Chapter 52
The Clue That Slipped Away
“I saw you.”
If we had to talk, then for today—at least for today—couldn’t it be about something other than me?
Because you, who had been my only refuge, my bamboo forest, were the one who shook me so badly.
‘Today, let’s make it about you.’
I tightened my grip on our interlaced fingers and strengthened the guiding flow.
And with the other hand, still entwined with his, I brushed against the emperor’s lips.
He seemed to understand my intention, for his gaze fixed on me as he nipped and licked the skin of my hand. I called up the status window.
‘There’s no need to rush stacking guiding points.’
Along with the blurred features of the emperor’s face, the plummeting values slid downward.
“Your Majesty.”
There was no need to kiss, embrace, or press our bodies so tightly together. Just exchanging saliva, letting the mucous membranes touch—it was already enough to stabilize the numbers.
He was urging me, wondering why I wouldn’t kiss him, but I pretended not to notice.
“I saw you inside the gate.”
Tension spread.
“A young, fragile boy.”
His slow, downward gaze felt as though it could devour me.
“I saved you. So today… I don’t want to tell my story. Your Majesty, please tell me yours.”
I looked up at the dazed Kaisis, who seemed caught off guard by my unexpected words, and stood on tiptoe.
As if to respond, he bent his head toward me, and I gave him a light kiss.
I sucked in his soft lips and breathed into them.
His handsome face relaxed, melting in pleasure, and he leaned in as though begging for a deeper kiss. But I stopped there.
“Won’t you tell me?”
“…You’re cruel.”
Yes, perhaps my refusal to ease his pain all at once could seem cruel.
But the numbers were steadily going down, so why such dramatics?
“I’m not feeling well today.”
His eyes widened as though about to burst.
“So today… let’s just hold hands—”
“Are you hurt?”
He pulled my hand sharply.
Once again, I was pressed against his stone-like chest.
Ah, what am I doing?
Yet his urgent grip tugged at our clasped hands, lifting my face to meet his gaze.
Our eyes locked. His expression had turned desperate, his eyes searching me.
“Did you get hurt because of me? Is that it? Because you went into the gate?”
The imperial dignity was gone. The man before me reminded me of that same fragile boy I had seen in the gate.
“Yes, even guides can suffer from mental attacks. Don’t tell me… did you witness something horrible? That’s why—”
Watching his stiffening expression, I blurted out fragments of my truth.
“You’re the first awakened one who’s ever liked this power. I only saw that past of yours.”
“…”
“It wasn’t that painful. So… today, I want to hear your story, Your Majesty. Please tell me.”
The one pleading had changed.
If I wanted to keep my own story to a minimum, this was the only way.
Then he lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss against my forehead.
“Never again.”
Warmth and a tickling sensation spread across my skin as he murmured with his lips still pressed against me.
“Never say things like that. The emperor of this empire craves your power so desperately—who would dare…”
Perhaps he was angered by the thought of other awakened ones.
“To me, you are salvation.”
The words he always said.
“I wasn’t any different. Whenever I touched a guide…”
His face lowered toward me with a bitter smile.
“They always looked at me as if I were a monster. You’re the first who didn’t.”
Maybe he and I weren’t so different.
I, the guide who was never welcomed by anyone.
He, the man who was never saved by any guide.
‘Even your own mother called you a monster, didn’t she?’
That was his pain.
An urge to comfort him rose inside me.
Even though I had promised myself not to get closer, to force his story out instead of mine—how long had it even been since then?
‘I must be out of my mind.’
Then why was my hand caressing his cheek, closing the distance?
“So don’t run away from me, my guide.”
Even knowing full well that he had everything a man could want, that no tragic past could change the fact that he was now the most powerful ruler of the empire—
“Don’t.”
Even standing before a tyrant emperor, before a sovereign so mighty no one dared oppose him—
“Kiss me.”
I rose onto my toes again.
This time his strong arm wrapped around me, lifting me until my body was drawn against him.
Instinctively, my arms circled his neck, and I sank into the deep kiss.
My head spun. Energy was pulled, sucked from within me.
Dizziness.
Then—a sharp sting, like being pricked by a needle, flitted through my mind. But I couldn’t grasp it.
In that moment, the status window crackled and flickered, as if warning me.
Once again, his guide had vanished.
He withdrew the shards of power that sliced skin and tore at his heart.
Staring into the misty traces of the fading image, Kaisis’s gaze slowly sharpened.
And then he looked down at the thing clenched in his hand.
His tightly closed fist.
“…”
He slowly unfurled his fingers.
Resting on his palm—
A single hair, secretly plucked from his mate.
“…”
It was a vivid red.
The exact same shade as someone else’s hair.
I was unbearably busy.
‘Life—what a cursed life!’
Even after transmigrating, huh?
Pulling all-nighters for endless overtime, huh?
‘Does this make sense?’
I glared at the mountain of papers that grew endlessly, multiplying faster than loan interest.
But seeing the state of the magicians reporting in, I couldn’t even get mad—they looked worse than me.
‘Why is treatment of mages in this world so brutal?’
Was it because I, a workaholic, ended up as their leader?
I pressed my throbbing temple and gritted my teeth.
Barely three weeks left until the demonstration.
Every dawn, I dragged myself up like a ghost, practiced magic until I retched, then dove straight into paperwork.
Since the emperor demanded research results, the mages were pushing themselves harder than ever—and so was I.
‘I think I’m going to throw up.’
If there was one consolation, it was that my proficiency was slowly improving.
‘Today, I didn’t stumble after using it once.’
Remembering how my fat cat Lucy had mocked me with her “meow-meow” laughter while accompanying me earlier made my mood plummet.
“When will you ever get used to it, huh?” That’s exactly what she’d said!
‘Just wait. I’ll reclaim the dignity of a grand mage, you chubby furball.’
I frowned at her empty spot again. Where did she keep sneaking off to during the day?
That was when—BANG! Something slammed against the door.
I blinked in surprise. Then, a polite knock followed.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
I gave reluctant permission, and the door flew open.
“Master!”
A young man burst in, face alight with the joy of a first love’s confession.
Right, his name was—
“…What is it, Ardiel.”
There was one mage the chief sorcerer praised to the skies every time he spoke.
That was this man, Ardiel.
Known as the “youngest mage,” a twenty-year-old prodigy.
‘Among all these middle-aged mages, yeah, he’s definitely young.’
Enough admiration.
I watched the mage who had practically sprinted into my office.
Purple hair in a messy tangle, pale skin from long hours in the lab, bright lemon-colored eyes.
His naturally beautiful face made his thin frame less of a flaw.
‘He’s not a minor character, but…’
The original story never really mentioned him either.
And suddenly, the man broke down crying right in front of me.
Wait. What? What is this?
Why are you crying?!
“I… I found it!”
