"Haah...!"

Axel gasped as soon as he passed through the bright light, falling to his ass on the ground.

Looking around, he found himself not in Queen Wisteria’s room, but instead another strange space. It wasn’t as unsettling as the one before—this one was colorful rather than drab, suffocating darkness.

The space itself was mostly white, with streams of colorful lines scattered throughout. Almost like a liquid canvas dripped with various colored paint. They mixed and matched chaotically, yet seemed bound by some invisible set of rules.

"Husband...!"

After he caught his breath, Ria—who had been right beside him the whole time, still holding his hand—threw herself into his embrace. "We were so worried! Extremely so!" She exclaimed, voice wavering somewhere between scolding and relief.

"Ria..."

Axel whispered her name, one hand propping himself from behind, the other patting her back. Gently, as if placating a crying child.

"Sorry about this, Duke Axel. This was all my fault."

As he was holding Ria, Queen Wisteria stepped forward, bowing her head lightly.

"Despite everything I said, I made a mistake in the end—causing your soul to slip into a deeper chasm. One that’s directly connected to your own soul." She said, pointing at something behind him.

Curious, he followed her finger—and found a door standing alone. No walls, no frame around it, just the door itself. Pitch black, seemingly absorbing every trace of light that dared touch its surface.

"That is...?" Axel asked, studying it.

Although he was seeing it for the first time, it was so out of place in this colorful space that it stood out like a sore thumb.

"It’s a path." The Queen replied. "We can’t tell who is on the other end of it, but it has a strong connection to your soul."

For some reason, as her words settled over him, Axel found himself thinking of a certain gold-eyed boy.

’Could it be...’

He started—then quickly shook his head.

It wasn’t the time for speculation.

Axel raised his gaze, turning not to Queen Wisteria, but to the figure standing slightly diagonally behind her. "Anyway... Nina, why are you crying?"

"..."

Nina, her face stained with tears, didn’t reply. She simply walked forward in silence and moved to Axel’s back, wrapping her arms around him just as Ria had. The two girls, hugging him from front and back, made his chest feel warm and full—yet still left him thoroughly confused.

Watching his troubled expression, Queen Wisteria let out a wry smile. "Well... it’s because we saw what happened. Everything." She said simply.

"Ah..."

It wasn’t as though Axel had been hiding any of it.

Ria, Nina, and the other girls were important enough to him that he wouldn’t have minded telling them himself. He had already told them about the Harem System, and about how he had come to this world alongside it—transmigrating from somewhere else entirely.

That much, they knew.

But none of the girls knew about Axel’s past.

Not because they weren’t curious, and not because Axel was avoiding it—there simply hadn’t been a moment where they could sit down and talk about something so personal.

Yet now, they had been shown it. Forcefully, without warning.

And they couldn’t hold it in.

Their emotions erupted.

A tangled mix of pity, fury, and sadness, layered with feelings they couldn’t even put a name to.

The overwhelming rush of it left them with nothing better to do than hold him tightly—to try and quiet the urge to leap back into the past and drag the "bitch" who had played Axel for a fool by her hair until there was nothing left.

Queen Wisteria felt much the same.

A deep displeasure had settled into her chest after everything she’d witnessed.

However, given that their world was matriarchal, she couldn’t quite resonate with the full weight of Axel’s feelings. All she could do was stand watch over the three—two quietly sobbing girls, and one confused, awkwardly smiling man.

"Anyway," Queen Wisteria continued.

"We found no further traces of the demon called Envy within your soul space. This strange path exists, yes—but it carries no connection to any demon, at least not one we can detect. It’s a mystery, but not one we came here to solve."

Right.

The original purpose of the Soul Dive had been to check for traces of Envy. Anything beyond that was already out of scope.

Queen Wisteria’s eyes narrowed as they settled on the black door.

She wasn’t certain what it was connected to—but she could venture a few guesses.

’Better not to touch it. Not yet.’ She thought.

Whoever—or whatever—waited on the other end of that path was no pushover. She couldn’t say for certain whether it was an ally, but it didn’t carry the feel of an enemy either.

Leaving it alone was the wisest choice for now.

"Anyway, we should go." She said. "Staying any longer would only make things harder for those two. They can’t pull back while we’re still here."

"Oh..." Axel breathed, the memory rushing back. "Right... Navi and Mimir..." He murmured quietly.

Their appearances had been different, but their voices had given them away immediately.

"I understand." Axel nodded. "What was that thing, anyway?"

Queen Wisteria tilted her head, and smiled.

"That darkness? I don’t know."

"Oh. I-I see..."

He had assumed she knew—she had, after all, been the one to pull him free from it. But it seemed that even the Queen of the most powerful Witch World had no answer for what that thing was.

"We can always ask Navi and Mimir later. For now, let’s take our leave."

Their task was finished. There was no reason to linger.

"Alright. Then, hold my hand."

Without hesitation, Axel reached out.

The moment their fingers touched, a flash of light swallowed everything.

...

Axel opened his eyes and looked around.

This time, there was no white space, no floating darkness. Just a familiar room—Queen Wisteria’s room, solid and real around him.

"Ugh...!"

The moment he tried to sit up, a pulse of pain slammed through his skull. As if something inside was being split cleanly in two. His vision flared red. He curled inward, and the girls who had been draped over him tumbled to either side.

"H-Husband...! Are you okay?!"

Ria, jolted awake by the movement, shot upright and pulled Axel’s head against her chest without hesitation. She rubbed his back in slow, firm strokes, trying to help him ride out the pain.

It barely helped.

"AAAARGH!"

His cries turned to a roar, the pain ratcheting sharply upward.

Veins pressed against his temple. His eyes burned bloodshot. Blood began to trickle from his nose, and his heart hammered so violently it felt ready to burst free from his chest.

Axel... was breaking.