Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

After a brief discussion, they decided to explore the lobby first.

The four of them scattered in different directions, exploring the different parts of the lobby since it was quite large.

Initially, it had looked as though all that existed on the lower floor was the throne room, but two hallways extended from both sides of the lobby.

Aside from the ornaments hanging on the wall, including emblems and weapons, there was nothing much that could be seen here.

As he was exploring, Adrian’s gaze paused in front of a wall. There was a painting hanging there.

It was a portrait of a woman sitting on a golden throne, smiling and holding a gold mace. Long black hair flowed down her shoulders, and a beautiful crown rested on her head.

But the woman’s most notable features were her beautiful turquoise eyes.

Adrian studied the painting with a thoughtful look on his face.

’Was she the queen of this kingdom? What about the king, though?’

This was the only painting he could see hanging in the lobby.

Since the lobby was the first thing people see after entering the castle, hanging someone’s portrait here meant that the person was important. So for only that woman’s portrait to be here...

Adrian sighed.

’No point speculating too much. I will probably get the answers when we explore the castle further.’

Not long after, the four of them regrouped in the center of the lobby to discuss their findings.

Adrian looked at Xion.

"Did you find anything?"

The commoner boy smiled after looking thoughtful for a bit.

"All I could find were the emblems hung on the wall. I believe those are the insignia of the royal family."

’Hmm... he could be right.’

Evangeline and Saria shook their heads, signaling that they hadn’t found anything of significance.

Then Evangeline gave him a curious look.

"What about you, Adi? Did you find anything?"

Adrian shook his head.

"I didn’t find anything useful either. All I found was a portrait of someone who could possibly have been the master of this castle and the ruler of the ancient kingdom. But again, it’s not confirmed."

Adrian turned his gaze to the golden door in front of them.

"I think it is now time to explore the throne room."

The other three nodded.

As they walked up to the castle, the golden door slowly opened on its own, just as Adrian had predicted.

The throne room was much more massive than he had imagined. An ornate red carpet stretched into the distance, creating a path. Thick cylindrical pillars stood on both sides of the ornate carpet at intervals, decorated with beautiful gems and gold platings.

At the other end of the ornate red carpet was an elevated platform with a golden throne in the center. The throne had an intricate design with gemstones on the armrests.

But the golden throne wasn’t empty.

A skeleton was sitting on the throne, wearing a beautiful dress that was a mix of ‌turquoise and black, holding a gold mace in its hands as a beautiful crown rested above its skull.

The four of them paused in front of the throne.

Evangeline looked at him tensely.

"Adi, why is a skeleton..."

Adrian narrowed his eyes as he observed the skeleton sitting on the throne.

’Does this belong to the woman in that portrait?’

The throne was the same, the pose too, and the gold mace was also completely identical. The dress that the skeleton wore was the only thing different from that portrait. All signs pointed to the skeleton belonging to the woman.

It was just that...

’The skeleton looks slightly short to belong to a woman. It looks more like it belonged to a girl in her teens.’

Well, maybe that woman had a petite build; who knew?

Xion turned to him.

"What do you think?"

Adrian scanned the massive throne room and then turned his attention back to the skeleton on the throne.

"Hmm... I don’t see any pieces of flesh on the bones, which means it has been a long time since the person died. Considering that they are sitting on this throne in this way, it doesn’t look like an enemy killed them in a confrontation."

He paused and thought for a bit.

"Maybe they succumbed to an illness, or maybe they were poisoned."

Saria shook her head.

"No, it could also be that they were killed somewhere else and the corpse was placed on the throne after that."

"It could be," Adrian nodded. "But I don’t see any dried bloodstains on the clothes, nor do I spot any signs of damage on the skull."

Xion chimed in from the side.

"I believe that we can’t know for sure unless we inspect the skeleton from head to toe."

Adrian nodded.

"Fair enough." He turned to Evangeline, who was still looking at the skeleton blankly. "Remove the dress so that we can inspect it properly."

Hearing his voice, the girl blinked a few times and looked at him in confusion.

"Are you... talking to me?"

Adrian frowned.

"Is there anybody else standing besides you?"

"No, it’s just that..." She glanced at the skeleton with a troubled look. "Do I have... have to? I don’t wanna touch it. Adi, how about you do it instead?"

She made a pleading face.

But Adrian firmly shook his head and spoke in a stern voice.

"Evangel, you will do it."

She opened and closed her mouth several times, as if wanting to say something. But in the end, she sighed.

"Fine..."

She walked closer to the skeleton and reached out both her hands, as if to lift it from the throne.

But just as her hand touched the corpse, an invisible ripple spread through the surroundings, making all four of them pause.

Xion, Saria, and Adrian all tensed their muscles as they looked around.

Just then, the entire castle rumbled as though there were an earthquake.

Xion took out his shortswords.

"This... doesn’t look good."

Saria materialized a platinum axe in her hand.

"I don’t know what’s happening, but something changed the moment she touched the skeleton—huh?" Saria suddenly froze mid-speech. "Where did she go...?"

Adrian paused and looked around.

Evangeline was nowhere to be found.

Xion muttered as he looked around in confusion.

"Where is Miss Evangeline? She was right before our eyes just a moment ago."

But before they could wonder about that more, the rumbling intensified. It was as though the castle were coming alive.

Slowly, their surroundings began to transform.

The massive throne room began to change. The thick pillars began to disappear, along with the throne and the carpet.

Moments later, the three of them found themselves standing in the lobby once again, with the castle’s main door right behind them.

Xion muttered in an incredulous tone.

"Did the throne room just transform into the lobby?"

Saria tightened her grip on the platinum axe.

"It looks as though the space itself was wrapped. As though the throne room and the lobby switched places."

Adrian narrowed his eyes.

’So that’s what she saw through the manascape. It’s not looking good...’

Some sort of mechanism seemed to have been triggered the moment Evangeline touched the corpse. Maybe it was some trap the original owner had set up before their demise, or maybe it was something else.

In the end, what was certain was that the situation had changed.

Adrian turned around and pulled the handle of the castle’s main door.

But unlike before, the door didn’t budge.

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