The room was warm and cozy. No one was there to guard it. Eren lay quietly in the silent room. The moment Ari saw him, tears welled up in her eyes. His hair was left in sparse patches, and his skin was festering with lesions in various places. She was only relieved that his face still held some color.

  Eren felt someone enter and woke up. Seeing Ari, he sat up in shock.

  "How did you end up like this?" Ari asked, her voice trembling.

  "I don't know myself."

  Eren seemed more glad to see her than he was concerned about his pain; he stood and walked toward her.

  "That man... he didn't do anything to you, did he?"

  "No. He is insidious, but he isn't stupid."

  Kadan interrupted their conversation.

  "A ruler must possess the heart of a lion and the brain of a fox, as some ancient once said. Now, enough with the romance—it is time for you to help me. I have no time for posturing, either."

  "Take me to the Audience Chamber first," Ari said to Kadan.

  "I'll give Kadan what he wants first, then we'll talk details," Ari whispered to Eren before leaving the room.

  The Audience Chamber, once again opened, was submerged in a bizarre silence. Before even crossing the threshold, Ari shivered at the fishy, metallic smell that pierced her lungs—the kind of scent that only occurs when lightning strikes the earth just before a storm.

  It was a ghost room where time had stopped.

  The first thing that caught her eye were the corpses, frozen in the exact positions she had seen them days ago. In a normal death, the flesh should have turned black, the stench of rot should have been thick, and the insects of the earth should have been swarming. Yet, the corpses here were as smooth and clean as wax dolls that had just fallen asleep. This only made the horror more bone-chilling.

  Even the ‘Providence of the Earth,’ which rots all things to return them to the soil, seemed powerless before the might of this blue light. Not a single fly buzzed, and not even a maggot had formed to feast on the remains. It was a barren land abandoned even by the gods, where the cycle of nature was completely severed.

  "...They haven't rotted," Ari’s voice trembled minutely. The King remained frozen where he had collapsed; his skin had merely lost its vitality, yet it retained the same tension from days ago. The Lord Chamberlain and the Captain of the Guard appeared as if they were taxidermied in their final, desperate expressions.

  The air was strangely transparent and cool. It felt as though tens of thousands of invisible needles filled the void, making the back of her throat prickle every time she inhaled.

  Ari looked near the jar. The clothes of those who had fallen close to it rustled as if they had been roasted by an invisible fire, and even the black liquid they had vomited had not dried, instead harboring a bizarre glow. It was a place where bodies could not even rot, trapped forever in the moment of death.

  It felt less like a landscape of hell and more like being trapped in the cold breath exhaled by a massive monster left behind by the ancients. Ari felt the back of her hand prickle again. The demon inside the jar was not asleep. Even at this moment, it seemed to be firing invisible arrows in all directions, silently destroying the 'source' of all life that set foot in this room.

  "No one has dared to enter since that day," Kadan’s voice came from behind her. Ari did not look back.

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  "I pay my respects to the reckless presence of a living King," Ari said sarcastically, offering a mocking curtsy. Kadan acted as if he hadn't heard her.

  "It would have been better if you’d gotten angry..."

  Ari provoked him once more, but Kadan only prodded her back, urging her on. Ari looked around. The traces of death remained exactly as they were, making it easy to judge the situation.

  "Distance is what matters. You cannot control the direction."

  "The ancients made that clear. That is why they sealed it," Kadan said bluntly.

  "When did you say your older brother was coming?"

  "Three days, at the earliest."

  "Then there is no time. I must only do what is possible. I have neither the technology nor the ability of the ancients," Ari said firmly. Kadan thought for a moment and then nodded.

  "Fine. What can you do?"

  "I was in the Audience Chamber, yet I am perfectly fine now. Why do you think that is?"

  "Because you are the Witch of the Jar?"

  Ari let out a hollow laugh at Kadan's joke. "You seem anxious."

  "As you said, I have no time."

  "Then I will speak quickly and simply. At the time, I was tied to this pillar. I was scheduled to be a sacrifice after the ceremony. And I was the last to leave. Yet, I have no symptoms. On the other hand, Eren, in order to save me..."

  Ari momentarily lost her words, holding back the rising tears.

  "...He moved forward."

  She pointed in that direction, suppressing her grief.

  "So you're saying it's a matter of distance, not time," Kadan nodded.

  "Correct. This is not a curse. It is a phenomenon with a radius. And more importantly, the symptoms varied depending on the distance."

  Ari added, "Eren came this far."

  Ari stood where the ceremonial axe lay scattered. She took a rope she had prepared from her waist and tied the end into a ball-like knot. Then, she threw it toward the jar and marked the distance on the rope. She threw it again to where the Captain of the Guard lay. In this manner, she threw it toward the various corpses to mark the distances.

  Soon after, she drew several circles on a piece of paper and noted the symptoms for each location. She took it to Kadan. Kadan understood what it was.

  "Shall we call this the lethal range?"

  "You may name it whatever you please, Your Highness," Ari offered another curtsy. Kadan smirked and moved to the next topic.

  "And the method of manifestation?"

  "As you saw, it is breaking the jar."

  "You know very well that isn't what I meant," Kadan said with a sneer. "That insult just now was your last. I could throw Eren into that jar."

  Kadan spoke coldly.

  "Your Highness. In that case, I implore you to grant me the mercy of doing the same to me," Ari said, bowing her head. Kadan’s fist trembled slightly before his expression turned cold again.

  "I promise you access to the Royal Archives. Perhaps there you will find a cure for Eren."

  Ari gritted her teeth before letting go.

  "The outermost layer of the jar is a steel casing, and the next is something like clay, though I don't know the details. But there is no real issue up to that point."

  Ari paused for a moment. "Put it in writing."

  "Do you not trust me?"

  "I do not trust the brain of a fox."

  Ari was firm. Kadan called his attendants. Though they were trembling with fear, they entered after seeing Kadan’s resolve and the fact that there were still no issues.

  "Bring three witnesses and a notary in accordance with Hardin’s Law," Kadan commanded. Hearing this, Ari sat down right where she was and waited. It took more than half a day for the chamberlain to gather the people as requested.

  "Your efficiency is poorer than what I heard from Eren."

  "It's thanks to the Witch... half the capital emptied the day the jar broke," Kadan shot back.

  The notary prepared seven copies of the document. Every witness signed each document, and the notary applied the seals. The King and Ari signed in turn. The documents were distributed—one for each party, and the notary took two. One of those would be stored in the Notary Archive.

  Ari watched the witnesses until they left the Audience Chamber and disappeared. Kadan’s patience had reached its limit, but he couldn't get angry due to Ari’s stubbornness. Only after receiving the seal confirming the document had been stored in the Archive did Ari speak.

  "I do not know the final part."

  Kadan’s hand seized Ari by the collar. Her feet left the floor.

  "What did you say?"

  His voice was a low growl. He dragged Ari toward the jar.

  "I was too far away to know what that substance was."

  He stopped walking at Ari’s words.

  "I only received the impression that it was metallic and very soft. The important thing is that when it broke, the light was released."

  Ari continued, enjoying his enraged expression. Kadan shook her by the collar. He contemplated throwing her into the jar for a moment before setting her down.

  "Remember that your knowledge is what kept you alive," Kadan said, catching his breath. "Guide her. But only for half a day each day."

  Kadan ordered the chamberlain. Ari let out a hollow laugh at his final act of pettiness.