Chapter 221
Translator: yun
Slowly breaking under my silent gaze, Rebecca ultimately decided to repeat my last words to her.
“Well, things have been different for a very long time now.”
She smiled bitterly. Even if Rebecca’s anger was to suddenly flare up now, I had nothing to say in my defence. I had the chance to tell her the truth but I didn’t. I hoped that Rebecca could remain by my side. It had been my selfish desire to keep her here.
“I see. Now, I understand why you’re asking all these questions.”
“You do?”
Rebecca seemed to have noticed my expression.
“If you’re afraid I might turn on you, you have nothing to worry about, mistress”
Rebecca added candidly. If that really was the truth, Rebecca was being too kind. For one thing, she never got angry nor had she ever raised her voice at me. With a swipe of my hand, she would head straight to wherever my hand points.
“Though I have yet to serve you for long, I had wished for something.”
“… Huh?”
“To face your true self. Now, the mistress and I are finally facing each other sincerely.”
Rebecca spoke tall and proud with her back turned against the light.
“I want to serve you with all my heart.”
Her strong voice filled with determination soaked into my ears.
“Mistress, you are wise and thoughtful. So, I am sure that you have a plan to quell the rumours that are currently spreading uncontrollably?”
In any case, she seemed to be very concerned over the current state of affairs to the point where she was openly expressing the emotions she would rarely show. I smiled giddily before tapping on the seat next to mine. Rebecca hesitated for a moment before taking a seat as well. She spoke softly.
“Rebecca. Do you know how to put out wildfires?”
As if not understanding what I was trying to say, Rebecca tilted her head before shaking her head for a moment.
“You fight fire with fire.”
“What?”
“That’s the plan I have in mind.”
Though Fleon was subject to getting married on pretence, I had no intentions on really letting him go through with it. But neither was I going to let those messy rumours continue to spread. While coming up with this plan, it was a given I had also thought about the consequences.
“Whether you detest him or like him, I’m only saying this because he’s my brother.”
The rumours had spread quite effectively. More than I had expected. In fact, it had spread so much it was now making things difficult. The prince in the rumours, whose identity was still unknown, was said to cling onto the princess for her affection. His reputation was sure to be defiled if his identity was to be revealed.
In the middle of a flamboyant festival, a place where ecstasy and decadence came together was perfect for a slip in morality. This was why symposiums were such a big deal. They would never be able to witness such sights in a Walternian party that was known to be meek.
“That’s why I’ve been telling you to get married to someone you really love.”
“… Mistress, that’s just wishful thinking.”
“So what?”
I had already been through so many dream-like events. Though they were not dreams, they were nightmares.
“No matter how I think about it, it’ll be a waste to hand you off to my brother. You’re my lady-in-waiting.”
Rebecca grinned.
“So, will you take responsibility for me, mistress?”
***
2 nights later.
Time had flown by.
“On the 17th day of the Month of Venus… so, the day has come. The day I ‘die’.”
Today was the day I was supposed to die. I took a seat and stared at the diary. After I took a long look at the diary, as if it had sensed something, it quickly sprung into action. As if it was only natural, the pages flipped open before landing on a specific entry. This was an ability I had discovered recently.
“I mean, who’s to say whether this is my ability or the diary’s.”
The entry the diary landed on was the end of the future it had predicted for me which had spanned two months. It had brought me to the day Ahasia was going to kill me.
[The 17th Day of the Month of Venus.
(Omitted)
The desert princess and my 1st Brother had their engagement ceremony today.
Later that night, the future Crown Princess came looking for me instead of heading back to the Crown Prince’s Palace.
“I-I didn’t want to do this but I-I can do anything he asked me to.”
If I were to resent anything, she implored me to resent her heartbreaking love. The princess was weeping so sorrowfully that I had stopped myself from calling out for Hannah.
I shouldn’t have done that.
When I realised that that had been a mistake, the sharp iron blade was already rushing towards me.
“I’m sorry.”’
I was ultimately stabbed to death by the blade in the princess’ hand.]
According to the diary, Ahasia was coming to kill me. That meant she would be coming to my room with a blade. Also, based on what had been written in the diary, the reason why she killed me was probably because Castor had instructed her to do so. I would never find out why Castor made his fiancee kill his younger sister. No, I was not really his ‘younger sister’ either.
“But it’s different.”
Fortunately, things today seemed to be going differently from what was predicted in the diary. Perhaps it was because I had been keeping my eye on her, even during the banquet, after rescuing her from the slave traders. In the end, Ahasia did not get the chance to meet Castor. At least ‘officially’.
“Unlike what the diary had predicted, there’s no engagement ceremony today.”
After two long months, the day was finally here. It had only been two months but it felt as if a lot had happened. My fingertips brushed against the bottom of the parchment in the diary. I could feel how dry it was.
There had always been something strange about it. So far, the diary entries had only changed when Amor was murdered so long ago and whenever I acted against what had been written in the diary. However, even though I had been doing an insurmountable number of things differently from what had been stated in the diary for the past two months, the contents had remained the same. I wondered why. Perhaps its divinity had been exhausted?
“That’s not a good thing.”
I murmured to myself. Of course, that would be bad. Was this diary going to drag me to the bottom of the pit and leave me wallowing in my despair? I clasped my diary tightly and as if it was responding to my touch, it glowed dimly. I slowly lowered my gaze. The word my index finger had coincidentally landed on was ‘death’.
