I approached the veranda and sat next to her.

I didn’t look at her face. I simply sat and stared straight ahead.

The view from outside the quarters and the view from sitting on the veranda felt different.

Looking at it, I vaguely realized something.

‘It was planned this way.’

The view I was seeing was something someone must have created with the intention for someone to sit here.

The carefully cultivated trees and garden, the roughly made pond with koi of all colors swimming in it.

The watermill visible from where I sat and the nearby flowing stream.

Everything looked like a painting.

And—

‘It was made to look beautiful when sitting here.’

It was carefully cultivated for that purpose.

So the one who made it wanted the viewer to feel calm and enriched.

As I thought about it, the landscape felt unusually warm.

Whoooosh.

The wind blew. My hair scattered, and the leaves fluttered in the air.

Following them with my eyes, my gaze naturally moved toward the sky.

The setting sun was covered lightly with clouds.

As I quietly watched it, I realized something else.

‘It doesn’t move.’

The clouds, and everything floating in the sky, weren’t moving at all.

Even though the wind was blowing like this.

‘I see.’

I nodded. I had realized the truth hidden in the scenery.

‘It’s a created space.’

It wasn’t a real place; it was a created one.

Whether it was the power of sorcery or something else, I couldn’t tell.

‘This is not an existing place.’

It meant it was a formless space not existing in the real world.

Upon this realization, I looked at Cheonma.

She was staring ahead with drowsy eyes, as if tired.

What could those purple eyes be looking at? I found myself curious, but I ignored the thought and called out to Cheonma.

“Hey.”

“Mm.”

Cheonma responded without looking at me.

“Did you make this place?”

At my words, her gaze shifted toward me.

For some reason, when our eyes met, I felt the urge to look away.

I didn’t know why. It was just a fleeting thought.

After hearing my question, Cheonma answered without changing her expression.

“I don’t know.”

“...You don’t know?”

“Mm. I don’t.”

“Then, what is this place?”

Does she use it without knowing what it is? She opened a dimension and arrived here but doesn’t even know what this place is?

I couldn’t understand.

Moreover—

‘Why didn’t Cheonma want to show this place?’

Why didn’t the Cheonma from my past life want to show me this place?

It was just a decorated garden and quarters. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“This is my home.”

The answer Cheonma gave to my question was the same as the one I had heard before.

“Home...”

I could tell that just by looking at it. Anyone could tell this was a home.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“What then?”

“I’m asking, what is this place for?”

What is it used for? That was the question. Based on what Cheonma had said, it seemed like she would come to this space when I wasn’t around, or when she wasn’t usually here.

‘It was the same in my past life.’

The violet Magyeong Gate.

I remembered Cheonma emerging from the dimension. Her graceful, proud figure walking out from the dimension with an aura of arrogance.

‘So, the place she was in was this?’

It didn’t match.

This space didn’t match the Cheonma I knew.

A decaying ruin. Under a shattered, withered sky.

She was someone who stood above all demons, reigning over the heavens.

Even the Three Sovereigns of the Central Plains couldn’t do anything to her, and they collapsed in defeat.

‘...Did she create this place behind the dimension?’

I couldn’t understand it at all.

‘Maybe, has something changed in this life?’

Could it be that the Cheonma of this life opens a different dimension from the one in my past life?

That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.

If not—

‘What for?’

What was Cheonma doing, entering and exiting this place? I couldn’t figure it out.

At that moment.

“Longing.”

Cheonma spoke, looking at me.

“Longing?”

“Longing.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This place is longing.”

Longing? That was an odd thing to say. I frowned and looked around.

The beautifully arranged garden and the somewhat aged, well-maintained quarters.

This place is longing? What about the flowers planted here?

They certainly weren’t something that could have grown naturally.

“Did you arrange this garden?”

“No.”

“Then who did? Was this its original appearance?”

“I don’t know.”

“...What are you saying? Are we having a conversation?”

Not a single proper answer.

I glared at Cheonma in disbelief. Maybe she just didn’t feel like answering.

‘Yeah, she’s the strange one.’

I didn’t know what principle or purpose this space had been created for, but I judged that the present life and the past life were completely different.

Of course.

‘The Cheonma I knew wouldn’t be here.’

Even just recalling her made my legs tremble, her overwhelming presence suffocating.

I didn’t know why she had become this fool in this life. She was never someone who would stay in a place like this.

‘Longing, at the very least.’

The way she expressed it was vague.

What was she longing for?

And even if she was longing for something, there was no reason for her to long for a place like this that wasn’t even human.

I stood up.

“Should I go inside?”

“Ah.”

As I tried to enter the quarters, Cheonma widened her eyes and muttered something. Was it a sign for me not to go in?

I glanced at Cheonma to see if she was trying to stop me, but she just stared at me for a moment and didn’t say anything further.

Is this her permission? I passed through the veranda and headed toward the interior. The building wasn’t large.

It was smaller than my quarters in the renowned families.

There were likely only two rooms at most.

