Chapter 24

Translated by Niks

by

Our gaze met his eyes, reminiscent of a transparent lake.

A boy with shiny silver hair. It was a face I had seen once, but never forgotten.

…Because he was the male lead.

Being so startled, that you couldn’t even scream. That’s exactly my situation right now.

“…What’s happening?”

No, who would have thought that I would meet a male protagonist here?

As for how startled I was, I couldn’t even think of removing the swarm of lights flying around me.

Looking at the silver hair fluttering blankly, I came to my senses only after a few seconds.

‘Wait. Callion is a prince.’

Even after seeing the prince, I couldn’t even greet him.

It was an issue in this place, where the rank system was obvious, that may lead to the imperial family committing the crime of blasphemy.

In the novels I’ve seen, how many people have their throats blown away for blasphemy of the imperial family?

“…I’m doomed.”

I quickly raised my stiff body.

“The Prince…”

“Hush!”

It was a moment when I tried to greet him in order to calm my surprise.

Callion, who came in an instant, grabbed my shoulder and put an index finger around my mouth.

I only blinked my wide opened eyes in the embarrassing situation.

“Be quiet for a second.”

The beautiful voice, which has not yet reached the period of transformation, fell gently in my ear.

I couldn’t believe I’m hearing the Prince’s voice this close because I met him unexpectedly.

The moment I was about to nod my head, my thoughts stopped.

“…Your Highness!”

“Where are you?”

A voice was heard looking for Callion from not far away.

“Prince Callion! Your Highness!”

Oh, that’s why you told me to be quiet.

It seemed that he hid in a deserted place to avoid people and ran into me.

Why did I have to sit here anyway? I should have gone a little deeper.

Late regret suddenly rose, but it was always after the event that I thought that way.

Was it because I’m nervous to think that we’re hiding from someone? My legs were shaking.

✿

Crumble~

“Screwed up.”

Why was there a tree branch just behind my feet in a lot of empty space?

Describe in less than common character why the branch was brittle dry.

“Hey, didn’t you hear something?”

“I don’t know.”

“No, I heard a rustling from over there.”

The voices that were looking for him were getting closer and closer.

Crazy! I think we’ll get caught right away if they come closer a little more. My heart was about to pop out of my throat.

Callion’s expression, which I glanced up at, was dyed with a sense of embarrassment.

When I saw the face, the guilt pressed down on my tension.

In the midst of a lot of things that I’m sorry about. I still have a strong conscience.

‘…My father and Fern told me not to use magic anywhere else.’

Still, I didn’t want anything more difficult for Callion. If that’s because of me, even more.

‘Because it’s my fault.’

If it wasn’t for me, Callion wouldn’t have been caught.

At times like this, there’s perfect magic.

I would have used it another way anyway. Since I use it often in the mansion, I gently waved my hand.

The magical power that had escaped closely from my fingertips, became a translucent energy and wrapped around Callion and I.

Callion’s eyes widened at the hazy curtain that suddenly appeared in front of him.

“It’s a relief that it’s a magic that I used often.”

When I tapped Callion’s arm with a careful touch, he slowly turned his head as he stared over the bushes.

“It’s okay to talk now.”

“…”

“I used magic that would keep them from seeing and hearing us outside, so we don’t have to move or speak loudly.”

In my words, Callion looked at the curtain surrounding us once and then looked back at me again.

Seeing the subtle expression on his face, it seems as if it was hard to believe.

I know. It would be suspicious if someone says because a kid used a magic

Besides, it’s not a low-level magic.

Then, just in time, someone arrived to prove my magic.

“His Majesty the Prince!”

Two knights wearing the uniform of Imperial Knights appeared from beyond the grass.

I know they won’t find us anyway, but I was still nervous.

“What? There’s no one here.”

“That can’t be true…”

“There was definitely a sound from this side earlier.”

“Hey! Are your eyes for decorations? Can’t you see this empty place?”

Sure enough, they didn’t find us. This place reflected in the eyes of the knights would look like an ordinary garden.

One knight smacked the other with a rotten expression and headed to another place.

“I definitely heard…”

The knight, who heard the rustling, could not give up and looked back at this side in doubt, but eventually turned around to follow the other knight.

The voices were getting farther and farther away, and at some point I couldn’t hear them.

As soon as I thought that the two of them were far enough apart, I removed the magic I had spread out.

“They left…”

Relaxed, I muttered without knowing.

It was a different kind of fatigue than when I used it to hide from the servants at times in the mansion.

Was it because it’s the first time I’ve used it for two people?

After a moment of silence, Callion opened his mouth first.

“…I’ll keep it a secret.”

“What?”

What do you mean it’s a secret?

When I looked at him with a puzzled look, he briefly said, “Magic.”

“Ah.”

“…”

“Thank you, Prince.”

There has been silence again since the slow thank-you speech.

Callion was silent, and I also didn’t speak to him with a dark expression.

Because I could guess the reason, I couldn’t easily say anything or go beyond the topic.

In this whole situation, not just in identity, I know Callion, but he doesn’t know me.

