“Don’t cry. Elysia.”
When she barely stopped crying, Eleon muttered in embarrassment.
“I’m your humble servant. So don’t cry. Okay?”
Elysia laughed at Eleon’s soothing voice.
“Why are you laughing?”
He asked as if he was terrified.
“That’s not how you say it.”
“Is that so? When you say it, it sounds like you’re speaking a foreign language to me, so I thought I’d put it like this.”
“Foreign language….Did it sound like that?”
“Yes.”
He smiled tenderly at Elysia, whose words were cut short due to her sobs.
Eleon, who was stroking her back, suddenly felt that she had a chill. He asked.
“Are you cold?”
“Yes. I’m a little cold.”
Eleon held her in his arms and flexibly stood up.
It was a quick movement as if Elysia’s weight wasn’t a burden at all.
Eleon went straight to his bed. He laid her down on his bed and covered her with a blanket.
“Phew.”
Was I hurt when I fell into the water? Or was it because Eleon surprised me and made me nervous?
Her body ached as if every bone in her body was groaning for help.
“Sleep quickly.”
As soon as Eleon spoke, her eyes slowly closed.
But Elysia suddenly came to her senses.
This was Eleon’s bedroom.
Still, the thought that this wasn’t right overcame her fatigue.
“Do you want me to sleep here?”
“Then where are you going to sleep?”
“My… my room…..”
“Are you going to sleep in that room?”
Eleon had a mischievous look on his face.
“I have no hobbies of touching a maid. I will live up to your expectations if you wish.”
“What…what does that mean?”
“It means that you will soon become the Grand Duchess, and you will sleep here anyway.”
Elysia’s face was flushed.
What does he mean I will become the Grand Duchess!
She wonders if he’s going too far.
Eleon is weird.
He seemed like a total stranger as if she had never seen him when she saw him speak without hesitation.
It was a different feeling than she had before when she felt a little fear.
Lying side by side, making eye contact, brushing her hair to her ear, or stroking her arm with his large hand.
He stroked his fingertips up and down her back over her chemise.
You are mine.
It felt like that.
Since I said it was okay to do it before, it’s not right to be picky now.
The distance between him and Elysia suddenly narrowed and became awkward, but she didn’t push away Eleon’s hand.
Doze.
Even though Eleon caressed her endlessly, she couldn’t stand it and fell asleep.
“Good night.”
When Elysia fell asleep, Eleon sighed and hugged her tightly.
“I don’t think I can sleep tonight.”
Eleon’s face filled with joy as he murmured to himself.
He didn’t really care that Elysia was lying, misleading about her identity, or pretending she wasn’t Rona.
That’s why he didn’t ask or argue.
Why did you disappear?
Why did you pretend you didn’t know me?
Why did you work in the Grand Duchy as Rona when you were a priestess?
It wasn’t like he was very curious, but it wasn’t essential to him.
For Eleon, it was more important that she be by his side.
There were moments when he got offended a couple of times by Elysia.
Like when she deliberately introduced Karina to him. But that only happened once.
Eleon desperately wanted to see Elysia.
If he didn’t see her for a day, he would go crazy and go straight to Yuter Dukedom.
And after seeing Elysia, his anger immediately dissipated.
He smiled again as if nothing had happened.
「“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I can’t accept this.”」
「“Don’t come looking for me anymore. I can’t get married.”」
「“We are not meant to be. You and I…… It would have been better not to have met.”」
At that time, he was really angry.
Eleon didn’t like people who lied.
It was unacceptable that she lied to get away from him.
If only he knew Rona as he knows himself.
If only she was the one to hug him and comfort him with tears in her eyes as she watched him struggle in pain.
If he spread rumors that he had gone blind again, he was sure it wouldn’t go unnoticed. She will have to come back.
Stay with me even if I am the one who lacks. Please.
He deceived her with a crooked heart.
「“It’s…it’s true that I came here on my own.”」
「“I…. I mean…”」
She was weak.
After a few words, she walked into his arms of her own volition.
“I am grateful that it’s me.”
It would be a big problem if you go somewhere and meet a really bad guy.
Well, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
The worst person Elysia Yuter could meet was Eleon Clevent.
“Elysia, stay here by my side.”
Eleon brushed the messy golden hair back from her face, then kissed her white forehead.
* * * * *
It was another dream.
In the dream, Eleon scratched his eyes and was still in pain.
“I’d rather die.”
He was clearly healed, but why is he in so much pain?
‘Does that mean that his eyes aren’t completely healed yet?’
It was painful to see Eleon’s sorrowful face again, even in a dream.
Elysia approached the sobbing Eleon.
‘Don’t be sick. I’ll be by your side.’
Elysia gently stroked Eleon, who was just out of reach of her transparent hand.
Eleon, who was howling, asked as if he had sensed her presence.
「“Who? Who is there?”」
Eleon said in a trembling voice.
「“Please, don’t leave me alone.”」
Elysia tried to hug him.
‘What?’
Suddenly, in the moonlight, Eleon could be seen more clearly, howling like an animal in the dark.
His shoulders, which she had gently embraced and stroked, became smaller than before.
