Secret (7)
Rahon interlocked his fingers with mine. Our fingers intertwined and our palms touched.
"You may not be the most precious person to me. I can't tell you how lucky I
am for that."
"..."
"I thank God that I can heal you because you are not the most precious thing. I have lived a life of suffering all my life, but now I feel like I am finally being rewarded."
“Rahon..."
"You can live together even if it's not the most precious thing. Every couple in the world lives like that. Millenia, come with me."
"Just a moment, Rahon."
"Live with me in Shancrecia."
There was impatience in Rahon's voice.
At first glance, it sounded like a marriage proposal, but it seemed like he was more concerned about going to Shancrecia.
'It's strange...'
Why on earth do they want to make me leave the empire like this?
"What really happened?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the day I ate Sirok."
Rahon shook off my hand and stood up. I couldn't read his expression because of the sunlight streaming in through the window.
"I told you nothing happened?"
"Tell me honestly. What are you hiding? What are you so afraid of?"
"What did I hide? I just proposed."
"Yes. I'll accept your proposal. But you'll live in the Empire."
"That won't do. I can't trust the Emperor."
"So what is the reason?"
Rahon finally raised his voice.
"In the future you saw, the Emperor handed over the throne to Oslo!"
"That..."
I couldn't refute it. It was a decision that I couldn't understand.
Moreover, since he couldn't even figure out the reason, it was understandable for Rahon to feel uneasy.
I gently soothed him.
"That's why I'm trying. To change the future."
"What if it doesn't change? What If Oslo becomes the Emperor as you saw in the future? What will happen to you then? Will you be safe?"
"..."
"No Empire. Millenia, listen to me!”
"Rahon."
"Why!"
"Is it not His Majesty that you are afraid of. Lord Rahon, but of the Third Prince?"
"..."
Rahon bit his lip and turned his head.
Why would Rahon be afraid of Oslo?
Because I know that if Oslo becomes Emperor, I won't be safe.
Of course, the royal family has to protect their guardians, but Oslo had a good excuse to ignore it.
'Because he knows I'm looking ahead. He'll use that to his advantage and retaliate.'
So, Rahon is tired of me and wants to make me run away from the empire.
But that requires Rahon to know that I'm watching.
At that moment, someone's voice rang in my ear.
"I think you're looking at me."
Whose voice is that?
Before I could even figure out who the voice belonged to, another scene unfolded before my eyes.
An unfamiliar garden, Ian hugging me from behind, Kalit standing next to him, and Rahon reaching out to me.
I slapped that hand away right before it even touched my body.
Then I remembered what Rahon had said to me a few days ago when he asked me to live with him.
"You must have been very anxious."
Now that the tangled threads have been unraveled, I understand Rahon.
My breath suddenly stopped.
It felt like someone was strangling me. A trembling voice came out from my throat, where it was difficult to even breathe.
"You knew, so you did."
"What?"
"I got my eyesight back."
Rahon did not answer.
All the time I've been deceiving people I love, I've never once thought I'd get caught.
How foolish this is.
I couldn't raise my head because of the shame. I shut my eyes tightly and opened them. And I looked straight at Rahon.
"Aren't you asking anything? Aren't you curious about what happened?"
"I'm curious. How did you draw the future when you regained your eyesight? What kind of future did you see? I'm so curious that I'm going crazy! But!"
Rahon's voice echoed in the bedroom.
He took a moment to catch his breath and then raised his head. His voice cracked as if he was trying to calm down his excitement.
"You are more important than that."
Rahon knelt under the bed and looked up at me.
"I want to live with you. I mean it."
"Even though I lied to you all?"
"So what? Is there anyone who has never told a lie in their life?"
"The circumstances are so different. I lied to the world. I pretended to be a guardian when I wasn't one."
"I don't care."
Rahon kissed the back of my hand politely.
"Millenia, to me, you are just the woman I love."
"..."
"Let me protect you."
Just then, a noise was heard and the bedroom door opened. It was Nadia, bringing food.
Rahon let go of my hand and stood up. Then Nadia, who was coming inside, stopped as if sensing the atmosphere.
"You two... had a fight?"
"No. I was proposing to your lady."
"Oh my, even Lord Rahon's jokes are so funny."
Nadia covered her mouth and laughed loudly, then set the food on the table.
"Now, young lady, please sit carefully. I will bring you some food."
"Uh... Yeah, yeah."
It's so frustrating to pretend not to see someone who knows the whole truth.
I lowered my head in embarrassment, but Rahon put a buttered piece of bread in my hand.
"It's bread. It's buttered."
"Thank you."
"I'll put the fruit juice on the right side of the plate."
You're going to pretend not to know.
My eyes grew hot. I couldn't answer and just nodded.
Rahon absentmindedly stroked the back of my head.
"Oh, a lot has happened while you were sleeping."
"What's going on?"
"The Emperor has declared the Great Rift."
Ten days have passed since the summit.
With only two months left until the Great Rift, it couldn't be kept a secret forever.
"The atmosphere in the capital must be chaotic."
"No, rather, the atmosphere has improved."
"How?"
Nadia answered, placing some fruit on my plate.
"His Majesty made a really good. presentation. He said, 'We have a Guardian! The future of the Empire lies only in the glory of victory! It felt like we had already won."
The Emperor reassured the people of the empire with his excellent speech.
This was very effective.
The people of the Empire began to believe in victory rather than fear, and this atmosphere greatly helped in recruiting Allied forces.
"They say that as many as 30,000 people applied in just two days."
"Really? That's amazing?"
Rahon drank his coffee indifferently.
"I heard that the number of people applying to fight in the war is increasing without end. I think we will reach our goal within a week."
If we can get 70k people in a week, it'll help Ian too.
Because he took responsibility and decided to recruit the Allied Forces.
"That's why the expedition has been brought forward. The capital troops will soon depart for the Romena border."
"Aren't they rushing too much?"
"We need to get there quickly so we can train together with other allied forces. We don't have much time."
"..."
Well, no matter how fast we try, it'll take a long time just to move this large force, so we'll have to hurry.
"I guess Kalit will be participating then too."
"I guess so. Ian said he's going too."
"Yes?"
My head went blank for a moment. I smiled awkwardly and asked again.
"Ian, is he also planning to return to Eldern that day?"
"What are you talking about? Ian is going to war as a commander of the Imperial Army. Didn't you know?'
"..."
Usually, the heir to a family does not participate in war, because the fate of the family depends on it.
Yet, the reason Ian participated in the Great Rift in my past life was because of Oslo.
Since he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces and requested Tail's participation in the war, Ian had no choice but to go in his brother's place.
But in this life, the supreme commander of the Allied Forces is Kalit. Ian had no reason to participate in the war.
'There's no way Duke Eldern would have given permission... What happened?'
The future has not changed.
So will the future where he goes missing also happen?
"Where is he now, Ian?"
"I think he's in the palace. He's been meeting with Kalit all day, so he's living in the palace."
I put down the bread and stood up.
"I must go to the palace. I will speak to Nadia and Lady Ibida, and you request an audience with Lord Kalit."
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