“The entire process from preparing for a rebellion to succeeding is too cumbersome.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she knew that.
“What if it doesn’t bother you?”
“I won’t do it though.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t be the emperor’s vessel.”
It was a very light answer, but it was also an extremely heavy statement. But Asili also asked back just as lightly.
“In terms of qualifications, you would be much more suitable than the crown prince, right? Even if it doesn’t have a grand political sense, this is the place.”
Asili tapped Ludwig’s temple and pointed to her head, and he took her hand and clasped it naturally.
“It’s not that kind of vessel.”
“Then?”
“I guess it’s a matter of responsibility.”
Despite her ambiguous answer, she, like him, immediately understood what Ludwig was trying to say. And she deeply agreed.
“Yes. A position that takes responsibility for all those people. I’m not even interested.”
Sitting on the throne does not just mean looking down on people from the highest point of the empire. Standing in that lofty position, you have to support the lives of everyone in the empire with your shoulders. Therefore, the emperor was closer to an organism that supported the entire empire with his very existence rather than an individual. That meant there was no such thing as a personal life. It would be impossible to do this without a great sense of responsibility and mission.
“Well, he wouldn’t have had such a nationalistic and reverential attitude just because he sat on the emperor’s throne.”
“If you say it so blatantly, it’s difficult for me.”
“What do you think? Even if it’s not about helping people, you’re doing your best in everything you can right now. That’s enough for you.”
Asili added, shaking her head.
“In the world I was in, there was a saying like this. A competent and lazy person is ten million times better than an incompetent and enthusiastic person.”
“If you think about it that way, am I a capable and lazy person?”
“That’s right. You are capable and diligent, so it doesn’t matter whether you are sincere or not.”
She shook his clasped hands and frowned.
“It’s much better than people who neglect their responsibility and only say that they truly care for you.”
“If you say so.”
At his words, a faint smile spread across her lips, Asili exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders and responded smugly.
“Well, that’s not what I said, but let’s say it is. In any case, there will be no issue in this world about who said what was said in the other world.”
And at her words, Ludwig’s blue eyes sank even darker than before. This world and that world. Her world. A world she must return to. A world she wishes she could return to.
Asili has not yet said that she wants to go back. She didn’t even say she had to go back. But, yeah. Until now, you may have been shaken here and there by being pushed around by a very sudden situation, but people will never be shaken like that in an unfamiliar place like Elementary School. As you get used to this world, at some point it will hit you like a tidal wave. Nostalgia for the original world that she belonged to. Longing was not something that was felt intensely for a moment and then disappeared. The more you feel it, the deeper it becomes, and the longer it goes on, the closer it is to becoming a disease. When Asili came to his side, she looked as if each of her toes had fallen from thin air. All Ludwig could do at that time was to pull Asili with his entire body and briefly stop her fall. But will she be able to hold her back even when she sinks into the endless swamp of longing?
“…wig-Ludwig?”
Before he knew it, Asili had turned around to face him and was waving her hand in front of him.
“What, did you fall asleep with your eyes open?”
“No.”
Asili spoke with an extremely serious expression.
“Even if you sleep with your eyes open like a fish, you still need to get some sleep.”
“…fish.”
“Should I sleep now? It can at least serve as a pillow for me to sleep on. Oh, of course, keep in mind that the roles can be reversed while you sleep.”
Asili, who was nodding her head, paused. Ludwig buried his face in the crook of her neck and her shoulders were shaking slightly.
“What, what happened again?”
He was smiling. If someone saw him smiling like this, they would rub their eyes until they hurt, saying they saw something in vain. Who was he?
Ludwig Grüga Caliente.
Wasn’t he synonymous with expressionlessness, indifference, and an unchanging face that didn’t break under any circumstances until he made himself a synonym for fear and disaster at the emperor’s command? But Asili waited until he stopped laughing with her familiar somber expression on her face. It’s just laughter.
When the two met in their dream, they almost never saw each other again. In this way, Asili and Ludwig became the only exceptions to each other. The process of becoming each other’s exception was so natural, and they were used to laughing, crying, and sometimes even pulling ridiculous pranks together, so they didn’t realize it… Eventually, when his laughter seemed to subside a little, Asili opened her mouth as if grumbling.
