Chapter 92
“Until the moment I awakened, I had never once set foot outside Calles. And yet, I saw this Imperial Castle. I remember it so vividly, even down to the shape of a single spire.”
“…You must have seen it somewhere before.”
“I swear it was the first time. After dreaming the same dream again and again, I searched for the place I had seen… and discovered it was here, this very castle.”
He let out a short laugh as he continued.
“For someone of House Albérna to dream of a place when they awaken… it has only one meaning.”
“And what is that?”
“It means their fate awaits them there.”
“Ah…”
Lynette recalled what she had once read. Espers of House Albérna had a high probability of finding their fate.
“There’s another saying.” Sillian bent his head as though sharing a secret.
“Those who dream in such a way are the ones who failed to meet their fate in a previous life.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Not every awakened member of Albérna dreams. In fact, far more don’t.”
“…”
“You saw the pendant yourself. The royal family has several means of finding their fated partner. Most discover it that way.”
Lynette blinked, unable to guess what he was leading to.
“So when someone dreams, it is said they are those who couldn’t find their destined guide or esper by any of those means.”
“Couldn’t find them…?”
“It’s only an old tale. They say those who die without ever meeting their guide or esper… return by turning back time, and they are the ones who dream.”
‘Turning back time.’
A shiver ran through her, goosebumps prickling along her skin. She subconsciously held her breath as she stared into his crimson eyes.
“Well, I don’t put much faith in it. But considering that those who dream often find their fate very far away… I think it has its merits.”
If that tale were true… Did that mean in his past life, Sillian died without ever meeting his “guide”? That he turned back time, dreamed, and then came here?
Lynette’s fingertips trembled. Whether or not he noticed, he only smiled faintly, as if passing down an old story told by elders.
“If so, then it would mean there was a life where you and I never met.”
And if that were true, she could understand why this life had turned out differently.
In the past… in the life before she returned, she had never once crossed paths with him.
‘Sillian died without meeting me. So… he turned back time, just like the tale says.’
This time, he dreamed, came to the castle, and eventually found his fate.
“…I believe you.”
Her trembling voice slipped out. Tilting her head slightly, she gazed at the man smiling at her.
She had always believed she returned because of Euphen. Because she still couldn’t let him go, because she hated seeing him cry, because she regretted leaving him with wounds that could never heal.
She thought some god, devil, or something… had given her a second chance for his sake.
But now, to learn that the reason she had returned was something else entirely…
‘It was to meet this man…?’
She couldn’t accept it easily. That she had gone through something as absurd as turning back time, that her whole life had changed, all because of him.
Unable to control her expression, she lowered her head.
It had all been for Euphen. And yet, fate was cruel enough to twist everything into this.
Lynette bit down hard on her lip.
“Lynette.”
Sillian’s voice reached her, but she couldn’t respond.
In truth, nothing had changed. No matter the reason for her return, the reality of it remained, and her feelings for Euphen had not wavered.
But accepting that this man was the reason her entire life had been overturned… was too much.
Everything had been because of Euphen.
At that moment, she felt a firm hand close over hers.
“Are you all right?”
Noticing her strange reaction, Sillian asked in concern. Lynette exhaled a trembling breath before slowly lifting her gaze.
“I’m fine.”
She hadn’t expected to find the reason for her return through someone like him.
She pressed her lips tightly together, suppressing the laugh that nearly escaped. A small emptiness settled in her chest at the thought that her desperate, bitter end with Euphen had all been meaningless.
‘That Sillian is my fate… that I even returned because of him…’
It felt as though everything about her revolved around this man.
How should she say this? She had believed Euphen was the center of her world, yet the truth was that someone else stood at its heart.
She wondered how Sillian would react if she confessed she remembered the past. That there had been a life where they never met, and because of that, just as the legend said, time had turned back. If she told him that… What would he say?
Of course, she had no intention of ever telling him. If he knew she remembered dying without ever meeting her true fate, and yet still chose to become a fake one, he would be truly furious.
‘He’d tell me to leave Euphen at once.’
Or perhaps… he would try to forcefully separate them.
Lynette gave a bitter smile.
“It was an interesting story.”
And with a deliberately lighter tone, she took a step forward.
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