Chapter 50
Eugenia returned to the inn alone.
As soon as she stepped into the first floor, her eyes instinctively turned toward the table where she and Enrique had sat.
Perhaps the innkeeper was a very diligent person, as the dishes had already been completely cleared away. It was as if no one had ever sat there to begin with.
Eugenia unconsciously took in a shaky breath.
To feel so empty already.
Even she was a little taken aback by her own emotions.
She forcibly tore her gaze away from the table that refused to let go and placed her hand on the railing of the stairs leading to the upper floor.
For some reason, her steps felt heavy.
“If he has to leave without even staying a full night, there must be something very important and urgent he couldn’t take care of while stuck in the principality.”
So she shouldn’t feel disappointed.
“It’s not like we were close anyway.”
Eugenia let out a long breath, trying hard to steady her emotions.
Soon, she reached the door to her room.
The moment she quietly opened the door, she noticed the room was dim.
Selmia was sound asleep on the bed, and Joshua, who had been waiting for her, perked up like a cat and came running over.
“Why are you so late? What were you two talking about for so long?”
His voice sounded grumpy.
Eugenia couldn’t understand what he was so jealous about.
She offered a tired face and voice as she apologized.
“Sorry. Did you wait long? You should’ve gone to bed. I could explain everything tomorrow.”
“How could I sleep when I’m so curious? So? What did you two talk about that kept you out so long?”
“Ah, well…”
Eugenia trailed off.
After taking a breath, she replied in a quieter tone.
“I was just seeing him off. That’s why I was late.”
Joshua raised one eyebrow.
“Seeing him off? Those guys left?”
Eugenia nodded heavily.
“Yeah. They left right after dinner… I think that was the plan from the start.”
She deliberately busied herself as she continued speaking.
Somehow, she felt like if she didn’t move her body, she’d be consumed by negative emotions—so she had no choice.
Meanwhile, Joshua couldn’t quite hide his blank expression after hearing such an unexpected answer.
That alone showed how sudden this parting was for the boy.
“…I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
“Yeah.”
Only after a long silence did Joshua mutter in a hoarse voice, and Eugenia gave him a nod.
“Oh, right.”
As if she had forgotten something, Eugenia suddenly became busy again.
She opened her pocket and pulled out the pendant Enrique had returned to her.
The blue gemstone somehow reminded her of his eyes, and she instinctively brushed her fingertips over it.
It was an unconscious action.
How long had she been staring at it?
“Eugenia?”
A careful voice called out to her from behind.
“Huh? Oh—here!”
Startled, she quickly held out the pendant to the boy.
“Before he left, Lord Enrique returned this. Here, take it.”
“…Okay.”
Joshua carefully extended both hands and accepted the pendant.
A trace of longing flickered in the boy’s eyes as he looked down at the gem.
‘He must be thinking about his parents.’
Eugenia refrained from offering a careless comfort and turned away.
“Could you wait a little more? I’ll return the one I was holding, too.”
She had attached it to the dress she wore earlier while passing through the city gate, and she hadn’t had time to remove it because she went straight to wash up.
Eugenia pulled out the heavy dress again.
It took forever just to find the chest area.
She practically had to dig through the fabric. Just then, her fingers brushed against something hard. The brooch.
“Ah, here it is!”
She moved her hands again.
She was busy trying to unpin the brooch when her fingertips grazed the gem in the center.
At that moment, an unexpected sound echoed in her ears.
“When are you coming?”
It was a mischievous, playful question.
Selmia was asleep, so Eugenia naturally assumed it was Joshua who had asked her.
“Huh?”
Still focused on removing the brooch, Eugenia absentmindedly replied.
But when no answer came, she lifted her head and turned to Joshua.
“Joshua, what did you just say?”
The boy looked confused.
Joshua furrowed his brow slightly and tilted his head.
“What are you talking about?”
“…?”
The two of them stared blankly at each other.
Joshua didn’t understand what Eugenia was saying—and the same was true for her.
Trying to make sense of her confusion, she took several deep breaths and calmed herself before asking again.
“No, I mean, didn’t you just ask me when I was coming? You didn’t?”
“Me? No?”
It was a completely unexpected response.
Eugenia’s eyes slowly widened, and then her expression tightened. Her brows furrowed.
“I definitely heard someone just now… Was it Selmia talking in her sleep?”
Joshua casually replied with a hint of annoyance.
“What are you talking about? Sherry wasn’t talking in her sleep. She doesn’t have that kind of habit.”
“But still…”
“And if she did, I would’ve heard it too.”
“…That so?”
But she was sure she heard it.
As Eugenia pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, Joshua raised his voice a bit, sounding frustrated.
“Maybe you just misheard? A lot of people hear things when they’re tired. Old folks do that all the time.”
Eugenia snapped back with a slightly sulky voice.
“I’m not that old, okay? I’m only twenty-one!”
Joshua snorted.
“You’re older than me, so you’re old.”
“You little…!”
Joshua stuck his tongue out mischievously, then ran over to his bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
Eugenia gave him a light glare with a mock-angry face and walked over to his bedside.
She had never really been angry to begin with.
‘I guess I’ve really become comfortable here.’
To be able to joke around like this so easily.
Eugenia softened her expression, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Then she gently placed the brooch near the boy’s pillow and whispered:
“Good night, Joshua. I’ll leave the brooch here.”
She neatly folded the dress she had taken the brooch from, then lay down on her own bed.
Of course, not forgetting to blow out the candle that softly lit the room before that.
The room was instantly swallowed by darkness, and for some reason, it felt even more silent than before. Eugenia became conscious even of her breathing.
Lying on her side and holding her breath, she recalled the sound she’d just heard.
‘I definitely didn’t imagine it.’
She swallowed dryly and continued thinking.
‘Someone definitely asked when I was coming.’
Looking back, she had occasionally heard such things lately.
Mostly when half asleep, so she’d brushed it off as part of a dream or her own thoughts.
But this time was different.
It was clearer than ever before, and it hadn’t been her own voice.
‘What was that, really?’
She tried to think through it from all angles but couldn’t come up with a satisfying answer.
‘If I had to pick a possible explanation… it’d be resonance.’
But then what exactly was she resonating with?
And once again, she hit a wall.
‘Ugh. So frustrating.’
She had no way of figuring out the identity of that voice—one that didn’t feel entirely hers, yet not completely foreign either.
Her current situation didn’t afford her the time or resources to investigate it.
‘If only I had possessed the daughter of a powerful noble or a rich villainess.’
Then a long yawn slipped from her lips, cutting off her train of thought.
It felt like all the exhaustion in her body melted away as she lay on a proper bed after sleeping rough for so long.
And the bedding—so incredibly soft—made her eyelids grow heavy.
Before long, they fell shut completely and never reopened. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, she finally succumbed to sleep.
A deep slumber swallowed Eugenia whole.
