TLVGAJ 75

~Chapter 75~

Albert held his breath.

It felt like he had been struck hard on the head.

Had he ever asked Irene why she refused life, why she accepted death…?

“Humans usually choose death when they no longer have a reason to live.”

Facing Albert, who was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression, Fabian continued.

“Have you ever cared to ask why that woman has no reason to live?”

“……”

“Have you ever thought, even once, about what the world looks like to her, from the perspective of someone who knows she has little time left?”

Albert couldn’t answer.

Because he never had.

He had never once thought about why Irene was trying to make that choice.

Fabian’s expression showed no emotion, as if he had expected this.

“Not even knowing that…”

He looked at Albert with an expression of obvious contempt.

“All you do is force her to live.”

Stab.

“How could she like that?”

Stab.

Every time Fabian spoke, Albert felt as if his chest was being pierced again and again.

Though Fabian was speaking in a normal tone, to Albert’s ears the words felt slow, heavy, and crushing.

An invisible wound pressed down on him, and Albert put his hand over his chest.

Seeing this, Fabian let out a faint sigh before speaking again.

“It would be better to first give Irene a reason to want to live. If you really want to try that slim chance of saving her.”

“……”

“Though… even if you succeed, it will only be a fleeting life.”

With those cold, mocking words, Fabian slowly faded back into the darkness.

“……”

Albert quietly stared at the spot Fabian had left behind for a long while.

“About the three princes.”

The warm sunlight filled the Duke’s residence. Sophie was gently brushing my hair as she spoke.

“They’ve recently been excluded from the national council. It seems His Highness the Crown Prince has decided to completely cut off his political enemies.”

“Yes, I see.”

I nodded, enjoying Sophie’s soft touch.

It was one of the pieces of news I had been waiting for since the hunting tournament. I had already expected it.

“But still, isn’t the timing strange? Right after the hunting tournament? It’s almost like something really happened in the forest that day.”

“Haha.”

Well… something did happen.

Knowing the truth of it all, I could only give a vague laugh.

I didn’t regret saving Albert in the forest that day.

If I hadn’t, the regret would have been worse. So maybe I had done the right thing.

The problem was…

‘Albert saw Sin-Soo!’

He had found out that I was keeping the divine creature with me…!

And this wasn’t like Harry or some other male lead seeing it by chance.

Albert was the main male lead and the future ruler of the Empire. He couldn’t possibly ignore anything related to the Saint.

‘So that’s why he invited me to tea today…’

Right now, Sophie was brushing my hair because Albert had requested a tea time with me.

Because of that, I was trembling nervously.

I was sure that today he would ask me about Sin-Soo.

“All done! You look beautiful again today, my lady.”

“…Haha. Thank you, Sophie.”

“It’s almost tea time now. I’ll go tidy up a bit—please wait just a moment.”

“Yes…”

When Sophie left the room, I sighed deeply.

If he asked me about Sin-Soo, how should I answer? If I said the wrong thing, I’d end up in a very awkward situation…

[Why are you sighing again, Saint?]

I heard the voice beside me.

“…Why else? It’s because of you.”

I glared at the chick.

“I told you that day not to show yourself to others.”

[But I didn’t, did I? I think I did well.]

So what?

You revealed yourself to the one person you shouldn’t have, and even exposed my name while doing it!

You always say you’ll follow my orders, but then you twist them to mean whatever you want!

I wanted to smack it on the head out of frustration.

I clenched my fist and glared, but the chick shook its head.

[No, no. That’s not how it works, Saint. The person has to know when they’ve been blessed by a Saint.]

“Ugh… I don’t care anymore.”

Maybe I should just hand the chick over to Albert.

I could say I found it by chance on the train, and later he could return it to the Saint when she appeared.

But would Albert believe that? And besides…

‘There’s no way this chick would stay quiet…’

Just then—knock, knock. A maid peeked her head through the door.

“My lady.”

“Yes.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince has just arrived. He has been shown to the tea room.”

“Alright…”

So it begins.

I took a deep breath and stood up. The moment of confrontation had arrived.

“I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

When I entered the tea room, he greeted me politely.

“Irene. You’re here. Have you been well?”

“Yes, I have… And Your Highness, are you alright now?”

“Oh, yes. I’m fine. It was just a small slip. Thank you for your concern.”

Though it hadn’t been long since the hunting tournament, he walked perfectly without even a splint. Clearly, he wasn’t badly injured.

Relieved, I sat down. But my heart was still pounding nervously.

As tea time began, I watched him cautiously and carefully opened my mouth.

“Well, um…”

“That is…”

We spoke at the same time.

A silence fell. Albert motioned for me to continue.

“You first.”

“No, please, you go ahead.”

“It’s alright. Speak first.”

“Ah…”

I bit my lips, hesitating. What should I do?

Forget it. Better to just say it now than sit here trembling.

I swallowed once and slowly spoke.

“What I want to say is… I’m not the Saint.”

“…Ah.”

“Because of what happened that day, I thought you might have misunderstood. So I wanted to clear it up.”

Albert’s eyes gleamed, and then he smiled faintly.

“Thank you, for telling me first.”

“……”

“Actually, that was one of the questions I wanted to ask you. That chick I saw that day… it did look like a divine creature.”

“Yes, it is. You may not believe this, but I happened to get it by chance on the Ramier Express train.”

Feeling guilty, I rambled on.

“I should have told you right away, but the chick insists I’m the Saint. That’s why I didn’t say anything and just kept it with me. I thought I’d give it back later when the real Saint appeared.”

“……”

“Your Highness knows better than anyone… there’s no way I’m the Saint.”

“Right, that’s true…”

At my last words, Albert gave a bitter smile and nodded.

He sipped his tea, then set down the cup and looked straight at me.

“It’s alright. The Saint hasn’t appeared yet, and a divine creature alone isn’t that important.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yes. If it’s fine with you, please keep taking care of it. Later, when the Saint does appear, you can return it then. It’ll resolve itself.”

“Haha…”

I laughed awkwardly.

Well, that was more lukewarm than I expected.

‘But still, maybe it’s better this way. At least I avoided suspicion.’

I tilted my head slightly. If it wasn’t about Sin-Soo, then…

“Then what was the reason Your Highness invited me to tea today?”