TOWL 05

Chapter 5

I didn’t know if it was a coincidence, but this child was too similar to me. Even in death.

The day this child was poisoned by the Empress, I was also killed by my stepmother.

A dinner prepared for me, and a suspicious pill. I vaguely felt fear, but I still wanted to believe. In the end, I was also abandoned by my family.

I wondered how the world had moved on after my death. It felt bitterly no different from the pages that described this child’s death.

Now that I’ve been given a second chance, I understand. How meaningless it is to try to be loved.

If Laila had also been given a second chance, would she have lived the way she wanted?

I didn’t know the answer for this child, but my answer was clear.

I will live for myself.

By the time my thoughts reached their end, the performance had finished.

Clap, clap, clap.

I flinched and looked up at the sound of applause from the audience seats. A man with long blond hair tied halfway back was sitting there.

He looked to be around thirty, with strikingly handsome features.

He wore an ornate ceremonial robe mixed with gold and green. There was a smile on his lips, but his green eyes were dry.

‘Who is he?’

To me, who had no memories of Laila, he was simply a stranger.

Fortunately, Laila rarely had any speaking opportunities(?), so the imperial palace people hadn’t noticed anything strange about me.

As always, I acted like a timid girl—moving my lips awkwardly with a frightened expression—and everyone just clicked their tongues and let it go.

“Have you been practicing like this all along?”

Officially, Laila had never received academy education. So was he surprised that she could play the piano?

At his question about whether I had secretly practiced, I gave a small nod. He stared at me silently in response.

What kind of person is he? The pressure coming from him was overwhelming. My mouth went dry from tension.

“You resemble your mother quite a lot.”

“Your mother”—did he mean the deceased Seventh Empress?

If he was referring to the Empress like that, then he must be someone above her. Someone above the Empress would be… Laila’s father?!

I slowly looked at his face again. The golden hair and green eyes unique to the Belliana royal family, along with his striking appearance.

I swallowed hard.

Christopher de Belliana. The Emperor of the Belliana Empire.

He looks incredibly young……. Why is this person here?

“Did you want to attend the academy?”

He asked another question.

I quickly shook my head. He let out a small laugh.

“So it seems, yet also not.”

Was it just my imagination? His expression looked lonely. Like he was reminiscing about someone.

I didn’t know how to respond. What do I do with this silence……

Feeling crushed by the pressure that I had to say something, I rolled my eyes and spoke.

“Well, I am my father’s daughter too.”

“……”

“Maybe I resemble my father more than my mother.”

His eyebrows rose slightly.

“Because you resemble me… I never thought you resembled me at all.”

He frowned. Was he indirectly saying he didn’t like that? He’s surprisingly honest in front of his daughter.

I didn’t have the courage to curse out loud, so I just smiled. In response, his smile deepened.

“I will keep my promise. You are keeping yours well too.”

He said something incomprehensible—and then disappeared.

“…Ha.”

Only then did I let out the breath I had been holding.

What the—what promise? A strange uneasiness crept in.

Should I investigate it? No. If I dig too much and they discover I have magic, I might get locked up in the palace.

I briefly thought of Helene’s life.

She handled state affairs until dawn every day, endured advances from nobles and neighboring royals who didn’t know their place, and suffered the Empress’s jealousy simply for being favored by the Emperor.

“……”

Slowly, I placed a hand on my chest and made a vow.

I must never get caught. My large and precious magic.

There wasn’t much to pack. I could just make what I needed later.

What I took were three books from the library and a guitar.

In Laila’s empty, doll-less room, this child-sized guitar stood out.

The light brown wooden guitar had a pressed purple rose attached to it. It was an instrument made by Laila’s birth mother, Sierra, for her daughter.

Sierra was known as the “absolute villainess” of the palace, but she was also the only woman who had loved Laila.

‘I should take it, right?’

It was the only proof that Laila had ever been loved as a child—I couldn’t throw it away. I sliced open space and stored the bag and guitar inside.

Then something fell from the guitar—a leaf the size of a palm.

What is this? A Laplatanus leaf?

There is an ancient tree called Laplatanus in the palace, and it looked like one of its leaves.

But something felt odd. It was too fresh, like it had just been picked. Was it preserved with magic?

