A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 42

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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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42.
Leonard Blake fell silent after that.
I’d definitely misspoken. They always said not to pity people carelessly.
Lost in self-recrimination, I drifted toward nightfall. We began preparing for bed without exchanging another word.
Yes, preparing for bed….
Wait. This isn’t right, is it? Shouldn’t someone object?
Putting an unmarried man and woman in the same room—that’s not proper.
Yet the Handmaidens washed me with care, dressed me in a thin slip, and wore satisfied expressions.
“Madam, are the customs of Sincester and Blake different? In Sincester, the bride and groom cannot share a room before the wedding ceremony. Especially not in nightwear like this….”
“Blake is quite an open-minded place. The wedding is in four days, so there’s no need to be so strict about propriety. Please don’t worry and enjoy a pleasant evening. The wedding night will be prepared far more grandly and beautifully. Unless… are you dissatisfied with the preparations?”
“No, not at all!”
The moment I vehemently denied it, another Handmaiden entered and announced news of Leonard Blake.
“The Sixth Prince awaits you in the Bedroom.”
Oh no. What do I do?
Of course, I know this is a contractual marriage and that he won’t do anything to me.
But somehow I’m still self-conscious about it.
In the end, I smiled awkwardly at the Handmaidens.
“Madam, I’m rather shy. For the night, I’d like to have servants and attendants stationed outside the Bedroom instead.”
“But there’s the danger of an attack….”
“The Sixth Prince is skilled with a sword anyway. It’s fine, so please, Madam, go rest along with everyone else. You must all be exhausted from preparing the Banquet today.”
“…Very well.”
The Handmaidens nodded reluctantly. Only then did I enter the Bedroom with a sigh of relief.
“I… beg your pardon.”
“Why apologize?”
Greeting me upon entry were Leonard Blake, seated at a Table reading documents, and beside him the Red Dragon Ignis, crunching on cookies.
“These cookies are delicious. The chocolate and raspberry ones are absolutely amazing!”
Right, of course. Ignis was here.
My tension evaporated, and I collapsed onto the floor.
“What!? Why are you like this?”
Ignis fluttered over in alarm. Leonard Blake reacted similarly.
“What’s wrong?”
It’s just that I thought I’d be sleeping alone with you, and I was nervous, but since I’m not, I’m relieved.
Could I possibly say that?!
“It’s nothing. I took too long bathing. My legs suddenly gave out. Can I have some cookies too?”
“No. I’m eating them all myself.”
Ignis promptly returned to the Table and covered the basket with his wing.
“Human women don’t like getting fat, right? Don’t eat them.”
“I don’t like getting fat, but if it’s delicious, it’s zero calories, so it doesn’t matter.”
“What kind of dragon logic is that?”
“Never mind~”
My heart felt considerably lighter.
I chuckled softly and snatched a chocolate cookie from Ignis, crunching it between my teeth.
“Ignis, did you handle the task I gave you during the day?”
“Yes, there were no fractures in the Imperial Palace. At least, that’s what I sensed.”
“You assigned work to Ignis?”
Leonard Blake returned to the table with a surprised expression.
“I had to contribute as well. Of course, Ignis did the actual work.”
“I was planning to investigate by wandering around at night, so this worked out well.”
“You intended to wander through the Imperial Palace?”
“To check for assassination threats, among other things.”
At his chilling words, I wrapped my arms around myself, and he chuckled softly.
“However, starting tonight, the assassins will be focused on the other princes. So rest assured. With Ignis by your side, this room will be safer than anywhere else.”
“….”
Other princes—he must be referring to Benjamin Prince, of course.
The prince I’d seen from a distance appeared young. Fourteen years old. In South Korea, he’d be barely entering middle school.
‘Is it truly impossible for everyone to survive and be happy together?’
At that moment, Leonard spoke casually.
“Go to sleep first. I have many documents to process, so I’ll sleep after finishing them.”
“Ah… How many hours will that take? I can wait.”
Leonard paused briefly, then looked at me with a mischievous expression.
“Don’t tell me you want to fall asleep together with me?”
“W-w-w-w-w-who said that!! Come on, Ignis! Let’s sleep together!”
