"Princess, I have something to ask of you."
Cesare answered obediently.
"What?"
"..."
He looked down at her silver hair, which seemed to be turning a crimson hue in the firelight.
"Your dreams. Your ambitions. The things you promised the world."
In the pitch-black darkness, this space, the only space with light, seems to be breaking down its boundaries.
I see you talking nonsense.
"I don't have that."
"You will find it soon."
'Your fate will be saved by the Venus of Valdina...'
There is no certainty, but a mixture of instinct and reason speaks.
Let's place his remaining hopes on this girl in front of him. Even if it doesn't work out, he won't regret it.
"..."
Silence fell again. But it didn't feel awkward.
"Still, it's not that bad..."
She rested her head on her knees.
The rush of water made her let her guard down.
The heat of the campfire was warm, and the skill of the mercenary sitting next to her meant she didn't have to worry about beasts attacking her.
A feeling of safety. Is this what it feels like to be protected for the first time in a long time?
'I don't know.'
It's been so long since she's only protected someone, she's forgotten.
What do you usually call this moment when you can let your guard down?
"..."
Medea muttered blankly.
"Acares, I wish you were here then."
Cesare turned his head. The Princess's eyes were half-closed.
It was a voice so faint that he couldn't hear it unless he listened closely.
"If that were the case, it would have been a little more comfortable. I wouldn't have had to lie awake at night, afraid that Jared would attack me at any moment."
Even if he were sitting next to her like he is now, chopping wood and making a fire.
"It would have been a little less lonely."
Clear drops of water fell from between her closed eyes.
The hand that was stirring the lighter paused for a moment.
'Jared? This must have been the first time he and the Princess met.'
A cool breeze passed through the gold mine.
"..."
The Princess was asleep and didn't say anything.
Darkness descended thickly as if to cover up her layer upon layer of secrets.
Cesare quietly draped his mantle over her shoulders.
***
The next day, Medea left the forest with Cesare.
When the messenger was sent, the man who got off the carriage of the Facade to greet the two said he was a magician of the magic tower.
"Your Highness, the famous Princess of Valdina."
The brown-haired, lanky young man looked very tired and nervous. He looked like a sergeant wrapped in state clothes.
"You can call me Terence."
The wizard added briefly.
Medea felt the eyes behind the glasses watching her closely.
"...I heard the general situation from Acares. Would it be okay for me to help Your Highness return as the Lord of the Tower?"
“Lord of the tower?”
The young man in front of him was too young to be a top leader.
She's heard that when he reaches a state beyond the human realm, aging stops...
"Ah, you are my master. As your agent, I travel back and forth between the continents and am in charge of transporting people to the Magic Tower."
Terence showed the seal of the tower.
Medea glanced at Cesare, who was leaning against the carriage with his eyes closed.
'He is a disciple of the Magic Tower.'
It was surprising how far the connections of the head of the Facade extended.
'So, in my past life, Jason was so sorry that the Facade had disappeared without a sound.'
"If so, what does the magic tower want in return?"
Medea asked back.
Through her past life's expeditions, she learned that magicians value equivalent exchange more than life.
Terence paused for a moment at the Princess's question, which was quite reasonable, unlike the royal family of Katzen who only made demands on the tower every time.
"There is something else I am looking for..."
Medea moved her green eyes as if to say something.
Terence swallowed a laugh inside.
The noble demeanor that contrasted with her calm face was truly worthy of the protagonist who had cornered the Katzen delegation and the Regent.
"Your Highness, have you ever heard of the Dawn's droplet?"
At that moment, Cesare, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly opened them.
'Well, do you think you have the time to measure this and that right now?'
As Cesare stared at Terence as if warning him, Terence answered with his eyes.
"The dawn's droplet? Is that the name of the magic stone?"
Medea asked as if she was hearing it for the first time.
Terence, unable to read any change in the green eyes, shook his head slightly and continued speaking.
"It is a legendary medicine that washes away all the filth of the beginning. Your Highness, you must have heard the story that the first Prince of Katzen is living with a limited lifespan."
"Terence."
Cesare warned Terence to stop there, but he did not stop.
"Magic Tower believes that the dawn's droplet is the solution to his illness."
"Get out."
A long, straight leg slammed open the carriage door and chased Terence out.
'What the Facade was looking for was the dawn's droplet.'
Medea could read the answer from their reactions.
A magic tower that searches for a cure for the first Prince.
"The fact that Acares is with that disciple of the Magic Tower right now..."
"Your dreams. Your ambitions. The things you promised the world."
His words that vaguely lingered in her ears last night.
Medea suddenly asked.
"Is Facade trying to get involved in the imperial struggle for the throne?"
Cesare, who had been glaring at Terence, stopped.
"What?"
"If it's the first Prince, it's not a bad choice."
Damn Terence. You're been hanging around with Gallo, and you've moved on.
Cesare swallowed the curses he'd been hurling at his close friend and asked.
"Princess, why do you think so?"
"The Emperor of Katzen despises those without ability and is wary of those with ability. The only one who was not shaken by his eccentricities was the First Prince."
Cesare did not realize that Medea was speaking in the past tense.
"Princess, have you ever met the First Prince?"
The air was sharply stiff.
"No, but I know him."
"How?"
"Isn't it harder to find someone on the continent who doesn't know him?"
Medea shrugged.
"Even so, it's just a life with a limited time until the day he dies. What's so great about it?"
Medea watched his reaction to the sharp words.
'Has the Facade not made a decision yet?'
Indeed, since they are big shots who can shake up the world, any royal family member who dreams of the throne would want to have a Facade.
"If he were a human who would collapse from illness, he would have died already. The persistence that keeps him alive is something that no one can keep up with. In that case, isn't it worth risking your fate?"
Jason, including him.
"If it were me, I would take the hand of the First Prince. Rather than someone like Grand Duke Castullo."
"..."
The mercenary was speechless for a moment at Medea's words and said nothing.
"Acares?"
"The comparison group is Castullo. Is it a compliment or a mockery? If the First Prince heard that, he would vomit blood."
The mercenary who had made a cold joke folded his arms, leaned back, and closed his eyes.
And swallowed the silent emotions.
Since being struck by the curse of the beginning, Cesare has continued to move forward without rest amid the despair and sorrow of many who surrounded him.
But it couldn't have been easy for him to confront something from the distant beginning.
With each seizure, with each curse that consumed his body, Cesare repeated without an ounce of certainty.
I will survive. I will never give up.
So relentlessly, almost to the point of brainwashing.
And now, the Princess before his eyes spoke.
"That persistence that has kept him alive until now is something that no one can keep up with. So isn't it worth risking your fate?"
That his desperate efforts were not misguided.
Cesare, who boasted of his cool-headedness, was unable to come to his senses when the recognition and understanding from others that he had never hoped for came rushing in all of a sudden.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment