Chapter 88
“Don’t come any closer, Lynette.”
At those words, she froze in place. The distance of a single step felt unbearably far. No matter how much she ran, it seemed as though she would never be able to reach him.
She hated this reality, this endless confirmation that she could never truly remain by his side. She hated the bitter expression he wore. She hated that he rejected her. She hated all of it.
Lynette bit down hard on her lip and lowered her head.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
Staying here would only force her to keep chewing over her own gloomy thoughts. She didn’t want to think deeply about them, but they burrowed in regardless.
Just as she turned after giving her farewell, a deep voice stopped her.
“What did you talk about with that man?”
The moment she looked back, she met a pair of blue eyes, sunk in darkness.
Self-reproach colored Euphen’s face. Perhaps it was misery. Or perhaps it was the expression of a man who could not even believe in himself after uttering such words.
“I only allowed him to hold your hand.”
His hand clenched the backrest of his chair tightly. He gripped so hard that his knuckles turned white.
“What happened…?”
He stopped mid-sentence, shut his eyes tight, and let out a long sigh. Then, grinding his teeth, he slowly opened them again.
It seemed he couldn’t bring himself to ask outright. After all, he knew Lynette and Sillian were bound as Esper and Guide.
“It was just a little argument.”
“…”
“And then… it just happened.”
It was far too flimsy a defense for having been in Sillian’s arms.
Still, she couldn’t betray Sillian by revealing he had spoken ill of Euphen. Their relationship was already strained enough. If the rift deepened, she would be the one caught in the middle.
A fake guide to one, a true guide to the other. She would continue to face both of them from now on.
“It won’t happen again.”
“Lies.”
“It’s the truth.”
Euphen gave a faint laugh.
“It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s him.”
Before Lynette could answer, he added bitterly,
“I know it’s laughable and disgraceful to be jealous.”
“That’s not true.”
“But he’s your true fate.”
“I am Your Highness’s guide right now.”
“I think I understand now, why you did something so foolish…”
Was he talking about that time, when she had begged him to love Eshar?
Her cheeks flushed hot. Seeing her face, the man chuckled.
For the first time, a genuine smile touched Euphen’s lips, sweeping away the fatigue and bitterness that had been etched there. But it lasted only a moment. His pleased expression gradually stiffened again.
“I’m searching for a way to remove the spell placed on you.”
“There… is one?”
“If it can’t be undone, then I’ll find a way to cancel the Awakening.”
“That can’t be possible…”
“If it’s possible to create a fake guide, then it shouldn’t be impossible to return to the state before Awakening.”
But creating a fake guide had an extremely low success rate. And even if there were a way to return to a pre-Awakening state, there was no guarantee it would be safe. Lynette did not want to gamble with Euphen’s life.
“I’m considering it from every angle.”
“…”
“If you’re not a fake guide, or if I’m not an Esper, then the problem is solved, isn’t it?”
Yes. Deciding to leave had been the right choice. He would never throw her into a situation that might kill her, and she didn’t want him to be in danger too.
The only way to resolve everything was, after all… separation.
“That’s true.”
Lynette nodded. She wished there were no such methods at all.
‘No. There can’t be.’
If there really had been such a way, surely someone would have succeeded by now.
Before her regression, she had researched Espers and Guides countless times. Yet there had been almost no surviving records even about fake guides, let alone a method to return to the state before Awakening.
As expected, there was no hopeful news. His expression was far from bright.
Lowering her gaze, Lynette clasped her hands tightly together. When she’s with him, it felt as though she were always swimming in sorrow. Euphen seemed to be the same.
Considering what stood between them, perhaps it was inevitable. No matter how hard they tried, they could never be happy as an ordinary woman and man, not when he is the Imperial Prince. Though in truth, ‘ordinary’ had always been far from reach.
Lynette gave a bitter smile. Her life before the regression felt distant now.
Back then, she hadn’t thought much about the fact that he was a prince. So why did he feel so far away now? The more they spoke, the more they tried to grow closer, the more painfully she confirmed the reality that they could never be together.
At last, she turned away and stepped out of the room. Through the closing door, she glimpsed Euphen, slouched deep in his chair, staring out the window in heavy thought once more.
As she walked down the dim corridor, she released a sigh she had been holding in. Then she wrapped her arms around herself.
The sensation of Sillian’s embrace remained vividly clear in her mind, yet Euphen’s touch… she could not recall it at all.
Lynette clenched her fists. The night air felt unbearably cold.
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