RBTW CH 80

Chapter 80

“What do you mean you can?”

“I mean it literally. The me I thought was nothing special is actually… a little special.”

“Oh. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Rohen looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah. Just like the High Priestess did, I can heal others too, and I can heal my own body. They say I won’t get sick either.”

“Not getting sick is the best part.”

Watching Rohen smile so brightly made something inside my heart sting. Am I doing the right thing right now? But isn’t it better because I told the truth? I once again fell into such complacent thoughts.

Meanwhile, my hands quickly began weaving the flowers together. And at last, a pretty bouquet was completed. Even so, all I did was intertwine the stems and untie the ribbon I had tied in my hair to wrap it around them.

“Isn’t it pretty!”

At that moment, as the ribbon tied around my head came loose, my hair softly fell down to the floor. And when I looked at Rohen, his expression was more serious than ever.

“But the fact that you knew and didn’t say anything until now means it’s not something that’s only good, right?”

Rohen’s expression suddenly changed.

“Huh…?”

“If it were really good—if it were only good—you would’ve definitely told me right away. That something like this happened. But the fact that you thought and thought before telling me… means there’s something, doesn’t it?”

“Rohen….”

“Do you… have to leave us or something? Since the High Priestess is here, do you have to stay here too?”

Why do Rohen’s eyes look so red? Why does his gaze look this sad?

“That’s… something for later.”

“The fact that you’re not denying it means I’m right.”

“Rohen.”

“It’s okay. I understand everything.”

“……Really?”

“But you can’t leave us.”

Rohen grabbed my wrist—the one holding the bouquet—and tightened his grip.

“There won’t be a day when you leave our side. We don’t need that kind of power. I’ll protect you. So don’t even think about leaving.”

“Rohen… it hurts.”

“Even if it hurts, endure it. My heart hurts more at the thought of you leaving. Why do you keep trying to leave us? We said we only need you. As long as we have you, that’s enough. Even if we live like beasts, even if we get beaten up, even if it feels like we’re going to die—having you is enough. So why can’t you accept that?”

It feels like my chest is being torn apart.

“Rohen. Are you obsessed with me?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to stay by your side?”

“Yeah.”

“But the object of your obsession isn’t me.”

The one you and Lari are supposed to obsess over is the novel’s heroine. The feelings you have for me right now are only because you haven’t met the heroine yet.

“……I decide who I’m obsessed with. From the moment you struggled so desperately to protect us—no, even before that—you were mine. You can’t leave our side.”

“Then, Rohen.”

“Yeah.”

“That feeling must not change.”

I smiled awkwardly at Rohen.

“It won’t change. The one we like and obsess over is only you.”

You must not fall in love with the heroine or become obsessed with her. If that happens, just like in the novel, Rohen and Lari will lose their lives to the Crown Prince whom the heroine loved.

I can’t watch that happen.

“Mm. You can’t like anyone else, okay?”

“Yeah. Only you. I’ll only like you. Only you….”

Rohen, who seemed about to add something more, shook his head.

“Don’t leave. The moment you do….”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll kidnap you.”

What future Rohen and Lari did to the heroine was kidnapping. Yet the way he said it so casually made me laugh without realizing it.

“Why are you laughing? I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

No matter how much time changes and different choices are made, it’s amazing how people don’t change. That’s why I’m laughing. I couldn’t say that out loud, so I just nodded.

“I really… won’t let you go. So don’t even think about leaving. Even if the High Priestess tries to take you… say you can’t go. Lari still hasn’t recovered yet. Right, next time I’ll say I’m sick. That I can’t let you go. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“If you lie… I won’t let you off.”

“Okay, okay.”

I stroked Rohen’s head. How many worries and thoughts must be inside this small head? Why hadn’t I looked into his heart before? Thinking such things, I smiled and stood up.

“Are you still not done talking?”

“Aisha.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll become someone dependable. So you have to trust me. I’ll become someone you can trust.”

“You’re dependable even now. The reason I couldn’t tell you various things before was just because I had too many thoughts. I think I’ve told you everything now.”

“Really? And yet you were hiding something like this.”

“Really!”

But no matter how I said it, Rohen didn’t look convinced. He still stared at me with an expression that said he didn’t quite believe me.

“Hmm.”

“Really.”

Just then, from quite a distance away, I saw the Grand Duke walking toward us. He had a somewhat displeased expression, but when he saw us standing there, he quickened his pace. Even so, perhaps worried that Lari in his arms might wake up, his steps looked very awkward.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I was so busy making the bouquet that I almost forgot about Your Grace for a moment.”

“Hm. I see.”

“Lari still hasn’t woken up?”

“Right. But I think she’ll wake up soon. She made a small sound earlier.”

At that, Rohen’s eyes sparkled.

“Now? Right now?!”

“She fell asleep again. It was more like sleep-talking. Still, since there was a change unlike before, it’s something to look forward to.”

“That’s a relief.”

I stared at Lari. I thought she would wake up immediately if the High Priestess used her power, but perhaps she had been asleep too long. It didn’t feel good. It felt like I had forced her to sleep for too long. Like there was a method, but I chose not to use it.

Unaware of my thoughts, Rohen looked back and forth between Lari and me.

As if he were excited.

“So Lari is really going to wake up. I have so much to tell her.”

“Yeah. Then let’s hurry home. It’s not great for her to wake up on the road. Right, Your Grace?”

“Right.”

“Hearing you two say that, I guess so. Dad, let’s go.”

I urged Rohen, who seemed unusually excited today. Without realizing it, he called him Dad while urging him.

The Grand Duke widened his eyes in surprise and looked at Rohen, then at me. I slowly nodded.

“Uh…? Ah. Yes. We should, we should go.”

Then he walked ahead awkwardly.

Rohen followed behind him, and I trailed after the two of them with the flowers in my hands.

We soon arrived at the carriage, and Rohen naturally sat beside me.

“What did Saintess Melodia say?”

As soon as we were seated, the carriage began moving. As if I had been waiting, I pressed him for an answer. With Rohen here, I have the right to ask. But once this moment passes, it would become a little ambiguous for me to ask about what he discussed with Saintess Melodia.

So I asked—but the Grand Duke’s expression stiffened.

“At this time next time.”

“Pardon?”

“She only gave vague information, as if trying to see me again next time.”

“What did she say?”

“She said she found someone similar, but she’s not sure if it’s the right person. So when I asked where she found her, she said it doesn’t seem like something that should make me move, and told me to wait.”

Strange. Is she doing that knowingly?

“So I told her not to contact me unless she’s certain it’s someone similar. Then… she told me one characteristic. The twins’ mother has a deep burn scar on her forearm. She always wore long sleeves because of it. She mentioned that. It does seem like it’s her.”

Hearing it like that, even I think it sounds right—but the timing feels off.

‘Originally, the timing was supposed to be after the Grand Duke investigated the twins’ mother thoroughly and dug into the Grand Duchess’s side… only then would the mother flee to the temple.’

Right now, it’s not even at the stage of such deep investigation, so there’s no way the mother would’ve ended up at the temple.

If she had fled to the temple, Saintess Melodia might know… but no matter how I think about it, it’s strange.

“Did you recently start looking for the twins’ mother?”

“I’ve been looking for her for a very long time. Since I learned the children were alive.”

Even in the novel, the Grand Duke begins searching for the twins’ mother the moment the twins appear. That part isn’t different.

‘Is there something that would change from the novel?’

My existence? But that alone shouldn’t be enough to cause such a change.

“Anyway, she said she’d let me know if there’s more information next time, so we’ll have to wait.”

At that moment, a single possibility suddenly fluttered into my mind.