“—Ah.”
It was a sudden exclamation in the quiet room. Olivia’s eyes, who had been rubbing Marielle’s back in her arms as she dozed off, turned to Erhart.
“Erich?”
“No, nothing, just thinking about something else.”
“I thought you were reading a book, but your mind must have been elsewhere.”
Erhart closed the book again, the pages of which did not turn. There was no point, the words would be scattered and unreadable anyway.
“Are you going to stop reading?”
“It sounds like you are blaming me for being heartless because it’s the day you go back, I’m sitting next to you with a book instead of feeling sad. Mother.”
“No way.”
Olivia smiled faintly.
“I like this time. When I was in Djerba, I always had to see you and leave as if I was being chased, but I get to look at you leisurely now. I had resigned myself to the fact that it would not be allowed for me.”
In Olivia’s words, there was no sign of deceit. She was really content with this monotonous peace wholeheartedly.
“When will we be allowed this kind of leisure again?”
Erhart’s face showed an embarrassed expression. Not because he found it difficult to assuage her disappointment, but rather because she had just burst into exclamation.
He pondered over Rayan, who had been strange for a while.
He attributed it to his illness, but in retrospect, there were a lot of things that seemed odd. Especially when he asked if he would eventually leave. He gave an excuse that it was because of a dream, and at the time, Erhart had thought it was the aftermath of his guardian’s departure. But even so, it lacked the justification.
Erhart was left with a strange nagging feeling that he couldn’t resolve, and thought about the time of the day, memories, conversations, and Rayan’s behavior whenever he had a chance. Finally, even his own words and actions.
‘I was kicked out to here from where I originally lived.’
In order to eavesdrop on his intentions, Erhart had uncovered his past. And he ended it by saying that he would covet the position. The words had nothing to do with the meaning of leaving this place after all. And Rayan was someone who could not stay on the ground for long.
Rayan, who had been staring at his hand for a long time, came to mind. Then he secretly raised his hand and tried to match the height of his fingers, and then clenched them. Right, he couldn’t grow up. Maybe forever.
Erhart suddenly became serious. Traveling to Djerba within three hours is also a problem, but apart from that, it was not a city by the sea. There might have been a lake, but he didn’t know if mermaids could live anywhere other than the sea. A more fundamental question was whether Rayan would ever want to leave.
“Erich?”
“…”
“Erich. Are you worried about something?”
“No, no. Nothing.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Erhart barely responded to the repeated calls. His thoughts were still elsewhere.
“Pa vbfrc’a ibbx ilxf cbatlcu. Ciatbeut P wluta cba tjnf yffc j ugfja wbatfg ab sbe, P ralii mtfglrtfv sbe obg afc wbcatr. P mjc ja ifjra cbalmf atja sbe tjnf j qgbyifw. Qtja’r kgbcu? Obnf qgbyifwr?”
“… Qtja?”
Sgtjga mbeivc’a tfiq yea yf ajxfc jyjmx. Rba yfmjerf bo atf ecojwliljg kbgv “ibnfg,” yea yfmjerf bo tbk rtf xcfk atja.
He went out through a secret passage, so she couldn’t have noticed. If Olivia had come while he was gone, he couldn’t have been unaware about it all this time. In addition, since Rayan was sick, he told him to stay still and rest for two days, so he hadn’t gone out since.
“Because in the past few days, your eyes have definitely resembled me in the past.”
Olivia muttered cryptic words and lowered her eyes. For some reason, she looked sad and bitter. After swallowing her emotions for a while, she raised her gaze again. She smiled.
“Okay. Let’s hear it. What kind of lady is troubling our prince?”
“There’s no… young lady.”
“Then is it a man?”
Erhart stopped sipping the tea and choked. At that sound, Marielle, who was in Olivia’s arms, woke up rubbing her eyes.
“Is it Lord Canavan?”
“Mother, what on… No, who did you just say?”
Barely calmed down, he was stunned again by the unexpected name.
“It’s not that strange in Djerba. There’s no need to hide. Not long ago, the youngest son of Marquis Lafel attended an evening party with his boyfriend. It’s not unheard of. Of course, you will have to think about the heir issue as well.”
“… It’s not him.”
Erhart gritted his teeth. If he said it was someone else, she would ask who it is, and he would inevitably have to keep silent because he couldn’t reveal Rayan’s identity, but Niles Canavan? It was terrifying just to be tied up with him. Olivia laughed as he shuddered.
“Mother. Why are you laughing?”
