Chapter 126
Roina, leaving behind Lutan—whose pupils had dilated as he stared at her in shock—lifted herself up. The white sheet slid down her soft, pale body. The reddish marks that Lutan had left persistently all through the night were now gradually fading from her skin. Her body had been this way ever since she escaped the Imperial Crown Prince’s bondage and the black magic.
Originally, she had thought her injuries were concealed overnight because of the black magic. But even without any influence, her body healed on its own. At some point, Roina realized this and began to feel a sense of deja vu about her own body.
It was just like her own state—still unable to truly take root in this world.
Roina straightened up and walked over, slipping on a robe. She glanced back briefly. Lutan was looking at her with eyes filled with countless emotions. Shock, sorrow, confusion, pleading, conflict, anger, possessiveness, obsession… it felt like every possible emotion was there.
Yes, before they fell any deeper, it was right to step back and reorganize. Roina clearly realized that her decision had been correct.
“Lutan. From now on, let’s no longer engage in unnecessary relations. For both our sakes.”
It was a wedge. With that final statement, Roina turned away without looking back and moved across space.
A still silence. The bedroom, now emptied of all but Lutan after her disappearance, sank into stillness.
Once again left alone, Lutan looked down at his open hand. She always slipped away like this, through his fingers. Just when he thought he had caught her, she slipped away, and once she began to fall through, she vanished without a trace before he could grasp her again.
He had waited a thousand years to meet her again, believing that now he had bound her so tightly that she would never escape him. But he was wrong. She was freer than anyone, a person who would never be tied down by anything.
Not even by the one she loved.
He buried his face in the hand he had been staring at. A stifled sound, as if a beast were crying, escaped between his clenched teeth.
O god. If you exist, please don’t take her from me again. Even if it’s incomplete, even if it’s broken—can that not be called love too?
His trembling back and the agonized sobs continued afterward.
But no one saw, no one heard.
“New Year’s banquet?”
“Yeah. You absolutely have to attend.”
Yoseph replied curtly to Maili, who had asked with a puzzled expression. Maili looked dazed.
“Can’t I just skip it?”
You’re the heir, so of course you have to go, but I’m not.
Maili, who had been sprawled out on the sofa planning to lounge around Yoseph’s office like always, said this as she popped a neatly plated fruit piece into her mouth. This fruit called melon, imported from a foreign land, was exquisite with its burst of sweet juice.
Yoseph furrowed his brows and crossed his arms. That insolent look in his eyes clearly showed he was holding himself back from calling her pig.
“Did you forget? This time isn’t like usual. We’ve got things to expose about the Imperial Family, and the Imperial Crown Prince is planning to announce his engagement there.”
Yoseph grumbled, wiggling his foot in irritation. Maili spoke, barely restraining herself from throwing her fork.
“Do you have some illness that makes you incapable of speaking straight? If you don’t want this fork wedged between that wrinkled forehead of yours, talk plainly from the start.”
“It’s an opportunity to spread rumors about His Majesty the Emperor being confined! Use your brain, you demon!! Agh!”
“You should’ve just said that from the beginning!”
“If you think about it for even a second, the answer’s obvious—what’s so complicated about this?!”
How single-celled can you be?!
He shouted triumphantly, but perhaps he still couldn’t overcome his fear of his older sister—he quickly ducked behind a chair. But Maili was even quicker, and she hooked the leg of the chair, toppling it. Yoseph could only roll on the floor again, lamenting his fate. If nothing else, her skill at dodging and counter attacking him seemed to improve by the day.
After a brief scuffle, Yoseph adjusted his glasses, now with his bangs visibly yanked out in patches, and forced himself to speak calmly.
“Anyway, that’s the plan. And it’ll be the first time Lady Roina meets that ‘Veronica’ young lady.
There’s a high possibility of danger. It’s best we prepare for anything we can. Not that I’m saying this because I’m conscious of Lady Roina, definitely not, and even if it weren’t about that, there are still plenty of reasons to go…”
Yoseph’s words gradually trailed off. His voice grew smaller. Before he realized it, his head dipped, and his face turned red as a ripe carrot. Seeing him so out of character, Maili rubbed her chin with interest.
“Well, would you look at this?”
“Ah, what! Wh-What?!”
She narrowed her eyes and blatantly examined Yoseph from head to toe. This was the first time her one and only little brother had ever shown such bashful innocence.
Hmmm~
Hearing Maili’s intrigued hum, Yoseph couldn’t shake the feeling that he had really stepped into trouble.
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