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Chapter 09
Several days had already passed since meeting Hugo, yet the events in the Black Forest still lingered in Prina’s mind.
Especially the words Hugo left her with before departing.
…See you again.
What a terrifying thing to say!
Prina forcibly shifted her gaze toward today’s newspaper.
‘…Whoa. So it’s real?’
[Imperial Decree: Those Corrupted by Demonic Energy to Be Executed Immediately]
The law Hugo mentioned had officially been announced in the papers.
‘But how did Hugo know about something like this beforehand?’
…Could he be a noble?
To know about such a decree in advance, one would need to be either a noble attending official meetings or perhaps an aide to one.
Though he could also be an imperial official…
Prina recalled the sight of Hugo swinging his sword before her eyes.
He definitely didn’t seem like a bureaucrat.
‘Just who exactly is Hugo?’
Black hair and red eyes.
A person with that appearance in the novel could only be…
The hidden mastermind of the story, Declan Caesar.
‘But Hugo isn’t Declan Caesar.’
He merely resembled him a little.
If he truly were Declan, there was no way he would have let her live in the Black Forest. Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.
How could anyone live without fear otherwise?
Come to think of it, the victory ceremony was soon approaching.
Declan would finally enter the imperial palace.
…And “that incident” would occur.
The assassination attempt on Declan Caesar.
‘But it has nothing to do with me.’
She worked at Daisy Hall.
Her immediate concerns were rent and money for escape—not palace conspiracies.
‘Still, at least the rent problem is solved for now.’
She had been well compensated for safely rescuing the workers in the Black Forest.
“Hey, Prina!”
As she recalled what was soon to happen, knights entered Daisy Hall.
Training must have just ended because they came flooding in together.
“The usual for us! You know what we like, right?”
This was the ordering style Daisy Hall employees hated most.
‘There are literally hundreds of knights eating here.’
“Um… Sir Knight, which menu item exactly are you referring to…?”
“You know, what we always eat. The usual!”
That’s exactly what I’m asking.
“Don’t tell me you forgot who we are, Prina?”
“Of course not.”
That part was true. She vaguely remembered their faces.
‘What I don’t remember is what you ate.’
“Hmm. Would bread and soup be alright?”
It was the standard knight meal.
“What? Are you trying to starve us to death? That’s harsh, Prina.”
“Then what would you like…?”
“How could you not remember what we always eat?!”
Again, there were hundreds of knights dining at Daisy Hall.
It was an incredibly awkward situation.
Then—
“Bread and soup, correct?”
“W-what?!”
“You said you lost all your money gambling and would only be eating bread and soup for a while.”
A cold, blunt voice fell from behind the knight harassing Prina.
The man who appeared possessed unreal beauty.
Hair as white as untouched snow and violet eyes shining like amethysts.
Prina had felt like her eyes were being destroyed the first time she saw Hugo.
Now she felt that sensation all over again.
“Y-you…! Who says I gambled?!”
“Sir Virsen, I have already placed your order for you, so perhaps you should sit down now. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“What’s embarrassing about me?! You insolent little…!”
Virsen shouted red-faced before quickly disappearing, clearly humiliated.
One troublesome customer had vanished.
And…
Prina stared at the man who had helped her.
A far more troublesome person had arrived.
“It’s been a while, Havel.”
Prina forced herself to smile while hiding her complicated feelings.
“…Yes, noona. It really has been a long time.”
A faint smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face, making his devastatingly handsome appearance even more striking.
Prina could feel Daisy Hall’s employees sneaking glances at Havel.
Every one of them wore pleased smiles.
But Prina alone couldn’t smile.
Because…
‘…Havelion Valencia.’
He was the protagonist of this infinite-regression fantasy novel.
The legitimate heir of House Valencia, though currently hiding his identity and serving as a commoner knight in the imperial palace due to certain circumstances.
But protagonist or not, in Prina’s eyes he was simply…
‘A kid who’s not even an adult yet.’
Havel was nineteen.
His coming-of-age ceremony would take place in a few months.
Perhaps because Prina had younger siblings around the same age, he felt very young to her.
“…I was busy with missions during that time. That’s why I couldn’t come for a while.”
“I see.”
“…Have you been well, noona?”
“Yeah. I’ve been wel—”
At that moment, everything that had happened recently flashed through her mind.
‘Have I… really been well?’
Her ex-boyfriend disappeared without warning, pretended not to know her when they met again, threatened to cut off her arm, and shortly afterward she witnessed him killing someone.
Well… in the end, she survived at least…
“Y-yeah… I’ve been fine.”
“…Your complexion doesn’t look good. Did something happen?”
Things definitely had happened, but it wasn’t something she could discuss with a kid.
“No, Havel. Nothing really—”
“What do you mean nothing? Recently some weird boyfriend of Prina’s did—mmph!”
At that moment, one of the Daisy Hall employees interrupted the conversation, and Prina panicked, immediately covering her coworker’s mouth.
“Weird boyfriend?”
Havel’s expression darkened after hearing that much.
“No, Havel. Nothing happened.”
“But just now…”
“Mary, honestly, why would you say something like that in front of a kid?”
Prina scolded her coworker.
It wasn’t exactly something to brag about.
“…I am not a child.”
Havel’s voice lowered subtly.
“I am not a child, noona.”
He repeated himself as though emphasizing the point.
“Especially… I dislike it even more when you treat me like one…”
“Uh, uh…”
Right. Sorry. I think I misspoke.
Prina’s younger brother Liam also hated being treated like a child.
‘Who are you calling a kid?!’ he used to shout.
‘But to me, both of you are still children…’
“Anyway, Havel, what would you like to eat? The usual?”
Unlike the troublesome knight earlier, she actually remembered Havel’s order.
“Yes. The usual, please.”
…Meaning one bowl of soup.
“Will that really be enough? You’re still growing, after all…”
“It’s enough.”
An immediate answer.
As Prina headed back toward the kitchen, she thought to herself that she should add extra meat to Havel’s soup.
‘Kids need to eat well.’
Of course, there was another reason too.
‘Because he’ll have something huge to do soon.’
Something incredibly huge.
Something truly enormous.
The moment Prina stepped into the kitchen, her coworkers crowded around her.
Perfect timing.
“Guys, there’s an order—”
“Prina, I think Havel likes you.”
“Kgh—!”
Startled by the comment, Prina bit her tongue.
“That’s great, Prina! Forget that weird ex-boyfriend already and just date him instead!”
What kind of horrifying thing are you saying?
“Seriously. Havel might be younger, but he’s one of the most handsome guys I’ve ever seen.”
That part was true.
Because he was the protagonist. His character design was absurd.
It almost looked like a white halo surrounded him.
“Don’t you feel like it’d be such a waste otherwise?”
Not at all.
‘Anyway, in a few months, Havel won’t even remember us anymore.’
Because he would soon…
Experience “regression.”
He would become trapped in an endless cycle he could never escape.
It wouldn’t be long before those painfully clear eyes became clouded with horrifying darkness.
Perhaps that was why recently Prina found it difficult to look directly into his pure gaze.
Because there was nothing she could do to stop it.
In the bloody future that awaited—
Even knowing that all the coworkers laughing and chatting with her now would eventually die.
…There was nothing she could do.
