Chapter 84
“It’s fine now.”
She tried to pull her hand away, but somehow both of their hands ended up clasped together.
Sillian smiled faintly as he held her slender hand tightly.
The moment he did, she felt a little uncomfortable and twisted her body slightly.
“Isn’t this enough?”
“Yes, it’s enough.”
The instant those words reached her ears, Euphen approached with long, firm strides.
His gaze was fixed on their joined hands.
Lynette tried to pull her fingers free, but instead, Sillian only tightened his hold.
“Why are you holding hands?”
“For Gui-”
“…”
She had almost answered ‘for Guiding’ without thinking, but managed to shut her lips tight.
‘It would cause problems if I spoke carelessly.’
An Esper capable of being Guided even before their Guide awakened…
She knew just how unusual Sillian’s case was.
In her previous life, when she had researched Guides and Espers, not a single such case had been recorded among the countless documents she had read.
“Lynette is my Guide. Isn’t it only natural that she should be Guiding me?”
To her surprise, Sillian answered calmly.
Lynette looked at him with wide eyes.
To say it so openly like that..
Euphen’s expression twisted.
“Lynette, haven’t you not awakened yet?”
Would it be better to lie and say she had?
As her lips trembled soundlessly, Sillian answered in her place.
“If she hadn’t awakened, she wouldn’t be able to Guide, would she, Your Highness the Imperial Prince?”
At those words, Lynette lowered her head slightly.
‘Yes. It would be better to say I’ve awakened.’
That way, meeting with Sillian would become easier.
In any case, he needed Guiding, and she could give it to him.
It wasn’t entirely a lie.
Though she had not awakened, she was already doing everything else a Guide should.
Euphen’s jaw clenched tightly.
He too was an Esper, so he must know better than anyone how cruel it is to not be Guided.
With fists clenched, the man exhaled a rough breath before slowly opening his mouth.
“Isn’t that enough now?”
“It is enough.”
This time, when Lynette pulled her hand away more firmly, Sillian obediently released her.
As she stepped back, Euphen immediately closed the distance between them.
“Have you been Guiding him all this time?”
“Yes.”
His blue eyes widened. He seemed shocked.
Heavy silence fell.
The Imperial Prince’s gaze felt scorching.
It was as though he had sensed with certainty that her words were true.
“…From now on, come to the Detached Palace whenever you need to Guide.”
Euphen forced out each word as though he were grinding his teeth.
Sillian looked directly at him.
Their gazes collided.
In that moment, it was as if no one remembered that a mere guard should never dare to look at a member of the Imperial Family that way.
What should she do?
Caught between the two men who would not yield an inch, Lynette let out a faint sigh.
“…Understood. I’ll gladly do so.”
Sillian smiled lightly and gave a polite nod.
Even though he was the first to step back, Euphen’s anger did not ease in the slightest.
“If the Guiding is over, then leave.”
Though his voice sounded like it was barely containing his fury, Sillian replied leisurely with a courteous bow.
Then, looking straight at Lynette, he said:
“I’ll come see you tomorrow, Lynette.”
Instead of answering, she glanced at the Imperial Prince.
As expected, his expression was twisted with rage, anger boiling to the very top of his head.
Unbothered by the future consequences, the man who had so casually provoked the Imperial Prince left at an unhurried pace.
Euphen drew in a deep breath.
Barely suppressing the storm of emotions inside him, he turned back to Lynette, his face still stiff.
“Shall we go, Lynette?”
She quietly followed behind, half a step behind him.
After a long silence, Euphen asked in a rigid voice:
“What did you talk about?”
She couldn’t possibly tell him that Sillian had said they were going to leave.
Her lips moved faintly before she offered a safer answer.
“…We talked about dreams.”
“What kind of dream?”
“The dream I told Your Highness about earlier.”
“Didn’t you say that man wasn’t in it?”
“Yes.”
She nodded without thinking.
Then suddenly, Euphen, who had slowed his steps to match her pace, stopped abruptly.
Lynette, almost bumping into him, managed to stop just in time.
The moment she blinked in surprise, Euphen turned to face her.
“Then why were you holding that guard?”
As she froze in shock, the man’s angry face shifted into one of sorrow.
“…When I can’t even bring myself to touch you.”
His voice sank low.
Though he reached out a hand, he couldn’t bring himself to touch her… his clenched fist grasped only nothing but air.
When Lynette carefully reached out to hold his hand, Euphen flinched and pulled back.
“You haven’t been Guided today yet.”
“……”
“Do you not want to?”
She asked with a smile, but he did not answer.
Lynette gently took hold of his tightly clenched fist, her nails leaving marks in her own palm as she pried his tense fingers open one by one.
Any pain that traveled through their joined hands was nothing to her.
She could feel his gaze fixed on her.
At last, when she had pried open his fist completely, she clasped his hand firmly.
Their eyes met, and Euphen pressed his lips tightly together.
His expression looked sorrowful.
It seemed her existence brought him nothing but grief.
The Imperial Prince gripped her delicate hand tightly, then abruptly let go.
Without another word, the two of them left the garden together.
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