Chapter 26
Her shoulders shrinking slightly, she parted her lips with difficulty and spoke.
“There’s a tracking spell cast on me.”
“Something like that poses no problem. If that’s the reason you’re afraid to leave…”
Lynette cut him off.
“That’s not the reason.”
“…Ha.”
Sillian ran a hand down his face. His expression, one of sheer exasperation.
“Once I’ve done what I must, I’ll leave. From the start, I intended to leave even without you.”
“And what exactly do you mean by that?”
“……”
“I told you I could get you out.”
“It’s not time yet.”
“And when, exactly, will that time come?”
“When the Prince’s true Guide appears.”
The man frowned, letting out an exaggerated sigh, loud enough for her to hear his displeasure. Seeing his obvious frustration, Lynette bit her lip hard. He looked as though he might drag her out of the room that very moment.
After a moment of hesitation, she carefully spoke.
“I know who it is.”
“…What?”
“I’m saying, I know who His Highness the Prince’s Guide is.”
“And how could you possibly know that…”
“I intended to leave once that person awakened as a Guide.”
Sillian pressed his long fingers against his brow, his lips clamped shut before he slowly replied.
“I don’t know how, or for what reason you’re so certain, but let’s assume your words are true.”
Because I’ve seen the future.
Lynette swallowed the thought, keeping it inside.
“Do you know when this person will awaken? Or are you planning to just wait endlessly until they do?”
“They will awaken.”
“Yes. Someday.”
His mocking tone stung. She had nothing more to say. She herself did not know the exact time of Eshar’s awakening.
The only thing she was sure of, was that it would happen before her own death.
When I first met her, she said she had already awakened some time ago.
She remembered Eshar telling Euphen she was sorry. That because she didn’t feel pain as a Guide, she had been slow in searching for her partner.
A destined partner. Damn this cursed fate.
Lynette wrenched her hand free of Sillian’s grasp. She had expected him to hold firm, but surprisingly, he released her without resistance.
“Who is it?”
If she told him, she was sure he would attempt something reckless.
But why was it that this man, just a mere guard, seemed so utterly unbound by everything? The Imperial Palace, this nation, even Euphen… none of it seemed to matter to him.
The way he spoke so easily of leaving whenever he wished. The confidence with which he dismissed the tracking spell on her and declared he could still free her. None of it was behavior befitting an ordinary guard.
“I can’t say.”
Lynette chose to close her lips.
Her plans were already unraveling more than she could bear, and she didn’t want to destroy them further. She only wanted to quietly guide Eshar and Euphen into love, and then, with nothing left to worry about, step aside.
From the very beginning, this man called Sillian was never part of my plan.
He stared down at her silently, then tilted his head slightly. His expression seemed half-displeased, half as though he were struggling to understand her.
The chill of the night air drifted in through the window, filling the room. Lynette clenched her cold hands tightly into fists.
“Please leave. We’ve had enough contact for tonight. That should be comfort enough for you.”
She no longer wanted to speak with him. Just dealing with Euphen was enough to split her head with pain, and now Sillian was throwing her into further confusion.
His lips parted as if to fire back a sharp retort, but instead he let out a long sigh.
“Very well. We’ll speak of other matters in due time.”
“……”
“But I do expect you to Guide me every day.”
“You don’t need it daily. It’s not as though it’s even real Guiding.”
“Just as you keep things from me, there are things I, too, have not told you.”
Instead of retreating, Sillian took another step forward.
Lynette tried to back away, but her heel struck the wall, leaving her no escape. Her back pressed firmly against the unyielding surface.
“We’re both hiding plenty, aren’t we?”
His lips twisted into a crooked smile, as if mocking her. Lynette said nothing, simply meeting his crimson eyes head-on.
“If you don’t want another visit from me in the middle of the night, you’d do well to make time for me.”
His words felt like a threat as he reached out. Startled, Lynette squeezed her eyes shut, her head tipping back against the wall with a dull thud. She thought she felt something brush against her cheek.
When she finally opened her eyes after several long seconds, the suffocatingly large man was gone. Only the open window remained as proof that he had been there.
She released the breath she had been holding, locking the window firmly before peering outside. But there was no trace of anyone moving through the darkness.
Collapsing onto the bed, she stared absently at her hand.
Guiding.
She thought vaguely about whether that sensation could truly hold such a powerful force, strong enough to make someone fall in love. Euphen. Sillian.
Was it really only because of Guiding that both men acted this way toward her?
Her head throbbed painfully. What was it about this that left her so torn?
Was it because they were fated partners that such sensations arose? Or was it because such sensations arose that they became fated partners?
Which came first?
Isn’t it more likely that it’s because of those sensations that they’re considered partners?
After all, Euphen had not fallen in love with Eshar the very first moment he saw her. That thought alone gave her hypothesis some weight.
With a low sigh, Lynette clenched her fist tightly. Just the slightest touch, yet the two men felt so vastly different.
From the man she loved, she could barely endure the agony. From the man who meant nothing, there was only warmth.
If I awaken… will it really feel good? So much so that a mere touch could make one fall in love?
Why had she become entangled with Sillian at all?
If awakening truly was her fate, then… she wanted only to be Euphen’s Guide.
With that sinking thought, Lynette closed her eyes.
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