Secret (9)
Nadia decided to wait in the carriage, and I headed to Kalit's palace with Rahon.
Rahon watched me walk forward, sweeping my cane and muttered to himself.
"I thought about it..."
I stopped walking for a moment and looked at him.
"Is fate important to a guardian?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Isn't power the most important thing for a Guardian? Fate is just the price that comes with power."
"..."
"You gathered the Montpain, discovered herbs that monsters couldn't recognize, and drew pictures of the future to help humans. You couldn't be more of a guardian."
Rahon's serious voice rang out softly.
"So, act confidently. You don't have to feel guilty, and you don't have to be sorry. At least to me, you are still the 'first walker'. The first guardian to escape fate."
"..."
"I don't doubt you."
So that's why you didn't ask anything when you noticed I was looking ahead.
Rahon took my hand. We started walking again.
"But this is just my opinion and Kalit and Ian may differ. They are not Guardians."
"I know."
"What if they don't understand you?"
"You have to accept it. I indeed lied to you. It's natural for you to feel betrayed by me."
"Remember. I haven't given up on you yet."
"...Why are you talking about that?"
"I want you to know that there is room for you to escape."
I looked up at Rahon without realizing it. The moment our eyes met.
Rahon smiled dazzlingly.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I like talking face-to-face with you."
The expression on his face when he said he was glad that he could heal me was superimposed on that gorgeous smile.
"You may not be the most precious person to me. I can't tell you how lucky I am for that."
'If Rahon is my benefactor.'
I intend to do as he wishes.
Didn't I promise to grant whatever my benefactor wishes?
Even if you ask me to give you my whole life, I will gladly comply.
I may not be the most precious person to him, but so what? How many people in this world love others more than themselves?
Anyway, I don't feel the same way.
'But if my memory serves me right, isn't it more likely that Kalit was the benefactor?'
It was Kalit who taught me chess.
When I was sixteen, a boy came into my bedroom and suggested I play chess.
'Is that just a coincidence?'
At the time, it was more than just out of the blue, it was unpleasant. I thought, who are you kidding, playing chess with someone who has lost their eyesight?
But if the boy is Kalit, then it makes sense. The connection between him and me was chess.
Crucially, he also has a flower-shaped scar on his shoulder.
'Then what happened to Rahon?'
He said that the kid who had been chasing him around to live with him had healed his wounds.
'If Kalit is that boy, then the person I treated can't be Rahon.'
The moment I thought that, I heard Kalit's voice.
"You came?"
There was a canopy set up around the outdoor table where he was sitting. It seemed to be for wind protection, but it was quite cozy once we went inside.
"Your Highness, how have you been?"
"Why are you suddenly being so formal? Did you do something wrong to me?"
"Are you doing this on purpose? To make me feel guilty."
"No. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Kalit tilted his head.
I was even more embarrassed because he seemed to have no idea why I had come.
"The atmosphere is strange. Please sit down for now. The attendant will bring out the tea soon. Would you like some warm black tea?"
"Thank you."
While Rahon and I sat down, Kalit cleared the chessboard.
"Where is Ian? I thought he was with you."
"I was the only one who left the meeting... I did it for nothing. If I had known Rahon would come, I would have come with the little Duke."
"Are you dissatisfied with my coming?"
"I don't feel good."
Rahon and Kalit glared at each other.
At that moment, a possibility I had never thought of occurred to me.
'Wait a minute, didn't I cure both of these people?'
After the boy hurt his back, I treated him once more.
At that time, I didn't touch the wound, I just threw some ointment at it.
At the time, I thought it was the same person, but I didn't see it with my own eyes.
So it could have been someone completely different.
'What is correct?'
I thought I would have a rough idea of who my benefactor was once my memories returned, but I ended up becoming more confused.
"Oh, did you hear that news?"
Kalit's question cut off my thoughts.
"Ah... What news are you talking about?"
"The inauguration ceremony was scheduled for ten days later."
He said he would be appearing at the end of this month, and it was true.
"I heard that the recruitment of the Allied Forces went well."
"Your contribution is great. So I think Father will ask you to give a speech."
"I give a speech?"
"Don't think too hard about it. You will win. I saw it! All you have to do is say it."
Rahon snorted.
"The first walker is guaranteed victory. Wow, that's a tall order."
"I guess so. And I have one more thing to tell you."
"Go ahead."
"I will leave for Tragos on the day of the Oslo launch ceremony. I will run away quietly, without attracting anyone's attention."
"Yes"
Oslo was like a dead person to me. I didn't care about his news anymore. Kalit smiled affectionately at my bland answer.
"Will you consent to the speech?"
"I'm sorry, but I have to decline."
"Because it's too burdensome?"
"Because I'm not qualified."
"Qualification?"
I stared straight at Kalit.
"I got my sight back. As you probably already knew."
"...!"
Kalit's expression hardened for a moment and he glared at Rahon.
"Am I crazy? Millenia just noticed."
"You said?"
"This..."
I calmly got up from my chair and bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry for deceiving you all this time..."
"Millenia, why are you doing this?"
Kalit jumped up and sat me down on the chair. Then he swept his eyebrows with his thumb with an embarrassed expression.
"Actually, I should be the one apologizing."
"...Why, Kalit?"
"The day you ate the sirok, I was the first to tell you that you seemed to be seeing ahead. It must have been a secret... I failed to keep it."
"Don't do this. It was my mistake that caused this. If you do this, I won't be able to raise my head."
Even though I deceived the world, I don't feel sorry for everyone in this world.
The only people I really felt sorry for, aside from my family, were Kalit, Rahon, and Ian.
People who truly care about me. I must do my best to seek forgiveness from them.
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I indeed know the future even though I've escaped my fate. Even if it's up to the Great Rift."
If returning from death is a power, then my power extends to the Great Rift.
"What did you plan to do after the Great Rift?"
"I was planning to announce that my powers were gone and step down as Guardian."
"..."
"I know that the sins I have committed are not light. If you punish me I will gladly accept them."
Kalit's dark eyebrows twitched.
"Am I going to punish you? What are you talking about?"
"But please don't throw away the future. Without it, many people will bleed."
"...Did you think I would give up on the future?"
"Because I deceived you, Kalit."
"What if I lied to you? Do you think I only told you the truth?"
Kalit pulled at the knot of the cravat he was wearing with a frustrated expression and loosened it.
"Do you remember what you said when we first met here? You said that I was a human before I was a Prince. That every human deserves to be saved by a guardian."
"... I remember."
"You are also a human before you are a guardian. And I, the Prince, believe in the human Millennia Astrod, not the guardian."
I grabbed Kalit's hand tightly.
"Then please help me. You said you trusted me."
At my urgent voice, Kalit's expression also became serious.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"Please don't let Ian join the Great Rift."
"...Why?"
"I beg you. Ian, he must never go into battle."
"Have you seen the future of the little Duke?"
"...""What kind of future is this?"
"..."
"Millenia."
I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them.
"Ian will be lost in the Great Rift Battlefield."
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