Chapter 21
Fortunately, the pursuers who had been chasing after me didn’t follow when I slipped out through the hole. Because of that, I looked around my surroundings more actively than before.
All throughout the forest—places I hadn’t been able to reach since separating from Lariz—there were small marks that Lari had left behind.
“Ribbons….”
They were ribbons of the exact same color, tied to trees here and there throughout the forest. They looked as if they’d been made by cutting up the thick clothes I’d packed for him. They were clumsy, but there was no way I wouldn’t recognize that Lari was the one who’d hung them up.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew exactly what kind of feelings Lari must have had as he tied these here—missing me, missing Rohen.
“Lari….”
I untied the ribbon closest to me and clenched it tightly in my hand.
I will definitely… find you, and I won’t ever let you be lonely again.
Having made that vow, I started running again. Afraid that someone else might find Lariz first, my heart grew more and more impatient.
After running and running, I eventually went in circles and arrived at the warehouse.
The farther I went, the more ribbons there were. It was as if they were indicating that he’d gone beyond this point. That was why I was sure Lariz would be waiting for me at the warehouse.
“Haa. Haa….”
But the door, which had always been firmly shut, was now wide open, as if someone had gone in and out. The weeds that had grown wildly, showing how deserted the place usually was, had already been trampled down.
The fact that the pursuer was still behind me meant that I hadn’t been caught—so I’d felt relieved.
I was such an idiot.
With that damned thought that everything would be fine, I’d left Lariz on his own. Because he’d already overcome it in the novel, I thought he’d overcome it this time too. I did nothing but cling to some god who might or might not exist in the night.
“I expected this, so what am I supposed to do if I’m hurt now?”
Mocking myself, I forced my trembling legs to move and went inside the warehouse. The inside was still in a miserable state. The boxes and trash that had at least been stacked neatly were now scattered everywhere, as if everything had already been ransacked.
“Please… please. Lari. Lari. Lari…!!”
I’d been far too complacent. If I’d known such a cruel path existed, I should have sent Lari away from the beginning. The choice was supposed to be the children’s, but I’d been too naive.
I thought that no matter what, he’d be fine if he stayed here.
Rohen would go to the grand ducal house, and Lari would stay here.
Because they were the hidden villains in the novel, I foolishly thought they wouldn’t be killed. I thought that twisting the novel too much might cause problems, and that sacrifices in the present were necessary for the future.
That was all I thought. I simply believed that to bring down the Grand Duchess, we had to be separated. I’d overthought everything.
I should have thought of another way.
I kept pushing aside the trash with my hands, calling out again and again.
“Lari… Lari. Where did you go?”
Even if he didn’t die, that didn’t mean a child would remain unharmed.
I said I’d erase his trauma, and yet I’m such an idiot.
“Lari… Lari.”
Please be safe. Please, just be safe. My vision kept blurring. I’d lived one life already—imperfect as it was—and I thought that made me strong, but I was a weak, pitiful human.
Just a child. A human who couldn’t do anything, who only knew a little about an untrustworthy future.
“Changing the novel… it was never going to be easy. Someone as insignificant as me, me… hngh.”
My nose and tears mixed together until I couldn’t see ahead. Even as my eyes filled with tears, I had to find Lari, so I wiped my eyes with my filthy hands. That was when an intense pain struck.
“Aaah!”
It hurt so badly I wanted to roll around on the floor. I hurriedly wiped with my sleeve, but that did nothing to ease the pain. Wiping my eyes with hands covered in filth felt like I was going to die.
I still hadn’t found Lari, and now I couldn’t even see—driving me mad. Just then, someone suddenly grabbed me. Since I couldn’t see, I couldn’t tell if it was an adult or a child.
Startled, I tried to step backward, but the arm gripping me tightly wouldn’t let go. Instead, cool water was poured over my face.
“Eek! Wh—what is this! Who are you?!”
“What do you mean ‘eek’? Stay still. You can’t even open your eyes.”
The voice I heard was one I knew all too well—one I had longed for.
“Lari. Is that you, Lari?”
“…Yeah.”
“Thank goodness… really.”
