Chapter 2
“Your Highness.”
The pain that had dominated her entire body began to slowly fade. Even breathing had been unbearable, but now, it felt a little easier.
But she knew this wasn’t a sign of recovery.
It was probably that brief flicker just before death.
Lynette smiled faintly, her cheeks soaked with both Euphen’s tears and her own cold sweat.
“Can I… call your name?”
At her words, the man’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he nodded over and over.
“You can call me as much as you want. As much as you wish. No, call me forever. Today, tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now… for the rest of your life.”
“Euphen.”
Not ‘Your Highness’, not ‘Lord Euphen’. Just Euphen.
Calling him that made it feel as if they were just a man and a woman.
As if he were someone she could reach out and touch… if she dared.
“Please smile.”
Lynette smiled softly. Her body felt light, as if it could float away.
She was glad she could smile at the very end. At least she wouldn’t have to show him a face twisted in pain.
If this was the end, she wanted to remain in his memory with a smile.
The man who had been staring blankly at her closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again. She felt a heavy tear fall onto her cheek.
Euphen forced his lips into a smile, but his eyes were still crying.
‘Please, don’t cry because of me.’
The words spun endlessly in her mouth. The fact that this man was crying for her was heartbreaking, fulfilling, sorrowful, and painful all at once.
She wanted to raise her hand and touch his cheek, but her arm wouldn’t move. Lynette’s fingertips twitched faintly as she simply gazed at Euphen, who was struggling to smile.
“……”
Her mouth opened, but no voice came out.
She had wanted to tell him, ‘Thanks to you, I was happy.’
But her voice disappeared first, and her vision went black. As she exhaled what would be her final breath, all strength drained from her body.
“Lynette, Lynette!”
She could barely feel the sensation of being shaken anymore. A desperate cry, thick with grief, pierced her ears.
‘I hope he doesn’t grieve too much.’
Just a little. Just grieve… a little bit.
Even the sounds in her ears began to fade away.
“Lynette, you can’t leave like this!”
Euphen’s distant voice was the last thing she heard before all her senses were cut off and her consciousness plummeted into pitch darkness.
***
“Get up.”
At the sound of a harsh, metallic voice, Lynette’s eyes snapped open.
“Gasp…….”
She took a sharp breath in, then exhaled. She could feel her lungs swelling so much it hurt, then deflating again.
“Get up. Out.”
The emotionless voice came again, and only then did she look around. It was the inside of a black prison wagon, dark like a dungeon.
A narrow space reeking of filth. The tattered, worn-out clothes draped over her body.
‘This place…….’
Memories she had buried beneath happy moments began to crawl back to the surface.
“Didn’t you hear me say get out?”
Perhaps irritated by her slowness, a large man banged his fist loudly against the carriage in frustration.
Lynette flinched and slowly rose to her feet. When she looked down at her hands, she saw bony, dirty fingers.
“Get out!”
His roar, triggered by her sluggishness, felt like it could tear through her eardrums.
She staggered as she stepped out of the carriage. Her weak legs threatened to give out with every step.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen sunlight. It was so blinding she could barely open her eyes.
After a moment, the world—once only blinding white—slowly began to regain its color.
“Ah……”
She saw a familiar building.
The Imperial Castle.
She thought she had escaped, but now, opening her eyes, she was back at the Imperial Castle. A quiet, hollow laugh escaped her lips.
A few people stood before her. They looked not much different from Lynette.
Dirty clothes. Withered, dried-up bodies. Lifeless, sunken eyes.
After counting heads, a man told them to follow and began walking briskly somewhere.
Lynette already knew where it was. She had been there before.
It would be the magical experiment chamber beneath the Imperial Castle.
To prevent anyone from escaping, several rough-looking men stood guard, watching the surroundings with sharp eyes.
But truthfully, none of them had the strength to run. They had barely eaten or drunk anything for days, no one had the energy to flee.
Lynette tightened her trembling knees and began walking, trailing behind the stumbling figures.
‘I’m back.’
She thought she had died, but when she opened her eyes, it was as if she had returned to the day she first arrived at the Imperial Castle.
Did this mean the same events would repeat?
She looked in the direction where Euphen would be. Of course, she saw nothing, but the thought that he was out there, unaware, brought her a small sense of comfort.
She was happy to have seen him in the moment she died, but for him, she knew it had been cruel.
It would’ve been better if he had never found out that what she said when she left was a lie.
If he had just believed she left because she didn’t like him, if he had hated her for it, she could’ve closed her eyes in peace.
Lynette licked her parched lips with the tip of her tongue. She tasted blood in the cracked corners.
‘This might be a chance.’
She stepped onto the damp staircase leading down to the underground chamber.
She didn’t know how to escape from here. But she knew one thing for certain. If she ran away now, everyone here would die.
And there was no way she could live on with that blood on her hands. No one can live bearing the weight of someone else’s life.
She didn’t know how any of this had happened, but one thing was clear.
This time, she could make sure Euphen didn’t face a cruel ending.
Which meant… she had to make sure he never loved her.
But… she knew she would fall in love with him all over again.
Clang.
A door slammed shut behind her. The damp air settled in.
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