Chapter 76
After splashing around in the water for a good while, her body felt drowsy and heavy.
Since Eleusis had left, Shanelica went back into the lake several more times. She figured out how to swim in the shallow area without her feet touching the bottom, and after swimming like that a few times, she quickly grew tired.
“Lady Shanel, you seem to be in a good mood.”
“Maybe it’s because I swam at the lakeside earlier. My body feels lighter somehow.”
By late afternoon, when the heat of the sun had eased a little, Shanelica returned to the palace. Lately, the summer heat had dulled her appetite, and whenever that happened, she filled her stomach with the fruit Eleusis sent her. Sweet fruit after a refreshing swim lifted her mood, even if only for a short while.
The palace maids thought Shanelica was becoming more beautiful each day. Her health had recovered, her complexion brightened, and she smiled more often. She was completely different from the gloomy figure she used to be, when simply being near her felt contagious. Surely, it was because she was loved by the king.
Though the king never said it outright, Shanelica would soon be queen. From the moment he had brought her into the palace, he had cared for her with the utmost devotion. That was why the maids served her with all their hearts, knowing she was destined to become someone important.
“Lady Shanel, His Majesty has sent this.”
I was waiting for this. I almost thought I wouldn’t get one today!
It was something Eleusis sent her every day. With a fluttering heart, Shanelica received the white sheet of paper from the maid.
About two weeks ago, she had told Eleusis she wanted to try something fun besides musical instruments. After pondering for a moment, he suggested giving her a daily quiz to solve.
Shanelica had agreed immediately. It wasn’t just simple question-and-answer quizzes. They were puzzle bundles that required solving multiple problems and combining them to crack a code. Sometimes he used words, sometimes arithmetic with numbers, and other times general knowledge or picture-based puzzles.
For someone like Shanelica, who loved mental challenges, it was a new and entertaining pastime. She could easily spend two or three hours lost in solving the puzzles. What better way to pass the time?
Looking at the quality of the quizzes, she sometimes found herself admiring Eleusis. How could he create such high-quality problems every single day? She couldn’t imagine how he managed it.
Then she would remind herself—he was the king. Intelligent and well-learned, of course he could. But then again, maybe not all the puzzles came from him personally. The thought that perhaps a group of the kingdom’s brilliant officials were secretly making them for her made her chuckle.
Either way, it was adorable.
Thinking of Eleusis, Shanelica smiled softly. At first, she had only thought of him as a handsome man. But at some point, she began to notice his kindness and gentleness. Now, she even found him… cute.
Come to think of it, he had a great body too.
Her thoughts drifted back to the lakeside earlier, when she saw his form through his thin white clothes—the broad chest, the wide shoulders. Even without seeing his face, just looking at his body was enough to stir her instincts.
He really is the complete package. I’m lucky.
Her lips curved in a quiet smile as she unfolded the paper with today’s quiz.
“We’ll take our leave now, my lady.”
The maids bowed deeply and withdrew. As the three maids left, the two guards stationed at her door also stepped out.
Shanelica’s gaze followed the tall, black-haired guard as he turned away. As always, a black longbow hung across his back.
After a few seconds, her eyes shifted back to the paper.
Clunk.
The door closed with a sound. Shanelica glanced toward it again, this time longer, much longer.
“Mm.”
She withdrew her gaze, the corners of her lips still tilted upward.
I guess I really am okay now.
Holding the quiz paper in hand, she flopped sideways onto her bed. Even though it wasn’t much, she felt a small sense of accomplishment.
I was right to make him my guard.
A month ago, she had asked Eleusis to make Derwin her personal guard. Her reasons were complicated.
First, she wanted to test whether Eleusis would grant her every request, no matter what. Did he truly like her enough to set aside his own convictions? Was he truly a suitable partner for this game of hers?
Second, she couldn’t stand the thought of Lord wandering around in human form as “Derwin,” living an ordinary life in the human world. If he promised to protect her, shouldn’t he at least stay by her side? With Stern determined to kill dragons, Lord needed to remain as close as possible to keep her safe.
The most important reason, though, was to forget the human Derwin. Since the human Derwin no longer existed, she had to erase him from her heart. By keeping the shell that looked like him—Lord—nearby, she thought it would help her move on. His appearance hadn’t changed, but the atmosphere he gave off was so different that even humans tilted their heads at it. Surely, if she stayed close to him, she would forget the human Derwin soon enough.
And so Derwin became her guard, and a month passed.
Together with another guard named Wils, Derwin always accompanied Shanelica whenever she left the villa or met with anyone—anyone except Eleusis. That even included the maids who were constantly at her side.