The laughter stirred Marielle from her sleep, but she couldn’t help but wonder.
“My little jewel. It is nothing.”
Olivia whispered and kissed Marielle’s forehead. Marielle tilted her head, but as if she didn’t mind it, she buried herself in Olivia’s arms and rubbed her cheeks.
“So, Erich. Won’t you tell me your troubles?”
“… It’s just.”
“…”
“Because I want to stay in Argentina for a long time.”
At least until he found a way to be with Rayan. Erhart had no intention of leaving Rayan behind. They were lovers, anyway, it had only been a few days since they became such, but apart from that, Erhart couldn’t imagine life without Rayan. Since two years ago, he had been that kind of person to him.
He was the only color in his life.
The reason he wanted to live.
“…In that case.”
“Your Highness Olivia.”
Just as Olivia opened her mouth, a noise disturbed their peace. It meant she was ready to leave, so come down. Olivia’s complexion darkened, but she quickly collected her expression as if she were conscious of her two children. Olivia put Marielle to the ground and lifted herself up. Erhart also got up after her.
“It is time to go.”
“Yes.”
“Can I hug you?”
It was an odd question. Erhart lowered his body and embraced her obediently. Marielle, who was wrapped in the width of her skirt, squirmed in and out.
“I thought so, but you really grew up a lot.”
“…”
“Erich.”
Olivia hesitated for a while after calling Erhart’s name, then whispered in a small voice.
“If anything happens, go to Fort Castle.”
Fort was Olivia’s hometown. But why this all of a sudden? When Erhart looked at her demanding an explanation, she placed a small note in his hand.
“Go find the person listed here and ask for what I entrusted you with.”
“Mother.”
“The time I have been granted is not very long. And somehow…”
She swallowed her words.
“No, nothing.”
“Nothing will happen. Maybe I’ll be allowed to see you for a long time. As everyone knows, I am the luckiest woman in Hesseles.” Olivia pretended nothing was wrong, but her voice trembled slightly. Before Erhart could move his lips, she took a step back.
“Then let’s go down. You have to see me off.”
“… Yes.”
“Oh.”
Olivia held his hand before turning around.
“I don’t know why you don’t want to leave Arhen, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t come back to Djerba. Wherever you are it is fine. It’s a pity that I can’t see you, but I wish you a peaceful life more importantly.”
“…”
“That’s the answer I couldn’t give you before.”
Erhart said nothing. He settled by placing his lips on the back of her hand. Knock knock. The sound of someone who couldn’t wait outside and was urging could be heard. Olivia then left holding Marielle’s hand with one hand. Erhart also followed her.
When he went down to the hall on the first floor, the Emperor was already waiting. He smiled at Olivia and held out his hand. She smiled and placed her hand on the back of the Emperor’s hand. It was the look of a perfect lover.
“Liv. Did you have a good talk with your son?”
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s consideration.”
“Did you say everything you wanted to say?”
“Today isn’t going to be the last day, so if there’s anything left to say, we’ll just have to wait for then.”
“I see.”
The Emperor readily agreed with her and escorted her outside. The carriage was ready. A flag with a red hawk and two crossed swords was a symbol of the imperial family. Before getting into the carriage, Olivia suddenly stopped and looked back at Erhart.
“Erich. Heed my words.”
“… I will.”
“It seems like the prince has something to say.”
The Emperor showed interest. Then Olivia put on an interesting look and whispered in the Emperor’s ear. Lover, first love, … It seems that he heard those words, but he pretended not to hear.
“I see. Love. A beautiful thing..”
“…”
“May your love bear beautiful fruit, Prince.”
Erhart was annoyed, but swallowed his words. Denying it would only embarrass Olivia. What they’d said was something he’d have to put to the back of his mind the moment the door opened.
“…”
Olivia looked at Erhart for a long, long time as if she was trying to capture something she would never see again, and then got into the carriage with Marielle. After that, the Emperor climbed up and closed the door. The carriage moved.
Erhart barely resisted the urge to stop it, and watched for a long time as it drove away, raising a cloud of fine dust.
The castle gates closed.
t/n: aww she deserves better than that stinky old fart :/
What does Olivia expect to happen in the future that’s worse then what has already happened? The Emperor already tries to assassinate Erhart on a regular basis. Is she dying and she expects the assassination attempts to get worse when she’s gone?
»No, no. nothing.« Nothing
So, is he really going to get rid of his wife? At least, it’s full of flags here..
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)