After hesitating, I also placed the leaf inside the guitar and packed it away.

Thinking someone might look for it, I even left a final note saying not to search for me. My runaway preparations were finished faster than expected.

Even though I was leaving far away, it felt strangely bitter that there wasn’t a single person in this vast palace to say goodbye to.

Poor Laila.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, there was one place—not in the palace—but where I did need to say goodbye.

Moonlight poured through the open window. White curtains, scented like soap, fluttered in the wind.

I climbed onto the window frame and tucked my wind-tossed hair behind my ear.

As the curtains billowed wide, Pi-an’s room came into view. Thanks to the bright moonlight, the room wasn’t very dark.

But the boy standing before my eyes was so beautiful that everything else blurred.

Bathed entirely in moonlight, Pi-an looked like a glowing white moon himself—mysterious and unreal.

After always seeing him in ragged clothes, seeing him now in a crisp white shirt and loose black pants felt strangely emotional.

Even in shabby clothing, his beauty couldn’t be hidden—but now, properly dressed, he was dazzling.

Soft silver hair that looked like it would melt if touched swayed in the night breeze, and his clear blue eyes shimmered as they changed color under the moonlight.

In a spring night filled with acacia scent, I was so captivated by his beauty that I lost my words.

And not only that—I nearly slipped as I tried to climb down from the window frame.

Pi-an rushed over and caught my waist, carefully helping me down.

Only then did I regain my senses and speak awkwardly.

“I thought you were scared of the dark.”

Pi-an quickly let go and turned his head away. His face was red as he awkwardly touched the back of his head.

“I-I’m not scared of something like that.”

In the original story, Pi-an was afraid of the dark and always slept with a lit candle.

But there was no source of light in this room now—only soft moonlight.

I felt happy not because I had twisted the original story, but because I thought Pi-an had overcome his trauma.

Pi-an, who had been observing me, slowly turned back and looked into my eyes.

“I was waiting.”

“For me?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded slightly and continued.

“I’m leaving for the Kaillon Empire.”

“That’s great! Are you going with your mother?”

In the original story, Pi-an suffers abuse for six more years before awakening as a dragon.

After awakening, he goes berserk and burns down the ducal estate, killing the government officials and the High Elled Duke, finally ending his suffering.

If he goes to the Kaillon Empire, wouldn’t he avoid going berserk?

The Crown Prince of Kaillon Empire and Black Dragon, Paris, had learned about dragon awakening since childhood, so Pi-an could also be educated properly.

The Emperor of Kaillon Empire, Michael, was very fond of his nephew Pi-an.

When Pi-an tried to join the Belliana Imperial Knights, he personally came to take him to Kaillon Empire.

So there was a high chance Pi-an would receive proper education and knowledge about dragon awakening like Paris.

So this is how Pi-an’s death flags disappear. What future would a Pi-an without death flags have?

Since there was no need for him to return to Belliana Empire, he could live in Kaillon Empire as a White Dragon and do well for himself.

Pride swelled in me at the thought that I had changed the future of my favorite character into something bright. I covered my smiling lips.

Pi-an looked at me, hesitated, then spoke.

“Won’t you come with me?”

“Me too?”

“Kaillon Empire has a lot of snow. Everything is white and beautiful. There are cute animals girls like, and a huge theater where performances are held often…”

Pi-an explained eagerly.

In the book I read, Kaillon Empire was always described as a cold place full of monsters, perfect for studying magical beasts.

It was basically a scary northern land—but hearing it from Pi-an made it sound like a cozy Swiss mountain village.

Is he trying to persuade me? That felt strange.

Had we grown attached without realizing it? Even though we hadn’t been together long, I also found it hard to part with Pi-an.

Not wanting to show it, I put on a smug expression.

“I don’t really like cold places.”

“Ah… then—”

“Just kidding. I like winter. But I really can’t go to Kaillon Empire. I’m leaving too.”

Pi-an’s eyes widened in shock.

“I came to say goodbye today.”

At my words, his brows drooped. He opened and closed his mouth before finally speaking.

“…Where are you going?”

“To my home.”

I was going to build my own home. Somewhere no one knew me, where I could finally live in peace.

“Then where is your home?”

“…The fairy world?”

“Don’t lie.”

“It’s true.”