A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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19.
“I caught on the moment I saw that checkered brown handkerchief, but I didn’t expect such a lack of sense. You might as well have written down the year the Imjin War occurred.”
I clicked my tongue and grumbled, but suddenly I couldn’t remember either. Damn it.
Embarrassed, I hastily wrote “miso stew” with the quill that had materialized in the air alongside his.
‘The year the Imjin War happened is too difficult. I’m not an idiot.’
I felt my cheeks burning.
That’s when the dragon wagged his tail lazily and asked bluntly.
“Your face is flushed? Did he write something about courting you? Typical male—and females always fall for the pretty things, don’t they.”
W-w-what kind of absurd word choice is that!?
I was so startled that I grabbed the Red Dragon and shook him vigorously.
“A-are you insane? How could you say something like that!?”
“I was complimenting you, so why are you doing this! Stop shaking me! I’m getting dizzy!”
As I trembled and shook the dragon over and over, the papers before my eyes transformed into something else.
It was an enormously thick book. Perhaps as thick as a standard calculus textbook.
And above it, Korean text appeared once more.
[ This is a copy of a book I wrote based on my memories of 【The Fallen Bride】.
It contains all the characters, plot, and settings inside. I thought it would be better for you to know before going to Blake.
I’m sorry for the burden. If you don’t want to read it, you can burn it.
By the way, if you shout out the answer again, the paper will revert to its original form and a binding spell will activate. ]
As I stared blankly at the text, the dragon suddenly vanished from my hand. He seemed afraid I would shake him again.
“I-I’m leaving now!”
But I caught him with lightning speed.
“Wait, I’ll send a reply too.”
* * *
Leonard Blake sat at a table, processing a mountain of documents.
Though the distance from Blake to Sincester was immense, transferring documents through magical crystals was hardly difficult.
He was the Sixth Prince, but also the lord of Eastern Blake. He could not rest.
While wrestling with the documents, the pile suddenly collapsed.
Leonard Blake sighed and removed his glasses.
“Ignis. Haven’t I told you not to knock over the documents, no matter how irritated you are?”
“Do I look like I’m not irritated, you insignificant creature! I’m a magnificent dragon, yet you use me as a messenger!”
From behind the documents, waddling forward, appeared the red dragon—Ignis.
“That’s enough. Go back to your nest and rest.”
Just as I was about to draw a summoning circle to send him back to his nest, Ignis pulled something from his belly pouch.
“That female asked me to deliver this.”
“Not a female—Charlotte Sincester, the Princess.”
“They’re all insignificant creatures to me, so female is correct.”
How am I supposed to fix that habit? Leonard Blake washed his face dryly and accepted what Ignis handed over.
“…This appears to be a copy and miniaturized version of some book.”
“Then I’m sleeping.”
“Aren’t you going back to the Nest?”
“Your beds are better than the Nest. More comfortable. I’ll give you that much.”
Ignis waddled over to Leonard Blake’s bed, claimed a corner, and promptly fell asleep.
Leonard Blake found it absurd and let out a hollow laugh, but soon redirected his gaze to the palm-sized book.
When I tapped it with my index finger, Korean text appeared above as expected.
[ Among our BTS oppas, use the handsome guy you like the most. (Hint─Initial consonant: ㄱㅅㅈ) ]
“This is seriously ridiculous.”
Leonard Blake chuckled and wrote the answer.
The book, which had shrunk to a small size, suddenly expanded.
The cover read 【Everything About Seongseongssum】. It was clear that Charlotte had also compiled information about this world just as I had.
Naturally, Charlotte’s face came to mind.
That Princess was truly beautiful.
The novel’s protagonist was supposed to be the most beautiful in the world, but in truth, a person’s beauty is completed by their smile.
I couldn’t help but acknowledge that the face smiling before me constantly was the most beautiful.
Because of that, I was curious about the years she had lived. Had this life been happy enough to smile so brightly without a single shadow?