It was a small, cramped place.

Looking at it, I grabbed the door and opened it.

Creeeak.

The door opened without needing much force.

The inside came into view. The room was bathed in the amber glow of the setting sun.

‘Nothing particularly special about it?’

The interior seemed like something you’d see anywhere. The first thing I noticed was the unmade bed.

An unmade bed, one big enough for two people to sleep in.

There were traces, as if someone had been lying there until recently.

‘No warmth.’

Just the remnants. On a small table beside it, two teacups were visible.

I stepped closer and examined them. There was a little tea left in one of the cups, as if it had been half-drunk.

‘One is empty, and one still has some left.’

Looking at the quarters, it seemed like this was a place for two. The arrangement of the furniture and the traces left behind pointed to that.

Since Cheonma herself called it a home, it seemed like a place she often visited.

Then...

‘Who was the other person?’

Who else had been here?

I couldn’t tell. I scanned the room further.

It was an unremarkable room. While examining the place, something caught my attention.

‘Hmm?’

I saw a drawer. Normally, I wouldn’t bother to open something that was already closed, but...

‘What is this?’

As soon as I saw it, I felt an urge to open it.

No, it felt like I had to open it.

So, I reached out and grabbed the drawer.

Creeeak.

The drawer opened, and what was inside became faintly visible.

‘Clothes?’

It was clothes, neatly folded. But...

‘Small?’

The size was unusually small. It didn’t look big enough for an adult. This obviously wasn’t clothing for an adult.

That means...

‘Is this children’s clothing?’

Clothes that seemed fit for a child, specifically for a child no older than five or six years old.

Moreover...

‘It was unfinished.’

It seemed like it had been made by hand, but the thread had been left undone, ending in an unfinished piece.

It was incomplete.

I reached to touch the clothes but—

Thud—!!

The drawer slammed shut, blocking my hand. I glanced over, and it was Cheonma.

“You can’t touch that.”

Her voice was firm. I quietly stared at Cheonma.

She seemed to be in a rush just to block the clothes.

It felt like she ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) didn’t want me to see it.

‘It’s just clothes.’

After all, it was just clothing. And it wasn’t even finished.

Why would she stop me from touching it?

‘But on the other hand...’

I didn’t really have any reason to confirm it myself.

Thinking of that, I took a step back.

“Alright, my bad for looking.”

“....”

Cheonma nodded without saying anything. I turned and walked out of the quarters.

There was nothing else to see here, and—

‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’

I didn’t want to stay in this space for long. I brushed my chest with my hand.

It felt suffocating. Suffocating and heavy.

And cold.

I shouldn’t stay any longer. The feeling rose to my throat.

It was an odd feeling. Why did I feel like this?

So, as soon as I stepped out of the quarters and arrived in the yard, I asked Cheonma.

“Hey.”

“Mm.”

“Have I been here before?”

“.......”

Cheonma paused when she heard my question.

I didn’t miss that reaction.

“What’s with that reaction? I’m asking if I’ve been here before.”

It didn’t make sense.

She knew better than anyone that I had never been here. In both my past and present life.

I had never been to this place.

Furthermore, it didn’t make sense to ask Cheonma about it now since she wouldn’t know.

“I know this place, right?”

Even though I knew the answer, I asked Cheonma.

“Answer me.”

“......”

To my surprise, Cheonma didn’t answer.

Why wouldn’t she answer? Why was I even asking this?

I couldn’t even explain why I was asking, but the words just slipped out.

“What is this place? Why do I know this place?”

Thud—!

I grabbed Cheonma’s shoulder.

Her small, delicate shoulder fit easily in my hand.

I could feel it as I glared at her and asked.

Cheonma’s eyes trembled.

And as she was about to mutter something, slowly speaking—

“No.”

Thud—!!

“......!?”

Cheonma’s face stiffened, and she slapped my hand away, grabbing her own throat.

“What’s going on?”

Suddenly, she grabbed her own throat?

I looked at her in shock.

“Don’t be greedy.”

Cheonma spoke.

Was she talking to me? But it didn’t seem like it.

“This is not something you should do.”

She spoke with a slight smile, and a chill ran down my spine.

‘That smile.’

I widened my eyes.

Her smiling face. The look in her eyes.

‘Could it be...?’

As that thought crossed my mind, my body stiffened.

In that moment—

“See you later.”

Cheonma smiled and drew a line toward me with her finger.

Crack—!!

The dimension shattered, and my body was caught in it.

Crash—!!!

I tried to escape, but by the time I realized what was happening—

Swoooosh—

I was back at the spot where the Divine Tree of Mount Marryeong had been.

More precisely, I had returned to the place where I had been talking with Cheonma.

“Hah... ha...”

My body was filled with heat, and I had to wipe the sweat off.

Her eyes and that smile flashed in my mind.

It was clearly—

“...Cheonma?”

Not the simple woman I had seen in this life.

It was the Cheonma who had ruled like a disaster in my past life.