Chapter 100
My body, tightly embraced by him, complained of discomfort. His arms, firmly locked around my back, wouldn’t release me no matter how much I struggled.
I hadn’t wanted to learn about the strength difference between us as adults this way.
He kept me pressed against him, preventing me from seeing his face, and remained motionless. His occasionally trembling breath tickled my ear.
“Liat, Tristan… I thought you had been taken, too. I…”
The sound of his tensely pounding heart reached me. Instead of adding words, I stroked Lucas’s shoulders to help him calm down.
Had I made Lucas feel the sensation of losing another precious person? Very slowly, his heartbeat settled back to its normal rate.
Lucas rubbed his wet cheek against mine and lowered his eyes. I whispered softly in his ear.
“Yes. I understand, Lucas. Tristan will be fine.”
“An official notice came from the imperial palace. They said Tristan embezzled research materials, but it’s just an excuse. They probably want to detain him.”
That’s not just an excuse.
Tristan really had embezzled research materials. Since they arrested him based on something he actually did, they must have prepared thoroughly.
‘This won’t be easy.’
It might be harder than expected to get Tristan released. I should have stopped Tristan before this happened!
It was right after Tristan had started working at the magic tower.
“Tristan, what did you make this magical tool from? It’s cute, but I don’t think you’ll get research funding for it.”
“I made it from leftover materials. They would have all been discarded anyway.”
“You crazy person. You embezzled materials to make dancing dolls?”
“It’s better not to waste materials! Ouch! Don’t hit my back!”
Lucas seemed unaware of what Tristan had done. Despite having plenty of money, he caused trouble in the strangest places. I had let it slide because he looked so sad about wasting materials.
I whispered to Lucas, who was clinging to me like a child.
“Nothing bad will happen to Tristan. Michael promised he would handle it safely.”
That was why I could maintain my composure. Without that promise, I might have tried to rescue Tristan regardless of any plans.
Despite having grown incredibly strong, Lucas still showed his vulnerable side to me, which made me feel sorry for him. As I patted his back with sympathy, Lucas asked in a gloomy voice.
“Did you meet Michael?”
“Yes. It turns out Michael has been in contact with Tristan all along.”
“That, that bastard deceived me!”
“Since he said he received advance notice about this incident from Michael, Tristan probably has his own countermeasures.”
…He must have countermeasures, right?
Though I said it, I couldn’t completely trust it. Lucas, grinding his teeth, muttered some obscure curse toward Tristan.
He seemed to have learned it from the insults I often directed at Tristan.
“Sea anemone, sea cucumber, sea squirt of a colt.”
“Lucas. How far have the negotiations regarding the Grand Duke progressed?”
“No progress. The imperial family is being stubborn, saying their investigation isn’t complete.”
“I’m planning to meet the Saint to try to persuade her about this matter.”
I added that we should each do our best. Given the situation, Lucas probably wouldn’t oppose my meeting with the Saint.
Since Lucas seemed calmer now, I was about to ask him to let me go. Then I heard a cool metallic sound at my ear.
Clink.
An unfamiliar bracelet had been fastened to my wrist. When I checked the magic on the bracelet, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The bracelet he had put on me was a magical tool that prevented me from leaving this room.
“I’m sorry, Liat. But if something happens to you too, I couldn’t bear it.”
“Lucas, I’ll explain everything properly, so please remove this.”
“No matter what you say, I can’t let you go. This is also a decision as the head of the family.”
“I’m just going to meet the Saint!”
“And that Saint is pressuring the Grand Duke’s family by joining hands with the imperial family.”
Even if I told him about the Saint’s oath made with divine power, I didn’t think his decision would change. Lucas released me and gave a self-deprecating smile.
“You can hate me, Liat.”
His expression, neither crying nor laughing, clearly revealed his fear. Returning to his cold face as the heir, he directed orders outside.
“Make sure no one enters or leaves! Guard thoroughly!”
“Yes! Understood!”
“Please leave the Grand Princess’s safety to us!”
“We’ll ensure not even a mouse can get in!”
He didn’t look back, clearly afraid to witness my expression. Watching Lucas’s grown back, I gauged the weight he carried.
‘Hate him? No way.’
It was my fault for not considering the burden Lucas would feel. If I were in Lucas’s position, I probably would have made a similar choice.
No one would want their only remaining family to come to harm.
‘Heishar. Please come.’
So I’d apologize later.
