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Chapter 172

Ellen went to her room to get ready, and we met at the entrance to the dormitory.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Although we hadn’t had another conversation until then, thanks to Ellen’s attempt to reach out the night before, things felt a little more settled. It was a strange feeling, as if something had been untangled, even though there was no real tension between us.

Still, nothing had changed significantly. We continued to converse during our morning run.

“Did you have any nightmares last night?” I asked.

“No.”

Her eyes didn’t look as weary as they did the day before.

“I did have a dream, but it wasn’t a nightmare,” Ellen said, but she didn’t say what kind of dream it was.

“What about you?” Ellen asked me back, perhaps thinking about how she used to respond with short answers without continuing the conversation.

Was she trying to change? I mean, there was no need for her to.

“I didn’t have a nightmare either.”

Even just a few nights back, I had tossed and turned a lot before barely falling asleep, too tired to even dream.

Did she really think I could sleep peacefully next to her, though? Maybe it was fine for her, but it was certainly a little difficult for me.

I was sure that Ellen Artorius didn’t have normal human feelings...

Anyway, this was now a problem.

“You’re not planning to sleep in my room again tonight, are you?”

“If you don’t like it, you can come to my room.”

“How did it turn into that...?”

“If the dorm supervisor is the problem, it’s summer break now, so we can sleep outside. We have plenty of money.”

“Why does it always come to that?”

‘Why is she always insisting on sharing a bed with me? Why is she so extreme? Of course, I understand that she’s comfortable with me, but still...’

Did I need to add a new Self-Restraint talent to myself or something?

It seemed Ellen had no intention of listening to what I was saying.

***

After finishing up our morning exercise, we sat down on a bench to rest.

“Okay fine. But only until the break is over.”

“Okay.”

Ever since we had returned from the Dark Land, Ellen, who had been plagued by nightmares more severely than I had, seemed to be deteriorating more and more.

For some reason, if I was by her side, the nightmares went away, so she wanted me to stay with her until she got rid of the nightmares. There was no reason I couldn’t comply with her request. In fact, it might even help me toughen up mentally.

“And you should know, I’m quite a gentleman. Okay?”

“...?”

‘Seriously. Do you have any idea how bizarre this is? I’m trying my hardest to ensure my second life remains G-rated!’

“What I’m saying is don’t do this with just anyone.”

At my words, Ellen stared at me.

“...”

She seemed to be struggling with what to say.

‘Was she offended by the “just anyone” part? Did I speak too carelessly? Should I apologize?’

Ellen pondered for a while and then said cautiously, “Previously, just before we went to the Dark Land... the white-haired ahjumma asked me something.”

“Loyar?”

“Yeah.”

Loyar was known as the Hound of Irine, a name nobody knew except me, Ellen, and Sarkegar. Club members referred to her as “Boss,” others as the Hound of Irine, and Ellen called her the white-haired ahjumma. Of course, every time she did, she got beaten up for it, but Ellen seemed to intentionally seek out that reaction.

‘What did Loyar ask Ellen, though?’

“She asked if I could die for you.”

Why had Loyar asked her that? Perhaps she wanted to understand my command to her not to harm Ellen, because she saw Ellen as someone dangerous.

“Back then, I replied that I wasn’t sure. Because no one can know until you face such a situation.”

Ellen quietly fiddled with her canteen, as if deep in thought.

‘Can you die for someone?’

“No” is probably the truthful answer. “Yes” might not necessarily be true, since one would only know the answer when the actual situation occurs.

Ellen knew that it was something she’d only know by experiencing it. Nonetheless, saying that she didn’t know was quite different from saying that she couldn’t die for me.

After that, though, Ellen and I had gone to the Dark Land, where we experienced risking our own lives and taking someone else’s life.

Ellen fiddled with her canteen and avoided eye contact.

“I think I could die for you,” she finally said.

“...”

Ellen now seemed certain that she could die for me. I wasn’t sure if she had reached this conclusion after the battles in the Dark Land, or after our return.

After finishing her sentence, Ellen looked at me.

“Someone that precious... can’t just be ‘anyone’ to me.”

‘Yeah. I know how you feel about me.’

But I remembered what Eleris had said.

No—even without Eleris’ words, I already knew. The truth could easily destroy our relationship, and I didn’t believe this lie would last forever.

