It’s Time to Stop Clinging to the Fake Guide - Chapter 95

What did it mean that he must? Why did it have to be this way? What was it that made this man change?

Noticing the doubt filling Lynette’s expression, Euphen lowered his head slightly and leaned closer. Close enough that they could hear each other breathing, yet not quite touching.

“It just ended up flowing that way.”

At those words, spoken as though they were nothing, her lips parted.

“You didn’t want that, did you?”

“…”

“I don’t want Your Highness to be in danger.”

When the man gave a bitter smile, she clasped her hands tightly together.

She wished Euphen could live peacefully just like before. If he completely distanced himself from the throne, wouldn’t there be no danger at all? She wouldn’t mind not being by his side, so long as he lived safely somewhere far away, just as he once said.

Perhaps realizing that Lynette would never accept it if he kept speaking in circles, the man let out a deep sigh.

“From the moment I grew close to Eshar, I had no choice but to prepare, regardless of my will.”

Lynette had gone blank.

“She’s the heir of the Lera Merchant Guild. Even if she isn’t a noble, she’s someone with considerable influence. To others, the very fact of being entangled with such a woman will look like I’m moving for the sake of the throne.”

She was a bit shocked, never having thought that far.

She had known Eshar was the heir of the Lera Merchant Guild, she had even tried to connect her with Euphen, the ‘Imperial Prince’, yet she never once considered what consequences that might bring. She had only wished for them to be together, believing they were bound by fate, with a simple, one-dimensional hope.

Watching her trembling eyes, he gave a faint, bitter smile.

“It isn’t your fault, Lynette.”

“B-but I…”

Her words stumbled out. Ever since she returned, everything she did ended in failure.

She accomplished nothing properly, only tangling up things that should have gone smoothly. If she had just left it alone, Euphen could have lived peacefully just like before.

Her mind grew heavy with confusion.

“Even if it wasn’t you, Eshar would have been my…”

The man bit down hard on his lip, cutting himself off. Even now, with the truth laid bare, his reaction showed he found it hard to admit.

“…As long as she was my Guide, we would have met eventually.”

He mumbled in a low voice.

“Even if it had been later, after time had passed, I would still have prepared for the throne. The timing only came earlier. It has nothing to do with you.”

Lynette gazed quietly into his calm, steady blue eyes.

If that was true, then had it been the same in the life before her regression? After she had lied to him and ran away, had this man, tied to Eshar by fate, struggled toward the throne against his own will?

“Better sooner than too late. Starting preparations later would have left me with less chance of winning.”

Euphen forced himself to smile more brightly. Even so, she could not erase the thought that it was all because of her.

“Lynette, I ended up dragging you into this too.”

The man muttered bitterly.

“Ah.”

Only then did Lynette realize her own situation.

To the outside world, she was Euphen’s ‘lover’. She wasn’t unrelated.

‘So that’s why he told me to bring a guard.’

Before, he had let her go to the Imperial Library alone without any precaution, yet this time he had deliberately sent Eric with her. Now she understood.

Would it have been better if she had noticed sooner? If she had, perhaps she could have understood Euphen’s heart a little more.

“Of course, it won’t ever leak out, but the fact that you are my Guide must be hidden at all costs.”

Thinking that it’s best to give a firm warning now, the man spoke in a hardened voice.

“Because you are my greatest weakness.”

Euphen gave a faint, sorrowful smile, let out a long sigh, and brushed a hand lightly down his face.

“It isn’t just because you’re my Guide that I say this.”

Adding words like an excuse, the man let his shoulders droop.

“Lynette, even if you weren’t my Guide… you still would have been my greatest weakness.”

As though he wanted to touch her, Euphen half-reached out his hand, only to clench his fist tightly. As if reminding himself again and again that he must never make contact with her.

“I know.”

Lynette quietly looked up into his blue eyes.

It was enough just to hear him say once more that he cherished her as more than merely someone who gave him guiding.

She longed to touch his cheek, unable to hold back from reaching out. Just as her palm was about to touch his firm jaw and cheek, Euphen flinched and tilted his head slightly back.

When she kept her hand lifted without moving closer, the man gave a faint smile and closed his eyes, as if he wanted to feel her warmth even from that distance.

“I…”

The man’s deep voice cracked. After pressing his lips tightly shut for a moment, he deliberately spoke in a lighter tone.

“When I become the Emperor, it will be easier to find a way to return everything to how it was.”

Should she smile, calling it a good thing? Or should she feel sorrow, telling him such things were unnecessary? She only wished he could live safely, peacefully, and without danger.

Lynette’s face twisted slightly.

“Yes. Your Highness will be able to achieve everything you desire.”

Unable to choose, she answered as calmly as she could.