Chapter 1 - Part 1
“You want to pretend that you don’t know?”
Lelia couldn’t answer.
[Do I really want to pretend that I don’t know?]
[Honestly… I could tell how Oscar felt. I couldn’t help, but know.]
Oscar had confessed to her before that he has a crush on Lelia.
But Lelia couldn’t accept it.
She didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be able to love Oscar for the rest of her life.
His request was an extremely selfish request that was hard to accept.
For Lelia, the Superion territory and her family were precious.
She would have to give up everything to follow him…
But if it wasn’t for that request?
If he had confessed and only asked for her to accept his heart, would she have been able to accept it then?
“….”
Lelia couldn’t easily find an answer to that.
Perhaps because of the medicine’s effects, a cold voice shot back at her from a corner of her heart.
‘Don’t you really love Oscar?’
‘Does it really matter to you if Oscar marries another girl?’
‘Would it really be okay if you parted ways for the rest of your life and you become someone else’s woman? Really?’
***
It was when she was in agony for a long time and turned her head without answering.
“…!!!”
Obviously, Oscar, who was next to me earlier, had disappeared.
Lelia was surprised and looked around.
She tried to go out the door because she was wondering if he left.
Clank clank
The room door was locked from the outside. It’s not even a prison…
“Where did he go?”
Lelia walked nervously around the room. When she couldn’t find Oscar, she felt uneasy.
“Did he go out for a bit?”
After contemplating for a long time, Lelia soon stopped thinking about Oscar and looked around the room.
Off to one side, there was clean, well-folded clothing. When she unfolded it, there was a chemise dress that looked like it had been prepared as a nightgown.
Seeing that, she suddenly felt tired. She washed up and decided she wanted to sleep.
***
She washed up in the bathroom attached to the room and changed her clothes.
Oscar still hadn’t returned.
Suddenly, she felt scared. She worried that Oscar just left her here and ran away.
But seeing that the door was locked from the outside, it didn’t seem likely.
Lelia lay in bed and looked out the window.
[Just like before, the Imperial castle was suffocating.]
Now, she was lying in a hotel in a far away city and looking out the window.
Very laid-back.
Everything in front of her felt unrealistic.
Of course, the most unbelievable thing was the fact that she was kidnapped by Oscar.
Her uncle, her friends, and her family at Superion Manor, all who must be worried about her. They all came to mind one after another, but her eyes gradually closed.
She just wanted to sleep without thinking about anything now.
After arriving at the Imperial castle, the fatigue and mental stress that had accumulated came crashing down on her belatedly.
She couldn’t even move.
Lelia fell asleep like that.
Oscar entered the room hours after Lelia fell asleep.
Entering lightly through the window, he found Lelia sleeping soundly in bed.
“….”
He approached the bed without making a sound.
Lelia’s sleeping appearance, with her eyes closed, was beautiful.
It was like seeing a fragile treasure that would break if touched.
“….”
Rather than sleeping, he wanted to see her open her eyes and look at him…
Unlike before, he felt suffocated when he faced her gaze, as if she was seeing something disgusting that she hated.
Lelia didn’t even want to make eye contact with him anymore, perhaps because she was disgusted by what he did.
Lelia hates him anyway.
But it didn’t matter.
“….”
He thought it wouldn’t matter.
But the more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt.
Lelia hates him and he was resentful. He wanted to bully her. Then, when he saw her teary eyes, he felt weak again.
But now, even if he was hated, he couldn’t help it.
He turned his fixed gaze from Lelia and looked out the window.
He wished it would rain. The night sky was full of clouds, but it didn’t seem to want to rain at all.
‘If it rains…’
‘Then you’d feel sorry for me at least.’
But it was a question.
‘Will you still think that way of me even if it rains?’
Oscar reached out and tried to touch Lelia’s cheek, but then withdrew.
***
It was morning when Lelia opened her eyes again.
“….”
Lelia thought it was still a dream, while looking at the unfamiliar space, then she recalled yesterday.
[Yes, Oscar yesterday…]
However, even if she turned her head and looked around, she couldn’t see Oscar.
Did he really abandon her here?
“….”
Lelia suddenly came to her senses after falling into thought.
[Hey, Alchemy.]
She had forgotten.
When she called Alchemy inwardly, the system window immediately appeared.
- ㅇ_ㅇ??
She felt like the messages were getting shorter and shorter…
It was a little strange, but Lelia decided to ask the most important thing.
[I mean the medicine I took when you were hacked last time. I think the medicine is still having an effect on me.]
Obviously, even though she took the antidote, it still seemed to be working.
She was going to ask how to get rid of the effect completely.
[You are responsible for it, too. Tell me what to do.]
- ಠ‸ಠ…
*(凸)*
She wasn’t surprised because it was already expected.
[…Is there anything more certain than detoxification?]
- Are you suffering from the remaining effects? I recommend a super strong antidote! ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧
*(凸(•̀‸•́‶)凸)*
Lelia tried to protest Alchemy’s inner feelings, but soon closed her mouth and moved on to the production screen.
‘Super strong antidote…’
It was a medicine that she had made and sold before.
[Super strong antidote]
– List of ingredients you need.
There’s no carriage! Dust from the spot you’ve passed by (7/20)
Deciduous grass roots (99389/20)
Superhuman herbs (12787/1)
The material that was lacking was the first one listed, ‘dust’.
Isn’t it an ingredient that the dragons collect automatically?
Lelia pressed on the insufficient ingredient, but only a button called “material search” appeared.
[Do I have to wait in front of the carriage to get it?]
She had a headache from feeling so annoyed, but there were a lot of wagons passing by outside the window.
She needed to look for Oscar first after washing up.
“Then, I have no choice but to persuade him to take her back to the territory.”
She didn’t want to be forcibly taken to the Hraesvelg Empire and become Oscar’s wife.
Of course, it’s not that she doesn’t like Oscar…
It should not be forced like this.
This method would only worsen Oscar’s relationship with her.
Lelia got out of bed and headed to the bathroom attached to the room.
She heard a rattling sound outside the bathroom while she was brushing her teeth and washing her face with cold water.
[Is Oscar back?]
She turned her head in surprise.
She heard a thumping sound and suddenly a bang! Then the bathroom door was smashed.
“.…!!!”
Surprised by the sudden intrusion, Lelia’s body stiffened.
Oscar’s pale face was seen through the broken door.
“.…”
He found Lelia and stiffened for a moment, then suddenly turned his back again.
[What the hell just happened?]
[What happened to your brain after you decided to kidnap me?!]
Lelia went through the broken door.
Near her bed, she saw Oscar standing with his back turned to her.
“Oscar, talk to me.”
“Put on clothes.”
Did he leave to buy new clothes?
A dark green dress lay on the bed.
Lelia let out a sigh and she walked towards it. Picking up the dress, then hesitated, as Oscar avoided sitting.
It was when she had changed her clothes and tied the sash.
Oscar was back.
“Oscar, let’s talk.”
But Oscar stood still and glanced at her outfit.
She looked at him with embarrassment and turned her gaze away, and then she looked into Oscar’s eyes again.
“….”
But Lelia couldn’t even manage three seconds before she bowed her head again.
[It’s driving me crazy.]
Her cheeks were hot. As she met his eyes, her heart pounded again.
It seemed that she had to find the ingredients she lacked right away, make the antidote, and drink it.
“Oscar, I have to say…”
“I have nothing to say.”
“…What?”
She was startled by his cold voice, which instantly refused any conversation. As she lifted her head, she saw Oscar’s profile staring out the window.
He had a statue-like profile, but for some reason she was puzzled.
It’s because Oscar’s attention towards the window, and not looking at her, was somehow unnatural.
“Oscar. Calm down and let’s talk…”
“No.”
“Are you really going to take me to Hraesvelg?”
“Yes.”
“….”
“This is the last trip, so enjoy it without any regrets.”
Throughout his speech, Oscar didn’t give her a single glance.
It was so embarrassing.
“…Why are you doing this? Why aren’t you looking at me and talking to me?”
Lelia knew that Oscar was weak at heart.
She thought he would do her a favor if he saw her begging, for sure.
Oscar probably also knows that.
“…You don’t look at me properly either.”
“….”
But the words that came out of her Oscar’s mouth were unexpected.
Lelia was silent for a moment and blinked.
[Is that so?]
She was embarrassed. His tone was as cold as frost, but the tone of the conversation was like a sulky child.
“I mean…”
Lelia flinched.
She couldn’t make any excuses.
She felt guilty when he said that she never looked at him properly…
She couldn’t even speak frankly about it.
[How do you say that when your eyes meet, your heart beats so fast that you can’t look at him because you’re feeling sheepish?]
[Rather, the medicine’s effects are still there. Then will you understand…?]