It’s Time to Stop Clinging to the Fake Guide - Chapter 67

Two days passed.

Since talking about Sillian, Euphen hadn’t said a word. She couldn’t tell whether he truly intended to ‘prove’ it, or if he meant to just cover it up and move on.

Perhaps because of her stubborn insistence that they ‘must touch,’ he held her hand briefly each day. But before she could even count to ten, he would quickly try to pull away, and if she gripped tighter, he would give a bitter smile and forcibly pry Lynette off.

Other than that, each day went by as if they had returned to ‘before the regression.’

They ate together, exchanged trivial conversations, and looked at one another.

They couldn’t touch, but for Lynette, even that much was more than enough. She spent her days as if they would never end, only to think again of their inevitable last moment when she returned to her room.

Today as well, she leaned her back against the closed door after coming in. The room, with its lights extinguished, was dark and silent.

“Haah..”

A long sigh escaped her lips. Her fingertips trembled, and she clenched her hand into a tight fist.

‘As I thought, it doesn’t last long.’

She had wanted to test how long she could endure without Shirin, but she could already feel the tingling sensation. It wasn’t painful yet, but it was definitely making its presence known.

Euphen still hadn’t permitted her to go out, and if she were to tell him, ‘I need to receive Shirin’s magic to erase the aftermath of the Guiding,’ she feared how he might react. She had barely managed to compromise with him into holding hands briefly, and if he were to see her like this after just a few days, he might decide to never touch her again.

‘Should I endure a little longer?’

It was still tolerable. No, she couldn’t even call this pain. It was just faintly irritating.

Lynette massaged her faintly throbbing fingertips and shook her head.

When Euphen had hidden his condition, she had been so unreasonable, and yet here she was trying to conceal her own again. It was laughable.

Slowly, she walked toward the window. Beyond the high walls, she saw a guard riding past on horseback.

Sillian, whom she had forced into the corner of her mind, surfaced again.

Would that man be alright?

The fact that she had hurt him, saying she ‘never wanted to see him again,’ weighed heavily on her. And hadn’t she been unable to meet him for several days now? If he hadn’t used his ability at all during that time, he might still be fine, but by now, he was surely beginning to feel anxious.

‘What should I do…’

Should she go out and meet Sillian? Or would he, like before, come tapping at her window?

If she brought him up again, Euphen would surely be angry. Yet, as a fellow Esper, shouldn’t he at least understand Sillian’s position?

She let out a deep sigh as her fingers fidgeted. It wasn’t a habit she had, yet the faint sensation nagged at her enough to make her touch them unconsciously.

Even if going to Shirin could be put off a little longer, perhaps she ought to meet Sillian.

She stared blankly out the window, half-expecting that man might appear there, then collapsed onto the bed.

‘I can’t just ignore it.’

Because she knew all too well the pain an Esper felt, and how necessary Guiding was, she couldn’t push Sillian completely from her thoughts. Even when she told him she ‘never wanted to see him again,’ hadn’t she never truly meant it?

Lynette laid her head on the pillow and blinked. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, everything became vividly clear.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she had dozed off, but when she stirred awake, she felt an unusual disturbance. At this hour, the Detached Palace was usually sunk in quiet stillness, but now, even within her room, she could sense the disturbance.

‘What’s happening?’

She rose and looked out the window. A few figures carrying torches came into sight. Detecting something amiss, Lynette brushed her tangled hair with her fingers and stepped out of the room.

The corridor was quiet, only the uneasy atmosphere pressing in.

She tilted her head slightly and moved toward the staircase. When she strained her ears, she caught the sound of footsteps passing by. It seemed many people were moving on the upper floor.

The upper floor… wasn’t that where Euphen’s chambers were?

Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.

“His Highness the Imperial Prince…”

She climbed the stairs two at a time. Panting for breath, she reached the upper floor and saw knights with stiff expressions going back and forth.

As she approached the Prince’s chambers, a woman with her hair tied high blocked her path.

“Who are you?”

Her face was stiff, her voice cold. As if confronting an intruder. Lynette clutched her skirt tightly.

“I-I am…”

What should she say? His Highness Euphen’s maid? Or his Guide?

In the past, everyone would have known who ‘Lynette’ was, but now, few did. Unable to give a clear answer, she hesitated. The woman’s brow twitched.

“Ah!”

In the blink of an eye, a knight twisted Lynette’s arm behind her back. The wrenching pain throbbed through her.

As she struggled in vain to break free, the grip only grew harsher.

“We’ve caught a suspicious person!”

The woman shouted loudly. At her words, other knights turned their heads to look at Lynette. Their sharp gazes alone made her body tremble all over.

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

Lynette cried out desperately, but to those who already saw her as an ‘enemy,’ her thin voice carried no weight.

“Argh!!”

The knight twisted her arm harder, and without realizing it, Lynette staggered and dropped to her knees. The spot where she struck the floor throbbed with pain.