Chapter 27
“Eunho… I’m sorry… I really am. I have no excuse… I know you must’ve resented me a lot.”
Tears welled up again in Ellen’s eyes as she cautiously offered her apology.
She thought it was unfair—low, even—to cry while apologizing. She knew that if Royl saw her tears, his heart would soften. No matter how much resentment he harbored, he would end up trying to forgive her. So Ellen forced her eyes wide open, trying to keep the tears from falling.
Hearing her trembling voice, Royl shook his head furiously before accidentally bumping foreheads with her. They both reeled back, rubbing their heads.
“Ah… sorry. And no—it’s not your fault. Never. Absolutely not.”
Royl vehemently denied any blame, and Ellen, holding her forehead, replied.
“Same here. It wasn’t your fault. You drove based on your judgment, and your judgment wasn’t wrong. If that lunatic hadn’t rammed us from behind, we would’ve arrived safely. It wasn’t your fault at all.”
Both of them insisted it wasn’t the other’s fault—and they meant it. But neither could free themselves from the thought that maybe, somehow, they were to blame.
They sobbed in each other’s guilt-ridden silence for a long while until Ellen finally looked up. Through her teary vision, she saw his tear-streaked face.
Their eyes met, and perhaps embarrassed, he quickly rubbed his face with his sleeve. But it was already a mess from all the crying.
“Pfft… sniff… hehe… hic.”
They weren’t even kids anymore, and here they were bawling their eyes out. The sight of him reminded Ellen of the young Eunho she once knew, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
Even as she laughed at his pitiful appearance, she still sniffled, not yet fully recovered from her emotions. As she alternated between laughter and hiccups, Royl grumbled.
“Pick one—either laugh or cry.”
Soon, Ellen calmed down enough that Royl stood and extended a hand to her.
“Come on, get up. Let’s go wash our faces. We can’t go home looking like this.”
Only then did she realize she was sitting down. She must’ve sunk to the ground without noticing, overcome with emotion.
The horses weren’t far. As they walked, only their footsteps echoed along the road.
There was just one thing they each wanted to ask the other—but neither could bring themselves to speak it aloud, afraid of the answer.
And yet, they both knew the other was hesitating for the same reason.
“We’re here.”
“Yeah.”
By the lakeside, they crouched and looked at their reflections in the water, washing their faces and tidying up their hair. But no matter how much they washed, the traces of tears remained.
Still blotchy-faced, Ellen sat on a nearby rock where the horses were tied. Royl followed and sat beside her.
She picked up a small stone and tossed it into the lake, her lips parting as if to speak—then clamping shut again. After throwing about five more stones, she finally opened her mouth.
“Do you… know what happened to our parents?”
“No. Do you?”
So he didn’t know either. Her expression darkened.
“I thought they were dead… but when I woke up, I was with the Quinter family.”
“Same here.”
Royl took a deep breath before continuing.
“If something went wrong during that accident… and the two of us ended up here… then maybe our families came too?”
Ellen’s face brightened slightly.
“Maybe they’re closer than we think. Just like we were.”
“Or… they could be in a completely different country.”
“We ended up in noble families, but what if our parents are struggling somewhere?”
She was already worrying far ahead, and he gently stopped her.
“We don’t even know for sure that they’re here. Maybe they’re still safe where we left them.”
“Right… That would be a relief too. But if not, then Hyerim… she must be alone. She’s still so young!”
The thought of her little sister overwhelmed her, and Ellen clutched her face again, shouting.
“Isn’t there some way to find out? I mean, we don’t even know how we got here…”
“…”
Royl scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly, then began retying his shoelaces.
“Maybe… if we meet a dragon, we’ll find out.”
Ellen suddenly said.
“What?”
“You haven’t read that fairytale? About the gold dragon who guards the dimensional gate?”
Royl recalled a familiar story.
“Oh, that? That’s just a fairytale, like the Korean ones where mountain spirits hand out golden axes.”
“No, seriously. Dragons exist in this world. Gold, silver, and black dragons take turns guarding the dimensional gate.”
He paused in the middle of tying his shoe and looked at her. She bit her lip before continuing.
“I tried to find more info on dragons or the gatekeeper, but the books at home didn’t help much. The gold dragon lives in the desert, the silver in the deep Ircana Sea, so they’re out of reach. The black dragon is the only one we might realistically meet—since it resides within our empire.”
