“You don't see Michael?”
I, who was in the carriage, was startled by Cedella's report.
“Yes, Your Highness, I've been looking for him since the start of the closing ceremony, but he's nowhere to be seen.
"Lord Agnito wouldn't do something like this... Oh, Your Highness?”
I immediately dismounted from the carriage.
“Don't worry. I'll find him.”
“What? Your Highness? How?”
“By using Amber.”
The guardian golem had been created for just this purpose. A few minutes after casting the summoning spell, Amber flew to her creator, me.
A golden morpho butterfly perched on my fingertips. Its fluttering wings seemed to convey a whisper.
My expression turned slightly serious as I stared closely at Amber. Cedella was quick to recognize it.
“Has something happened to Lord Agnito, by any chance?”
“No. Let's go find Michael, Sedella.”
I followed Amber back into the stadium.
The crowd was still clearing out as the number of spectators approached 100,000.
We made our way through the crowd, using invisibility spells along the way to stay out of sight.
Finally, we made it to the block of bleachers that had been cleared out.
I looked up at the roofs around the edge of the amphitheater and said.
“I'll be on my own from here.”
I cast a flight spell and took off.
Amber had played her part admirably.
In the middle of the cloud-white rooftops, I could easily spot Michael.
He was crouching, using the slanted roof as a floor, staring far away into the afternoon summer sun.
His face looked a little dazed as if he were dreaming.
“Michael, what's wrong?”
Michael glanced slowly back toward me.
“Princess.”
His voice, a low, strumming tone, was slightly subdued. The violet eyes were slightly out of focus.
I couldn't help but worry at how unsteady he looked in so many ways. I moved quickly toward Michael.
“What's wrong? Did someone else do this to you, Brigitte or Rosenite?”
"..."
“What's going on, talk to me. Huh?”
Worry shone in my amber eyes. Michael slowly opened his mouth, having finally regained his composure.
What came out was the confession of a poor schemer.
“I thought that if I stayed here, the Princess would come looking for me. So I acted alone, unauthorized. Forgive me.”
“Did you have something to talk about with me alone?”
Michael hesitated for a moment before answering.
“No.”
“Then?”
“I just wanted to see the Princess alone.”
“I see... good.”
At this moment, Michael's eyes were filled with a light of wistfulness and longing as if he had just returned from a long journey. He forgot to blink, and his eyes were fixed solely on me.
Suddenly confronted with such deep emotions, I was taken aback.
'What, what is it? What is wrong with Michael?'
The hazy gaze of a beautiful man was fatally tempting, I felt like I would be shaken somehow.
I asked the same question one more time, hoping to change the mood.
“I'm sure you didn't hurt, right?”
“I didn't do anything you need to worry about. Rest assured.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, the Princess is always trying to protect me.”
“That is... Because you're my direct knight.”
“Ah, yes. I am your knight.”
This time it was Michael. I'd never seen him look so calm.
Never in my last life, never in this one, never in all of them, had he shown such a transparent range of emotions, not with his gentle smile, not with his gentle laugh.
It was as I was mesmerized by his unconventional appearance that he spoke to himself.
“I don't think I expected you to choose me as your knight, actually.”
“Eh...?”
Amber eyes widened at the implication. But Michael didn't give .e time to ponder.
“Princess. Actually, I've been having some trouble lately.”
“What troubles?”
“I've been thinking lately that it's hard to maintain chivalry.”
The corners of Michael's mouth curved mischievously, but it was so slight that I didn't notice. I was serious in my counseling.
“It can be. Chivalry seems pretty strict.”
“The Princess, not anyone else. I'm relieved you understand.”
“Of course. I'm on your side.”
I added some advice, hoping to cheer him up.
“If it's not too bad, it's okay to live with some restraint.”
“What if it's serious?”
“Uh, um... treason?”
“That extreme.”
Michael laughed low in his throat. The charming notes seemed to go directly to my heart, not my ears.
“As long as you are by my side, I will not think of such things. Rest assured.”
“Really?”
I asked, a genuine question, so it was no surprise that Michael's assurance was half-hearted.
My eyes lit up, and I wondered if I had been too openly pleased.
But Michael didn't seem to notice anything suspicious.
'What? You're so perceptive. What is it?'
I was puzzled, but once again, I didn't have time to analyze it.
“So, as long as it's not treason, you'll let me go? May the Princess' tolerance continue to be broad.”
For some reason, Michael had a satisfied look on his face, like a man who had won a good cause.
Then, once again, Michael called me.
“Princess.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for choosing me.”
“Again?”
“Yes, anew.”
Michael brought the back of my hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Maybe it was the mood.
I was particularly fascinated by Michael's gestures and speech today. I felt it was like a dripping.
Gently, Michael lowered my hand and nibbled at his bottom lip.
The kiss on the back of my hand reminded him of an important purpose.
“Speaking of which,” he said, ”I was wondering about the Wishing Power.”
“Oh, yeah. Did you think of anything?”
“Can I tell you later?”
“Why?”
“It's a little inappropriate to make a wish right now, and I need some time to think about it.”
“Umm... I don't know what your wish is, but okay, do it.”
“For the graciousness of my Princess.”
If he already had a wish in mind, why was he stalling for time instead of telling me right away?
I wondered bitterly, but I had no choice but to let the compliment slide, for I wanted to be the best Princess for Michael more than anyone else.
***
That night, even with the residual heat in his heart gone, Michael could not fall asleep easily.
He fiddled with the dried gladiolus blossoms, lost in thought.
The vision was once again only a fragmentary memory, but it contained enough of the essentials.
It gave him the answer to a riddle he had long puzzled over.
'It wasn't far away.'
It's not uncommon for the answer to be found near the person seeking it.
But now that he'd seen it for himself, it was a bitter pill to swallow. A wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Michael took a deep breath and slowly replayed his horrifying vision.
Eve was murdered by Rosenite.
Michael, who was living like a wreck, holding onto her corpse, called the Great Sage.
The Great Sage performed the ritual of regression by sacrificing half of the Philosopher's Stone.
Eve, who became the center of the regression...
'So this is why the Great Sage didn't give me the answer right away.'
It all made sense. It was clear that Eve, the participant, wanted to keep the secret unless she revealed it to Michael first.
He recognized the regression ritual as a scam, but the Great Sage seemed to really care about her.
'At least he gave me a way to find the answer, so I guess that's some kind of consideration.'
So Michael solved an important riddle and accelerated his awakening.
As an added bonus, he was also able to put a face on the unholy impulses and thoughts that had been driving him to self-destruction lately.
"The loss of a loved one."
The fool who could not bear the death of one man and turned back the clock on the world was Michael himself.
He rebelled and gained the throne.
He abandoned his body and soul, barely possessed the empire, and willingly performed the rite of return to undo everything for the woman he loved.
This life, like the flower in his hand, was not something he just got.
It was a chance to redeem a past life that had been ruined.
'Then, why shouldn't I have a crush on the Princess in this life? I'm just inheriting the force that created it.'
Michael's eyes darkened as he looked at Gladiolus flower. But then he lets out a small laugh.
'My earlier thoughts were just an excuse. The desire for the Princess was always there.'
He should have just accepted it, so why is he still trying to keep himself from going back to her for useless reasons.
'Okay, let's admit it.'
Finally, Michael made up his mind. Now that he knew what he wanted, he couldn't just sit back and wait.
'I need time.'
It's easy to get excited and screw things up. He shouldn't use his newfound wish right away.
So what the poor schemer desperately needed now was time.
Time to win her heart, to be precise.
Michael's violet eyes narrowed.
He was determined to try again, to do what he had failed to do in his last life.
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