“That’s strange, you shouldn’t be able to answer me. Sometimes it feels as if you’re actually alive.”
Once again, the diary was shining faintly. Based on experience, it seemed as if the diary would only react if the intensity of my emotions reached a certain threshold.
“How long will this last?”
The diary did not answer. Though it was obvious that it wouldn’t.
“Soon, I’ll know what you are.”
Right. After this was over, I was going to find the ‘true owner’ of this diary. Auresia. She would know about this diary. I closed the book.
I brought my diary with me before leaving the room with determination.
“Have you arrived?”
When I reached the garden, the patrols and Lord Ray were already waiting for me. They were all dressed in black. As we gathered in a dark forest filled with shadows, I glanced at the man standing out the most. Dane who was standing the furthest away from me. His soft brown hair, ruby-red eyes and even his black clothes seemed to be glowing, bringing light even as it was fading from the sky. He looked ethereal under the moonlight.
Dane had been in the middle of a conversation with a dark-skinned woman, probably one of his people. However, as soon as he felt my gaze on him, he immediately looked towards me. His red eyes curled beautifully.
I stood still. The patrols were standing between the both of us and this distance was a little more than five steps away. Still, for some reason, perhaps because his eyes were locked onto mine, even that distance felt insignificant. Soon, Penne approached me and the distance-induced silence disappeared.
“We’re all here.”
I looked away and nodded my head, Just as how they were all dressed comfortably, so was I.
“Let us go.”
The dozen of us, all dressed in black, had gathered together before setting off. Perhaps because they were all very skilled, we moved quickly. I buried my face into Ray’s arms to avoid the harsh winds. The dozen or so patrols, Dane, Lord Ray and I soon stopped in front of a large palace.
“Princess, I would like to report that Princess Ahasia can be found in the furthest room on the third floor on your left.”
Noticing our arrival, Meta jumped out of a tree and said. At the same time, he gave detailed reports on his findings including the number of desert warriors currently in the palace. the number of rooms and what rooms they were occupying. Our primary goal was to bring Ahasia to our side. We also had a secondary one which was to ensure my safe return.
“Ashley.”
Meta, who had the ability to hide himself, had wanted to bring me to another room and wait with him. But at Dane’s appearance, Meta took a hint and stepped back.
“Dane?”
“… Stay safe.”
Dane was someone who knew better than anyone how important today was. But he nodded as if he was oblivious. In a short while, the moment the moon rose above the top of our heads, each member of the group departed.
“Meta. We will enter from the back gates and bring Ahasia to the western entrance. In the meantime, the patrols will be drawing their attention away quietly. Is that right?”
“Yes. The fights won’t get that intense. Everyone would have their hands full doing other things.”
It would be impossible to retrieve her secretly since the desert kingdom seemed determined to trap her within the kingdom itself, going as far as to have so many people guarding her in that small residence. So, our second best option was to attack when it was still dark.
“Hold on tight. My abilities will work better the more we stick together.”
While I was in his arms, Meta kept running around as unknown men collapsed around us though I could only hear their groans of pain. I realised that the men who had collapsed had been carrying swords with strange curves. Each and every one of them had thick chocolate skin and hairy faces which were characteristic of the desert people. I could hear the sounds of sword swings, men collapsing and the groans of pain as someone got hurt everywhere.
“May you let me cover your ears?”
“No, you don’t have to.”
In his embrace, I gave a soft smile.
“These are the sounds of the people working for me.”
Soon, we reached a black door. We had reached Ahasia’s room. Meta placed me back down.
“Well then–”
Just then, a short exclamation could be heard from the other end of the corridor. Just then, Meta, who was about to speak, whipped his head around. It was only a few seconds later did I realise. As a knight, he couldn’t have been alright after hearing the pain of his comrades. I quickly grabbed him by the sleeve so that he could face me.
“I’ll be out in 5 minutes, I promise.”
“… But.”
“Hurry and go.”
Someone could be heard fighting at the other end of this hallway. Each and everyone of them was a powerful templar. Though they might be patrols, there had been too many people guarding her.
“I’ll come fetch you on time, no, I’ll definitely bring you back.”
Meta lowered his head before parting from me and disappearing into the darkness of a distant hallway. I turned around and opened the door.
Creak.
The room was very dark but faint streams of moonlight had leaked through the gaps in the thick curtains covering the windows. But there wasn’t enough light to see anything in the room so I had to grope my surroundings to move. I had heard that the room she was in wasn’t the most spacious but the room filled with darkness felt as spacious as the night sea. Just then, tap, a beam of light flashed through the room as did a voice.
“Who is it?”
I squinted at the white light. I quickly got used to the bright lights and when I did, there Ahasia stood in front of me.
“Princess?”
She looked a little surprised at my appearance.
Her hair that was the colour of sunset reminded me of god’s lamp as it glittered underneath the light. Her eyes scanned me slowly. Without any hesitation, I walked towards her and grabbed her hand.
“Ahasia.”
I called her name and pulled her towards me.
“I don’t have time to explain right now. Did you receive the letter through the templar I had sent you? Come with me.”
“…..”
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ “When we get out of here, my templars will be waiting for us.”
I had already sent her a letter through Meta informing her that I would be meeting her tonight. As long as she cooperated, she could escape with no problems. But then, Ahasia pulled her hand out of my grip.
“… Ahasia?”
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