Chapter 74
“Your Highness, it’s not fitting for you to be doing such a thing. Allow me to lead the horse.”
As Sillian reached out his hand, the Imperial Prince struck it away harshly with a fierce expression.
“Enough.”
Lynette let out a small sigh.
How had things between the two of them deteriorated to this worst state? If possible, it seemed as though they would even draw their swords against one another.
Euphen strode forward. When Lynette, gripping the saddle tightly, glanced slightly back, Sillian smiled faintly and waved. Even with just that brief contact, his expression looked as though he had already been put at ease, softened into something gentler.
“Lynette.”
“…Yes.”
The sudden call made Lynette respond a little late. The sound of hoofbeats echoed through the heavy dawn air.
“You said that man was your fate.”
She did not answer. Euphen glanced sideways at her and clenched his jaw, tightening his grip on the reins.
“If you touch him, it must feel different than having physical contact with me, isn’t it?”
“That’s…”
Lynette’s lips parted slightly.
Would it be better to just say that she felt nothing at all? But she couldn’t judge how much of Sillian’s “secret” she could reveal, and so the words refused to come out.
“You once said it yourself. That all these feelings were because of the guiding.”
Euphen’s voice sank low.
“Then do you feel ‘those’ same emotions toward that man?”
“No.”
Lynette shook her head. When he glanced back at her, his expression seemed faintly bitter. She couldn’t tell whether he believed her answer or not, but at the very least, it was clear that simply knowing she had another fated partner was enough to throw him into deep confusion.
“It will be better to sort everything out quickly.”
Not knowing how to respond, she remained silent, and only listened.
“All this time, the one who behaved so pathetically was me.”
Was it her imagination that the man’s back looked especially weary? The burdens weighing on his shoulders looked far too heavy.
“Lynette, you said that guard has an object that can prove a person’s fate.”
“Yes.”
“If it’s confirmed to be real…”
“……”
“Then I would have to accept that you are his guide.”
At those words, Euphen let out a dry laugh. Lynette quickly answered in haste.
“Even so, I am still Your Highness’s…!”
“I don’t want it.”
“What… are you saying?”
“You are a ‘fake guide.’”
How was she supposed to take those words? With a slightly dazed feeling, she blinked.
She had always called herself fake, yet when Euphen said it aloud, a dull ache pricked at the corner of her heart. Perhaps because she truly wanted to be real to him.
“If my destined guide is Eshar, then you won’t have to keep doing these things anymore.”
So then, what was he planning to do? A sudden dread gripped her.
Would he start distancing himself? Or perhaps decide that it would only bring suffering to keep such a relationship, and declare that they should never meet again?
She could understand the sentiment. But she didn’t want that.
If Eshar awakened, it would indeed be better not to see Euphen anymore. For whenever she did, she would want to touch him, and whenever she makes contact, it would only bring pain.
If those small pangs accumulated, eventually she would need Shirin’s spell to erase the aftereffects again, and that would end in the erosion of her very life.
Yet… how could she spend her whole life loving him while only watching from afar? That would be cruel to both of them.
‘On top of that… if I have to sit by and watch him touch another woman…’
Lynette clenched hard at the saddle.
It must be the same for Euphen as well. Even if he loved her, as long as this situation remained, he would only keep trying not to make contact with her. Even this time, though he had been in such pain, though he knew what could ease it in an instant, hadn’t he only tried to endure by himself?
For now, he could claim he had no choice. But once Eshar awakened, no reason would suffice. Euphen will never even try to brush a fingertip against Lynette again.
And then, for him to watch her come into contact with Sillian? That would be the worst outcome for them both.
‘He told me not to meet Sillian again, but… he couldn’t have meant it, at least not truly.’
Euphen was an Esper too, after all. No one understood better than him about the agony that came from using their power, and he is not a cruel man. If he saw Sillian’s condition, there was no way he could simply turn a blind eye.
Lynette let out a sigh, so faint it could barely be heard. Her head throbbed with a dull ache.
‘How did things come to this?’
When she first returned, she had thought everything would resolve easily. No, she had thought everything would flow exactly as it had before.
‘And yet so many unforeseen things have happened.’
Perhaps it was because, in her previous life, she had never looked around her. Back then, she only thought of Euphen, and looked only at him. To think she hadn’t even realized how exposed to danger he really was… It was utterly pathetic.
She had not known even a sliver of his “true” self, yet she had deluded herself into thinking she understood him well.
Before she knew it, the two of them had arrived at the Sisstein Detached Palace. The servants, who began their work early, looked a little startled to see them.
This time, without anyone’s help, Lynette stepped down from the horse using the stirrup. She had recovered somewhat during the ride, yet the aftereffects still lingered, and when she staggered slightly, Euphen clenched his fists tightly.
“Rest well, Lynette.”
His voice was low and subdued.
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