TLVGAJ 12

Chapter 12

Thus began the climb up the Stairs of Trial with Albert at my side.

I followed him with all my might, and thanks to the brief rest in the shade earlier, I no longer felt as though I were on the brink of death.

Somehow, his words had ignited my stubbornness.

Fine. Whatever these so-called Stairs of Trial may be, I will conquer them.

I stole a glance at Albert from time to time.

Up close, I could see beads of sweat trickling down his face, proof that even for him, this climb was far from effortless.

We were ascending in silence when he suddenly spoke.

“I heard laughter from your cabin all day yesterday.”

“Pardon?”

“Word has spread. That you captured a pickpocket and saved a child’s life.”

Ah.

Only then did I realize what he was referring to, and I answered calmly.

“Well, the rumor is somewhat exaggerated, but it’s not entirely untrue.”

“Why did you save that child? It’s unlike you.”

“How could an adult stand by when a child faints in fear—”

I stopped mid-sentence, remembering what the real Irene was like, and quickly changed my words.

“…I’ve simply been reconsidering some things lately. Commoners are also precious subjects, after all.”

“…”

“And the child was… rather endearing. Traveling together made me grow attached to him.”

Albert fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.

“…So, did you enjoy yourself yesterday?”

His voice carried a sharp edge, and when I turned toward him, I found him staring at me intently, as though oddly irked.

“…Excuse me?”

Flustered, I stared back, unsure how to respond.

Albert’s eyes were piercing.

“You broke the rules and invited third-class commoners into first class. Was it fun?”

“…Yes. I enjoyed it.”

Something was off. Why did it feel as though he was sulking?

“None of this is like you, Irene,” he said, taking another step up the grueling stairs.

“Saving a commoner child, spending time with commoners in first class…”

“…”

“And the way you’ve treated me since boarding this train.”

“…”

Well, that was because I wasn’t truly Irene.

Forgive me, but I am Yoon Se-hee from South Korea…

A reader who once knew every detail of this novel.

Whenever I encountered the male leads, I made a conscious effort to behave in a way that would win their favor. To someone like Albert, who had observed Irene for years, that change must feel unnatural.

He really does notice the difference… just as I expected.

I was carefully weighing how to respond when—

“Wha—!”

Suddenly, the ground vanished beneath my feet. I had been lost in thought and misstepped.

A strangled cry escaped my lips as I wavered on the stairs.

“Oh no…!”

“My lady! Be careful—!”

They say that in moments of crisis, time slows.

And for me, it truly did.

In slow motion, I felt myself topple forward down the seemingly endless stairs.

I shut my eyes tightly. If I tumbled down from here, death was almost certain.

Is this how it ends? Am I really going to die like this—so absurdly?

But at the very instant I began to fall—

Thud.

A strong arm wrapped firmly around my waist, halting my descent. My body jerked to a stop, and I slowly opened my eyes.

Beneath the vivid blue sky was a stranger, holding me securely.

The sunlight glinted off his silver armor, making it shimmer brilliantly. His broad, solid chest…

Wait… a royal chest…?

Realizing I was cradled against a stranger’s massive chest, I bolted upright.

“Aah! I’m so sorr—!”

But the moment I saw his face clearly, the words died in my throat.

“…What?”

I immediately knew who he was.

The third male lead of this novel: Eric Hetherson.

Eric Hetherson.

A towering man clad perpetually in armor, with black hair and eyes as dark as obsidian.

He was a Holy Knight—a protector of both god and temple.

Not of Lata, where we now stood, but of Harmen, a neighboring kingdom of the Heshite Empire.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah… yes. I’m fine. Thank you. That was nearly a disaster.”

Though startled by the sudden encounter, I managed a sheepish smile. Truly, my body was unscathed.

At that moment, a sharp voice cut through the air.

“Eric? What are you doing here?”

“Albert.”

I turned to see the two men greet each other with a familiarity that spoke of a long history.

Come to think of it…

In the novel, Albert and Eric were eternal rivals and yet each other’s only true friend.

Albert’s mother, Empress Soette, like many mothers in romance-fantasy novels, had been frail and died young.

The Emperor of Heshite, foreseeing that numerous factions would attempt to assassinate his sole legitimate heir, sent the young Albert to the Harmen Kingdom—his late mother’s homeland—to keep him safe until the political climate stabilized.

And there, in Harmen’s great temple, Albert had spent several years as a child…

It was during that time that he grew up with Eric.

According to the novel, the two boys fought like cats and dogs yet shared a bond as close as brothers.

Both had been left motherless and placed in the temple, and though they constantly clashed, they came to care deeply for one another.

Even after Albert returned safely to the Empire as a young man and a strong contender for the throne, their bond remained unbroken.

Albert rose to prominence as the Empire’s crown prince, while Eric honed his swordsmanship and served as a Holy Knight in Harmen.

Eric was the only one who truly held a place in Albert’s guarded heart.

“I thought I’d undertake my own trial and climb these Stairs of Trial, Albert,” Eric said evenly.

“You don’t even worship Lamenta. This is heresy.”

“It’s not heresy—it’s showing respect for another god. Weren’t you the one who just said, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ Your Highness?”

“…What? Were you watching us this whole time?”

Albert’s voice sharpened.

Eric’s gaze flicked toward me, still standing there awkwardly.

“Yes. I found it amusing to see you with this lovely young lady.”

He grinned mischievously, clearly trying to get under Albert’s skin.

“Have you decided to renew your engagement with Lady Hartmann? You used to despise her so vehemently.”

“That’s not—!”

“Um, excuse me, could you both stop for just a moment?”

My raised voice cut through their bickering, and both men turned to me at once.

Eric’s expression was leisurely, while Albert’s face was flushed with irritation.

I had spoken up to defuse the situation, but now, under the piercing gazes of two impossibly handsome men, my nerves spiked.

And both of them are male leads in this story…

No, wait.

The real question was how on earth I had ended up in this predicament.

I told you, I don’t want to get entangled with the male leads!

I had thought two of them were more than enough to encounter, just enough to raise their favorability and avoid the death ending.

But thanks to being caught by Albert here, I had now been forced into meeting the third male lead!

Curse you, you wretched original male lead…

Who else but the man fated to behead Irene in the novel would trouble me like this?

Fine. Time to escape.

Resolving myself, I suddenly clutched my head and cried out dramatically,

“Ah—ahh, I feel faint! I think I’m going to collapse…!”

“…”

“…”