Chapter 36
“Quest complete! You have successfully shaken off Francis Patella!
Reward: The clue to Quest II – Mirror of Truth will activate when you meet Lilfey.”
“I’m getting motion sick.”
“Hm?”
“Let me down now.”
Dangling like a sack of rice while being carried around—of course I’d get dizzy. I’d been trying to steady myself by bracing my arms against his back so I wouldn’t bump into him, but eventually, my arms gave out and I just gave up.
“You okay?”
“No.”
The mask was uncomfortable, and yet he was looking at me quietly, as if he could see right through it—right through me.
“Where are we?”
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead forced a faint smile and spoke softly. Maybe it was another one of those moments—something that only existed between the two of us.
We were standing in a garden quite far from the main palace. The ground was covered in clovers, and all around us were blue roses.
“Huh? This place…”
“Do you remember here?”
It suddenly reminded me of that dream—the one with Clayton, Francis, and me all sleeping together. I think this was where I’d crushed the four-leaf clover he gave me and tossed it away.
“Sit here.”
He gestured toward what looked like a transparent glass chair. It fit perfectly in the garden, elegant and luxurious.
“What is this?”
He knelt down in front of me and looked up.
“You’ll get grass stains. Get up, Clayton.”
“Here.”
He took my hand and started fiddling with it. It tickled, and at the same time, I could feel his warmth spreading through my skin.
“There.”
Because he was looking up at me like that, I couldn’t help but glance down at my hand—and froze. His bright blue eyes shimmered like light reflected on water.
If man-eating fox spirits really exist, you’re one of them, Clayton. If I hadn’t seen the prologue, you probably would’ve eaten my heart already.
“What’s this?”
On my left ring finger was a ring woven from four-leaf clovers.
“If this is a proposal, I’m refusing.”
Because you’re not the one I need.
Still, to propose after being rejected like that—
“I figured you’d say that.”
“…”
“But I’ll keep asking until you say yes. Whether it takes a hundred times or a thousand—what matters is that you’ll say yes eventually.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I frowned, not understanding. He just smiled brightly, eyes soft like pale gold.
“My intuition’s good. Don’t you remember? It’s never been wrong.”
“…”
“Even if you push me away now, once the misunderstandings between us are cleared up, you’ll come back.”
“What misunderstandings?”
“Well, that’s something you’ll only understand once your memories return.”
It was uncomfortable having him look up at me like that, so I tugged his arm to make him sit beside me. He smiled again—beautifully, annoyingly—like just sitting closer was enough to make him happy.
“How can you be so sure that when I get my memories back, I’ll like you?”
“I can see it in your eyes. I see it now, even.”
“You’re imagining things. You’ve got it completely wrong.”
“No, I don’t.”
He said it firmly, and I just watched as his hand brushed gently through my hair.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“I actually wanted to stop by here before asking you to leave the Imperial Palace with me.”
“What?”
I had no idea what it was like outside the palace.
‘Quest! The Princess is curious about life outside her gilded cage!’ ▼
Gilded cage? Please. What place could possibly be safer than the Imperial Palace?
No, wait. I’m supposed to be Emperor. Even Emperors meet their citizens to understand how they live. Then maybe it’s right for me to go outside, too.
“Where are we going?”
‘▼ The quest progresses once you safely leave the palace.
Reward: Removes one penalty upon completion.’
I’d never failed a quest before, but it wouldn’t hurt to save up a free pass for later.
“You’ll really go with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“If you ask one more time, I’m cancelling.”
“Okay!”
What was he so happy about? He burrowed into my arms like an oversized dog, and I sighed. For someone with such a big frame, he still had the habit of curling up like that.
“Hey, remember the night I slept in your room?”
“Oh, you mean the night you almost broke my waist?”
“…That scent you had then—it’s here again. I like it.”
Of course he pretends not to hear the part that makes him look bad.
“So what?”
“Maybe tonight, you could stay at my—”
“No.”
