Chapter 49
The days flew by, and the weekend finally arrived.
Nina, who had been up since the crack of dawn, shut herself in the bathroom and began furiously brushing her teeth.
The throbbing in her teeth had been getting worse by the day.
No matter how hard she scrubbed until her whole mouth went numb, it was only temporary. The ache would return whenever she had a moment of rest, even when she wasn’t chewing anything. It was driving her mad.
There were already enough things to worry about, and now this? She wondered if suddenly binge-eating sweets she normally wouldn’t touch had triggered some kind of side effect.
But even so, it was far too embarrassing to tell anyone about it.
Katia and Messi don’t have any cavities…!
Tears welled in Nina’s eyes as she glared into the mirror, filled with self-loathing.
She’d brushed for so long her arm was going numb.
Only after about an hour of brushing did she finally feel satisfied and step out of the bathroom—only to stop short.
Katia, who had been fast asleep on one side of the bed just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.
For the past few days, Katia had always woken up after sunrise, so this was unusual. She must’ve gotten up early today.
Did she go to use another bathroom since I was hogging this one? But if it were Katia, she would’ve knocked first…
Maybe Nina had just been so absorbed in brushing that she hadn’t heard.
She pulled back the disheveled covers.
“Huh…?”
It wasn’t just Katia that was gone.
The storybook she’d tucked under her pillow the night before had vanished, too.
Did Katia take it to read?
They’d already read it together, but maybe Katia felt like reading it again.
Nina decided to go find her and stepped out of the bedroom.
“Hmm…”
Standing alone in the silent hallway, she had no idea where to begin looking.
Let’s check the living room first.
There was a separate bathroom attached to the living room—maybe she was there.
Just as Nina began walking, she froze.
“…Over there…?”
She heard whispering from somewhere.
A hushed voice, as if sharing a secret.
After a moment of hesitation, Nina pressed herself against the hallway wall and crept quietly in the direction of the sound.
“…More details…”
The voices were coming from the study beyond the living room.
She pressed herself to the corner and peeked around— the study door was slightly ajar.
She could see inside.
There was Katia.
She was standing in her pajamas, and sitting across from her with his back turned was Lavian.
The two seemed to be talking about something, but their voices were too low to make out.
Even so, the atmosphere was clearly serious—and secretive.
What are they talking about…?
Nina stared at the two without moving.
What could they be discussing so privately at dawn?
It was obvious Katia had slipped out without telling her, and that made her uneasy.
Is it some kind of secret talk? She didn’t even tell me about going to the capital…
She’d finally worked up the courage to be honest and confess (sort of), and yet she still felt like Lavian only saw her as a hostage.
But I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. Maybe this is my karma.
She knew it was childish, but she couldn’t help feeling hurt.
Still, Nina soon changed her mind.
Just as she had her own circumstances, Katia surely had hers too.
As Nina quietly turned to leave, she nearly screamed.
“What are you doing?”
“M-Messi…?”
Messi smiled gently at her wide-eyed, rabbit-like expression.
“You’re up early.”
“Ah, yeah…”
Worried that the two inside might hear them, Nina instinctively grabbed Messi’s hand and pulled her quickly toward the living room.
Messi looked surprised but followed obediently.
“What’s going on?”
“…It’s nothing. When did you get back?”
“Last night. It was so late, I decided to say hi in the morning instead.”
“I see…”
“Have you been doing okay?”
It felt like they hadn’t seen each other in ages, though it had only been a few days.
Over the past few days, Lavian and even the Kis were busy and rarely seen. The only ones coming and going for meals or cleaning were middle-level staff like Lisa and Günter.
Messi had shown up a few times, but she’d always been “busy with Merci,” and constantly bickered with Katia.
Nina wondered for a moment whether she should ask if Messi knew about Lavian’s trip to the capital—but decided to stay quiet.
She figured Messi probably already knew anyway.
“You okay? You don’t look so great.”
“I’m fine.”
But as she answered, her gums throbbed again.
Nina suddenly felt like crying.
Why was nothing going her way?
Messi, watching Nina’s expression with concern, suddenly remembered something.
“Is it because the storybook’s missing?”
“Huh? How did you—?”
“Lavian took it last night.”
“Uncle Lavian did?”
Nina’s eyes widened again at the unexpected answer.
“He came into my room?”
“You didn’t know? Oh, right—you were probably asleep. He must’ve noticed it by chance, but he just took it and said the contents seemed weird and that he’d take a look.”
Messi smiled playfully.
Nina couldn’t help but ask,
“Did you read it too?”
“I didn’t have time.”
“Oh…”
“The sun’s rising now.”
Messi turned her gaze toward the window, and Nina followed.
The sky outside the glass wall was beginning to lighten.
Clouds painted in crimson slowly gave way to golden rays of sunlight spreading in every direction.
The calm sea shimmered like scattered glass beads, and the massive bridge crossing the coast along with the colorful buildings began to glow.
It was breathtakingly beautiful—but Nina’s eyes were full of confusion.
In the end, the book didn’t hold any clues.
Sure, the content was a bit strange.
The beginning felt like a normal fairy tale, but the ending left a sour feeling.
Still, she couldn’t find any decisive clues that connected it to Hameln.
No matter how many times she read it, it was the same.
Was I just too ignorant to notice something?
Maybe so.
Knowing the future and understanding the world were two separate things.
Even if she had lived until fourteen, she never received proper royal education.
She loved reading, but most of the books Nina read were history or fantasy stories about happy families.
I wonder what Lavian thinks of the book.
She suddenly thought it might be a good idea to show the storybook to others and hear what they thought of it.
If she was lucky, someone might say something useful…
“Nina.”
“Yeah?”
Nina turned her gaze from the brightening cityscape back to Messi.
“Want to go out for a bit? It might help clear your head.”
“Where to?”
“I’ll show you the hotel facilities I mentioned before. There are some fun places.”
Messi’s golden eyes sparkled gently in the morning light.
For some reason, Nina couldn’t bring herself to say no. She quickly nodded.
“Okay.”
Meanwhile, in Lavian’s study—the very one Nina had peeked into earlier—Katia had just finished fulfilling the contents of the contract.
“…There’s nothing more to say.”
A brief silence followed.
Lavian, still in the same outfit he’d worn on his outing the night before, sat in thought, quietly sipping from his glass.