What kind of person had she been in her past life? Had it been difficult to change her fate? Was she happy now, at least?
It had been a long time since I possessed this extra character.
For someone who had lived an entire life in despair and suffering in this world, this place was still horrifying.
If given the chance to return, I would nod without hesitation.
If all the sins I had committed here could be erased, if I could only turn back time, I would pay any price.
But time flows like water, and the past cannot be undone. So I had to atone.
“….”
My head began to throb again at the goal that still stretched far ahead, seemingly endless.
A chronic headache.
Leonard Blake began scratching the Family ring on his pinky finger again. Endlessly.
* * *
The day after I dropped the bomb on my relationship with Leonard Blake, Aurora visited the Princess Palace as expected.
“Charlotte, if you liked the Sixth Prince, you should have said so earlier!”
“Would you have approved if I had?”
“Of course not. I would have tried to stop you while pushing around a three-tiered tray.”
Aurora shook her head flatly, yet her eyes gleamed as if other people’s love lives were the most entertaining thing in the world.
“But the Sixth Prince blushing at your words was quite a sight. Still, I came here to try to convince you to reconsider.”
“Aurora, I have no intention whatsoever of giving up on the Sixth Prince.”
“But Charlotte, the only reason you like the Sixth Prince is his face, right? Surely not his personality.”
I had nothing to say to that.
When I couldn’t respond, Aurora smiled knowingly.
“So why not marry the handsome Cedric Myers instead? Of course, his personality is equally terrible, but if you could tolerate the Sixth Prince, you could tolerate the Duke, right?”
What is she even saying? I let out a long sigh.
“Aurora, love isn’t about tolerating someone. And would Cedric Myers even marry me? That Duke won’t marry anyone unless it’s a contractual marriage.”
“What? That Duke loves you. Didn’t you know?”
“Oh… Now this is quite an interesting novel premise.”
A foreign prince visiting on official business, a princess who lost her heart to him, and a duke consumed by regret. A truly magnificent tale of remorse.
I gave a vague response, but Aurora paid no attention to my words whatsoever.
“It’s not a regret story! Cedric Myers clearly loves you. He was probably just shy and couldn’t approach you easily.”
“Good heavens, if he’s shy twice more, Cedric Myers will have emigrated.”
“I’m telling you it’s true! And you saved Cedric Myers from the Slave Market. As you know, people can’t help but love those who save them. For example… like how I love the King.”
For reference, Aurora nearly died fighting Knox Glaston and was saved by my Brother.
Feeling there was no longer any need to hide it, Aurora gushed endlessly about my Brother’s praises, swooning with admiration.
I let her words go in one ear and out the other as I spoke.
“No one falls in love from a single act of salvation.”
“Charlotte, you read those gossip papers so much—how do you not know? There are plenty of people in this world who fall head over heels at first sight and abandon their families and titles.”
“Aurora, what did you read this time?”
Show me too.
As I extended my hand to keep Abigail from seeing it, Aurora handed over this week’s gossip paper.
It seemed to contain stories just as intriguing as web novels. Last week it was about the affair between a countess and an opera singer.
I snatched Aurora’s gossip paper and tucked it into my sleeve before speaking again.
“In any case, Cedric Myers is not the type to fall in love at a single glance.”
He’s a true man of regret—one who discovers his love only after behaving rudely and then regretting it.
“How stubborn you are. Very well then. Go to Blake with Cedric Myers. It’s the King’s command.”
“What?”
“The King wished it, and Cedric Myers agreed willingly. See? He cares for you.”
It was probably less about caring for me and more about his concern that I might tarnish Sincester’s reputation, but I was still taken aback.
‘I never thought Cedric would go so far for Sincester…’
Could it be that he’ll grow old as a bachelor without ending up with the heroine?
That won’t do! Those national-treasure-level looks absolutely must spread their genes far and wide.
In that moment, I felt a pang of regret—no, guilt—and shot up from my seat.
“I need to meet with Cedric Myers.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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