It was getting dangerous—no, we were already in a lot of danger.

Both for me and for Ellen Artorius.

We might become worse than strangers to each other, and that would probably happen someday.

“... I’m sorry.”

‘I’m sorry.’

I said it as if I were apologizing for speaking carelessly, but it was more than just that.

“And.”

“Yeah?”

Smack!

I flicked Ellen’s forehead.

Ellen was startled.

“Would you stop talking about dying for goodness sake?! It’s creeping me out!”

Ellen’s eyes went wide. She was completely bewildered as to why she had been flicked on the forehead.

“Shut up and let’s just eat.”

For the rest of the day, Ellen pouted and acted as if I didn’t exist.

***

In the imperial city of Gradium stood the Imperial Palace, Emperatos. Within its walls was the Princess’s Palace. It had originally been the Empress’s residence, but after her death, it was naturally passed down to the First Princess.

Located symmetrically across from this palace was the Prince’s Palace. Within the complex of the Imperial Palace, the prince and princess rarely had reasons to cross paths, unless for official matters.

Thanks to intense security measures and protective barriers, there was no threat of assassination, and even if there was, it was well known that the prince and princess no longer attempted to assassinate each other.

Nevertheless, everyone inside this palace was under the princess’s control, so no secrets leaked out.

Within the bedroom of the first princess in the Princess’s Palace, Charlotte sat in a rocking chair, dressed in casual clothing instead of a dress. The interior was dim. The blackout curtains were almost fully closed, allowing only minimal sunlight to filter in.

Though it was midday, the bedroom was shrouded in near-darkness, with only the faintest light trickling in.

In front of Charlotte, who was seated in her rocking chair, a man was kneeling.

“Your Highness. It is time... you acknowledged it.”

“We agreed not to talk about that anymore,” Charlotte replied after a short pause, her voice weak and devoid of strength.

The kneeling man lowered his head even further after hearing her disheartened response.

“Your Highness. We have compiled all the information. We’ve scoured the entire continent and identified every individual we could. We checked and rechecked it repeatedly. Even after multiple verifications, as per your instructions, to ensure nothing was missed, the results have remained the same.”

“...”

The man seemed about to bury his head into the ground.

“Fifty-seven individuals were kidnapped. Nowhere among them was a boy matching the appearance or age of the one we encountered.”

“Dyrus.”

“That boy was not kidnapped! You already know this well yourself!”

“Dyrus.”

“That child was in too good a condition to have been captive for a long time! He did not appear starved, and the possibility that he was a recent captive, as you suggested, is simply too unlikely!”

Dyrus...

After playing a significant role in the princess’s escape from the Demon King’s castle alongside the unknown boy, Dyrus had become Charlotte’s bodyguard.

He was already aware that something was suspicious, and had organized his thoughts on the matter.

Unlike Charlotte, who had appeared emaciated, the boy had seemed perfectly fine, and had somehow found the magic scroll immediately. The demons acted as if they were on his side while the boy made his escape.

Having compiled the list of kidnapped individuals, none of their descriptions matched the boy’s. No matter how many times he mentioned this, though, it was futile. Even though he had repeatedly insisted that the boy was strange and needed to be investigated properly, no orders were given.

“Dyrus, are you done speaking?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Dyrus lifted his head quietly to look at Charlotte.

“What exactly changes?”

“... Excuse me?”

“If that boy is suspicious, what exactly changes?” Charlotte said, her weak voice radiating calm.

She looked softly at Dyrus.

“If he wanted to escape alone, he could have used the Teleport scroll the moment he found it,” she continued. “But he went out of his way to return to the encampment and save me.”

“...”

“Dyrus, no matter how many times you say it, it’s useless. Even if the boy is suspicious, and no one knows his identity, it’s all pointless. Nothing changes.”

“...”

“The fact that he risked his life to save me doesn’t change. The fact that he didn’t expect any reward for saving me doesn’t change either.”

There were countless suspicious circumstances surrounding this boy, but nothing changed.

The boy had risked his life to save her. Even if there were countless other lies, in that aspect, there was no falsehood.

Charlotte leaned back in the rocking chair, swaying gently.

“The order remains the same.”

Her face passed through a sliver of light that was streaming into the room.

“Do not investigate the boy any further.”

