Episode 120

Lately, I hadn’t met many people.

‘At most, I just strolled around the city center in the duchy.’

I couldn’t recall having any particularly close contact with anyone during that time.

The only person I had even spoken closely with or touched hands with was…

[Let’s meet again next time, Sierra. I hope we can talk more then.]

Jenna — who had recently visited the duke’s residence to chat.

‘Jenna…’

I could no longer trust her completely.

In the novel — no, in the prophecy — she had seemed like an angelic girl, pure as freshly fallen snow, but now I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something I had overlooked.

‘Askan also said the prophecy wasn’t perfect…’

And it wasn’t just me who was suspicious. Ludwig had hinted at it too.

[Be careful around Jenna Selber. Nothing is certain yet, but she’s suspicious. We’re investigating, so for now, avoid meeting with her.]

I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“My lady, it’s Desar.”

“Desar? Come in.”

At my permission, the door opened and Desar entered.

He greeted me and approached the bed.

“Are you feeling better, my lady?”

“I’m completely fine now. Though I’m still forced to stay in bed for a little longer.”

I smiled as I answered, and Desar visibly relaxed.

“Why have you gone back to formal speech? Did a few months apart make you uncomfortable around me again?”

“……Ah.”

I had forgotten. He had asked me to speak casually with him.

And I had completely forgotten even while we were in the south.

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. I just… forgot because it’s been so long.”

I laughed awkwardly.

Speaking informally with him still felt a bit unfamiliar.

Desar chuckled quietly as he watched me.

“There’s no need to force yourself.”

He sat down on the chair next to the bed.

“Lord Thergon asked me to check on your condition and report back.”

“Grandfather?”

“Yes. He left for the Western Continent just three days before you woke up, so it will take him some time to return.”

Apparently, Grandfather had gone to meet an alchemist rumored to have created an elixir of immortality.

‘He really will bring back a mountain of disgusting herbal medicines…’

It seemed there would be no escaping it this time.

He was rushing back to the Empire as soon as he heard the news of my recovery, but, impatient as he was, he had sent Desar ahead.

“Tell him that his granddaughter is perfectly fine.”

“Yes. That’s how it appears to me too. I’ll send the message by communicator.”

Desar said this, then fell into a thoughtful silence.

“Desar?”

It didn’t seem like he had come just to check my condition.

“…Actually, there’s something I need to tell you. I debated whether to bring it up, but I think you need to know.”

“Something I need to know?”

“Ever since we found the Fruit of Betrayal at Mount Deiosa, there’s been something bothering me.”

Desar’s voice was low.

“As I said before, you probably don’t remember, but we used to play together all the time when we were young. Lady Selber was often with us too.”

I nodded.

Though I had no memory of it, it seemed that when I was around five, I used to play often with Jenna and Desar.

Until I fell gravely ill, and Jenna disappeared soon after — and that short connection ended.

“At the time, there was a joint development project between the Drenihan and Selber families, so the two houses interacted a lot.”

Desar spoke, as if recalling distant memories.

“One day, I saw Lady Selber offering you a piece of fruit to eat.”

“A fruit?”

“You ate it without hesitation. It wasn’t unusual — you two often shared fruits from the garden.”

He furrowed his brows slightly.

“But… after seeing the Fruit of Betrayal at Mount Deiosa, that memory suddenly came back to me.”

“Why?”

“Because the fruit Jenna gave you looked exactly the same.”

“……!”

“I heard from the physicians that the Fruit of Betrayal causes Lisbeth disease. Thinking back, it was right after that day that you fell terribly ill and were diagnosed.”

Desar sighed heavily.

“Looking back now, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

“Desar, you mean…”

“I hesitated to bring it up because it’s just a childhood memory, and it sounds absurd. We were all just children — Lady Selber was only five at the time.”

That was true. How much could a five-year-old noble girl really understand?

But still, it wasn’t something I could easily dismiss.

“Desar, are you really sure it was the Fruit of Betrayal?”

“Yes, I’m certain. It’s a very distinct fruit — not something easily confused with anything else.”

Desar nodded firmly.

“…….”

The Fruit of Betrayal could only be found deep in Mount Deiosa.

The fact that it was obtained and then given to me…

It was all too deliberate.

It was unlikely that a five-year-old Jenna had plotted it herself.

“Then it’s more plausible that someone used Jenna to target me.”

“I think so too. Both back then and now — problems seem to arise whenever you’ve had contact with Lady Selber. It’s hard to see it as coincidence anymore.”

I thought of Jenna — the way she had seemed during our recent meeting.

It was getting harder and harder to dismiss it as mere chance.

“The problem is, there’s no solid evidence. And since it involves Lady Selber, interrogating her outright is practically impossible.”

Desar sighed.

I answered, deep in thought.

“…Then we’ll just have to force them to show their true colors.”

Whether it was Jenna’s doing or someone manipulating her from behind.

Now that I knew their goal had always been me — from the past to the present — I would find a way to catch them.

* * *

In the darkness, a clear, pure voice echoed.

“Sierra has awakened.”

It was bright morning outside, but the room, completely sealed off by blackout curtains, was darker than any natural night.

As if hiding someone’s very existence.

A man slouched lazily in a chair twisted his lips in clear displeasure.

Jenna calmly relayed the report she had just received from the spy planted in Drenihan.

“It seems the Grand Duke of Karsian finally found a way to break the curse. And he even managed to cure Lisbeth disease.”

The man’s red eyes gleamed ominously in the dark, filled with rage.

“What’s he so proud of?”

Despite the cold glare directed at her, Jenna spoke serenely.

“Who could have expected the Grand Duke to pursue the cure so persistently? Normally, no human could unravel a triple-layered ancient curse.”

“That monster again…”

“If only you’d just eliminated her as a child instead of wasting time with that Lisbeth disease nonsense, none of this would’ve happened.”

At Jenna’s grumbling, the man shook his head.

“No, if we had done that, it would have just started over, like a damn hamster wheel. Sierra needs to stay alive, at least until she forms a contract with Askan.”

“And how are we supposed to know when she’ll form a contract with a spirit? How long are we supposed to wait?”

“I thought once she was barely clinging to life under the curse, Askan would show up on his own to make the contract.”

The man ruffled his golden hair irritably, frowning deeply.

Apparently, Askan had decided to raise Sierra even stronger — or whatever his plan was — because he hadn’t shown himself yet.

Once Sierra formed a contract with Askan, neither Lisbeth’s poison nor the ancient curse would be able to threaten her life anymore.

That’s why they had painstakingly kept her alive but weak — an exhausting task — to set a trap aimed at killing Askan.

“Surely he hasn’t already realized it? That I have returned to this world?”

Jenna, seeing him anxiously biting his nails, approached and gently stroked his jaw.

“There’s no way. Why are you so nervous? We still have plenty of opportunities.”

“Haa… I’m so tired of this endless cycle of reincarnation. This time, I have to end it for good.”

“Of course. Your world will soon come, Herz.”

Jenna said, laughing sweetly.

“My king.”