Melina's soul fully merged with the Silver Tear.
Soon after, the embryo formed from the Tear truly seemed to gain life.
What had once been a faint, intermittent pulse now beat clearly—like a heart.
From here on, the embryo would need a long period of growth before Melina could be reborn.
Ranni turned to Lucian and explained,
"For soul and flesh to be made whole as one, time must needs be granted."
"And this very span is most meet, wherein their accord may be duly tempered."
"The body shall yield unto the soul's design, shaped from its first quickening, wrought wholly by the soul alone. No vessel is more fitting."
"Thus, when she is at last reborn, the flesh she waketh unto shall stand in perfect concord with her soul, unmarred by even the slightest flaw."
Lucian thought it over.
So that was how it worked.
That also explained why Boc's quest had ended in failure.
Back then, Boc had possessed a Silver Tear and hadn't undergone rebirth before—under normal circumstances, he shouldn't have died.
But Boc had been trying to change from a demi-human into a human.
That drastic transformation of the body must have caused a mismatch between soul and flesh, ultimately leading to his death.
In the Lands Between, soul, body, and consciousness were all indispensable.
Lucian looked at the now-silent silver embryo and asked,
"How long will this process take?"
Ranni made a rough estimate before answering,
"I hold not full dominion over the rite of rebirth, neither."
"Yet a common rebirth demandeth but a handful of days."
"Her case is singular, she maketh use of the full rite of rebirth, and of the matter thou didst provide: the Silver Tear."
"Thus do I deem the span required shall be far the longer."
"Even by the most guarded reckoning, it shall draw nigh unto ten days."
Lucian nodded.
That amount of time was no issue at all.
As long as Melina's rebirth went smoothly, ten days—or even more was nothing.
Ranni then looked at Lucian again and continued,
"In the while, thou mayest attend unto thine own affairs."
"I shall keep watch here, in thy stead."
Lucian was slightly surprised by that.
He looked at Ranni and asked,
"What about your own affairs?"
Ranni shook her head.
"Our accord was set forth in clear measure."
"To aid in her rebirth, and to shape the flesh she shall assume, therein lieth the true fulfilment of our covenant."
"Such are the terms of our accord. I shall not gainsay them."
Lucian understood immediately.
Ranni had included the entire follow-up process as part of their deal.
Only once Melina had been fully and safely reborn would their cooperation truly end.
He had to admit, Ranni really was an excellent partner.
Since that was the case, Lucian didn't insist further.
He still had plenty of things to take care of anyway.
When Melina was close to being reborn, Ranni could simply notify him.
"Then I'll leave it to you," Lucian said.
After a brief pause, he added,
"Ranni, I'd like to look for some materials in the Grand Library. Could you help me?"
Ranni glanced around the vast library, its shelves packed with countless tomes, and nodded.
There were simply too many books here—
Even she would need time to find anything specific.
For someone like Lucian, who had never been here before, it would be nearly impossible to locate what he wanted on his own.
"Very well. I shall lend thee my aid in the search." she said.
"It hath been a long while since last I set foot within the Grand Library, in any case."
"Now then, what is it thou wouldst seek?"
Lucian casually pulled out a book as he replied,
"I'm looking for records of the Lands Between's history."
"If there's something that directly documents the full history, that would be best."
"If not, then records from the Academy's founding onward would also be fine."
Ranni thought for a moment, then gradually frowned.
She couldn't recall such historical records at all.
That in itself was strange.
She was the Lunar Princess of Caria and had read extensively in the Grand Library—
There shouldn't be any category of records she had never encountered.
To Ranni, this was highly abnormal.
But before Lucian brought it up, she'd never thought to question it.
She suppressed her unease.
They'd know once they searched.
Ranni floated up into the air and began scanning the shelves.
…Something seemed to have been forgotten.
She looked down at Moongrum, who was still half-kneeling in place, and said,
"Moongrum. Rise, and withdraw."
"Suffer none to intrude upon this rite."
Only then did Moongrum stand, exit the Grand Library, and close the doors behind him.
After that, Ranni and Lucian each began their search among the shelves.
It was an enormous undertaking—
And they also had to deal with interference from the reborn apprentices nearby, whose minds were childlike.
Childish minds paired with mature bodies made for terrifying levels of chaos.
These apprentices were brats among brats—throwing books one moment, knocking over candlesticks the next.
Fortunately, even in her broken state, Rennala still remembered to use magic to clean up after them.
Books and candlesticks sent flying by magic always returned unharmed.
Otherwise, the Grand Library wouldn't have lasted even a single day.
Halfway through the search, Lucian suddenly heard Ranni speak to him of her own accord:
"Thou hast my thanks… for Blaidd."
Lucian thought about it for a moment, probably the matter of the mirrored armor and waved it off casually.
"No need to thank me. Blaidd and I are close."
"As his friend, I couldn't stand by and watch him meet such a tragic end."
Ranni continued floating in the air as she said,
"Howbeit… I yet remain in thy debt."
"To me, Blaidd was never a mere vassal," Ranni said softly.
"He was my sworn brother."
"When first I was yet young, the Two Fingers chose me as Empyrean."
"Blaidd was the Shadow they did bestow upon me—my shadowbound beast, my attendant, mine other self."
"From our earliest days, we were raised as one."
