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Chapter: 52
I shot a sharp glance at Vin and then continued toward the dormitory.
Footsteps followed.
They were surprisingly blatant, as if there was no intention to hide them at all.
But I pretended not to notice, not even glancing back, and quickened my pace.
Even so, a faint smile inevitably tugged at my lips.
Wasn’t this just like a normal couple?
A girl returning home late at night, and a boy offering to see her safely.
Though “seeing her home” was a stretch, given how far behind he was.
…If I weren’t dead, if I had no reason to push him away, Vin would probably be walking beside me instead of trailing behind.
Maybe that’s why I dreamed that night of walking side by side with Vin, holding hands.
In that dream, I looked utterly happy.
Without hiding my emotions like I do now, I poured my feelings out completely to Vin.
My gaze was soft, a constant smile lingering at my lips.
We were in love.
When I woke and realized it was a dream, I cried without realizing it—a love so overwhelmingly blissful.
“Here you are.”
Rafel, who had been hiding behind a tree in the palace garden, jumped at the sudden voice.
This was a place she had come to often whenever her mind was restless, ever since long ago.
Even though it was part of the royal palace’s garden, it was tucked away in such a remote corner, and considered beneath the palace’s prestige, that even the gardeners ignored it. Now, only Rafel knew of this place.
And yet someone appeared here? And even spoke to her?
Unless they had been following her, it was impossible.
But if they were following, they would surely have sensed her presence.
Moreover, the person appeared long after Rafel had settled in this spot.
It was as if they could know her exact location even from afar.
“Princess Siena Houston Serome.”
Rafel stepped down from the tree and gave proper respect to the prisoner she had brought.
Siena bent slightly and smiled faintly.
“You’re probably wondering how I found this place, right? I’ll answer that… if you answer my question first.”
Sometimes, thoughts of everyone in the world would flow into Rafel’s mind.
Especially, she could clearly sense anything that would happen to her. But that was all in the past.
Ever since that damned Doppelganger, Baek Mona, had drained a bit of her power, she could no longer feel the thoughts of others.
Before, she could sense not only the opponent’s hand but also how they regarded her.
Now, she could perceive nothing, just like an ordinary person.
It felt hopeless, as if the future were a pitch-dark void.
She didn’t know if what was coming would benefit her or harm her.
Was human life always so powerless?
“…What question?”
“Tell me the order the Crown Prince gave to Sir Irilin Heder.”
“She ordered you to eliminate her,” Rafel replied.
From the moment she had wavered toward an enemy she was supposed to eliminate, Rafel had lost interest in the Crown Prince.
He was the kind of man who expected repayment if he helped.
If she tried to eliminate Baek Mona, he would interfere.
There was no reason to protect the secret of a discarded hand, so Rafel answered honestly.
Siena seemed both startled and satisfied at the straightforward answer.
“Good. Then I’ll tell you how I found the Earl. The answer—was the drink I gave him as a gift.”
“John Marston?”
That melon-flavored fruit liquor?
I had suspected poison because it was an unusual gift from someone I wasn’t close to, but it seemed safe, so I drank it…
So that drink had something to do with it after all.
“I didn’t do anything to the drink. Instead, I added a substance to the tea I drank that sharply heightened my sense of smell. I only smelled the melon aroma and found this place.”
To think of such a method to avoid detection of the drug… she was clever.
Rafel began to like Siena.
“So, what is the purpose of finding me, going to such lengths?”
“Same as yours.”
Rafel’s dark eyes gleamed with a shiver of interest, curving in intrigue.
She had figured out her purpose from just that brief conversation!
Not only smart, but extremely perceptive.
Unlike the weak Crown Prince, easily swayed by trivial affection—this one was serious.
The next day, as soon as training ended, Siena came again, and then—
“Dinner…”
She cried.
“Dinner…”
Vin, the other “dinner monster,” requested to join as well.
Rafel had disappeared somewhere for unknown reasons, and there were no other plans to serve as an excuse, so I agreed to their request.
And now…
“Shall I order salmon salad and cheese salad?”
“And medium-well, too.”
Siena and Vin spoke in turn.
Siena looked at Vin blankly.
“…What’s medium-well?”
“Steak. Strip loin cut.”
Vin’s puppy-like eyes shone brightly at me.
Apparently, after asking Wendy, Vin had learned that the steak I enjoyed most was a medium-well strip loin.
I didn’t know the cut; I just ate it because it was delicious, and I wasn’t particularly fond of steak—I could eat anything well.
“I don’t understand why in the Albert Empire, which loves swords so much that they spar instead of dancing at parties, swordsmanship is so rare here.”
After ordering, Siena spoke.
Excited, I picked up a spoon in each hand to reply.
“It’s not easy to surpass the male knights.”
“But Sir Heder, you already surpassed them and took the party escort duty at the founding celebration, right?”
Siena fixed her gaze on my hand, neatly adjusting her napkin.
Embarrassed, I set down the spoons.
“That’s impressive. To accomplish something so difficult.”
“You flatter me.”
“Could I ever be like you?”
No. I was the model for the strongest in the world; I had to be strong. Siena wasn’t, nor was she set to have talent with the sword.
I hesitated, unable to answer, and Siena pouted, lowering her head.
“I guess… it’s impossible? Unlike you, I have no talent, and my parents never loved me.”
What does that have to do with anything?
At that moment, Vin quietly spoke.
“You say things that don’t make sense. How does not being loved by your parents matter?”
“I grew up unloved, so I have no confidence.”
Did Siena have that backstory?
Hmm… she was an unimportant character, so she probably had no past set.
Still, what character has no past at all?
“Confidence… that’s something I also didn’t have.”
When I spoke, Siena’s eyes widened.
“Sir Heder, you too?”
“Yes. There was a time I feared drawing my sword. But I overcame it with effort.”
“Why… what happened?”
“Hmm, just something that happened.”
I couldn’t say it was the accident before possession, so I dodged the question.
Fortunately, Siena didn’t press further and rested her chin in her hands, deep in thought.
Vin added another remark.
“I think confidence comes from the results of the ‘effort’ you make for yourself.”
“…But I just want to be loved without doing anything special.”
Siena’s eyes rolled helplessly.
Hm? So she wants love without effort?
“Is there anyone in this world who would love me?”
“There must be. Everyone is a lovable being.”
Vin said this, looking at me with a meaningful smile.
Everyone is a lovable being.
I said that seven years ago.
At thirteen, a memory so young, yet Vin seemed to treasure it greatly.
…No wonder she tried to find me even by going to war.
What does that girl see in me?
“There must be. Everyone is a lovable being.”
Hearing that from Vin, Siena felt as if Vin had gently caressed her rotten, crumbling heart.
There was a wish she had always hidden, trying not to hope—
To hear that it was all right, that she had done nothing wrong, and she deserved to be loved.
Vin didn’t say it exactly, but she interpreted it that way.
She knew it was an exaggeration, that it wasn’t extraordinary words—but her frozen heart, drawn by fate, was pierced by the presence before her, shattering its ice.
The warmth of that arrow made her heart pound violently.
Had she ever felt such trembling before? No. Absolutely not.
In 21 years, she had never felt this emotion. Yet Siena was not confused by it.
She was not too young to be lost because it was her first time. She immediately realized:
I’ve fallen in love with Vin Ortega.
That’s why I had no interest in other women.
“Ah, just so you don’t misunderstand. When I say ‘lovable,’ you know I mean it in the way you think, right? Don’t get the wrong idea. It would be unpleasant.”
Yet Vin’s gaze, which claimed everyone was lovable, had always stayed fixed on one person—Sir Irilin.
