Chapter – 89
While the two were lost in emotion, Kyle drew a dagger and cut into the wallpaper. Fearing they might scold him for lacking sentiment, he explained.
“We should check it quickly and return to Enperga to report.”
His words seemed to work. The siblings gasped and hurried over to peel the wallpaper away.
When the servant’s carefully maintained wallpaper was removed, a faint red-winged shape appeared across the wall.
The three of them were silent for a long time. After a while, Dee spoke.
“It looks like the traces of that red-winged bird don’t disappear. Just like the feather Sian had.”
“Seems that way.”
“Kyle… I actually… have precognition.”
“…What are you planning now?”
As soon as Dee hinted at it, Kyle grew wary. Julian was amazed—how many times had she fooled the king of this place?
With mischief sparkling in her eyes, Dee said:
“I think I really have to find that bird. The guiding star and the spirit of adventure are calling me from far away!”
Kyle turned to look at the wall with the strange symbol.
Dee had said the same thing before—that she should go find the bird.
Kyle trusted her deeply.
So he thought.
Perhaps soon, he would have to leave the royal capital for quite a long time.
They returned to the Enper family mansion and stepped down from the carriage.
Inside the house, the smell of fine food filled the air. The entire mansion seemed to reflect how sincerely they had waited for Dee.
The Enper couple, who had come out to greet them, rushed forward. Their eyes were swollen, as if they had cried the whole time.
Silvia, finally able to smile a little, said dramatically:
“Saintess. We thought about it, and since you have no parents and we have no daughter… even if you aren’t our real daughter, we’d like to live as family.”
Christopher echoed her.
“Perhaps Julian would have liked a little sister. He never said such a thing, but maybe he worried about us. Right, Julian?”
After the others left, the couple had calmly talked. The more they spoke, the less likely it seemed that Dee—who had disappeared soon after birth—was their long-lost daughter of twenty years.
So they decided to welcome her warmly, even if she wasn’t.
Lacking the courage to hear the result, they clutched Dee’s arms.
“Did you already pick a name for the child?”
“Hmm…”
Silvia swallowed her tears and said:
“When our daughter was born, her eyes were sky blue, but they seemed to turn a light green. And red wings appeared… so we thought maybe she was the reincarnation of Saintess Diana. We planned to name her Diana.”
Dee listened carefully and then smiled brightly.
“I looked like a fairy when I was born, right? Isn’t that true?”
Silvia paused, then quickly began fussing again.
“Of course! There has never been such a fairy in the world, right, dear?”
Christopher, tears falling as he nodded vigorously (too choked up to speak), agreed.
“She wasn’t just like a fairy—she was a fairy.”
Dee giggled and looked back at Kyle.
“See? My parents proved the fairy theory.”
“Today I’ll allow it.”
“‘Today’?”
Silvia muttered, stroking Dee’s face. Her hand trembled.
“G-goodness… our daughter… how hard it must have been…”
Though she had endured such painful years, the couple smiled through their tears. Everyone wondered how they could smile—how they could laugh as if a part of their memories had vanished.
Dee decided to stay at the mansion a little longer, and Kyle prepared to return to the royal palace right after dinner.
More than anything, he wanted to give her family space to reunite without him there.
Dee came to the front door to see him off.
“I still couldn’t call them mother and father during dinner. I tried to slip it in, but I couldn’t.”
“It’s only natural that it’s difficult.”
“Right?”
“There’s no rush. Take your time.”
Kyle soothed her, and Dee nodded with a smile.
“Yeah. I’ll take it slow and return to the palace in a few days.”
“Good. I’ve posted soldiers nearby, so there shouldn’t be problems. I’ll pass along any information from the scholars.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Sure.”
They finished talking, but Kyle kept holding Dee’s hand, unable to let go. Still, he forced himself to release it so she could enjoy her reunion. In a gentle voice, he said:
“Diana Enper.”
Dee beamed at the name, and Kyle smiled with her.
“You’ll get used to it soon.”
The door closed and the carriage departed. Kyle leaned back in the seat and thought about how he would endure the coming days without her.
Then Roxand jumped onto the seat behind him. Kyle, unsurprised, asked:
“Weren’t you with Diana?”
