WLYV 56

CHapter 56

 Lorenia at 29 Years Old

Normally, he would meet her gaze and smile with his eyes, but today he avoided her eyes. His face and ears stayed red, like someone with a fever. More than anything, he kept glancing nervously at her, far more than usual.

They talked as they always did. Lorenia tried to lean against Taishar, who sat beside her, but he startled and pulled away. A pang of disappointment hit her.

“I—I’m sorry. My heart isn’t doing well right now.”
“Your heart? What do you mean? Are you ill, Marquis Spencer?”
“When Lady Lorenia is near, my heart beats irregularly… It’s nothing serious. Or, well, maybe it is—but it’s nothing you need to worry about. It’s my problem.”

Lorenia couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

“Why are you talking so strangely today…? Did something happen to you, Marquis Spencer? Leo?”

Meow.

Setting aside the confusion Taishar had caused, Lorenia closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

After a while, she felt as if her body were slowly sinking into water. Then she opened her eyes.

She awoke in an unfamiliar room. Rising to her feet, she looked out the large window before her. A white sea spread out beyond it—clouds, sunlight, blue waves, and gulls in flight. It was peaceful and beautiful.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of knocking, Lorenia turned toward the door and caught sight of herself in a mirror. Before she could even take in her gaunt, thin body, the door opened and a familiar voice entered her ears.

“Lady Lorenia, I’ve brought your meal.”
“Meal? What do you mean? Where am I? Is this… a dream?”

She was sure she had fallen asleep beside Leo in bed. Could it already be morning? But the room was too strange, and Taishar’s clothes were not his usual ones—he wore black trousers, a vest, and a white shirt instead of his formal uniform.

A gust of strong wind made Lorenia shut her eyes tight. When she opened them again, she looked down at herself—she was still in the beige nightgown she’d worn before sleeping.

Raising her head, she saw herself standing in front of her. Another Lorenia, gazing out the window and then turning her eyes toward Taishar.

Confusion flooded her.

‘What is this? Am I dreaming?’

She stepped back, watching the unfamiliarly dressed Taishar and the frail version of herself, unsure of what else to do.

“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, Marquis Spencer.”
“I’m no longer a marquis. Please, just call me Taishar.”
“Call you by name?”
“Yes.”
“Taishar… like this?”
“Yes. Please call me that from now on. Are you hungry? Today I’ve brought food you can chew.”
“So no more porridge?”
“I only gave you porridge the past two days because, after so long starving in that prison, your stomach needed time to adjust.”
“I don’t mind porridge. I lived on fish or oat porridge for twenty-nine years. Before you rescued me, I was nearly starving to death.”

At the words ‘for twenty-nine years’, Lorenia gasped in shock.

“Was it Emperor Luans who made you live like that?”

The frail Lorenia nodded. Taishar’s eyes filled with pain, and soon tears fell.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t rescue you sooner. I should’ve taken you away at that banquet, even if I had to kidnap you. Then none of this would have happened…”
“No, it’s all right. I was dying anyway. In that prison cell, cut off from even a sliver of light, I had given up on everything. But you came for me.”

Taishar’s hands trembled in anger.

“Why are your hands shaking? Are you cold?”
“No. Please, eat.”

The 29-year-old Lorenia took the food from him and began eating desperately with both hands. But her small stomach couldn’t handle it, and soon she vomited.

“Your body can’t process solid food yet after starving so long. I’m afraid you’ll need porridge again until you recover.”

He spoke sadly.

“Yes. I suppose I should. I’m sorry… the food is wasted.”
“It’s all right.”

The 29-year-old Lorenia looked around awkwardly, clearly hesitant to speak.

“Is there something you wish to say?”
“Taishar… Can I really stop Emperor Luans? Is there something I can do? I’m afraid I’ll only be a burden.”
“Right now, your job is to eat, sleep, and get healthy. You need strength before you can fight.”
“I’m just… anxious.”
“Luans is busy with preparations for his state marriage to the Grand Saintess of the Temple of Goddess Ella next month. Thanks to that, he won’t be making any moves soon. That gave me the chance to save you, so for now, focus on recovering.”

Watching the two—Taishar and her older self—Lorenia began to piece things together. This must be a vision of the future she once saw. She remembered the last vision ending with Taishar rescuing her from that dark prison. This scene was clearly what came after.

“Truly, I’m just grateful you survived that prison. Soon I’ll bring you a tonic brewed with healing herbs. You must drink it all. Afterward, I’ll make hot cocoa with marshmallows for you.”
“Oh, Taishar, I had a strange dream yesterday.”
“What kind of dream?”
“I dreamed I went back in time—to when I was nineteen.”
“That’s an interesting dream.”
“It made me happy, because in the dream, wishing to go back in time actually came true.”

Hearing this, Lorenia covered her mouth in shock. The amethyst pendant around her neck began to glow. She stared at it.

‘What are you trying to show me?’

Of course, the pendant gave no answer. Confusion swirled in her violet eyes.

‘What are you trying to tell me?’

Still bewildered, Lorenia kept watching the other two—herself and Taishar.

Another fierce gust of wind rose. Their voices blurred and faded. Lorenia raised her arm to shield her face, but her body was pushed backward. She squeezed her eyes shut—

—and when she opened them again—

Meow.

Leo’s persistent mewing filled her ears. Lorenia turned her head slightly; sunlight was streaming in between the blackout curtains.

Meow.

“It really was a dream.”

She got up at once and found the black jewelry box Magus had given her. Opening it, she took out the amethyst shards, then removed the glowing amethyst necklace from her neck and placed it over them.

Nothing happened. Lorenia sighed. The necklace had clearly wanted to tell her something. This was already the second time it had shown her a vision of a tragic future.

The first time had been after the duel of honor between Luans and Lorirols. Thanks to that vision, she’d been able to erase her distrust of Taishar.

Because she stopped doubting him, she’d been able to trust both Magus and Taishar—and confess the truth about the future she had seen.

“No matter how many futures I see, Prince Luans always becomes emperor.”
“Then that means he succeeds in his rebellion?”
“Not a rebellion—an assassination. He succeeds in that.”
“Which means His Highness Crown Prince Adrian… dies?”
“Yes. Only through death can a new crown prince be named. Only when the emperor dies can a new emperor inherit the throne.”
“I see…”
“Magus, I intend to twist Prince Luans’s future.”

Magus had been surprised at first—but he believed her completely.

“What did I miss in that dream? It must have been showing me something important.”

The amethyst necklace had been helping her see the future since she first awakened her power at nineteen. At first she thought the power came from the jewel, but learning the truth of the past had taught her it was her own ability.

Even so, Lorenia believed the amethyst had a will of its own.

It hadn’t shone when she met Taishar. Perhaps, seeing how she continued to doubt him, it had used its power to forcefully show her a future where she could learn to trust him.

And not only that—it had revealed that she was born from love between her parents, Musila and Cain. She had come to think of the amethyst as a guide, keeping her from straying off the right path.

So yes—she believed it had consciousness. And by showing her this second future, it must have been trying to tell her something again. There was no other explanation.

“It can’t be that it just showed me that for nothing.”

Ignoring her tangled red hair, Lorenia lay back down on the bed, muttering to herself. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall the conversation between her older self and Taishar in that untwisted future.

No answers came—only a swirl of thoughts in her head.

“At times like this…”

She suddenly sat up and shook the yellow bell on the bedside table. The door opened, and Ameline entered.

“Lady Lorenia, you’re up early today.”
“Good morning, Ameline. I want to see Marquis Spencer right now.”
“The master?”

Lorenia nodded. If her guess was right…

“It’s urgent, Ameline.”