Sapphire Corp., Seoul

Thursday, October 23rd, 2025

"Unnie, have you met Yujin?" Chaewon walked into Hyewon's office and found Hyewon seriously reading a manuscript with glasses perched on her nose. Not only that, but the table was full of other manuscripts and logbooks of parchments that Chaewon had never seen before.

Hyewon shook her head without taking the eyes from the manuscript she was reading. "She read my message that asking her to look after Wonyoung but she didn't reply anything. Not even a word. I think she's with Wonyoung. I'm sure she won't leave Wonyoung alone and will contact us if she can't accompany Wonyoung.”

"When Minjoo contacted her, Wonyoung said that they went to Astreaia. I don't know what they do. But even before the incident, Wonyoung always goes with Yujin to Astreaia so that’s not something weird.” Chaewon grabs a logbook and traces the surface of the parchment inside the logbook with her fingers.

"You're impressive, Unnie. How can you have these manuscripts and logbooks?" Chaewon looked surprised when she realized the logbook she was holding was filled up with authentic parchments.

Hyewon sighed and took off her glasses. She massaged the area between her eyebrows that felt throbbing after hours of reading the manuscripts and logbooks in her office. She thanked the younger girl when Chaewon handed a bottle of water for her.

Hyewon smiles awkwardly when their eyes met. "I know some librarians and they lend me all of this."

Chaewon nodded and no longer asked. She began to read the logbook. Next to her, Hyewon rubbed her neck nervously. "You know, Chae, you are the only one among The Pillar I can talk to without needing to filter out what is happening inside my head."

Chaewon nodded, hinting Hyewon to continue her words.

"I found this in my palm at dawn on Wonyoung's birthday months ago." Hyewon opened her palm and Chaewon looked calm when she saw a sparkling gem in Hyewon's palm. "What I remember is that the Necromancer destroys my birthstone that night, Chae. Apart from that, I was born with bluish-green emerald and now you see."

"Turquoise." Chaewon hissed. "Is that your Tier's birthstone?" She asked without thinking.

"I want to say 'yes, this stone belongs to my Tier', but how can I be bonded to someone I don't know about?"

Chaewon looks thoughtful. What Hyewon questioned she couldn't just ignore. The Pillar has the privilege of choosing and breaking their ties with The Tier of The Pillar. Besides them, only The Ruler can do that.

Wait What if-

"Could it be that Wonyoung did that to you? She has the power to control who will be bound by The Pillar."

"But when and how?" Hyewon laughed dryly. "When we meet again, she doesn't even remember that you and Yena are already bonded to Minjoo and Yuri."

“Ahhh you’re right, Unnie.” Chaewon took a deep breath. She remembered how shocked and excited Wonyoung was when she knew that her unnies were bonded. “And your stone should have been crushed in the battle that night.”

“From the manuscript, I get information that the Necromancers can’t destroy our stones. The Necromancers just an avatar and our stones can only be destroyed by the stones from fellow Pillar or The Rulers.” Hyewon smiled weakly seeing the change in Chaewon’s expression. “Realizing that information, I think Yujin still has her stone. We need to check her stone.”

“In Gallia, who has Turquoise as their stones?” Chaewon mumbled.

Hyewon shook her head. There’s a name and she wouldn’t tell Chaewon. Not now. There was something she had to confirm before she met the Turquoise owner she knew about.

"I'm worried. In the end, we still have to get Wonyoung's memories back, Unnie. We must be careful. Something must have happened when we parted ways with Wonyoung and Yujin until only Yujin couldn't be remembered. We never knew what Wonyoung knew about her destiny as Ruler. All this time, Wonyoung has been very strict about anything related to The Pillar. She dares to against The Elder if she considers the mission they gave harm to us. Even if Wonyoung chose the Tier for you, but for what? And why? I'm sure she has a reason."

Hyewon takes a deep breath. "I'd rather not know who my Tier is than I have to see Wonyoung hurt if she remembers what happened that night."

"Unnie.." Chaewon touched Hyewon's elbow to get the girl's attention again. "Do you know who the strangers who came to Gallia and met Chaeyeon Unnie? I never managed to look back on what happened that night, Unnie. Every time I try it my vision blackout and I feel like I'm drowning."

Hyewon looks at Chaewon with a serious expression.

