Chapter : 58
I was sitting awkwardly on the floor when Eloi and Viviana looked at me with startled expressions.
“Are you alright?”
“Did you fall? My goodness.”
I waved my hands dismissively and awkwardly got up.
Bending my body so I wouldn’t be seen from the terrace, I spoke softly to them:
“I just need to go to the restroom for a moment…”
I couldn’t help if they misunderstood me as someone going to the bathroom while eating.
“Shall we go together?”
I waved my hand at the two of them, who were looking at me with curiosity, and quickly moved my legs.
I think this was the fastest I’d moved since coming here.
When I reached the stairs leading downstairs, I had to change my route.
“Oh! Grand Duke Refricks?”
I heard murmurs of admiration from downstairs.
‘Maybe it’s because my legs are long… and fast.’
I hurriedly turned around and took the stairs going upstairs.
At the top, I saw a door that looked like a storage room.
‘Please be open…’
I reached out and turned the doorknob. Fortunately, it opened smoothly without making a loud sound.
I quickly entered the dimly lit storage room and closed the door behind me.
“Phew…”
If Sirinyu, who had gone up to the second floor, heard the conversation with the two there, I’d have to escape to the first floor.
I bit my lip, planning my escape route.
Do I really have to go this far?
Someone might think I stole money…
…Though I actually stole something far more valuable than money.
I shut my eyes tightly and listened to the sounds outside.
By now, Sirinyu must have reached the second floor and met Eloi and Viviana. With Eloi’s loud voice, I was certain it would be audible here.
…
It felt like an hour had passed.
‘Why isn’t there any sound?’
Maybe they only checked the first floor and left.
Being trapped in the dark storage was a little scary, and the dust inside tickled my nose.
I cautiously placed my hand on the doorknob.
Yes. If he came up, there’s no way it would have stayed quiet until now.
I nodded to myself once and pulled the door open with force.
With a creak, the door opened.
I had squinted expecting the light, but the view was darker than I thought, making me tilt my head.
Why is it so dark?
In an instant, I realized the darkness was because someone was standing right in front of me.
I carefully lifted my head like a rusty machine creaking, trying to see the face of the person blocking me.
In truth, I already knew who it was before seeing the face.
“Why are you so surprised?”
I stammered, lifting my gaze.
“Grand Duke?”
It was that dream again.
Sirinyu frowned at the familiar scene—an illusion he had seen on days when his eyes suffered side effects.
In fact, Sirinyu had even seen this hallucination in the place where the Demon King was sealed.
Selene standing in front of the Demon King, no matter how much force was applied, unable to move the sword.
And Selene shedding tears while looking at him.
That vision had brought Sirinyu a desperate sense of helplessness. He clicked his tongue without relaxing his expression.
No matter that it was a dream, he didn’t want to see Selene cry.
Gripping the heavy sword, Sirinyu raised his head.
“…?”
Today felt different.
It seemed like a progression from that dream. Selene was lying on the ground, and the Demon King was nowhere to be seen.
‘Has she already died?’
Sirinyu dropped the sword and ran. His legs felt like they were stuck in mud, heavy, but he forced himself to move.
“Ugh.”
After running for a while, Sirinyu collided with something, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Reaching forward, he realized he couldn’t get to Selene lying just a step ahead.
Then he realized she wasn’t dead.
Selene lay quietly, blinking her eyes. An unconscious sigh of relief escaped Sirinyu.
“…Hey.”
Sirinyu’s low voice echoed. The lying Selene shifted slightly.
He felt relief that the invisible wall did not block sound.
“You alright?”
He spoke to Selene, who was brushing herself up, his voice sounding more urgent than intended. He awkwardly cleared his throat.
“….”
Selene, now sitting up, stared at him silently. Sirinyu felt something strange.
Selene, sitting casually on the ground, looked completely different from usual.
She had wrapped a piece of cloth around her neck, and her messy hair was haphazardly tied up.
‘…What’s this?’
After briefly looking around, Selene fixed her gaze on Sirinyu.
