*The name Therion has been changed to Tevet to be closer to the original. Sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.*
Episode 17
When Ashlyn’s hand, which was moving the fork, stopped, Tevet looked at her.
“Come to think of it… Didn’t she have the same name as you? Ashlyn.”
He spoke with his usual tone.
Ashlyn barely managed to put the food into her mouth. Unlike before, her mouth chewed as if it was filled with sand.
“…It’s just a common name everywhere in the empire.”
“It suits you best.”
“…”
“For the princess…”
Therion stopped speaking.
Ashlyn saw his gaze wandering complicatedly around the edge of the table.
To the princess. What comes next?
“No.”
But he said no more.
Ashlyn gently set down the fork she was holding.
“My lord.”
“Call me by my name.”
“…Sir Tevet.”
Only then did Tevet tilt his head. He had a very satisfied smile.
“Are you going to the palace?”
Ashlyn asked what came to her mind unwittingly. He grinned and rummaged through the salad in front of him.
“Why do you ask that?”
“Since… you seem to get a lot of letters from the Imperial Palace. Especially from the first prince.”
“Letters, huh? They do come often.”
“Are they letters asking you to come to the capital?”
“Yes.”
He responded casually. At the same time, he scooped some salad onto Ashlyn’s plate.
“With the emperor’s illness worsening, it seems like everyone is on edge.”
The words brought to mind the Emperor.
Her father, who killed his own brother with his own hands and became the emperor.
When Ashlyn reached adulthood, the emperor collapsed from a mysterious disease.
Even the ruler who ruled the world with blood-stained hands could not escape the passage of time. That’s when the story of the Crown Prince being the next successor to the Britannia Empire began to surface.
It was also around that time that Ashlyn, who had just become an adult, joined the war of succession against the First Crown Prince.
“I have no business with the royal family now. They’re only lunatics who talk nonsense whenever they open their mouths.”
Listening to Tevet’s reply, Ashlyn only fidgeted with the food on her plate.
“And the First Prince….”
After a moment of silence, he made a short sneer at whatever he was thinking. His expression was chilly after a long time.
“It’s better to spend time cutting down just one more demon than meet that incompetent man.”
Ashlyn looked at Tevet’s face in silence. The face of the man who casually insulted the royal family seemed nonchalant.
She buried her head in her plate again.
The monotonous meal continued for a while.
Ashlyn, who’d been crushing the duck dish with her fork, opened her mouth to speak again.
“There’s one more thing… I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Who killed Jason Barron?”
Tevet laughed, making a dismissive sound as if asking ‘what?’
“He was a pretty problematic gardener.”
“….”
“I simply dealt with it accordingly.”
Ashlyn confirmed her suspicions. Suddenly, she felt parched, she drank the water from the glass placed nearby. Mindlessly sipping the liquid, she lost herself in thought.
A man who wasn’t on the side of the First Prince.
A man who killed Jason Barron.
A man who loved a maid.
But the man who gave Ashlyn poison…
Who could he be?
Ashlyn found the person in front of her confusing.
“You seem to have a lot of questions today.”
Tevet said affectionately as he poured water into her empty cup.
“Do you have anything else to ask? Like from the memories you’ve lost.”
“….Then I have one more, if you don’t mind.”
“As much as you want.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“I…”
Ashlyn cautiously opened her mouth, locking eyes with Tevet.
“How did Sir Tevet and I… end up like this?”
Her voice was small.
“Ah.”
Tevet’s mouth twitched ambiguously. The slightly lowered eyebrows looked somewhat embarrassed.
“It won’t be a very interesting story.”
“Why?”
Ashlyn tilted her head.
“Because it’s a common tale.”
Tevet whispered softly.
Suddenly, she felt his toe lightly touch hers under the table. Startled, Ashlyn quickly withdrew her foot.
But Tevet moved closer again and touched her foot once more. Even though it wasn’t direct skin-to-skin contact, an inexplicable tension filled the air.
“I…”
Tevet wrapped her feet like a trap with a smile as soft as a spring flower on his face. Affection dripped like honey from the corners of his slightly curved eyes.
“Because I fell in love with you at first sight.”
Ah.
‘This man…’
Ashlyn forced out a breath that had been stuck in her chest.
‘He really loves this woman.’
It was a moment as shocking as witnessing an accident.
The short vacation leave passed by in the blink of an eye.
Ashlyn’s strange companionship with Tevet ended when she finished her business and returned to the Duke’s mansion.
The next day, she went to a used bookstore near the mansion alone.
Luckily, she was able to find books about other continents. She spent the rest of her time reading those books in her room.
“Oh, she’s wasting her precious vacation.”
