Chapter 4
In the original story, she committed countless evil deeds because of her obsession with the Crown Prince, only to ultimately meet a miserable and lonely death.
As she agonized over that memory, a question suddenly occurred to her.
‘But why did I even like His Highness the Crown Prince that much…?’
The Crown Prince was objectively handsome, but there was no reason for her to love him so desperately that she would risk her life and willingly march toward ruin.
And truthfully, it wasn’t as though Liria had never considered giving up on him before.
Honestly, when he rejected her the first time, her pride had been wounded quite badly, so she had tried to let him go.
But strangely enough, whenever she came to her senses, she would find herself chasing after the Crown Prince again.
It was never something she consciously chose to do.
She loved the Crown Prince as though she were possessed by something, or as though she were someone who simply had no choice but to love him.
In the past, whenever she started thinking about things like this, her thoughts would suddenly cut off as though someone had pulled the plug, and the subject would change.
But now, her mind remained perfectly clear.
It felt as though a curse had been lifted.
‘No matter what happens, I have to avoid the same ending as the book! And to do that, I need my Guide.’
Her end had come when she went on a rampage while imprisoned in an underground dungeon and was reduced to a handful of ashes.
She had never once received guiding directly from a Guide and had relied solely on suppressants until she developed an immunity to them. As a result, she had endured the full agony of her rampage with nothing to alleviate it.
Ordinarily, when Espers of the Berdia Empire reached adulthood, they went to the temple and formed an imprint with a Guide whose wavelength matched their own.
But Liria was an exception.
She had rejected the Guide meant for her, claiming she wanted to remain faithful to her love for the Crown Prince.
And of all people, the Guide the temple had found for her happened to be Prince Ian, the Crown Prince’s half-brother.
‘I was such an idiot. Who knows how badly I’ve damaged my body by refusing guiding all this time…’
Even if she escaped the fate of the villainess, there was no telling what would happen if she failed to resolve the problem of her rampages.
On top of that, Liria was an Esper with an unusual wavelength, so she couldn’t receive guiding from just anyone, and finding a compatible Guide was difficult.
Just as Vanessa was the only one for Alain, Ian was essentially the only one for Liria.
‘At least it’s a relief that His Highness likes me.’
In the original story, Ian had even infiltrated the underground dungeon in an attempt to save Liria, but he had arrived too late and ultimately failed to prevent her death.
If he had arrived just a little sooner, Liria might have survived.
If only he hadn’t been late.
* * *
‘That’s why I came to find him first this time, so he wouldn’t be late!’
After quickly and cleanly throwing away her feelings for the Crown Prince, Liria immediately made plans to bond with Ian.
He already had feelings for her, so if she just threw the doors of her heart wide open, then soon enough…
“What nonsense are you suddenly talking about?”
“What?”
“I never said I liked you, Ducal Lady.”
The agitation had vanished from Ian’s face, and he now looked perfectly composed and serious. His lowered blue eyes held the familiar chill they had carried ever since the day they first met at the temple, when Liria had rejected him to his face.
His unexpected reaction threw Liria into confusion.
‘What? That can’t be right. His Highness likes me… doesn’t he?’
Otherwise, there was no reason he would have come to her at the very end.
No reason he would have held the dying Liria and shed tears.
No reason he would have struggled desperately to save her somehow.
‘He clearly said he had feelings for me in the original story too… Is he denying it because he’s embarrassed?’
That was entirely possible.
Liria gave him a benevolent smile and lowered her voice further so no one nearby could hear.
“You don’t have to try so hard to lie.”
“I’m not.”
“It’s really okay. I’m ready to accept your feelings, Your Highness.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Oh! Don’t tell me… You don’t just like me, you love me?”
“Neither.”
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.