"Astreaia is a realm, Chae. Another universe for us. Only The Ruler and The Pillar can enter to the realm with their ability. Even we, -The Pillar as guardians of The Ruler of Earth can only enter to Astreaia, the realm of The Ruler of Earth, not another Ruler realm. When Chaeyeon and the others managed to enter Astreaia, do you remember? The strangers brought them. They were there that day and you couldn't see them at all."

Chaewon's jaw closed tightly. She knew where the conversation was going and for some reason, it scared her.

"You mean the strangers are The Ruler of Water, Fire, and Air?"

Hyewon shrugs her shoulder. She could not provide certainty for that. It could be true they are The Ruler of Water, Fire, and Water. Maybe it's just one of them or two of them. Probably not anyone from The Rulers. Nobody can give them an answer.

Hyewon glanced back at the manuscripts that were scattered on the table. Her eyes looked tired. Her memory returned to the days when Wonyoung was no longer between them. She knew, even though they never talked about it, they did not stop searching for the truth. Anger and revenge, also an obsession to find out who caused all this.

Less than a year after Wonyoung's death, Chaewon chose to go to Paris, Yena continued her studies in Massachusetts, and Hyewon took the project as composing music for games in Vienna. At the same time, they needed healing time and left Yujin in Seoul with Yuri and Minjoo who were also busy with their careers.

Even so, every year they always took turns accompanying Yujin on her birthday until the Sapphire Crown made Hyewon, Yena, and Chaewon back together. Remembering that makes Hyewon feel sorry for Yujin. After all, they let Yujin deal with that situation alone.

She admits the selfish side of herself. There was regret for letting them try to heal the scar in their heart alone. She tried to understand what had happened to them over the past five years. A time when they were too afraid to open up what happened that night. Anger, distrust, and feeling betrayed by people who were once the most important part of their lives is not an easy thing to reconcile. She cannot trust anyone. Even she could not believe herself. That feeling made them refuse to share and choose to leave. But what happened on the night on Wonyoung's birthday made Hyewon ventured and forced the others to talk about the battle. And what she knows makes her feel sorry why they didn't talk about it in the first place.

Five years passed and a few months ago for the first time they knew there was an intervention from another party that night.

"Those who attack and those who help. Whoever is behind the two, I'll make sure they are The Ruler and have different intentions. That night clearly stated that if there was a Ruler who wanted to kill Wonyoung and someone wanted to save her."

For a moment Hyewon frowned, trying to understand every word from Chaewon. She can't deny if what Chaewon thinks makes sense. But she couldn't understand what made the attacker want Wonyoung's death?

"You and Chaeyeon have been in a coma state for quite a long time. Chaeyeon suffered a severe head injury. When she woke up, she could not remember what had happened that day and a few days before. As for you,” Hyewon's hand was clenched tightly next to her body. "You have to lose half your lungs because of that incident. They are brutal, cold-blooded killers, and they wanted our death."

Hyewon takes a deep breath trying to regulate her emotions. She took Chaewon's hand and patted the back of her hand. She pulled Chaewon and hugged the younger girl in her arms. However, that night's accident was always a nightmare for her. Too painful to remember.

"I'm glad you made it. I will destroy Gallia if at that time you fail to open your eyes.”

Chaewon smiled but Hyewon knew that the younger girl was thinking about something else. Chaewon looks so burdened and Hyewon frowns as Chaewon takes a deep breath.

"This morning before leaving Minjoo, I tried to see what had happened to her before our arrival but I see nothing. The blackout still the same. But strangely I do not feel any pain. It's only dark like I'm in a room without lights."

Hyewon straightened up to hear new information from Chaewon. One eyebrow raised and looked at her curiously. "So, you can't see the past when the battle happened and you always feel stuffy and in pain every time you try it? You also can't see what happened to Minjoo and Yuri. But you don't feel pain, only dark. Is that what you mean?"

Chaewon nodded with Hyewon's words. She looks disappointed and frustrated with herself. "Maybe I don't deserve to be a Pillar, Unnie. I always get a signal of what will happen. But it was only a flash, blurred and I could not see it. As if I'm only allowed to touch it but not to hold it."

Chaewon can only sigh deeply. She was annoyed by this situation. Unconsciously she bit her lower lip with hands clenched tightly. Next to her, Hyewon seemed to be thinking, trying to remember something. Her fingers moved to several pages of the logbook she had marked and read them quickly.