Sephia clicked her tongue disapprovingly, but it was a very satisfying time for Ashlyn.
And so, the last day of the vacation arrived.
“You, go out and get some fresh air.”
Sophia, who had returned from work, said with an impatient expression.
Ashlyn, who had been stuck in her room the whole time, was a little embarrassed, so she reluctantly raised herself up.
“It does feel refreshing to be out.”
She stretched briefly while walking along the northern corridor.
It was dim, but not quite fully nighttime. The air against her cheeks was warm. There was the scent of spring in it. She suddenly felt like visiting the garden.
‘Should I go meet Hugo and Hazleton after a long time?’
She moved her feet with that thought in mind.
To go to the eastern garden, she inevitably had to pass by the main building.
‘Huh?’
As the entrance to the main building loomed before her, Ashlyn curiously tilted her head.
It was because a carriage she’d never seen before stood in front of it.
‘Who could it be? At this hour.’
She hadn’t heard any news of a guest coming.
Ashlyn momentarily buried herself into the darkness. It appeared that the butler was coming down the stairs to greet the person in the carriage.
“…!”
Ashlyn widened her eyes in surprises as if she’d been struck by lightning. It was because she saw the figure who got off the carriage.
They were wearing a long robe, but…
How could she forget that look?
“Deri…?”
The man in a robe turned towards this direction at the voice that escaped unconsciously.
Dark green hair resembling moss, cold reddish-brown eyes.
Derion Frey, the closest magician to Ashlyn Britannia.
“Mr. Derion, is there a problem?”
The butler asked Derion, who suddenly stopped walking.
“…No. I must have misheard.”
He withdrew the sharp expression that had been scanning the surroundings.
“Tsk. As expected, I don’t match the energy of this remote northern town at all.”
“….”
Regardless of whether the butler heard or not, Derion grumbled loudly.
Near them, behind a pillar shrouded in darkness, Eselin watched the two figures disappear.
‘Why, why is Derion…?’
She was bewildered.
As far as Ashlyn remembered, Derion had no particular contact with Tevet.
Then Tevet’s voice came to mind.
“I’ve heard that those suffering from memory loss have been cured by wizards.”
It was only then did it finally make sense.
‘He called a wizard to bring back my memories.’
Ashlyn bit her lips.
If things continued like this, she would naturally be made to meet Derion.
‘Can I meet Deri, a magician? Won’t I be caught?’
Derion was an exceptional magician.
To show him her current state…
Of course, the absurd phenomenon of possession would not be easy to recognize even by Derion.
But she was still afraid.
Because she couldn’t predict what might happen.
“What should I do?”
Ashlyn turned her steps with a heavy heart. Her mind was completely absent, as if her soul had left her.
* * *
‘What do I do, really?’
Ashlyn thought blankly, buried in the couch.
“….”
Looking at the person in front of her, she couldn’t think of anything else.
The person in front of her, the wizard Derion Frey, scanned Eselin with a displeased expression.
‘So, this is what it feels like when everything is pitch black ahead.’
Eselin recalled her memories from a moment ago..
On the way back to her room, she was forcibly taken by the butler who appeared before her as if he’d teleported.
“Please sit comfortably.”
To make matters worse, an affectionate voice came, marking another presence.
Ashlyn turned her stiff neck. Tevet’s sleek face was unnervingly close. His red irises and the dot under his left eye was particularly clear to her. She shifted her body slightly, her expression filled with unease.
“I summoned the wizard for the memories.”
Tevet leaned back as he spoke in a hushed voice, tilting his body away as he distanced himself.
“My Lord…”
“You’re not going to call me by my name anymore?”
His voice sounded somewhat disappointed. Ashlyn did not answer and cast her gaze downwards.
“Ha. What a…”
A scoff came from the opposite side. It was Derion, who had been quietly observing the situation. He leaned and turned his face away as if he couldn’t bear to watch them.
‘Deri…’
Ashlyn raised her eyes slightly and looked at Derion.
The face revealed when the hood of the robe was removed looked exactly the same as before.
Long, loosely tied dark green hair, sharp and elongated eyes without double eyelids, stubbornly closed lips, and a pale complexion.
Though he was thinner than she remembered, and his skin looked slightly rougher, there wasn’t much change.
Above all, those reddish-brown eyes that seemed to see right through people.
‘Your Highness, did you stay up all night again? Hand it over right now. I won’t give it to you until you have a meal and get some rest. I’ll just burn it all with magic. I learned fire magic for this exact reason, really…’
Looking into those eyes, she found herself wondering whether this was the old palace or the ducal residence.
Sorry for the late update! I’m a lil busy nowadays, I will try to make it up to you next month or so!
Thank you for the chapter!