Chapter 18
By then, she knew it was already too late. Even if she awakened, she realized the days she could remain by his side were numbered. After that, she began to pray that Euphen’s fate would belong to someone else instead.
Lynette gazed quietly into the man’s crimson eyes. She knew all too well how much pain an Esper suffered without a Guide, so she could not simply abandon him.
“Guiding won’t work, but if you want me to hold your hand… that much is fine.”
“……”
“If it eases your heart, even just a little.”
That was the best she could offer.
Even if real guiding wasn’t possible, as long as Sillian believed Lynette was his ‘fated partner,’ even mere contact might bring him comfort. He already looked somewhat relieved now.
Sillian’s expression tightened.
“You mean to keep playing the fake Guide for Prince Euphen?”
“Yes.”
The muscles in his jaw clenched, his teeth grinding out a beast-like sound.
Knowing what he was about to say, Lynette spoke first.
“I know it must sound foolish. But His Highness the Imperial Prince needs me.”
“What that man needs is his ‘fated partner,’ not you!”
“At the very least, until he meets his fated partner, he’ll need me.”
“No matter how much pain they endure, an Esper will not die.”
“When he suffers, it hurts me even more!”
Because she loved him.
Not as a fated partner, not as anything else… but because she loved Euphen.
Even knowing what trials awaited her, she threw herself into them for the single thought that she didn’t want him to suffer. She willingly held his hand. At the very least, she resolved to stay by his side until the day his ‘true Guide’ awakened.
It was only because the face of the man she had seen before her regression was seared into her memory. Because seeing Euphen cry had torn her heart to shreds.
That was why she couldn’t leave.
‘Not that I could ever leave to begin with.’
She was an experiment subject, after all. On top of that, there was Shirin’s tracking magic.
Lynette glared into the crimson eyes. Realizing she had no intention of changing her mind, not even by a sliver, Sillian pressed his lips shut.
“If touching you brings me even a little peace of mind, I’ll lend you my hand. But that’s all.”
She pulled her hand away, brushed past him, leaving Sillian’s face twisted in pain. Whether from the anguish of his heart or the torment of his body, she could not tell. It only weighed heavier on her chest.
***
“Well, at least I got out.”
Lynette let out a short sigh.
It hadn’t even been a month since she came to the Imperial Castle, yet when she asked if she could go out, Shirin gave a mere nod of her head. She had been prepared to beg Euphen if it came to refusal, so it felt strange that he had allowed it so easily.
‘Does that mean I’ve earned his trust…?’
Or perhaps he was simply that confident in her magic.
Either way, it didn’t matter. She had no plans to run. The only reason she came outside the Imperial Castle was to find Eshar.
Eshar.
She couldn’t recall her surname precisely, but she knew she was the daughter of the Lera Merchant Guild.
Lynette tapped the tip of her shoe against the ground.
If she just went to the Lera Guild headquarters and asked to meet the guild master’s daughter, she would surely be refused. And wherever Eshar might go, it wasn’t somewhere a penniless maid could easily enter.
So she began walking slowly toward the district where the guild headquarters was located.
‘It’d be nice if I could just run into her by chance on the road.’
How had Euphen and Eshar first met again?
She tried to recall. She hadn’t witnessed the moment herself. She only learned of it after they had already confirmed they were each other’s ‘fated partner.’
Was it at a party? Normally Euphen wouldn’t have enjoyed dancing, but one of his few friends had apparently made a dance promise and then was unable to keep it.
So Euphen had stepped in as his friend’s dance partner instead, and the moment they touched…
‘Well. That was all it took.’
She had no desire to imagine the scene too vividly, and shook her head.
If Eshar had been invited to a party, then someday she would surely appear at the Imperial Castle. But Lynette couldn’t afford to wait until then. Even now, Euphen was visibly calmer thanks to guiding.
Sometimes, when she held Sillian’s hand in silence, she could see just how much a ‘Guide’ meant to an Esper. Guiding didn’t even work, yet just contact alone brought him such relief that he looked completely at peace.
So for Euphen, who had endured months of suffering, how irresistible must the existence of a ‘temporary’ Guide be…
If things went on like this, perhaps he would fall in love with her again. That, she couldn’t allow.
She held on to the faint hope that she might spot Eshar.
If fate insisted they would meet no matter what, then surely, by trying to hasten it, fate itself might intervene. Or perhaps she could act reckless and use the Imperial Prince’s name to barge in uninvited.
‘But then, how would I explain it?’
Eshar likely hadn’t awakened yet.
If she suddenly claimed she knew everything about the future, that she was Euphen’s fate… she would be lucky just to avoid being thrown out.
She couldn’t pretend to be a prophet either…
Lost in her own worries, she sighed deeply and turned the corner, only to crash hard into someone.
“Ah!”
“Ouch!”
Both of them let out a cry as they stumbled and fell backward.
What now, another misfortune?
Frowning, Lynette checked the person she had run into, and muttered blankly,
“Found you.”
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