Her argument wasn’t particularly convincing—even she knew it was far-fetched.
Saying “The black dragon is the most likely one we’ll meet” was about as rational as saying “Our best chance is winning the Korean lottery.”
Neither spoke for a moment. The air between them felt heavy, as if a black aura sent by the black dragon had settled over them. Royl’s slow head tilts and casual whistles seemed to push the gloom away.
They sat in silence for who knows how long, staring blankly at the lake, lost in thought—until Ellen’s eyes suddenly widened.
“Nesh!”
Nesh, who had been lying nearby watching them, stood up at her call, stretched out its front legs with a long groan, then flew into Ellen’s arms.
“Nesh, how did you get here?”
Royl asked in surprise.
“You didn’t bring it?”
“No! Do you think I had the mind to care for Nesh? I just wanted to find you and confirm who you were.”
“Fair point. Then how did it get here?”
He fiddled with Nesh’s front paw.
“Nesh, did you miss your big brother?”
He grinned, and Nesh playfully smacked him lightly on the mouth with its paw.
“…It was a joke.”
Royl took a step back, pouting.
They sat a little longer on the rock, until their flushed faces cooled down. Neither of them had brought a weapon, and now that the tension had faded, their bodies ached all over. They decided to return to the Quinter estate.
As Ellen stood, dusting off her clothes, Royl asked,
“So… Romeo and Juliet I get, but what was with that sudden Kim Cheom-ji reference?”
“I dunno. Just popped into my head. But hey, thanks to that, we figured out we’re both modern-day Koreans, right?”
“That’s true.”
Thinking back on it, Royl chuckled.
“You’re smart, you know? How did you even think to test me with a Romeo and Juliet line? My mind went totally blank just trying to think of something.”
Ellen nudged his shoulder.
“I’d been thinking about it since morning, even during training. I got yelled at for not paying attention and my whole body’s sore now.”
Royl rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck.
“Ah… now that you mention it, my legs are killing me too. I wondered why. Turns out Mom punished me.”
Ellen stretched one leg at a time.
“Punished? Why?”
“Spent all night wondering if you were really Eunho. Got scolded for daydreaming during training.”
Royl untied the horses. Ellen took the reins from him and lifted Nesh onto Jenny’s head. Even with a cat wriggling on her, Jenny remained calm.
“Animals just become docile around you. Well, not that Nesh is docile… but it at least understands people.”
Royl muttered, watching them, then suddenly corrected himself as if he’d just said something outrageous.
“Hey! Nesh is totally well-behaved! Listens perfectly.”
Ellen gave him a look.
“You’re shameless if you really believe that.”
She laughed and nudged Jenny forward.
Feeling lighter, Ellen hummed a tune. Royl smiled and nudged his horse to walk alongside her.
As they returned to the Quinter estate, Ellen suddenly froze.
“Wait… does that mean I’ve been calling you ‘oppa’ this whole time?!”
He laughed triumphantly.
“Yup. You’ve been calling me oppa. Keep doing it.”
“As if. I’m calling you Roy from now on.”
Ellen scowled as if to say “don’t even think about it.”
“Why? It’s fun.”
“Fun for you, maybe. You’re the only one enjoying this.”
Royl chuckled, then rolled down his sleeves and added,
“By the way, did you know? Here, unless you’re family, no matter how big the age gap is, people just use names. You can call someone oppa if you want, but even among relatives, if the age difference isn’t huge, they just use names.”
“…What?”
Ellen looked like she’d been smacked in the face.
What kind of messed-up title system is that? It’s barely even a system!
“You’re born a year old here, and after your birthday, you age again. So a one- or two-year age gap is practically nothing. We were just stuck thinking in Korean terms. Think about it—Erica and Serel are younger than me, but they just call me Roy.”
She groaned in protest.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me this?! I’ve been calling you ‘oppa’ this whole time and we’re not even related!”
“I overheard the moms once. They thought maybe you wanted an older brother or something.”
Ellen sighed, cheeks puffed. Okay, that was… understandable.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought the same. What was I supposed to say? ‘Don’t call me oppa, I’m not your brother’? That’d be so cold.”
“….”
No one had done anything wrong, yet she was the only one feeling utterly wronged.
