Chapter 26
Liana couldn’t understand the situation she was in right now. More precisely, she couldn’t understand how she had let things turn out this way.
“Hmm, what’s this?”
“Cotton candy. They say if you blow on it, it flies away.”
Liana half-opened her eyes and gave a vague answer as she looked at the fluffy round sugar shaped like a flower.
But Ian Hart’s questions didn’t stop there.
“What about that?”
Following his long, outstretched finger, Liana’s eyes landed on something… a long, golden-brown skewer. Her expression slightly twisted.
“That’s fried earthworms…”
“Why would anyone eat that?”
“How should I know? I don’t eat that stuff either.”
Even though Liana was fine after being soaked in monster blood, the one thing she really hated was insects.
Once, when someone in the guards asked why she hated insects even though she could easily kill terrifying monsters, she answered like this:
“My power isn’t for killing insects. They’re creepier than monsters.”
“How about trying it this time?”
“Are you crazy?”
Her swear words came out in an instant at Ian Hart’s suggestion. The frown on her face showed how serious she was.
Ian Hart just laughed happily after hearing her curse.
“You hate them that much? Enough to curse the emperor?”
…Is this guy really sane?
Liana frowned and honestly answered,
“I have insect phobia.”
Ian Hart burst out laughing again. She couldn’t understand why he found it so funny.
After the fried earthworms, the rest of the city tour went smoothly.
Occasionally, Liana carried Kkamang (the black animal) in her arms and bought what it wanted—Kkamang liked shiny things.
The peaceful mood strangely shifted when they stopped by a fruit ice cream stall that appeared with the warm weather.
“What flavor do you want?”
“I’ll have whatever you recommend.”
“Hmm, something sour or sweet?”
“I don’t like either.”
…Are you kidding me?
At Ian Hart’s short answer, Liana’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Forget it. Just take whatever they give you.”
Liana turned away from Ian Hart and looked toward the stall owner who was waiting for the order.
“One strawberry and one lemon, please.”
“Okay.”
The older owner accepted the order with a very satisfied expression.
…Somehow, Liana felt uncomfortable.
The peak was when the owner handed over two fruit ice creams and casually said,
“Oh, young people these days date so cutely, don’t they? Nice to see, nice to see.”
Liana holding the sticks with fruit ice cream in each hand could hardly believe her ears.
Had she not slept, or was she just feeling off? Was she hearing nonsense?
“Ha ha, if you eat my ice cream and rub it on your lips, it’s supposed to make you feel really good.”
“…We’re not like that.”
“Hmm? What? I’m a bit hard of hearing.”
Liana’s half-delayed denial was completely ignored.
At that moment, a little girl came running, holding her parents’ hands.
“Excuse me, which flavor is the best?”
“Hmm? Everything here tastes good. Little lady, do you like sweet or sour?”
Hard of hearing, huh? Now it seemed that the owner just heard only what they wanted to hear.
In the end, Liana’s expression darkened as she turned away without correcting the misunderstanding.
“…Here, take this.”
“Hmm, strawberry, huh?”
“Sour flavors have strong likes and dislikes.”
“You seem to like it?”
“I don’t dislike it.”
Ian Hart kept chuckling without trying to hide it as he took the ice cream sticks.
Their hands briefly touched for a moment as Liana said,
“…It’s hard to eat while walking, so let’s sit down to eat. There’s a bench over there.”
Liana picked up Kkamang, who was fussing in his arms, and walked straight toward the bench on the side of the street.
The princess, who seemed prickly yet mild, often forgot that he was the emperor.
Of course, she didn’t dislike that. Especially after what happened this dawn.
A few hours earlier, at dawn.
Dro-rong… Dro-rong…
Leaning loosely on the bed’s headboard, Ian Hart looked at Leon sleeping soundly at his feet.
Tsk. Some people can’t sleep because they’re worried about what I said, but here he is, snoring deeply.
After returning to the secondary palace, when Ian Hart asked why Leon had brought him here, Leon clamped his mouth shut.
No matter how much Ian Hart pressed him, Leon refused to say anything and even transformed into a small form again.
Originally, sacred beasts were beings that protected their contractors. So there was no way Leon would have done anything harmful to Ian Hart.
“Destiny…”
Ian Hart pondered over the word Leon had said as his reason.
After hours of silence, Leon finally burst out the word like a shout:
<“Lou, you and Liana are destiny…!”>
After that one phrase, he stayed quiet, quietly circling Ian Hart’s side until falling asleep.
He looked upset somehow, but seeing him sleep so well made Ian Hart think he was simple after all.
Ian Hart waved his hand.
Swa-aa…
Golden light slowly spread from his fingertips. When the light faded, a document lay on his palm.
His red eyes slowly read the black letters. It was information he had already seen before—nothing new.
“Liana Lovelin…”
The first princess of Rouen, whom Leon called his destiny.
Though Leon was a sacred beast, Ian Hart wasn’t naive enough to believe that word entirely.
But it wasn’t a lie to say he wasn’t at least a little interested.
‘Leon wouldn’t have said that without a reason…’
Though lighthearted, Leon was a sacred beast.
According to the report called Ollira before coming to Rouen, Liana was in a strange and ambiguous position in the Rouen royal palace.
She was the child born from the king and her mother’s one-night encounter. The drunken king had almost assaulted the daughter of a humble family. Naturally, there was no love between them.
‘They accepted the king’s seed, so they let her into the palace, but she was treated as a temporary amusement… and soon after, abandoned.’
Was it just abandonment?
The report also briefly mentioned that she was severely bullied by the current queen, who was the king’s mistress back then.
The late queen felt pity for Liana and her mother, so she gave some consideration, but that was limited.
‘Tch, the records are sparse.’
Ian Hart lightly dismissed the fact that he hadn’t been given much time from the start.
Swaa…
He waved his hand again to erase the documents and stood up.
Ian Hart was someone who selectively valued time efficiency, and wasting dawn without sleep was not something he liked.
When he picked up the sword he had casually placed, he later found out someone else had left their room similarly.
Ian Hart walked leisurely. Though he was emperor, he had lived freely before reaching this position.
“…This place is quite nice.”
When he first entered Rouen’s palace, he dryly commented that it was noisy and annoying. But the palace near where he stayed was quietly peaceful day and night, which was quite good.
He hadn’t thought about that when asking for a palace near Liana’s, but in hindsight, it was a great choice.
‘Though the princess’s knights can be noisy…’
But it didn’t bother Ian Hart, as he disliked noise from other sources.
He liked noise from training and battle.
Then—
Sa-ak.
Beyond a cluster of shallow trees, a sharp presence cut through the air.
‘…The princess.’
Although the figure wasn’t in sight, Ian Hart recognized who it was. After a moment of thought, he continued walking—towards the same direction where the presence was sensed.
When Ian Hart stopped—
“…Ha.”
He was impressed.
Tat-tat.
Sa-rak.
Softly stepping on the ground, striking the sword with strength. Yet the movement wasn’t passionate.
Despite the strong and precise action, it flowed like water.
‘Unexpected…’
Liana’s fighting style was also in the report.
She was a magic swordsman who easily wielded a greatsword as tall as her and used powerful large-scale nature magic.
Liana fought so fiercely she was called the crimson berserker on the battlefield.
But her sword dance was softer and more intense than any dance Ian Hart had seen before.
Leaning quietly against a tree, Ian Hart enjoyed the peaceful melody created by Liana.
Unfortunately, the dance-like movement stopped after a short while.
‘…I should have come out earlier.’
Ian Hart thought, unexpectedly.