Each time Charlotte’s face crossed the beam of light, her eyes gleamed momentarily. Her right eye, in particular, was no longer its usual golden hue, but had taken on a pitch-black darkness, like that of a deep abyss.

“Your Highness, that boy might be the only one with even a slight chance of knowing how to remedy your condition.”

“I said, that’s enough.” Charlotte’s darkened eye shimmered ominously. “I don’t want to extend the life he saved at the cost of putting him in danger.”

A fragile sliver of hope...

Dyrus sought that hope in the boy, but Charlotte rejected it. Now that she knew he was in a safe place, there was no need to drag him back into the chaos of the world.

The scroll shop of some unknown mage...

Charlotte and Reinhart were the only two who knew that it was connected to the boy.

Charlotte hadn’t even told her own people about it.

“I’m tired. Leave me alone.”

“... Yes, Your Highness.”

After Dyrus left, Charlotte covered her eyes with her right hand and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘Who are you?’

She had learned to gradually accept many things she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge, due to the passage of time.

‘Are you really my enemy?’

Charlotte took deep breaths with her right hand still covering her eyes, then let out a long sigh.

When she removed her hand, her eyes had returned to their usual golden hue.

—Am I being cruel?

—Why... Why are you doing this to me? What are you trying to do to me?

—Does this seem cruel?

—Stop! Stop! Ugh, ugh! Stop!

—This is a war in which everything is on the line. A battle in which both sides have staked their existences.

—Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!

—There’s no reason not to have an insurance policy for contingencies.

—Ugh! Ugh! Sob! Ahhhh!

Charlotte’s body trembled slightly, as if her vision of the past had triggered a convulsion.

Whenever she revisited them, the memories were always horrifying.

—Thud! Thwack!

—Ugh, ugh, ah... Aaaaah!

—Ugh! Aaah!

She felt her sanity snap as she watched the people devouring each other. Seeing those who had abandoned their dignity, witnessing those whose dignity had been lost.

Seeing people tearing at the flesh of the dead, and in their madness, even attempting to eat the living.

And seeing her mother, too, devouring someone amid the frenzy.

Charlotte had lost her sanity...

She already knew... She was already well aware of the situation even if Dyrus did not tell her.

She simply did not want to admit it.

That boy’s existence was her only small fragment of hope. That was why she couldn’t accept it.

—Sob, sob... sob...

—Please, come to your senses...

She just wanted to believe that the boy had somehow survived through luck.

She knew the truth in her mind, but her heart could not accept it.

Now, though, she had to acknowledge it. There were too many pieces of evidence, too many unavoidable truths that revealed that she had killed everyone in the cell.

—Sob, sobbing! S-Somebody... Somebody... help...

—No, that’s not true! I... I was locked in here, just like everyone else!

‘Yet, how could there be a survivor?’ she had thought.

She was astonished by the boy’s existence, and it almost gave her a sense of relief, as if it was proof that she hadn’t lost her mind and killed everyone.

It brought her a strange sense of joy, the fact that there was some other possibility.

Now, though, she had to accept the simple truth that there shouldn’t have been anyone alive in that situation, and that the boy was not a survivor.

In the frantic moments she had gone through, she had already noticed many suspicious things.

If the boy had been imprisoned all along, he would have known about “that” incident.

However, he was entirely unaware of the ghastly, horrifying massacre that had taken place.

Hence, Charlotte had chosen to remember only the most crucial fact about that time:

You saved my life at the risk of your own.

She chose to remember only that truth.

“...”

Tears leaked out from under Charlotte’s closed eyelids and flowed down her cheeks.

***

Nothing much changed after our talk.

Ellen and I still didn’t talk much, but continued our exercise and training. The only unusual thing was that Ellen ended up sleeping in my room instead of her own. At first, it felt ridiculous, but I soon realized that people were creatures of habit, because, after a few days, it no longer bothered me.

Ellen occasionally left the Temple to visit Loyar, and sometimes she would return late at night, staggering as if she had been beaten up.

Time passed by like that, and our vacation was nearing its end.

Ellen, Adelia, and I packed our belongings and left the Temple. Riana de Granz was waiting for us at the entrance, dressed in casual clothes.

“Perfect timing,” she said.

A trip to her villa in the Edina Archipelago would be the last thing before the end of this summer break.