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Chapter 57
I gave up on trying to climb down, since Calix refused to yield even a single word.
I was afraid of heights, yes, but I didn’t think he would ever let me fall so carelessly.
“So, are you ever going to tell me why you’re uneasy?”
He still hadn’t let it go.
“No.”
I cut him off without hesitation, and he deliberately drooped his eyes like a sulky child.
“I wonder what I have to do to gain your trust…”
“You don’t remember nearly killing me?”
The fear of that moment in the garden came rushing back, and my tone grew sharp.
…Though, if we’re counting properly, the original Lilith had tried to kill him more times than the other way around.
“Tayne’s been released,” I muttered, finally confessing one of the worries gnawing at me.
“I heard. What’s the emperor even thinking?”
“They say some priest helped him.”
“Flood, you mean.”
“Flood?”
The unfamiliar name made me tilt my head.
“The imperial court’s exclusive priest. Whenever a royal falls ill, he’s the one who treats them. Thanks to that, he holds the emperor’s complete trust—every bit of it.”
That was unexpectedly valuable information.
I would prefer never to meet or investigate him, but… just in case, I silently repeated the name Flood over and over, committing it to memory.
“So when are you going to let me down?”
I twisted and wriggled, but Calix didn’t give me even the smallest opening.
It was obvious now—he’d climbed all the way up here on purpose. He knew I could never get down on my own.
Come to think of it, he’d done the same before. When I refused to go home with him, he simply dismissed my carriage.
Was he afraid I’d run away because I disliked him? Not that he was wrong…
“Until I feel better.”
“…Not when I’m in the mood?”
“What makes me happy should make you happy too.”
“Spouting nonsense again.”
I smacked his thigh with my palm, telling him to get a grip. He made a pained face, but it was obviously exaggerated.
“What are the guards doing, anyway? Why haven’t they dragged you back to the First Prince’s palace?”
“They won’t find us for another hour and thirty-four minutes.”
Why so precise?
“After over ten years on the run, precision becomes second nature,” he added, as if reading my thoughts.
“One hour and thirty-something minutes?”
The oddly exact number prickled at me, stirring a bad premonition.
“You’re not planning to hold me captive that whole time, are you?”
He only smiled brightly, offering no answer.
Was he serious? Really? I was so choked with words I could only glare at him. He remained utterly relaxed.
“…You’ve been running around inside the palace for over ten years?”
They said the Empress Dowager and Reshel had locked him up in the First Prince’s quarters. For him to move so freely now, he must have some extraordinary skill.
I couldn’t help but envy him. With that kind of ability, leaving the Empire would be child’s play. Unlike me, he didn’t have to live in constant fear of being discovered.
“Why don’t you just run away outside the Empire, then?” I sneered, masking my envy with mockery.
“Well…”
His gaze fixed on me strangely, almost piercingly.
“There’s something I can’t leave behind. Stupid as it is, it still weighs on me.”
His answer was unexpectedly earnest. I stared into those dark red eyes.
“Well, at least you know you’re stupid. That’s a relief.”
I said it with deliberate malice. He only let out a dry chuckle.
“Oh, right.”
Another worry crossed my mind.
“And… the emperor asked me if I’d consider returning to the palace.”
Even now, the suggestion felt troublesome.
“He’s finally lost his mind,” Calix muttered, irritation clear. He almost seemed more upset than I was.
“You can really say that about your own father?”
He gave a sharp snort.
“I’ve never once thought of that man as a father. And I doubt he’s ever thought of me as his son.”
His face darkened. Clearly, his resentment toward the emperor ran deep.
Reshel had felt the same way…
I remembered how Reshel had been locked away in Oz throughout her childhood. The emperor had never been a good father to anyone.
“If he tries to imprison you again…” Calix trailed off, seriously contemplating.
“…Maybe I’ll just bring this decrepit Empress’s Palace crashing down. That should make my point.”
“Do you always think so violently?”
“What can I say? I’m a wastrel, remember?”
“Would you stop clinging to that already?”
So childish for his age! I almost scolded him outright—then froze.
“Wait. This is the Empress’s Palace?”
“You didn’t know?”
It was shabby—so run-down it looked ready to collapse any moment. Hard to believe it was once the residence of the empress, especially considering how close it was to the emperor’s palace.
“Hmm… You’ve forgotten a lot for someone who used to live here.”
“That’s just bias talking.”
Flustered, I snapped at him, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. I glared right back, refusing to lose.
“Shall we go down now?”
“Already?”
He sounded surprised, since not even thirty minutes had passed.
“No, I mean—let’s hurry and get down.”
He seemed tempted to use my words as an excuse to linger, but eventually he rose with me in his arms.
“Move it.”
Once my feet touched the ground, I poked his shoulder, urging him to leave. Calix turned away without hesitation, disappearing as if he had no regrets.
Well. At least I completed the task the emperor gave me.
I stretched out my stiff body. Keeping myself tense so I wouldn’t slip had strained my waist.
Still… do I feel a little better now?
It was certainly better than carrying my anxieties alone.
But another thought crept in.
How long will this last?
Compared to our first meeting, we’d grown much closer. Yet we were bound to drift apart again.
The ball was over, and surely his heart still lay with Olivia. Naturally…
The flow of the world never strayed far from the original story.
If it happens, I won’t be hurt.
I’d known from the start how this story was meant to end.
By nightfall, as dawn approached, the gates of Pallium shut tight. The once-crowded square now echoed only with the chirping of insects.
There, beneath a faint glow of light, Saint leafed through a booklet. Scattered all around him were brochures of tourist attractions.
“Rust…”
He muttered the name of a town, but tossed the booklet aside with a frown.
He was trying to decide where to take Lilith tomorrow. But to him, scenery was all the same, and the decision had plagued him all day.
“That busybody shouldn’t have given me this,” he grumbled.
Originally, he hadn’t intended to spend so long on this.
But somehow Lake had found out he was asking the priests for advice, and after much pestering, had thrust the booklets into his hands.
Saint remembered Lake’s words:
‘Please treat the young lady well—no matter what!’
He’d even urged him to act silly if Lilith seemed down.
Naturally, Saint had refused. But after thirty minutes of nagging, he’d been forced to nod along.
So where should I take her?
He had no sense of criteria.
He had no personal likes or dislikes, had never asked about others’ preferences, and had never gone anywhere together with someone else.
He had always simply accepted whatever others offered. He had never chosen his own path.
Lost in thought, the hand flipping through pages slowed. His focus slipped, and the glowing butterfly he had conjured with magic flickered out.
The darkness deepened. Saint frowned, then waved his hand.
From the air, a luminous-feathered bird emerged, flapping its wings before settling on the statue in the center of the square.
It made no sound, not being alive, but tilted its head like a real bird.
Saint watched quietly, his mind drifting back to the past.
Their first meeting had been from about this same distance.
That day, he’d heard shouting loud enough to shake the temple. Curious, he had gone to see—only to find a noble girl making a scene in the courtyard.
She had loudly demanded to take one of the temple’s knights for her personal guard. He had laughed at the absurdity—until he heard she had actually gone through with it. Then he’d been appalled.
He had never imagined they would meet again.
Nor that she would one day show him such a completely different side of herself.
“…It wasn’t just curiosity.”
Saint realized he needed to revise the conclusion he’d reached back in the library.
