Chapter 70
The hall was filled with deep silence at the unexpected appearance of this person.
While only the sounds of those who had been using their tongues in vain hiccuping in fear and the sounds of slurping were heard here and there, clear footsteps rang out.
As a man walked to the center of the hall and swept his hair, exclamations of admiration came out from all directions.
In this huge hall, only one man’s presence was clearly imprinted.
Valar Sirun Halbern.
Archduke Halbern, an old friend of the imperial family and keeper of secrets.
“Why, why now…”
“I received the invitation late.”
Archduke Halbern, calmly calm, glanced around the hall.
It looks very striking even from a distance, but when it gets closer, the pupils of people who see it in real life fluctuate unbelievably.
She thought 30% of the praise for Archduke Halbern was an exaggeration, but it was not.
He was truly a very handsome man.
What was more amazing than anything was the atmosphere he was wearing.
It was fierce yet refined, somewhat shady and gloomy, yet tight. Even though he was wearing his uniform, the blood stains still intact, he looked as elegant as a gentleman dressed in livery.
Archduke Halbern looked at the people with an undisturbed posture and smiled crookedly.
“Did I interfere? Why is it so quiet?”
Those who faced Archduke Halbern could not even make a sound.
It was a time when everyone was frozen and trembling slightly, overwhelmed by the overwhelming feeling that they would be eaten as soon as they opened their mouths.
“Hey, why don’t you gather momentum first?”
The Duke of Mubisk, who was worse off, stepped out with a deep sigh.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Quian.”
Archduke Halvern’s expression softened at the sight of a familiar face.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Do you think you’ve gotten stronger now? It looks good.”
“Should you just do it?”
Duke Mubisk shrugged his shoulders.
Soon, Archduke Halbern’s eyes turned to look behind him.
“Valar.”
The Archduke of Halbern rolled his eyes and smiled as he came face to face with Mehen, who wore an unappealing, complex expression.
At the same time, the intimidation that had taken hold of the hall dissipated.
“Greetings, my friend.”
The frozen atmosphere in the hall was instantly thawed by the melting smile.
***
Her first impression when she saw her father, which was just a rumor, was ‘he’s very handsome.’
‘Wow, he’s so handsome.’
She hadn’t felt such selfless, pure admiration since she saw Pession.
How could someone who looks like that exist?
She didn’t know, because the Archduke of Halbern is never shown in the novel when she’s in good health.
‘Who looks at that face and thinks it’s the father?’
The Duke of Mubisk and the Duke of Sperom, who were his age, were also very handsome, but only the Archduke of Halbern stood out.
‘No, how can he be so handsome?’
If Pession is big, is he alone between Aaron and the twins?
She was in her late twenties, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be so beautiful.
But this is a bit much.
Her long eyelashes, deep, decadent eyes, and the oddly coloured red rims were mesmerizing to look at.
She can see why the interest in the Archduke of Halbern hasn’t waned in the six years since he left the ecliptic.
Who could forget that face.
“Oops.”
She must have been looking too hard. Their gazes met.
The Archduke of Halbern, who had just greeted Duke Sperom and exchanged a few words with Mehen, recognized her.
“Hello, daughter.”
“…”
She gripped the hem of Mehen’s robe tightly as his sharp, dark gaze seemed to penetrate her insides.
The Archduke of Halbern didn’t seem to mind that she didn’t return his greeting. He just looked at her as if he found her amusing.
She wondered what was so funny.
His gaze was so intense that she cringed again.
“Valar.”
Mehen spoke up, torn between wanting to slap him and the rationalization that he shouldn’t have to answer to his lord in front of everyone.
“Save the father-daughter spats for later, but first, greet the Empress.”
“Well, I will.”
Archduke Halbern laughed, in a strangely finite manner.
“When we met again, my friend started berating me. I’ll be going.”
“… Don’t get into an accident.”
“Yes.”
They let Archduke Halbern go, and Mehen looked at her.