"To look back upon it now… aye, it stirreth a quiet nostalgia."
As if speaking to herself, Ranni began recounting her past with Blaidd, the corners of her mouth lifting into a faint smile.
"When first I did resolve to set myself against the Two Fingers, Blaidd yet stood fast at my side."
"Heh… though he were a servant granted by the Two Fingers themselves."
"From their sight, such a fault would needs be deemed beyond all pardon."
Ranni lowered her gaze, meeting Lucian's eyes below.
"…In days yet to come, Blaidd would needs be taken by the Two Fingers, and compelled to turn his hand against me."
"For Blaidd, such a doom would have been a cruelty past bearing."
"For this cause did I, and Iji with me, keep the truth from him all these years."
"As a Shadow bestowed by the Two Fingers, his betrayal was writ from the first; his own will could never have gainsaid it."
"Yet by thy hand, he was spared that end."
Ranni knew all too well what kind of horrific fate awaited Blaidd once she set foot upon the dark path.
Because of that, she had always carried a sense of guilt toward him.
But the second mirrored helm Lucian brought had resolved that lingering issue.
With one more burden lifted from her heart, she could finally speak of these matters calmly.
"…My pardon. 'Tis long indeed since last I found myself so unguarded; thus did my tongue overrun its bounds."
"Pray thee, cast aside this idle wandering of words."
"Yet be it known, this kindness I shall not forget."
"In time appointed, I shall render thee recompense."
Lucian shook his head.
"I did it for Blaidd, not for you."
"So there's no need to shoulder everything yourself. Let Blaidd repay the debt when the time comes."
"If you really feel responsible, why not tell me some interesting stories instead? It'll help pass the time while we search."
Ranni let out a soft laugh.
Once she had made up her mind, it never wavered—but for now, she let it be.
Those matters could wait until she erased the Two Fingers from the Lands Between entirely and achieved true liberation.
"Wouldst thou hear a thing of passing interest? Very well, then."
"By curious happenstance, there is somewhat I deem thou mayest find most intriguing."
Lucian pulled out another book, glanced at its title and contents, then placed it back and reached for the next.
"Oh? Go on."
"In sooth" Ranni said, "thy tutor, the one men name the Graven Witch, Sellen—doth likewise bear the blood of Caria's royal line."
Lucian's hands jerked, and the book nearly slipped from his grasp.
He looked up at Ranni in the air, disbelief written plainly across his face.
This time, he was genuinely shocked.
"…What?"
"How is that possible? Is that really true?"
Ranni raised an eyebrow, surprised by his reaction.
"Why, of course it is so."
"…And yet, didst thou truly never mark so much as a single sign of it?"
Lucian thought about it and realized, he really hadn't known at all.
And judging by Sellen's own attitude toward the Carian Royal Family, there was no sign of kinship whatsoever.
If anything, hostility was far more evident.
When she criticized them, she never held back in the slightest.
Ranni didn't drag things out and explained slowly,
"The fate of Caria's royal house is bound fast unto the stars."
"Such a mark is Carian alone. The destinies of other sorcerers bear no accord with the night sky."
"When the stars were bound, 'twas not my fate alone that lay sealed—but the fates, likewise, of all who share the Carian blood."
"For this selfsame cause was thy tutor able to abide as an 'undying witch.'"
Lucian recalled that when he obtained the Primeval Glintstone, Sellen had indeed said that now—
With the stars once more in motion, she could finally be killed.
Earlier, at Raya Lucaria, one of the twin sages had also mentioned that Sellen could now be slain.
So that was the reason.
Still, something puzzled him.
"Then why do others seem to know this as well?"
"There was a sorcerer at the Academy who also said that Sellen could now be killed."
Ranni floated down from the air and came to his side.
"That is but natural. Of certain matters within the Academy, thou art yet unversed."
"The custom whereby sorcerers don the glintstone crowns of witches arose only after Caria's royal house did seize dominion over Raya Lucaria."
"In the portraits long kept by the Academy, thou mayest still espy that the first witch held a Carian scroll within her grasp."
"The Carian royal house was no ancient line at its birth."
"In truth, it was naught but a family of astrologers."
"'Twas my mother who, upon mastering the sorcery of the Full Moon and bringing the Academy to heel, was crowned queen, and thus did raise our house unto royalty."
"Yet a royal line may not be upheld by my mother alone."
"The Carian blood required more sorcerers to sustain it."
"And so were many of the collateral branches of our kin sent forth unto the Academy."
"Thy tutor was numbered among them."
"What followed thereafter, thou knowest well enough."
"By way of the Primeval Current, she was made a witch in the truest and fullest sense."
"For this cause have Iji and Jerren ever held her to be a calamity unto Caria."
Lucian considered it carefully and found the story disturbingly reasonable.
The Carian Royal Family couldn't have been small—
The number of collateral members alone must have been considerable.
As for Sellen's attitude toward Caria…
It wasn't strange for someone from a side branch to feel little attachment to the family.
Her sense of belonging was clearly stronger toward the Academy than toward the royal house.
After all, it was at Raya Lucaria that she had truly lived her happiest days.
Master Azur had treated her like his own daughter—
And yet, all of that had been destroyed.
…The tangled ethics and tragedies of the Lands Between really were something else entirely.