His fine black hair became shaggy like an abandoned beast.
「“……Help me.”」
Then a delicate voice came from within her arms.
Elysia’s eyes grew bigger.
She thought it was obviously Eleon she was comforting, but it was someone else in her arms.
‘A woman?’
Where is Eleon? What happened to Eleon?
Elysia was confused.
「“Help me get out of here.”」
Then she met her gaze as the woman raised her head a little. A pair of red eyes lightning up through her long, messy, flowing hair.
「“A sword… Just get me a sword if you can’t take me with you.”」
Elysia nodded.
‘I came here to rescue you.’
There was a ray of hope in her bright red eyes.
「“You have to do it.. Please.”」
When Elysia tried to touch Eleon, her hand went through him as if she had turned invisible.
Even in her dreams, she felt sorry for him and couldn’t help him.
But the woman was different.
As if she were visible, that woman answered her as if she could hear her.
「“Please come and find me.”」
‘I will. Wait, wait a minute.’
Elysia nodded again and again.
Familiar black hair and red eyes.
She looked messy, but only her eyes were clear.
She couldn’t see her face, but she couldn’t forget her eyes either, they were red as if they were on fire. They were stuck in Elysia’s mind.
‘Wait for me. I will definitely come back.’
The next moment, Elysia was standing at the stern of the bouncing ship.
The black water of the lake shook the ship violently like a whirlpool.
‘….. I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep my promise.’
A small knife soaked in Sabiel’s blood fell into the lake.
And Elysia followed.
* * * * *
“Ugh! Cough….cough..cough”
Elysia curled up and coughed violently.
She had a strange dream.
It was a messy dream that made no sense, but just the sense of despair she felt the moment she woke up from the dream was more vivid than anything else.
She couldn’t even imagine the fact that the water got into her nose and mouth. It choked her up.
“Elysia.”
Surprised, Eleon approached her, picked her up, and held her in his arms.
“Huff… huff.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Ugh!”
Tears rolled down her eyes.
Elysia. I think it’s Elysia’s memory.
If not, how could this be engraved on her body?
She could tell for sure.
Elysia wanted to live more than anyone.
At first, she thought the owner of the body, who was found dead by Lake Laurel, might have made a bad decision.
Why did such a pretty young woman throw herself into the lake?
There were times when she wondered.
But Elysia jumped off the ship because that was her only way.
She didn’t jump to die.
She had only a few options to escape from the ship.
She only felt misery and frustration in that situation.
But there was a determined will in her heart.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t sad.
She was sad about her fate.
She felt sorry for herself and that made Elysia cry.
Fate.
She must have thought so when she first dreamed of her.
She vowed to escape this cursed fate.
But how did Elysia know of her fate?
Mariela.
Is it because of her?
There was nothing she could do to save her daughter, but she thought that she would have told Elysia about <The Flower of the Blind Beast>.
However, it was hard to understand why Elysia was so fed up with escaping that fate and even became a priestess.
Did she think she couldn’t change her fate?
There can be no tomorrow with something certain.
On the other hand, she was at a loss when she recalled the chocolate bag burning in black flames.
When Elysia calmed down, Eleon released her.
“I can’t even ask you if you slept well.”
“I.. I’m sorry. Are you surprised? I….. had a strange dream.”
Eleon stared at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You are more beautiful when you wake up.”
Elysia’s eyes widened.
“I’m a mess. Don’t look, sir Eleon.”
Elysia pulled the blanket up below her eyes.
“No morning greetings? A light kiss would be nice. And from now on, call me by my first name and don’t call me formally.”
“I can’t do that.”
He was part of the Imperial Family.
Furthermore, it was a matter of caution between unmarried men and women, and calling each other by name implicitly implied a deep relationship.
“Are you going to avoid me again? I politely stepped back yesterday.”
Elysia was stunned by his brazen words.
You stepped back politely? Politely?
She saw traces of bite marks under her arm and neck.
“…… You have an excellent choice of words.”
“Thanks for the compliment. Get rid of that blanket.”
“No. Let me get dressed.”
“This is my room.”
“That…that’s right.”
A fight broke out over a thin blanket.
However, Elysia, unable to overcome the difference in strength, was half-dragged into Eleon’s arms along with the blanket she held tightly, and the blanket was also taken from her.
“Ah…..”
Seeing Elysia blush and wear only a thin chemise, the playful smile on Eleon’s face faded.
“I’m sorry.”
He hurriedly wrapped Elysia in the blanket he had stolen from her.
For a moment, Elysia froze as if she had turned to stone.
She was shy to show her bare skin under his eyes in the bright sunlight.
Elysia wants to run away.
“It’s not like that. There are many dresses design that show off the arms, shoulders, and chest.”
Eleon is the type of person who needs a beating.
Elysia clenched her fists in anger and didn’t know what to do.
Then there was a polite knock on the bedroom door.
“What happens?”
Outside the door, the butler said to Eleon.
“Your Highness. The Duchess of Yuter has arrived. She is asking to see you. What should I do?”
Elysia looks at Eleon nervously.
Eleon responds casually.
“I will go right now.”