Startled by the unfamiliar Selene, he finally spoke.
“Hey, what are you doing like that?”
His voice sounded blunt, as if trying to hide relief at her safety. Yet Selene’s expression remained unchanged.
‘Something’s off.’
If asked what was off, there would be many points, but the strangest was Selene’s gaze.
Normally, she wouldn’t look at him like this.
She would have stared at his face with wide eyes, then quietly shifted her gaze up and down.
But… Selene looked at him indifferently and slightly tilted her head.
Sirinyu couldn’t hide his confusion.
‘Am I imagining this…?’
His Adam’s apple moved significantly as he swallowed. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head.
It couldn’t be a mistake.
If this woman wasn’t Selene, he couldn’t explain the pounding in his chest.
He slightly opened his mouth to call her name.
“Sele…”
He couldn’t continue. If he said her name, she would surely show that usual bewildered expression.
The thought made his chest tingle, and he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
‘I’d rather wake up from this dream.’
While Sirinyu hesitated, Selene withdrew her gaze from him.
“Selene.”
He didn’t like losing her gaze.
When he finally called her name, Selene looked back at him.
But her expression was full of curiosity, as if questioning why he wasn’t saying her name.
“Sele…”
Just as he tried to call her name again, the space where Selene stood began to collapse.
To be precise, it folded in half like a closing book.
Panicked, Sirinyu reached out, but the blocked space still prevented him from moving forward.
His heart sank.
“Selene!”
Even as his desperate shout echoed, Selene continued staring at him.
“No!”
His eyes snapped open.
The quiet night surrounded him. Sirinyu lay in bed, soaked in cold sweat.
Next to him were candles, leaves, and herbs said to help against curses or abnormal statuses.
Irritated, Sirinyu shoved them off the bed.
‘These things are useless.’
He rubbed his left eye.
The Demon King hadn’t been perfectly sealed.
At first, he thought the Demon King was sealed, but his eyes told him otherwise.
The contract with Selene remained intact, and the side effects were worsening.
He stared at the ceiling, lying down.
Selene’s indifferent gaze kept coming back to him.
‘Nothing serious happened… right?’
He needed to meet Selene.
Sirinyu’s efforts over several days to meet Selene had gone to waste.
He sent letters to arrange a meeting, but the reply said she couldn’t meet him.
Worried about her health after the expedition, he even sent a doctor.
Confident his own doctor was better than the palace’s, he considered it a kind gesture, but the doctor returned with the same answer.
“She says she isn’t sick.”
Sirinyu rubbed his chin and glanced at the butler standing beside him.
“Has she been going out?”
“No. She hasn’t been seen outside.”
Sirinyu sank into the sofa, lost in thought.
No matter how he thought about it, the only conclusion was that she was avoiding him.
‘Avoiding me?’
His expression darkened.
‘After saying she liked me…?’
He felt tension in his jaw and closed his eyes.
He still needed Selene.
The cunning crown prince couldn’t have been unaware that the Demon King wasn’t properly sealed.
He couldn’t simply trust the prince and believe the seal was perfect.
Yet he hosted parties, deceiving the kingdom as if nothing happened?
Sirinyu narrowed his eyes.
‘He must have some scheme.’
He absolutely did not want to act according to the crown prince’s wishes.
Perhaps the reason he couldn’t meet Selene was the work of the crown prince and Arkas.
He couldn’t let Selene be taken away.
Fortunately, Selene still had positive feelings toward him. Sirinyu decided to use this to his advantage.
‘She wasn’t lying, right?’
He recalled that day with Selene. Slowly opening and closing his eyes, he beckoned to the butler.
Even if it was a lie, it didn’t matter. He had the upper hand. Victory always belonged to Refricks.
“True love or whatever, there’s no law that says you have to do both, right?”
“We’ll need to check the details, but probably yes.”
“Make sure you know for sure.”
“Yes.”
Sirinyu got up and walked down the dark hallway.
He had planned to use her from the beginning, hadn’t he?
‘By any means, I’ll keep her close.’
