Whoosh!

A red portal appeared in the sky. Moments later, two figures emerged from it and plummeted downward.

"Oops! That was close."

Merlin landed firmly while holding Luna in his arms.

After confirming they were safe, he gently released her and let out a relieved sigh.

"Good thing we made it," he said with a faint smile.

He had already anticipated that the grail might swallow him, so he'd made preparations beforehand.

Luna didn't answer right away. She was still a little dazed from the turbulence just now, and Merlin's strong embrace earlier only added to her embarrassment.

Her cheeks turned red as embarrassment slowly crept over her.

"Hm?" Merlin looked at her, puzzled. He placed a hand on her forehead. "What's wrong? Did the turbulence make you feverish?"

Luna gasped softly, then quickly stepped back.

"I'm... fine," she murmured.

"[Ding! The affection of heroine Luna Tharot increased by 5 points! Current affection: 60 points (40)]"

'Oh?' Merlin raised an eyebrow. 'Her affection went up just like that? Was it because of that hug?'

To ensure they landed together, he really had held Luna tightly. Apparently, that spontaneous act had embarrassed her—and unintentionally raised her affection toward him.

"Ahem!" Luna cleared her throat, trying to shake off the awkwardness within her. "Now, where were we?"

She lifted her head and looked around. All she could see was a vast, lush forest.

The sounds of birds and insects echoed from every direction, carried by a gentle breeze.

The atmosphere felt peaceful, yet at the same time... unsettling.

"We've traveled back to the past," Merlin said bluntly.

"The past?" Luna's body tensed.

"Yes, the past," Merlin repeated with a faint chuckle. "The Grail of Time is an artifact that allows whoever activates it to return to a bygone era. But as for which one, I'm not sure."

He was lying. He actually knew exactly where they were, but to avoid arousing Luna's suspicion, he decided to pretend otherwise.

Luna frowned. Her father had once told her about the power of the Grail of Time.

It was said that whoever activated it would be sent to an era long ago.

Of course, no one knew whether that was true or merely a legend. After all, the artifact had been lost for hundreds of years.

Its knowledge had only been passed down through generations, possibly altered over time.

However, after hearing Merlin's explanation, Luna began to think that the Grail of Time truly possessed the power her father had once described.

"Wait a minute..." Luna's eyebrows rose slightly as she glanced at Merlin suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

Merlin smiled casually. "From the information I read in a book."

"A book?" Luna immediately recalled the blue book from earlier. "So that's it. I see."

She nodded several times before asking again, "So, what should we do now? We can't just stand here, right?"

For some reason, her instincts told her this place was dangerous.

"We'll—"

Before Merlin could finish his sentence, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind the trees about thirty meters away.

Merlin's eyes widened in surprise. Without hesitation, he grabbed Luna and leapt onto a large tree to their left.

"What are you—" Luna started to panic, but before she could finish, Merlin pressed his index and middle fingers gently against her lips.

"Be silent," he whispered coldly.

Luna swallowed hard and fell silent. Moments later, twenty soldiers in golden armor emerged from where the noise had come.

They stopped right at the spot where Merlin and Luna had been standing. One of them crouched down and brushed his hand across the ground.

"The ground's still warm. There must have been two or three people here just a moment ago," the soldier said flatly.

"Two or three people, you say?" The soldier with a golden sword at his waist muttered. "Could they be from the Arvenia Kingdom's army?"

"I'm not sure," the first soldier replied, standing up slowly. "Maybe yes, maybe no. We need to find out where they went. If they're Arvenian soldiers, we'll take them down. If not..."

A faint smile formed beneath his golden helmet. "We'll still kill them. They might be spies from the kingdom."

"What you said makes sense," the soldier with the sword agreed. He turned to the ranks behind him and gave an order. "Split into five groups—four men each. Find them immediately!"

"Yes, Captain!" the eighteen soldiers shouted in unison, saluting before scattering in different directions. The last two followed soon after, vanishing into the forest.

Once Merlin confirmed they were gone, he let out a quiet sigh of relief and released Luna from his arms.

"Good thing I reacted quickly. Otherwise, we'd be dead by now," he said, shaking his head.

"The Kingdom of Arvenia? Does that mean we're in the era when the Tharot family's kingdom still stood?" Luna murmured, her voice filled with wonder, confusion, and surprise.

Merlin stayed calm as always. He already knew this was the era they had entered.

But to keep up appearances, he pretended to be shocked.

"What? So we've been thrown into an era hundreds of years ago?" he exclaimed, covering his mouth in feigned disbelief.

System: "[Master, if this world had an acting competition, I'm sure you'd win first place. Your acting is incredible!]"

The system gave him a thumbs-up, but Merlin ignored it.

"Yeah, I guess so," Luna said softly, swallowing as she pressed her hand against her racing chest.

The history of the Tharot family was still well preserved in the royal library. Luna had read it before, so she was quite familiar with the timeline.

"In that case, would you like to meet your predecessor?" Merlin asked. But a moment later, his expression turned serious. "That might be difficult. Judging from those soldiers earlier, it seems the war between the Kingdoms of Aldoria and Arvenia has already begun—perhaps even reached its peak. Going to the royal palace now would be nearly impossible."

The thought of going to the palace immediately vanished from Luna's mind. What Merlin said made perfect sense.

"Then what should we do?" she asked, still confused.

Merlin rubbed his chin thoughtfully before suggesting, "How about we head to the nearest village or town to gather information about the current situation? Once we know exactly where we are, we can plan how to reach the palace. What do you think?"

Hearing that, Luna's eyes lit up with relief and excitement.

"What a brilliant plan! Then let's go!"

Merlin chuckled softly, then, without hesitation, lifted her into his arms.

Luna blushed furiously but didn't protest. She had already experienced being carried like this once, so she was somewhat used to it—though the embarrassment still lingered.

Ignoring her flustered expression, Merlin infused mana into his legs and vanished from sight in an instant.

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