I quickly grabbed the cookie-crunching Ignis and dragged him toward the bed.
“What? No! I haven’t eaten the strawberry-flavored cookie yet!!”
“Children aren’t supposed to eat sweets in the evening!”
“What are you talking about?”
Fortunately, the mattress was a spacious double king size, large enough for four adult men to lie down on.
I wriggled and settled into the edge of the bed.
As I closed my eyes, I felt Ignis poking my cheek repeatedly with his foot.
“Why is he acting like this today?”
“…Ignis, either sleep at the head of the bed or finish your cookie and sleep in your own bed.”
“Hmph! Why would I sleep at the head of your bed when I have my own? I shall sleep in my own bed.”
Now that I thought about it, hadn’t I mentioned making a personal bed for Ignis?
Oh no, what a blunder. I should have created an atmosphere where we all slept together.
‘There’s nothing I can do about it….’
I began counting sheep in my mind and sought sleep.
* * *
In truth, the documents were not particularly urgent.
Leonard had already processed all his affairs in Sincester before arriving. After all, he had to endure unwelcome banquets and a wedding in this barren Imperial Palace.
Yet the reason he could not fall asleep with Charlotte was… difficult to articulate precisely, but it stemmed from a sense of restlessness.
He passed by Ignis, who slept like a cat in the basket, and approached the bed.
Silver moonlight settled upon Charlotte’s face.
This was only the second time I had witnessed her sleeping so peacefully.
Once when I returned from Flite Forest, and now.
As I had felt then, her quiet slumber possessed an entirely different texture from her radiant daytime smile.
Each breath seemed to harmonize with the night’s silence, subduing all discord.
Perhaps even my despair.
Leonard slowly settled onto the mattress. His hand drifted toward her beautifully disheveled hair.
“…I’ve chosen poorly. Catastrophically poorly.”
I had abandoned the Saint quickly and chosen the Princess partly because of the Saint’s inability to be callous.
Mercy and goodness were things I didn’t need.
The Princess, by contrast, had killed Knox Glaston.
I had surmised that beneath her beautiful face lay a cold and dangerous nature, and believed an effective transaction would be possible.
Even if I were to betray her later, there would be no lingering discomfort. That’s why I chose her.
Yet as time passes, my thoughts shift. Can I truly abandon this woman?
Won’t she become my shackle instead?
A strange unease makes my vision blur.
—I only thought that you must have suffered greatly.
“…I thought you would consider me cruel.”
Her eyes held not a trace of artifice. They were upright and transparent.
How could she speak such words? Because we share the same circumstances?
I have lived condemned as filthy blood and a cruel demon. Such warmth only provoked doubt and ridicule.
Yet behind that luminous voice emerges another figure.
That person spoke identically.
—You must have suffered greatly. But that is not your fault.
The one who gave me reason to live when I dreamed only of vengeance amid despair and agony.
A friend and a savior… and because of that, I stand here now.
‘…James.’
The protagonist of this world.
His warm chestnut hair was like the feathers of a descending bird, and his crescent-shaped eyes and burgundy irises knew how to love all things in existence.
Because of that, he was loved. And I could not help but love him as well.
Such a beautiful being shattered into fragments. I broke him into pieces.
I, who am nothing in this world.
‘James, I hate you….’
I hate you for entrusting me with such a heavy burden.
Simultaneously, endless remorse consumed me.
Guilt constricts my throat so that I cannot speak his name aloud. Even recalling his face terrifies me.
Afraid that the face I remember, the voice I remember, will condemn me.
“….”
So I must willingly bear the sin entrusted to me, yet sometimes emptiness surges forth and steals my breath.
The reason I could remain in this Imperial Palace as a prince was because I had nothing to protect.
I harbored no desperate desires, nothing I wished to cling to.
Having nothing to lose meant having nothing to fear.
But now it was different. Emotions had seeped in gradually, so very slowly, and now something within my chest was being pulled taut.
When ‘that moment’ finally arrived, would I truly be able to make my decision without hesitation or regret?
“…Charlotte.”
Moonlight filtering through the window gently caressed the shadows of the two figures.
That night, beneath the receding moonlight, an unknowable conclusion was quietly taking root.

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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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