made a real connection with someone."
And then he left.
I… burned.
Left behind in the ashes of my own words.