Roxand shook his head. Kyle nodded.
“Looks like you fled so you wouldn’t be cooked for letting Diana escape to another world.”
Roxand snapped in response, but since Kyle couldn’t hear him, it only frustrated him.
Anyway, now that Dee had returned home, everything was back to the beginning. Roxand hoped things would change from here.
Kyle remembered that Roxand liked alcohol and took a bottle from his pocket, handing it over.
“I wonder when we first met—before you turned back time.”
Roxand accepted the drink, thinking he should tell Dee that this guy becomes sentimental when he’s alone (but he kept quiet since he got alcohol).
“Maybe it was love at first sight?”
Well, at least Dee seemed to have fallen at first sight…
As he drank, Roxand recalled the day Dee and Kyle first met—before time was turned back.
That day, fourteen-year-old Kyle was sitting in a carriage.
He had heard that Dee, daughter of the Enper couple of Quildsac by the sea, had been confirmed as the reincarnation of Saintess Diana Istrella.
He couldn’t believe all the royalty coming just to see that little kid.
Tired of the situation, he didn’t even want to get out of the carriage. But the door opened gently and a tiny girl climbed in, closing the door and looking out the window.
Kyle called to her.
“What are you doing?”
The girl turned sharply and asked, startled:
“Who are you?”
“…‘You’?”
Kyle was puzzled, then realized her eyes were light green.
“You’re the saintess.”
“I’ll pass. I decided not to do it.”
“How can you just refuse?”
“They say if I become saintess I must go to the Roxand temple when I turn fifteen. I won’t do it.”
Listening to her, it was clear she had run away from the adults.
Saintess of the god Roxand.
If Roxand chose the next emperor, this little girl would help him.
But did that god really exist? Maybe all the emperors had just been bluffing.
Setting that aside, the child was so small—was she really going to be okay?
Kyle thought, and the girl asked:
“What’s your name?”
“Where did you learn to say ‘you’ like that?”
“From my dad. Now that I’m saintess, he said I should call other adults ‘you.’”
Ridiculous.
She continued:
“I’m Dee. I turned ten today. My nickname used to be Diane, but now everyone calls me Dee.”
“Because you’re the reincarnation of Saintess Diana Istrella.”
“And your name and age?”
“Kyle. I turned fourteen last month.”
“Hmm. Clayce, then. You’re tall for fourteen…”
Dee studied him and asked:
“Are you going to become emperor?”
“Not necessarily. Did you meet anyone?”
“A bothersome kid and a pretty one.”
Probably Jason and Sian. Kyle replied calmly:
“You’ll end up helping one of them so the emperor can rise.”
“I don’t like either.”
Fair enough—Jason would have yelled at her, and even if she met Sian, the cheerful adult-loving smile might have pleased her.
“What didn’t you like about them?”
Kyle asked, and Dee shook her head.
“Bothersome kid was hopeless, and the pretty one seemed strange.”
“Strange?”
“Yeah. He smiles a lot but doesn’t look happy. He never seems satisfied.”
She was only ten.
Kyle was surprised at how accurately she read people and asked:
“What about me?”
“You? Hmm.”
The ten-year-old’s gaze felt oddly wise. After studying him, she said:
“Can you become emperor?”
“If the god Roxand chooses me, maybe.”
“Then if I meet Roxand, I’ll tell him to choose you.”
“Why me?”
“Well…”
Dee thought, then clapped her hands as if an idea came.
“Because a four-year age difference makes perfect partners.”
“Pardon?”
“You and I are four years apart. That means we should help each other.”
Kyle laughed, and Dee, not wanting to be caught running away, covered his mouth.
“Be quiet! If they find me, will you take responsibility?”
Kyle shook his head—but he stuck his hand out the window, beckoning anyone to come. When Dee noticed, she looked like she had never seen such a bad person.
“Wow, a traitor’s star is shining above your head.”
“You can’t call me a traitor just from seeing me. Stop bothering the adults and go.”
“Listen. I have precognition. What I say might come true, traitor.”
At that moment the door opened and the royal officials, searching for Dee, took her away despite her protests.