“Zara didn’t sleep, so I woke up all the time just laughing…”
And before she could finish speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
Immediately after that, Asili and Ludwig checked her clothes at the same time and then burst into small laughter without anyone knowing who was first.
“You’re wearing proper clothes now?”
“Right.”
When she moved into her novel, she was completely naked and without any clothes on. And since they were used to seeing each other naked in their dreams, they didn’t pay any attention to it.
Knock knock, knock knock.
As the knocking became more and more urgent, Asili slowly got up, felt around her, and placed a decent book in her hand.
“That’s enough. I’ll just pretend to be elegant.”
Ludwig, who saw her like that, smiled as if his eyebrows were frowning and opened his mouth.
“Come in.”
As soon as he gave permission, the door opened wide and the youngest of the three aides came tumbling in.
“Your Highness! His Majesty is said to be visiting!”
Asili tilted her head and blinked her eyes because her reference was very strange, but Ludwig dryly asked back.
“Did you have a prior agreement?”
“There was none. But you are the Crown Prince.”
“Time is?”
“It’s in an hour.”
“What is your business?”
The aide hesitated for just a moment and then immediately reported the matter to Ludwig’s dry gaze.
“Your Majesty’s lover, the daughter of Duke Bolsheik’s family who was thought to be dead… He said he wanted to meet you, not just Eon.”
After hearing the prince’s business, Asili opened her flounder eyes. Was she a zoo monkey?
‘Come see me if you want to take a look.’
“Go out. Leave the preparations to Sebastian.”
“Yes!”
Unlike when he came, the aide stepped back, carefully closed the door, and disappeared. Asili closed the book she was holding with a loud thud.
“What are you doing, rushing to see someone without prior appointment?”
“He is the crown prince.”
“I know. If it’s the crown prince’s order, you have to endure that much. No, it’s not just supervision, it’s an honor in itself to meet the crown prince, right?”
Asili said sarcastically, pressing the corner of the book. Even just looking at this situation, the main character she only saw in the book’s introduction seemed to be even more at odds with me than expected.
“He really is a more absurd and annoying person than I’ve ever seen.”
“Did you see it?”
“Okay. I saw… No, it’s more than what I heard from you. Actually, if it’s absurd, I guess it’s just my situation being dropped in front of you out of nowhere.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Ludwig lightly lifted Asili and placed her on his legs again. Asili, leaning her head on his back, asked with a faint yawn.
“Still, the crown prince is coming. Is there anything you need to prepare?”
“There is no need.”
“Because everything in this place is yours?”
Ludwig also laughed at the laughter in Asili’s voice, saying exactly what he had said in the past.
“Yes, that’s it.”
“You’re incredibly reliable. Your Majesty the Grand Duke.”
“I am honored that you trust me, young lady.”
The two showed exaggerated courtesy towards each other and giggled with the same expression.
“Now that I think about it. “It’s okay because I’m dressed properly, but I don’t know anything about etiquette that must be observed when meeting the crown prince.”
“Does not matter. The crown prince won’t care about that. Not only does he receive strict etiquette, but he also finds it annoying.”
“Well, I hate him even more if he doesn’t even show the slightest courtesy.”
“Unless you want to meet.”
“No. I need to see that face at least once. He’s the one who bothered you so much.”
“It didn’t really bother me…”
Asili cut off Ludwig’s words.
“Making work without a break is also bullying.”
As Ludwig’s brow furrowed, Asili pressed his brow with her fingertips and let out a light sigh.
“I told you not to laugh like that.”
“This red hair and blue eyes are the symbol of Bolsheik?” she asked, glancing at her bright red hair that tickled her cheek.
“Yes.”
“I saw some mint-colored hair at the party. Isn’t red hair common?”
Ludwig twirls Asili’s silky hair in his knuckles and shakes her head.
“Because the only redhead like this is the Bolsheik family.”
“I’m not.”
“If I say so, you’re a Bolsheik.”
Asili shrugged her shoulders at her words so firm that not even the tip of her needle could go in.
“I think the people in that family will run away because they feel unfairly treated because of the sudden appearance of a child. Come to think of it, while we were in this world, we were all family, but we never even saw each other.”
A completely unexpected answer came back to a question that was not a question she had thought about.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on May, 15.
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