Let’s just stand there looking at each other for a few minutes without saying a word.

“Erita, where are you?”

I heard a voice looking for me from afar. Did Aaron finish faster than I thought, or did time pass faster than I felt?

The end of the accidental meeting was approaching.

At that moment, hesitating for a second whether I could leave without saying anything, my eyes met Callion at a good timing.

“Well…”

“It seems they are looking for the Princess.”

When I hesitated, not knowing what would be good to ask for his understanding, Callion first brought it up.

“Ah yes.”

“Thank you. For hiding me.”

I’ve heard the greeting, so I should go. It was frustrating as if every corner of my chest was suffocated.

I don’t know why I remembered what I had put in my pocket while I was about to leave.

A chain of fortune that Mary taught me how to make, even though I was worried all day yesterday.

I guess that’s all I could do for Callion, who was tired. I made it myself and it looked crude, but now I don’t have time to think about it.

“Prince, someone told me that holding this ring will bring you good luck.”

“…”

“You’ll be happy. For sure.”

I didn’t really believe in superstition, but I hoped that the saying that it would bring good luck this time was true.

After holding the ring in Callion’s hand, I immediately bowed my head to greet him and left the place at a quick pace.

I don’t know where that guts came from.

Maybe this situation was heartbreaking because it was my favorite character.

It’s something he doesn’t have to go through in the original story.

It’s true that Callion has something to do with the death of my family.

That obviously, in the original, they had an antagonistic relationship.

The death of my family, written as if passing by a little story.

Aslan died of an unexpected runaway during the battle, and Aaron committed suicide a few days after Aslan’s death.

But I don’t know the exact reason. Why my father ran out of control, or why Aaron committed suicide.

The exact circumstances will be known only to those of the original.

I shook my head and tried to take a step.

And at that moment.

‘The Grand Duke’s not a person to do that. There must be some reason.’

My eyes turned blank, and a voice directly hit my head.

Who’s this voice?

Another scene unfolded without thinking.

A bloody man whose face was so blurry that it’s hard to recognize.

‘…Certainly, the Grand Duke had no intention of killing. Clearly, there’s a reason why the Grand Duke made him stand on the side of your older brother.’

‘What? What’s this?’

My head started to hurt.

And the last scene…

It was shattered, like looking through a broken mirror.

‘The Lord’s… Magic…! Surely… it’s…!’

Contrary to the scene that was blurry from the beginning, only the voice was clear.

Now, not only the scene and even the voice crackled as if there was noise.

“Ugh!”

Instantly, a pain pierced through my head.

It feels like I’m being stabbed with countless needles.

I felt my body loosening up and falling at a very slow speed.

That was then.

“Erita!”

Thud~

I heard a voice calling me urgently, and my body was pulled toward the floor.

It was a familiar voice.

“…Brother?”

When I realized it, the pain that seemed to break my head quickly disappeared.

As if nothing had happened.

I looked around, but it was just me and Aaron.

“…Are you okay?”

I nodded my head in confusion.

Just what was that…?

Feeling like I was losing my mind, Aaron worried and called out my name.

“Erita, are you really okay?”

“…Yes. I must have stumbled for a moment. I’m sorry, brother…”

“No. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”

Perhaps because I almost fell earlier, Aaron’s expression was still worried.

“First, let’s go home…”

I struggled to put aside what had just happened.

“Yeah. Are we going home now?”

“Yeah. Dad’s coming soon, too… But, nothing really happened, right?”

“Yes. Let’s go ahead and think about it later.”

Smiling awkwardly and nodding, the voice I heard. The person in the blurry scene was…

I couldn’t tell exactly…

What’s the possibility that I saw something because I was tired?

“…No way.”

The scene, the voice, and the pain that was terrible could never be mistaken.

It was too bizarre to tell anyone else.

I felt like I shouldn’t…

The carriage heading to the mansion was as quiet as it was when it came.

✿

Callion looked with his sunken eyes at the place where he disappeared.

After the funeral, he couldn’t stand still, so he ran out of the palace recklessly.

‘Be quiet, Prince.’

Being angry that he couldn’t respond to the Empress’ words that passed by along with her shameless face.

‘I hated myself, my inability to do anything even though I knew my mother was dying.’

Pretending to be fine was also difficult and frightening.

It was an unexpected person who I encountered while running away from fear without knowing what was.

A little girl who used magic.

He hadn’t heard her name, but he knew who she was.

Because her black hair, as distinct as that of the royal family, itself symbolized her family.

Callion, who was staring through the grass where the child disappeared, turned his head to a strange object felt from his palm.

There was a small ring with a rough shape.

“…It brings good luck.”

I heard that she had lived for seven years or so without even knowing the existence of her family.

The child who had such a situation was so friendly that she comforted others.

Just enough to give something precious to someone you meet for the first time.

Callion, who looked down at it with a complicated gaze, began to walk towards the palace.

A small ring was gripped tightly in Callion’s hand.

The butterfly that flew loosely hovered around it for a while, then disappeared from the sky.

No one knows how today’s encounter would affect the future.