“He’s not such a bad man after all.”
“…Yes.”
A word of deep trust.
She felt a deep connection between two people she didn’t know.
‘Mehen must be like the Archduke of Halbern.’
The Archduke of Halbern didn’t seem like a bad person to her. Not bad, but…
‘I’ve seen something like that before.’
“Did Mehen know my father was coming?”
“… No.”
Mehen gave her a complicated look.
She really didn’t expect it.
Of course, she wasn’t expecting it either.
‘I thought I’d never see you again.’
Because, according to the original novel, Arellin never saw the Archduke of Halbern’s shadow until she died.
There’s something else, too, about that complicated feeling you get when you buy a fake item and it’s actually delivered.
‘Why did they change it?’
The heroine hasn’t even appeared, is it because she changed, or because Pession has changed?
But…
She hasn’t even started the novel yet.
‘What was that.’
Even if she recognized and accepted that this world was another world that had been completed before the novel, it was not easy to understand.
What influenced it?
Can people change so easily?
Behavior, mindset, personality, things like that.
She alone could not have changed in this way if it were not for the singularity of regaining the memories of her previous life.
What may seem like a small change to others has a different weight to them.
She still found it hard and difficult to be genuine.
‘I don’t know.’
Was it because she was seeing someone she thought she couldn’t see, or was it because the unexpected was happening more and more?
An unfamiliar anxiety gripped her.
Deep down, she knew something would have to change when the heroine appeared.
It was a prejudice that was embedded in her like a faith, apart from her belief in the Pession.
Whether it was the way it was in the novel or the way it was in her country.
She believed so strongly that the world would revolve around the heroine anyway.
But if the world works without a heroine, what was the novel she was reading?
Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about the future, everything she thought she already knew, was gone.
‘So the heroine might not even appear?’
She thought to herself.
If she doesn’t show up, what will happen to her, what will happen to Pession?
The fact that Pession might like her if the heroine did show up was both unsettling and reassuring.
After all, she’s the one who’s going to die.
But what happens to Pession if things don’t go according to the novel?
She hoped that Pession would continue to like her, but she also prepared herself to not be hurt if he didn’t, to say, ‘You were meant to be together anyway.
She gripped the hem of her dress tighter, feeling like a vague torrent was about to sweep her away.
“Mum.”
It’s okay, though.
“Mum… you’re still going to like me, right?”
Because she has Mehen.
Because it’s not completely gone.
Mehen’s face crumples, as if he can hear the anxiety in the tiny whisper.
“Lady, what is that…”
She loved the way his chartreuse eyes flickered as they held hers.
How could she not be sorry when he was so gentle and sweet?
She was watching Mehen’s eyes fill with complexity, and she felt a strange sense of security.
“Arellin!”
A voice clearer than the anxiety that washed over her.
“Are you okay?!”
The gentlest, sweetest voice she ever heard grabbed her.
“Pession…?”
“Arellin, you’re pale.”
‘Am I dreaming?’
She blinked, then woke up to the warmth on her cheeks.
Oh, it’s really Pession.
“You…”
“Are you okay?”
“How did you get… here…”
“Does that matter now?!”
She groaned quietly, as if she hadn’t been unsettled by the voice calling out to her, the relief of finding her seat at once.
“You’re not sick, are you?”
Pession looked at her sharply.
He was as familiar as Mehen.
It was a strange feeling.
Graham, who had followed Pession, looked resigned, as if he had given up, as if he had tried to talk him out of it to no avail.
In the back of her mind, she could feel the familiar look of jealousy and envy, along with a dark curious gaze.
Still, Pession was only looking at her.
As if she were the only one he could see.
“If you’re sick, you have to let me take care of you. Do you understand?”
He’s serious, but he doesn’t smile. Maybe it’s his cautious attitude and serious mood.
As she stares into those red eyes that seem to belong only to her, she suddenly realizes.
She’s so screwed.