"I don't think all of this has anything to do with your ability, Chae. There is nothing wrong with you. You and Yena are still the perfect Pillar for your partner. Minjoo's condition improved after being in your arms." Hyewon put the logbook she was reading on the table and took another logbook, opening another page that she had marked. "There are things that are beyond your ability, beyond our ability as Pillars. I almost forgot something. It also has to do with who brought the Omega Team to sneak into Astreaia. I think this is an important part that was forgotten.”

Chaewon looked at Hyewon asking for an explanation. She knew if the older girl found something from what she had read.

"Minjoo and Yuri are Tiers. Even Pure-blood warriors and healers cannot touch them easily. Two possibilities that make them collapse like that. First, the presence of a Pillar or Ruler from a different circle than us. I think Minjoo and Yuri met one of them so you can't see it. From what I read, there is something called The Ruler Line. We can never see or touch anyone who is in The Ruler Line if indeed The Ruler does not want it. Like an invisible protector." Hyewon looks eager to explain what she found.

"Maybe it can be described like this, you and I are Pillars from two different Rulers and we both can see the past. But I can't see your past and you can't see my past either. That means each of our Ruler doesn't want the other Pillar or Ruler to know your existence or anything about your past. They select and control who they want to share information with. Or is it more accurate to say that every Ruler does not want those on The Ruler Line to be exposed to other Rulers? You remember when Yujin-"

Hyewon's words stopped. For a moment she froze while playing back what she just said in her head. Her gaze returned to Chaewon who also looked stunned. Hyewon snorted and laughed dryly realizing the reason why Chaewon had never been able to find out where Yujin was.

"We should have realized this from the start." Hyewon bit her lower lip and shook her head. "The incident five years ago involved many parties. The reason you never be able to see what happened five years ago is that the Rulers don't let you touch theirs. It could be another Ruler who doesn't want you to see the past in their circles. It's not even impossible if Wonyoung is also someone who doesn't let you see and know what happened to us even though we are in the same Ruler Line. As I said earlier, The Rulers select who and what may or may not be known. Something happened, and only The Rulers were able to do this."

Chaewon smiled meaningfully when their gaze met.

"I don't like to admit this, but I guess your assumption is right, Unnie. Wonyoung protects Yujin from us. I can see you and Yena Unnie after that incident but not Yujin. Yujin was the last to know what happened that night and Wonyoung didn't let us touch her even when Wonyoung has died. Not only protect us by not letting me go back to the past. It could be that Wonyoung knew what would happen after that night, so she didn't let us do anything to protect us. If it's really like that, Jang Wonyoung was awesome. She must have considered all this for a long time before she even grew up."

Hyewon nodded stiffly, it's still hard to believe what they just found. She tapped softly on the page she just read, looking distracted and confused to reveal something else she found.

"Is there anything else that is bothering you, Unnie?" Chaewon frowned. "What are the other possibilities?"

Hyewon rubbed her nape and lowered her head. Once again reading the contents of the parchment to convince herself that what she found was something they had never talked about before. She took a deep breath and shifted the logbook in her hand into Chaewon's lap. Her index finger pointed to writing that made Chaewon's jaws harden.

The Odd Eye

The Guardian of Time

The Fallen Angels

"Do you remember the time when we got the punishment for questioning The Odd Eye?"

Chaewon nodded. "When we were caught while sneaking in Headquarter, The Elder said they- The Odd Eyes were just a myth. At that time I felt guilty for making you all get punished for my curiosity. I don’t know why but I feel like the existence of The Odd Eye has an important role in our destiny."

"I guess your haunch at that time was right because the reality is The Odd Eye is not a myth." Hyewon picked up another the logbook she was reading. "This is related to the ability you have. Your eyes turn red every time you look at the past and you never succeed in seeing the future as a whole because you are not The Odd Eye, Chae. Someone is destined to do that. Not you, not me, not Yena. Neither of us has an odd eye."

"What about Yujin?"

"Nobody knows. So far we have never seen a change in the color of her eyes." Hyewon shrugged, without an answer. "Yujin is so close but at the same time feels too far away. Honestly, this is bothering me. She was the last person to be with Wonyoung but she never talked about what happened tha