The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

-We need to find out how the Crown Prince survived. There must be clues to preventing the doom.

Starting the next day, we began working on recovering Gabriel’s memories. However, it proved to be more challenging than expected. 

“There don’t seem to be any physical issues, Sister. His head doesn’t appear to be injured either, so there’s nothing I can do.” 

Unless it was a trauma-related wound, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved with Jonathan’s powers. 

‘Then it’s my turn now.’

A wormhole created due to the power similar to that of light, the ability to traverse space and time. If Gabriel came here through the wormhole, he might have lost his memories during the process. 

“The highest possibility is that he lost a part of his soul inside the wormhole.” 

“So, what should we do?” 

Gabriel seemed surprised by my statement that he might have lost a part of his soul.

I could understand why it was hard to believe that he lost a part of his soul when he was perfectly alive. 

“I’ll go and retrieve it, your soul.” 

“Is that even possible?” 

Jonathan looked at me, bewildered. 

“How do you enter the wormhole?” 

Jonathan, full of curiosity, asked as he looked at me. 

“I use my abilities, the ‘Power of Light’, to traverse space and time.” 

“Wow, so the ‘Power of Light’ can do that? Fascinating. You can traverse space and time using light.” 

Still a child at heart, he seemed excited to learn something new. 

“But it’s also quite dangerous, to the point of risking your life.” 

At that moment, Lucian suddenly appeared in front of us. 

“You absolutely cannot go alone this time.” 

Lucian approached and squeezed my hand firmly. 

“Someone as skilled as me should be by your side, shouldn’t they? I have to be there with you.” 

“What are you talking about? It’s too dangerous for you!”

I tried to shake off Lucian’s hand, but couldn’t escape his strong grip.

“You still can’t perfectly control your abilities.”

“It’s not that kind of problem. I don’t know what will happen if someone who doesn’t have the ‘Power of Light’ enters. Besides, you have an obligation to protect the Felosite estate.”

“To me my wife-“

Lucian, who looked around for a moment, continued to speak.

“I also have an obligation.”

Yes, that’s true.

If the Archduke can’t protect his wife, the Archduchess…

What’s more, the Archduchess who was also a Princess? It’s obvious what will be said among the nobles.

Using me as an excuse, I don’t know what my father, the Emperor, will say again.

“Okay, I get it. Please let go of my hand. I’m not leaving yet.” 

Lucian’s sudden reddening of his face, caused by his abrupt appearance, made him release my hand immediately. 

“Ah, I thought you were going now.” 

“We need a wide-open space with no people around. Large enough to create a wormhole without any issues.” 

“Then, we should ask someone who knows this area well.” 

We went to find Hailey, and after some contemplation, she spoke up. 

“There should be a suitable place a bit further from here. We might have to walk a bit.” 

Six of us, including Hailey, Gabriel, myself, Lucian, and just in case, Gebino and Jonathan, made preparations for the adventure.

It wasn’t far from Baron Fenris’s residence to that place, but the path was steep, with many rocks. It seemed like someone could get injured if they stumbled even slightly. 

Fortunately, no one lagged behind among our group. 

Despite his young age, Jonathan, who had grown up in the countryside and had exceptional physical abilities, didn’t fall short compared to most of the Felosite knights in terms of stamina and martial skills.

Gabriel and Lucian, in high spirits, even seemed to compete with each other as they climbed the mountain.

No one told them to, but maybe it was their instinct stemming from the original work. Lucian killed Gabriel in the original story, after all.

It wasn’t an openly hostile situation, but the growling between them was apparent to me.

“Even though he doesn’t remember, His Highness the Crown Prince still acts as your brother.”

Haley said, approaching me and watching the two of them with a mischievous smile.

“Originally, an older brother couldn’t help but dislike his little sister’s man.”

“Well, maybe that’s not the case now. He can’t remember anything.”

While they bickered, Gabriel and Lucian, running at a fast pace up and down the mountain, looked somewhat cute.

It felt like I was watching the fiery adolescence of young boys whose blood was boiling.

We climbed up and down the mountain several times, passing over the summit more than once.

“How much farther do we need to go?”

“We’re here now!”

The place we arrived at was literally the perfect location for creating a wormhole.

An open field surrounded by a large mountain.

“This place used to be an experimental ground for magicians in ancient times, but there’s no magic residue left. It’s all purified.”

“Indeed. I can’t detect any traces of mana or any other magical power.”

After Lucian and Gebino double-checked all the potential hazards in the vicinity, we began preparing for our wormhole exploration.

“First, only Lucian and I will go into the wormhole. Based on my experience, anyone other than an ability user who falls into the wormhole will be burned alive.”

To prevent anyone from detecting my ability use from the outside, we set up several obsidian pedestals in various places on the open field.

Everyone except Lucian and me waited outside the field in the forest, keeping an eye on us.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded and extended my arms.

I wasn’t completely confident, as it was my first time creating a wormhole.

I closed my eyes and focused on the flow of spacetime, creating a rift here.

I poured all my strength into opening the rift in spacetime. And…

-Kugugugung.

“Done!”

I had finally created the wormhole.

It was even larger and more terrifying than the wormhole that appeared at Gabriel’s wedding.

“Ha, are we going in…?”

Someone unintentionally let out an exclamation, but I remained unperturbed.

For some reason, I had a strong conviction.

“Everything will be fine. And so will you.”

I reached out my hand to Lucian.

“Shall we go now?”

Holding Lucian’s hand tightly, we leaped into the wormhole together.

The swirling vortex swallowed both of us in an instant.

* * *

“Lucian?”

I had definitely held onto his hand tightly, but…

As soon as we entered the wormhole, Lucian had disappeared from my side.

“It’s because I told you not to…”

I sat down despondently.

I had tried to save Gabriel, but it seemed I had lost Lucian instead.

“What have I done… What…”

“What do you mean, it’s because of you?”

Lucian was suddenly standing in front of me, chuckling.

“What are you doing! How on earth…”

“I didn’t let go on purpose. It just happened.”

I quickly got up and looked around.

Once again, this place was chaos incarnate. Memories of various people were floating around like clouds.

The memories took the form of clouds and played back the memories repeatedly.

When I reached out to touch them, they felt like cotton candy.

“If this is… fragmented souls trapped in memories.”

I recognized these beings. I had personally brought them from Gebino and Lucian’s memories.

“We need to find Gabriel’s fragment. It must be here somewhere!”

Lucian and I split up to examine the fragments of souls one by one.

‘How many people’s souls have been torn apart here?’

There were souls sacrificed at Gabriel’s wedding and souls that I couldn’t recognize, with languages from unknown countries.

Thousands, tens of thousands of fragments were drifting inside the wormhole.

“I found it! Over here!”

Lucian shouted, and I rushed over to him.

In his hand, he held a slightly larger fragment of a soul.

“Is… this it?”