Chapter 313 -: 312 Her world.
’No...’
Julius whispered as his knees gave way beneath him, collapsing before the shattered remains of the sculpture.
Countless fragments of white marble lay scattered across the workshop floor, each one reflecting the afternoon light that filtered through the dusty windows.
The statue he had poured every waking moment into over the past seven days was gone.
The delicate outline of her face had been split apart, the carefully carved features reduced to broken stone that could never be restored.
With trembling hands, he reached toward the largest fragment and gently brushed away the dust coating its surface, as though afraid that even the slightest force would erase what little remained.
Tears streamed freely down his face while his fingers caressed the fractured marble. The face was no longer recognizable.
He had only managed to complete its outline before everything was destroyed, yet even in its ruined state, he could still see her.
No... it was never merely a sculpture. It had never been his creation. It was something that had always belonged to him, something precious beyond measure, something that no one in existence had the right to take away.
Across countless worlds and endless lifetimes, that truth should never have changed.
Yet now, the only thing that connected him to her had been ripped away before his very eyes.
His mind refused to accept it. How could something that belonged to him be destroyed so easily? How could anyone dare to steal what was his?
His fingers slowly curled into fists, tightening until the jagged edges of broken marble dug deep into his palms.
Fresh blood trickled between his fingers and dripped onto the floor, yet he felt nothing. The pain was insignificant compared to the unbearable emptiness tearing through his heart.
Slowly, Julius rose to his feet, his entire body trembling as tears continued flowing from bloodshot eyes that seemed consumed by insanity itself.
Tiny crimson streaks mixed with those tears, making it appear as though his eyes were bleeding alongside his soul.
His breathing grew heavier with every passing second while an indescribable rage spread through every corner of his mind, replacing the grief that had paralyzed him only moments ago.
His lips trembled before finally parting, and a quiet voice escaped them, carrying enough hatred to freeze the air itself.
"How dare you..." he muttered. "How... dare... you..."
"Dear...?"
Lyra’s trembling voice broke the silence.
She stood only a few steps away, tears still running down her cheeks as fear slowly replaced the concern that had filled her heart moments earlier.
Instinctively, she took a cautious step backward, sensing that the man before her was no longer the husband she knew.
However, Julius never noticed her fear. His gaze remained distant, clouded by madness so profound that nothing around him seemed real anymore.
Then, his eyes slowly shifted toward her, and the words that left his mouth were spoken with terrifying calmness.
"How... dare... you kill... my Rose."
Before Lyra could react, Julius vanished from where he stood. In the next instant, his hand wrapped tightly around her throat, lifting her effortlessly into the air as though she weighed nothing.
Her eyes widened in horror while both hands desperately clawed at his wrist, trying to pry his fingers away.
Her legs kicked helplessly beneath her as her breathing became increasingly strained, her face gradually losing its color with every passing second.
Julius stared at her without the slightest hint of hesitation, his grip only tightening further as fury burned within his blood-red eyes.
"You thought I wouldn’t know who you are?" he asked in a low voice that trembled with suppressed madness.
"I kept convincing myself it was only my imagination. I ignored every inconsistency, every strange feeling, every memory that refused to disappear completely, but you... you dared to touch what belongs to me."
His expression twisted into one of absolute hatred as his fingers dug deeper into her neck. "How dare you?"
Lyra struggled desperately for air, tears blurring her vision as she forced out broken words between choking breaths.
"P-Please... dear... come... come to your senses..." Her voice was barely audible, each syllable weaker than the last. "It’s... not too late... please... come back... to us..."
Her pleas fell upon deaf ears. Julius’ grip tightened even further, his expression remaining completely unmoved as though he were listening to nothing more than meaningless noise.
"Enough of your lies," he growled coldly.
"Did you really think I hadn’t realized what you are?"
The moment those words left his mouth, countless memories that had remained buried deep within his subconscious surged violently to the surface.
Images flashed before his eyes one after another with impossible speed. A peaceful farmer living within a quiet village. A prince surrounded by luxury and power. A wandering merchant crossing endless roads. A lonely poet writing beneath moonlit skies. A blacksmith. A soldier. A scholar.
Life after life, dream after dream, each one ending with the exact same unbearable emptiness lingering within his heart.
In every single one of those lives, he had felt as though something precious had been stolen from him, something he could never remember no matter how desperately he searched.
The answer had always remained just beyond his reach... until now.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips as realization consumed him completely. "So that’s what it was..." he whispered.
"You stole the only thing that mattered. You forced me to forget the one person who should never have been forgotten." His gaze grew colder than ice as he stared directly into Lyra’s fading eyes. "How dare you..."
"You went through my memories, didn’t you?"
Julius continued, his voice becoming calmer with every word, yet somehow far more terrifying than before.
"You learned exactly who I was. You realized torture wouldn’t break me, fear wouldn’t control me, and pain would never make me surrender. So instead, you chose the only path left. You attacked the deepest part of my soul, hoping that if you buried Rose beneath endless dreams and false lives, I would eventually forget her."
A twisted smile slowly spread across his face before growing into uncontrollable laughter that echoed throughout the workshop.
"Hahaha... I have to admit, it was a brilliant plan. Truly brilliant. But did you honestly believe someone like me would forget? My obsession was powerful enough to drag my soul into the world of a story itself. Did you really think a few fabricated dreams could erase her from my heart?" He shook his head, still laughing. "How utterly ridiculous."
To Julius’ surprise, Lyra suddenly stopped struggling. The fear vanished from her face as though it had never existed, and in its place appeared a calm, mocking smile.
The warmth that had once filled her eyes disappeared entirely, replaced by an icy indifference that Julius recognized immediately. It was the exact same expression she had worn during their duel.
"So... you’ve finally realized the truth, human," she said, her voice no longer carrying even the slightest trace of Lyra’s gentleness. It was cold, elegant, and filled with quiet arrogance. "I was beginning to wonder how much longer it would take."
She looked at him with open amusement despite the hand wrapped around her throat, as though his strength meant absolutely nothing.
"But what does your realization change? Nothing." Her smile widened ever so slightly.
"This world belongs to me. Every mountain, every river, every sky, every dream... all of it exists because I allow it to. I am the Queen of this world, and everything within it bends to my will. I even considered granting you the privilege of ruling beside me. Someone capable of resisting my dreams for this long deserved at least that much consideration."
She slowly shook her head, disappointment replacing her amusement.
"Unfortunately, I overestimated you. Someone so hopelessly enslaved by obsession was never worthy of standing beside me."
Her crimson eyes narrowed as she looked directly into his bloodstained gaze.
"So I’ll simply erase you... in the next dream."