Chapter 145
Memories returning one by one.
This was evidence that Pudding was successfully breaking down the walls of the seal.
Being just a divine beast, it couldn’t completely remove the seal itself, but…
The images of kidnapped children. Contact with sacred objects. Repeated encounters with Artoas. The feelings contained in the anklet.
Numerous mediums successively struck the walls that Pudding had worked hard to weaken, and began breaking them down one by one.
And…
Hehe. It’s almost done now.
“Krung.”
Pudding, exploring Angelina’s body with the Sun’s power, closed its eyes with a contented snort.
Only one remains.
Once this is undone, the Sun Lady will become the perfect Sun Lady again.
Thinking that and then…
Huh? But the Sun Lady is already perfect?
Arguing with its own thoughts…
Huh, but she’s still in pain. The power’s rampage isn’t good.
Then offering a different opinion to itself…
Right, everything needs to be undone so she can use her power freely. Then she won’t be in pain and will smile more often.
Secretly worrying and anticipating…
But the last wall is too difficult and solid. How do I break this one? Nng.
Pudding was constantly shifting between contentment and gloominess…
“Mmm…”
Eventually, it stopped its thoughts at Angelina’s moan.
As she tossed and turned in its embrace for a while before opening her eyes, Pudding’s mood improved again, and it curled up more to tuck her further into its embrace.
Hehe, I love the Sun Lady.
One way or another, the conclusion was always the same.
***
“Krung.”
Angelina came to her senses at the sound of Pudding’s cute snort.
“Mmm…”
When she opened her eyes, unlike the dream where she couldn’t see what was in front of her, the room came clearly into view. Hugging Pudding’s tail that lay across her body made her feel languid and comfortable.
But she couldn’t continue sleeping.
She slowly raised herself up.
Looking around, she saw Haley sleeping face down on the bed and Laura lying on a sofa in one corner of the room, resting her eyes.
It seemed that because she had suddenly burst into tears, neither of them had been able to leave and had stayed by her side all night.
‘I’m sorry.’
They were always so kind to her.
As she stirred, Angelina discovered that she was still clutching the anklet tightly.
“…Blake.”
She had always wondered if that boy from the Dark Forest was indeed the Duke, and if she was truly “that child” the Duke remembered.
It seemed right, but she couldn’t be certain, so she couldn’t bring it up or find a way to prove it.
But to think that the proof had been right here all along.
She never dreamed that the anklet she habitually touched whenever she felt anxious was the one he had given her.
‘When I think about it, it’s obvious.’
It was foolish of her to have thought that such a humble cord anklet was something her brother had given her.
Unless it was a glamorous anklet studded with diamonds, there was no way Ante Flaubert would have given her something like this.
‘The nightmare I kept having wasn’t about my brother after all.’
Additionally, Angelina discovered the identity of the nightmare that had been tormenting her since returning from the Dark Forest.
After the Order’s priest abandoned her in the Dark Forest, Angelina had nearly died several times.
With her ankle caught between rocks, her entire body’s skin torn, and burning with fever at that time.
Thinking it might be easier to just die and about to give up, the explosion she saw wasn’t Ante coming to rescue her.
It was Blake fighting for survival.
Her unconscious mind knew that the explosion would save her, so she dragged her painful legs and headed toward it with eyes that couldn’t see.
That’s how she had met Blake.
‘The reason he didn’t recognize me was because I was in terrible shape.’
She had dyed her hair blonde for a “role play” with Catherine, and had been instructed to keep her name secret, so she had kept her mouth firmly shut.
Her eyes were consumed by poison, her clothing was in tatters, and her entire body and face were covered in wounds, with not a single part unscathed.
If he remembered her appearance then, it was natural that he wouldn’t recognize her now.
“Blake.”
Her lips calling his name in the dream.
It was a name as sweet as having candy in her mouth.
“My lady!”
Haley, who had woken up, jumped to her feet.
“Did you sleep well?”
She asked, sitting back down awkwardly, embarrassed by her startled reaction. Seeing her concern made Angelina feel apologetic.
Laura, who had also awakened at Haley’s voice, approached the bed.
“Yes. I slept very well.”
Angelina smiled prettily.
“Thanks to both of you.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Haley let out a sigh of relief, and Laura examined Angelina’s expression once more.
But she looked happier than ever before, and it wasn’t a manufactured smile, so Laura could also put her mind at ease.
“The Marquis asked us to let him know when you woke up.”
“My brother?”
“He said he has something to discuss with you at lunch.”
“That’s perfect. I have something to tell him, too.”
She thought her brother should probably know about what happened in the Dark Forest.
Even though he might not want to hear about what the Order had done, she wanted him to know about Blake’s efforts to protect her.
“And Haley, I want to repair this anklet. Can you help me?”
“Of course! I can even add artifact functions for you.”
“That won’t be necessary… Anyway, please have it done before the ball.”
“Yes!”
Angelina’s gloomy mood from yesterday had completely disappeared.
‘That’s right, there’s still a year left.’
Think only of the good things. Only the good things.
She resolved to try to think in the most positive direction possible.
21. Thank You for Protecting Me
Inside the carriage heading to the palace.
“It’s a bit disappointing that I can’t bring Pudding.”
Angelina said, looking at the empty seat beside her.
“No matter how well-trained a beast is, the palace wouldn’t allow it. If every noble brought one, it would turn into a zoo rather than a ball.”
Ante, sitting across from her, replied.
Then he moved to sit beside Angelina. He was trying to fill Pudding’s empty spot.
“But saying such things in front of me, are you trying to make me jealous of even that pea-sized creature?”
He took Angelina’s hand and placed it on his heart, then leaned his head against her.
“Is your brother not enough?”
“There you go again.”
But Angelina tapped his lips with her finger, scolding him playfully.
“You said there was no need to be upset about not being able to enjoy the birthday you prepared together, but were you actually trying to make me uncomfortable like this?”
“I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I’m just upset.”
Her eyes, which used to look only at him while calling “brother, brother,” had started to include other things one by one, and now those things had grown to be as significant as himself.
‘I should have buried him neatly when he first entered the Dark Forest.’
Ante recalled the time when Blake was crossing the Dark Forest to meet him.
If he had dealt with him then, he wouldn’t be feeling this unpleasant now.
His fingers were already fiddling with Angelina’s earrings. He could feel the faint holy power and weak but clean magical power contained in them.
Without asking, he knew this came from the two subordinates that Blake Kadenhart always kept with him.
Though no extraordinary technique was used, he could sense minor fatigue-relieving effects and temperature control magic.
‘Such childish toys.’
If it were him, he would have made them into defensive artifacts of the century.
But Ante deliberately didn’t mention this to Angelina.
She was the type of girl who would say that the thoughts put into making them were more important than the strength of the power contained within.
Who would benefit from telling her such things?
‘Despite his dull appearance, he chose these well.’
However, what truly annoyed him wasn’t the power contained in them, but the fact that these earrings suited Angelina so perfectly.
It was very unpleasant to know how much that rigid man must have pondered, how long he must have kept Angelina in his gaze.
‘What an unpleasant fellow anyway.’
Since he was someone who had received the Sun’s special attention even when he was Artoas, it was perhaps natural for him, as Zeplictus, to be irritated.
“Then you can just stick close to me and make it more fun to match how upset you are.”
“True.”
But with just one of Angelina’s coquettish smiles, all his accumulated complaints melted away, so one way or another, this was a battle Ante was destined to lose.
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