I called for Heishar, who would be somewhere in the Grand Duke’s residence. Wind blew into the room where I was, and with a golden light, it transformed into a human figure.
With his short hair tied in a small ponytail, he landed lightly on the floor.
***
How long has it been since I’ve seen Heishar in a form other than a wolf? I curiously looked at him dressed in a shirt and pants, like commoners wear.
Heishar was wearing round glasses with large lenses. Even with his bangs pushed back, the glasses made his impression much softer.
Receiving my gaze, Heishar asked in a gruff voice.
“What are you staring at? Surely you haven’t forgotten that I can take human form.”
“I just thought you preferred your wolf form.”
“I had to blend in with people because of the person I’m looking for.”
“Did you find that person?”
“No. But I did have some results. Look at this.”
What Heishar handed me was an old flyer painted with watercolors.
The flyer described a girl who could see the future. The prophecies the girl had supposedly made were too detailed to be considered ordinary fortune-telling advertisements.
There were many similar scams in my previous life. I looked back and forth between Heishar and the flyer and asked.
“Why this?”
“The girl in this flyer might be the one I’m looking for.”
“Judging by the condition of the flyer, she would be an adult by now?”
Yet Heishar had only recently begun searching for someone.
So I thought he was looking for someone who had just been born. Given that he could sense them by their energy, they were probably not human.
“That’s not what matters. I might not be able to sense the energy immediately. What’s important is the precognition.”
Heishar emphasized that what mattered was the ability to handle special powers despite not being of royal blood. I was focused on getting his help to meet the Saint, so I interrupted his explanation at an appropriate moment.
“Heishar, I’m sorry, but could you help me tomorrow?”
“With what?”
I showed Heishar the bracelet I was wearing.
“Why are you wearing such a troublesome thing? I wouldn’t have thought your brothers would allow this.”
“Lucas put it on me.”
“What happened while I was away? If that overprotective brother has confined you, it must be something serious.”
“Heishar, you know about the Saint, right?”
I explained the situation to him in general terms, leaving out the details about reincarnation or possession.
I had become friends with the newly appointed Saint and was trying to prevent the Grand Duke’s rebellion with her help. But the Saint had issued a negative prophecy about the Grand Duke, resulting in Tristan and the Grand Duke being detained at the imperial palace.
As an outsider, I didn’t need to hide the Grand Duke’s rebellion plans from him.
“Indeed, your guess is correct. Prophecies can be considered God’s nasty hobby.”
“So can I assume the Saint has been brainwashed by the prophecy?”
“Yes. She’s probably experiencing a conflict between two thoughts.”
Heishar said one was the idea that she shouldn’t stand in the way of the future seen in the prophecy, and the other was a compulsion driving specific actions.
“The futures seen in prophecies are usually devastating, but they are also futures that God desires, regardless of the direction.”
“So you’re saying they aren’t shown to prevent them.”
“Correct. What God wants would have been implanted in her mind separately from the prophecy.”
“Could that manifest as malice toward a specific person?”
“If God desires that person’s downfall, then probably yes.”
The Saint desires the Grand Duke’s downfall.
The weight of that emotion was too heavy to simply attribute it to him being the villain in the original story. The Saint’s incoherent words about detaining the Grand Duke to protect me were infused with her deep-seated animosity.
‘Persuasion might be difficult.’
Previous Saints also had distorted thinking regarding prophecies. Heishar added an explanation as if he understood what I was thinking.
“All the Saints I’ve seen were no different from dolls. But that’s also because there was no one around to tell them this fact.”
“When persuading the Saint, would it be okay to reveal Heishar’s existence?”
With a low sigh, he bent down and placed his hand on the top of my head. His hand, stroking left and right, was rough but affectionate.
All sorts of emotions appeared and subsided in his golden eyes.
“…I’ve watched you grow up for over ten years until you became an adult. Whether by choice or circumstance.”
“I know what you’re trying to say.”
“That was enough time for me to know that you’re a decent and unusual human.”
Heishar’s expression was tinged with a bit of guilt.
Before leaving to find ‘that person,’ Heishar had already told me. That the time to ‘keep the promise’ mentioned when we made the contract would come soon.
“You can kill me when you find the person you’re looking for.”
“…I intend to grant whatever you ask. Until I take your life.”
I hugged his waist at his roundabout permission to use him however I wanted. He was a bit awkward at first but soon hugged me back.
My wolf, who had been with me since childhood, had a gentle nature.
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