~Chapter 110~
“…It seems His Highness the Crown Prince is quite angry.”
The door of the library slid open, and a man stepped out from the shadows.
Alicia, who had been staring silently in the direction Albert had left, snapped her head toward him.
“…Exactly. He won’t listen to reason at all.”
Her voice was cold as she strode back into the library.
In the dim room, Alicia sat down at the table by the window.
The man approached her and, as if it were routine, lit a cigar for her. The thick cigar looked unfitting for her delicate face. Alicia took a drag, exhaling bitter smoke, her expression twisted with displeasure.
“I tried to persuade him with words as much as I could… but he just won’t listen. Isn’t that right?”
Outside, the garden was full of blooming irises.
The countless blossoms looked as though they carried deep resentment, reflecting her heart.
Alicia looked at them and blew out another puff of smoke, letting out a bitter laugh.
“…Hmph.”
The man sat casually on the nearby sofa, crossing his legs. Slowly, he spoke.
“I believe we’ve done enough trying to resolve this with words.”
“…”
“Perhaps it’s time we tried… another method?”
A flicker of emotion passed through Alicia’s eyes at his words.
But soon, she erased it completely.
“You’re right. We must. Our plans cannot be allowed to fall apart.”
“…”
“Go ahead. Put it into action.”
The man’s lips curled into a sly grin.
His silver-ringed fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of the sofa.
“Hmm……”
I sighed anxiously as I looked out the window.
The birthday party had ended fairly well—if only Albert hadn’t returned to the palace with such an angry face.
‘He must have fought with Princess Alicia… right?’
I never expected Albert to overhear my private conversation with Eric like that.
Princess Alicia must have suggested meeting me in secret because she knew Albert would disapprove.
Now it felt like I had ruined the siblings’ relationship, and I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“Ugh, I don’t know anymore…”
I let out a deep sigh and took another sip of tea from the table.
It wasn’t like I had tattled on her to Albert on purpose.
Besides, the Princess must have already considered that risk when she asked to meet me.
It was out of my hands now. I decided not to worry about how things would unfold.
[Yawwwn.]
At that moment, the divine beast, who had been dozing beside me, stretched and woke up.
“Did you sleep well?”
[Yes… I slept well. What time is it, Saint?]
“The sun’s high already. It’s past ten. Hurry and get up—we need to prepare.”
[Prepare? Prepare for what?]
The chick tilted its head, black eyes rolling curiously.
‘Well… today you’re supposed to leave and return to Emily.’
Emily hadn’t awakened yesterday, even after the birthday party had ended.
Most likely, she had awakened later that evening, after returning to Lady Elina’s mansion.
‘Even if the story has changed a lot, the setting of her awakening on her birthday probably hasn’t.’
Last night, before Emily left, I had made her promise:
[Emily, if anything changes in your body, you must contact me immediately!]
And so, since morning, I had been waiting for a letter announcing her awakening as the Saint.
[Hey, hey—are you going to ignore me again? What are we preparing for?]
“…Ah, it’s nothing. You’ll know soon enough.”
Lost in thought, I brushed off the divine beast’s question.
If I told it, I would only hear endless complaints about how I should be the Saint instead.
“And this time, please control your temper a little better.”
[Tsk. What are you talking about? My personality is great.]
“Pfft.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at its halfhearted reply as it preened its feathers. The chick raised its head to glare at me.
[What? Why are you laughing? Are you saying I have a bad temper?]
“Haha, no, no…”
[Unbelievable. Have you ever seen a divine beast like me? One that listens so obediently to a Saint?]
“That’s true. Our cute little chick obeys everything the Saint says.”
Maybe it was because it was almost time to part ways, but even its sulky attitude seemed cute to me. I reached out and stroked its head.
Though it glared, the chick still allowed my touch.
“…Anyway, thank you for everything. Especially for saving Finn and Albert. I truly owe you.”
[Tch. You keep talking like you’re leaving me. Cut it out.]
Go back now, and live happily with your real Saint!
I swallowed the words and simply smiled quietly.
“Milady, a letter arrived early this morning. I came to deliver it.”
Just then—knock knock—Sophie entered the room.
I smiled brightly. Finally, the news I had been waiting for!
“Thank you, Sophie. Is it from Lady Elina’s estate?”
“How did you know? Yes, that’s right.”
Eyes wide, Sophie handed me the sealed envelope.
My heart thumped with anticipation as I picked it up.
‘This is it.’
The letter from Countess Elina’s household, arriving just as morning came.
It could only mean one thing—Emily had finally awakened as the Saint.
At last, the moment I had been waiting for.
“…Haa.”
Even as someone who had possessed this body, this was a deeply meaningful moment.
Taking a deep breath, I felt my heart racing as I tore open the envelope and pulled out a small piece of paper.
Another deep breath. Then I snapped my eyes open.
And…
“…Huh?”
My eyebrows twitched at the words written on the letter.
“……What is this…?”
“Now, focus. Let’s practice mana control again today.”
In the very top chamber of the Magic Tower, Fabian stood before me and spoke.
Even though my last mana test had shown negative results, training still continued.
After hearing Eric’s words, I had escaped a little from the despair that weighed me down. I had found the will to keep going again.
I decided to trust him, to postpone despair until the day before I die. Until then, I would do my best, following my heart, and struggle to survive.
Because of that, the hopelessness I had felt from the test results was fading little by little…
But—
‘What on earth was that?’
My mind was filled with thoughts completely different from usual.
The strange letter that had arrived from Lady Elina’s mansion…
It wasn’t news of the Saint’s awakening.
Beware of Princess Alicia.
That was all it said, written in bold letters. No sender’s name. Nothing else.
But the most shocking part was…
‘This is definitely Korean.’
Like any other transmigrator, I could naturally read and write the language of this world.
And yet, those words were written in perfect Korean. If I hadn’t noticed, I might have unconsciously read it as if it were this world’s script. That’s how naturally it blended in.
Confronting the language of my past life so suddenly left me utterly shaken.
‘Could it be… there’s someone else who transmigrated into this world?’
And that someone was warning me? Telling me to beware of Princess Alicia?
No matter how I thought about it, that was the only explanation that fit.
But still—
‘Why Princess Alicia?’
Even if someone wanted to warn me, why name her?
If that person had read the same novel I had, they would know the true villain was supposed to be Freddy, not Alicia.
Everything was confusing. Nothing made sense.
‘Who sent it? Why? Why such a message…?’
“Focus.”
“…Ah.”
Snapped out of my thoughts by a voice, I looked up in surprise—
Fabian’s face was suddenly very close to mine.
