Leon did not remove the spear from her neck. On the contrary, he brought the tip of the blade even closer, forcing Elara to remain completely still. The sarcastic smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a calm yet extremely dangerous expression.
"You tried to take your own life before even answering my questions. That means there's something far too important for you to hide."
Elara remained silent. The less she said, the smaller the chances of altering the future even further. Even if Leon had not gone back in time, she could not risk revealing the existence of the future or the power she possessed. Leon watched her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.
"Surfien."
The moment his name was spoken, the space behind Leon seemed to ripple gently. A shadow appeared behind him, and Surfien, someone Elara also recognized, stepped out of the magic. His gaze immediately fell upon her, examining her from head to toe.
"Yes, my lord?"
"I found an impostor using my sister's appearance."
"An illusion?"
"No."
Surfien raised an eyebrow. He slowly approached Elara and placed his fingertips against her forehead. After a few seconds, he withdrew his hand and frowned slightly.
"Interesting..."
"What did you discover?"
"Her body, soul, and even her mana belong to the real Elara... but there's something deeply wrong with her. Her soul has small distortions. It's as if... it had been torn away from somewhere else... It's strange, my lord."
Leon remained silent. He stood there for a moment, carefully watching Surfien. His mind seemed to be working through something. Leon stared at Elara for a few moments before finally putting away his spear.
"Imprison her."
Before Elara could react, dozens of magic circles appeared around her. Silver chains covered with blue runes shot out from every direction, wrapping around her wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. She tried to summon her light magic, but the chains completely absorbed her mana, causing the sword to disappear as though it had never existed.
"These chains..."
"They're Magical Sealing Chains. The more you try to use mana, the stronger they'll become. Furthermore, any magic related to concepts will be nullified before it can even be activated."
Leon replied calmly while watching the girl's surprised expression. Elara gritted her teeth.
'Since when could he create something like this? No, more importantly, why did he create something like this?'
Well, at the present time, the war had remained quiet for many days. Leon had more than enough time to develop various things using Enrico's knowledge and countless trials and errors. The war had not even truly begun yet, and the Valtor family was already dead, although Elara still didn't know that at that moment.
The chains began dragging her through the corridor without her being able to resist. Leon walked right behind her, maintaining the same indifferent expression throughout the entire journey. After several minutes, they arrived before a heavy metal door covered with countless magical inscriptions. Surfien merely snapped his fingers, causing every seal to glow simultaneously before the door slowly opened.
The room was completely empty. There was no furniture, no windows, and no objects besides countless magic circles spread across the walls, ceiling, and floor. The moment Elara entered, the chains connected directly to the room's inscriptions, binding her body in the center of the chamber.
'I can't...'
She tried to move her arms, but couldn't even manage a single centimeter. Next, she attempted to strengthen her own body with mana, but nothing happened. Even though he had said that about her magic being sealed, she was beginning to panic. It was as though all of her energy vanished the instant it appeared. Surfien silently observed everything before turning his attention back to Leon.
"She won't escape, Surfien. You may leave."
"Alright..."
Without saying anything else, Surfien calmly walked through the door and disappeared as silently as he had appeared. The door began to close slowly, but Leon remained standing inside.
"Are you going to torture me?"
"No."
"Then do you intend to kill me?"
"Neither."
She frowned in confusion. This Leon was someone completely impossible for her to understand. His composure, his lack of love for her, as though he had erased every trace of his obsession, and above all, his mind seemed completely different.
"Until I discover who you are and why you came back from another timeline, you'll remain alive."
Elara's blood ran cold, and she began to feel a pain in her chest gradually appearing. Even though she hadn't said anything, the contract seemed to be functioning and was hurting her. It was simply unbelievable. He had come far too close to the truth through observation alone.
'How? I don't think Leon would come to that conclusion...'
Leon slowly walked until he was standing directly before her. His eyes remained fixed on hers for a few seconds, a small smile appearing on his face.
"You looked at me with hatred, and you also looked at Rebecca as though you wanted to kill her."
Her body stiffened almost imperceptibly, but Leon noticed the reaction as though he were reading her like an open book. It was honestly terrifying how he seemed to figure everything out that way. Leon took a step back.
"Interesting... even without answering a single question, your body answers for you. Let me give you a piece of advice: your biggest problem is that you can't hide your hatred toward me, and that's something only one specific Elara could feel, not the one from this world."
Without waiting for any response, he turned around and walked toward the door. The instant he left the room, the massive metal gates slammed shut with a heavy crash, while dozens of new layers of magical seals completely covered the entrance.
'He... he...'
For the first time since returning to the past, Elara realized that she was completely alone. And for the first time in two lifetimes, she began to doubt whether she would be able to escape from this new Leon the same way she had escaped from the old one.
'Damn... how am I supposed to go back in time now?'
At that moment, she admitted to herself just how foolish she had been. She had thought that if something went wrong, she could escape by being killed by someone else or even by herself, but that was simply impossible. This timeline was completely different from her own, and at that moment, not even she could imagine how much her life from then on would change, to the point that the man she hated so much would become the person she would love more than anyone else in her entire life.