Which meant that aside from her private time alone or with Eleusis, Shanelica constantly encountered Derwin. At first it was uncomfortable, but as time passed, it became bearable. Reminding herself that this was not “the human Derwin of the past” but “Lord,” who would disappear in half a year once this game ended, brought a strange sense of peace.
Derwin seemed determined to act only as a guard. He had never once spoken to her. It made sense—after all, Wils was always with them, so the two were never alone.
They had spoken only once, and only because Shanelica initiated it.
Not long after Derwin became her guard, a suspicious person appeared in the garden, and Wils ran off to pursue them. The moment Wils was gone, Shanelica spoke.
“You play the human role well.”
Her biting remark drew no response.
“Aren’t you curious why I made you my guard?”
Reluctantly, Derwin replied.
“Looks like a childish brat who can’t tell reality from a game wanted to play some silly trick.”
“Too bad. That’s not it. I can’t trust human guards. Who knows when one of them might try to kill me again?”
“You don’t understand. Even if I’m not standing right next to you, as long as I’m nearby, you’re not in danger.”
“Such confidence. But no matter how strong you are, being far away makes no difference. Do you know what happened to me before?”
Just as Derwin was about to answer, Wils returned.
And the conversation ended there. Since then, even when they briefly ended up alone, neither of them spoke first.
Time really does heal.
The “human Derwin” would become nothing more than a fading speck among Shanelica’s memories.
As for what would happen with Lord, that was a problem for later. For now, living happily with Eleusis as a human for the next century or so was more important.
Shanelica pushed thoughts of Derwin to the back of her mind and happily began working through the quizzes Eleusis had sent her.
Two guards walked out of the king’s villa. The king and his guards had gone inside to dine with Shanelica, so their shift was done for the day.
Wils cast a side glance at Derwin, who walked beside him, and rolled his eyes. Then, in a light tone, he said:
“Sir Derwin, your face looks stiff.”
“…”
“Is something bothering you?”
No matter how he tried, Derwin didn’t respond. Wils sighed inwardly but decided to continue anyway.
“I think I know why.”
“…”
“It’s about the lakeside earlier, isn’t it? Well, she is your ex-fiancée. Even I found it awkward, seeing the two of them so close, wet like that… haha.”
Wils deliberately pretended to be tactless, poking at Derwin on purpose. He was ready to get punched a few times for it—he could take it.
But still, Derwin said nothing, as if he hadn’t even heard him.
Fine, I’d rather get hit than deal with this.
Wils grumbled to himself. This man—duke in name and royal guard in practice—was impossible to read.
In truth, Wils’s role wasn’t simply to guard Shanelica. He was also tasked with watching Derwin and reporting on his actions.
But Derwin never spoke to Shanelica, never did anything suspicious. Every time Wils had to report “nothing to note,” it was embarrassing.
He had started to think he should provoke him somehow, just to learn something. And today, Derwin seemed… different.
Derwin always kept an expressionless face. But after the lakeside incident, there had been a subtle change. Wils had watched him long enough to notice: Derwin was in a foul mood.
“Really, are you sure you’re okay? If I were you, I’d have quit already. Even if she’s your ex-fiancée, having to watch her with another man… it’d burn me up inside. You must be incredibly broad-minded.”
“…”
“Orders from His Majesty or not, you should give up this guard duty. Doesn’t it drive you crazy, wondering what happens when the two of them are alone together? Just the lakeside today was something else… This can’t be good for your mental health.”
Derwin still showed no sign of replying. Wils kept prodding anyway—half out of duty, half for himself. Honestly, if Derwin quit, that would be fine. He couldn’t read him anyway, so quitting would save him trouble.
Wils hated wasting his time on this so-called guard duty. He was a senior knight in the royal elite, after all. As the younger brother of Glyn, the king’s chief personal guard, and an old acquaintance of Eleusis himself, he was only obeying orders reluctantly.
“Soon, Lady Shanel will become queen. The way His Majesty looks at her… wow, at this rate, we might see a prince or princess before the wedding even—”
Huh?
Suddenly, his tongue stopped moving.
Startled, Wils tried to continue speaking, but it wasn’t just his tongue. His entire body wouldn’t move. His lips, his eyes—nothing responded.
Panic flared. His mind was sharp, but his body was frozen like stone.
Just as he struggled to comprehend what was happening, Derwin turned his head toward him.
“!”
A detached gaze brushed across him, then moved away. Derwin turned back and continued walking.
“Haaah—!”
Only when Derwin disappeared around the corner did Wils collapse, gasping for breath.
For a fleeting moment, he had been certain his entire body would shatter to pieces. An indescribable, overwhelming terror had gripped him.
When their eyes met, what Wils felt was nothing less than the kind of fear that made him think: being alive itself is a curse.