I said it firmly, and his shoulders slumped. If his mood swings this much several times a day, how does he even survive? I’ll never understand why he wants to be around me so badly.
“Can I hold on tight?”
“No.”
Leaving the Imperial Palace wasn’t that hard. I was wearing a black robe, and as for him—he was a Duke who had won a major war. The guards and knights were all friendly toward Clayton, and none of them examined me too closely.
“My butt hurts.”
We were riding on the same horse, and the presence of his body behind me was… uncomfortably close.
“By the way, if I’m using your aide’s name to leave, doesn’t that mean your aide can’t go out?”
“It’s fine. I’ll use the secretary’s name if I need to.”
“Then what about the secretary?”
“He usually stays late anyway. He’s bad at finishing work on time.”
My butt still hurt from all the riding. It felt like sitting on a thick, uneven book that kept shifting beneath me.
“Stop breathing like that.”
“Huh? Sorry.”
Clayton’s breathing was strange—ragged, like he was trying to hold something back. It made me uneasy. He always looked like he was restraining himself from something.
“Your heartbeat’s annoying, too.”
“Sorry…”
He loosened his grip on the reins slightly. I was holding the lower part of them, and when he pulled back, his body moved a little away from mine.
“You’re sniffing me right now, aren’t you?”
“…Sorry.”
You could just deny it, idiot. The fact that he said it so honestly only made it worse—like something was stuck in my chest.
“You really think honesty’s always the best policy?”
“…”
“I mean, being too honest—”
“Yeah. There are things I can’t say, but I never lie.”
“Why?”
My elbow brushed against his arm. Even through the robe, I could feel him leaning his head lightly against my shoulder. The horse’s hooves clopped steadily as the scent of grass calmed my nerves.
“Because the lie I told for your sake… is the reason we were torn apart.”
“…”
“I’m sorry for apologizing before you remember anything. When you do remember, I’ll say it again. So please… don’t push me away.”
He pulled back my hood and pressed his lips to the nape of my neck. It tickled. Then he brushed kisses along my ear and cheek until I wanted to tell him to stop—but then, he did.
“We’re here.”
When I looked ahead, the horse had stopped by a river.
“This is…”
“Yeah. The River Ver.”
I’d heard of it before—when my sister brought Joshua here to interfere with Dayrid citizens’ work.
“Why are people from House de Rebois here?”
In the distance, I saw men wearing cloaks embroidered with the De Rebois crest, bustling about with the palace guards.
“Russell’s not the only one who can help you.”
“…”
“I can help you too. I’ll find the culprit first.”
“I don’t need that kind of help. Adrian promised to help Dayrid citizens settle here.”
He dismounted and reached his hand out for me. I debated jumping down without it—but if I missed and got hurt, it’d be worse. Especially if my mask came off.
“I’m not a judge, but I can open the path for them to become knights. I know you want to build a school. Since the Dayrid people are skilled in magic, mages from the Tower could teach them basic spells.”
“Have you been stalking me?”
“S-Staking?”
“No—stalking. Have you been digging into my background?”
I looked down at him without getting off the horse. The big idiot just smiled brightly, hand still outstretched.
“I just… always wonder about you.”
“…”
“What you’re doing at this hour, what you do the rest of the time, what you ate, whether you’re okay, how your day went, if you thought of me, if you slept well, if you’re tired…”
He was trying to smooth over the stalking accusation by being all sweet again. Does he think I’ll just fall for that?
…Well. I do fall for it easily.
“Even if it makes you mad… I’ll keep doing it. Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing already. Do you even know how many times you’ve apologized to me today?”
“Uh… N-no… Right. Sorry.”
He smiled awkwardly, still holding his hand out. I finally took it, swung my leg over, and started to dismount—
Neigh!
“Gracie!”
“Ah!”
My foot must’ve hit the horse’s side, because it suddenly bolted.
“Hey! Are you okay?”
“Ugh…!”
Clayton was beneath me when we fell—grimacing, clearly in pain.