Thanks to the clean water flowing over my face, my eyes began to open. Little by little, my vision returned. What I saw was Lari, holding a water container and smiling faintly.
“Idiot. What are you doing?”
Lari was smiling calmly. I hurried to embrace him, but he stepped back, then hopped lightly up onto a stack of cargo piled so high it nearly reached the ceiling.
Smiling leisurely like a wolf, Lari sat down and rested his chin on his hand.
I looked at him anxiously. Sitting on such an unstable pile…
“Why did you climb up there? Come down, Lari.”
“I told you not to come.”
“That’s… just come down first. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s not dangerous. You coming here is more dangerous.”
Had he always been this disobedient? I thought Lari used to listen well.
I shook my head at Lari, who was unusually talkative today, but every time I did, he copied me, shaking his head playfully as well.
“It’s dangerous. Hurry and come down. Hurry!”
I spread my arms toward him. He must have learned only the wrong things from Rohen. Not only did he climb up there, he was acting so relaxed about it.
“You won’t be able to catch me if I fall from here.”
“I can catch you. So hurry and come down. It’s dangerous.”
As if his mischievousness had increased while I wasn’t looking, Lari smirked.
“You’ll regret saying that.”
“Huh?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lari jumped down.
“W–wait, wait, wait!”
Startled, I ran back and forth with my arms outstretched, doing my best to catch him. In an instant, the child landed right in front of me.
“Lari!”
I couldn’t tell whether he’d fallen flat or collapsed into a seated position.
Worried that he might have been hurt in the fall, I hurriedly sat down as well, but as Lari stood up, he lightly tapped my head.
“Safe landing.”
I looked up in shock, and Lari was staring at me with an utterly calm expression.
“…L-Lari!”
“You’re weaker than me, yet you always pretend to be strong.”
“What are you—!”
“And why are you crying? Crying, seriously. You’re older than me. Don’t say you weren’t crying. I know you were crying even before you came in here.”
At that, I was left speechless, my mouth opening and closing uselessly. How much had he seen? Had he even heard me talking to myself? I looked at Lari with questions in my eyes, but he just smirked and stood up.
As if that weren’t enough, the child lightly patted my head and walked past me.
“As expected, you’re an idiot, noona.”
“I’m not an idiot… And wait, noona?”
“Then let’s go. I think my sibling is here. I’ve got a feeling.”
“W-wait. What did you just say? L-Lari!”
Startled, I hurried after him, but Lari walked ahead more leisurely than ever.
“You… you. Aren’t you Lariz?”
But there was no answer. Instead, Lari even hummed a tune to himself.
“If you’re not going to answer that… then… you knew I was coming?”
“Yeah.”
At that, all I could do was stammer.
“Th-then why….”
“We’re twins. We can tell whether the other is nearby or not. So… I thought you might come too. And you really did. Looking like an idiot.”
Glancing back at me, Lari just kept chuckling. The child I’d met again after several days seemed to have been doing quite well—he didn’t look much different from before.
“In the meantime… have you been okay? There was a pursuer after me, so….”
“Yeah. I’ve been great. I did so well, not missing you at all. As for the pursuers, they were so stupid I avoided them easily.”
Unlike my worry, the child walked steadily ahead, winding through the forest path. I was about to ask why we were taking such a roundabout route when male voices could be heard from somewhere a fair distance away from the path we’d come from.
Suspicious voices—clearly belonging to people searching for us.
“How did you manage to run… away from them?”
“I don’t know. They just have a really unpleasant smell, so I can clearly sense them.”
“Smell?”
Like an animal, the child sniffed.
“On the other hand, you smell really nice, noona.”
“A nice smell?”
“…Anyway. I don’t know. Stop asking so many questions.”
With a strange expression, Lari led the way again. Even though I was the one who’d come to get him, it felt more like I was the one being led—but my heart was much more at ease than before.
I didn’t know why Lari was calling me noona, or why he kept talking as if he were hiding something, but there was one thing I knew for sure.
So… this is goodbye.
That thought suddenly came to me. The fact that the grand ducal carriage had arrived meant that the time had come for everyone to leave
