Chapter 58
It had been a long time since she’d dreamed of her brother.
Signs of monsters appearing in a new region prompted the imperial family to draw lots among the royals.
It was to set an example from the palace, given the potential danger.
Unfortunately, the lot fell to Reina, and Jeffrey volunteered to go on the expedition in her place.
“Brother, I’m sorry. It’s all because of me…”
Reina was tormented by the fact that her brother was going on the subjugation mission instead of her.
Honestly, the lottery was unfair.
Including minors who hadn’t even manifested their abilities in the draw.
If Reina had participated as planned, she would have only been a burden and returned empty-handed.
With the departure just a day away, Jeffrey was busy consoling Reina.
He himself had just turned twenty and had no expedition experience either.
Yet he never lost his smile.
“Our Reina, can you be brave and wait patiently until I come back?”
“You have to come back soon. Okay? Don’t get hurt.”
That day, she was plagued by anxiety.
No matter how much Jeffrey reassured her, she couldn’t feel at ease.
When she kept voicing her unease, Jeffrey whispered softly in her ear.
“Reina, this is just between you and me…”
Reina’s eyes widened at his words.
“Really?”
“Yeah. So stop worrying about me already. Your pretty face is all ruined.”
With that one sentence, Reina felt relieved.
And Jeffrey still hadn’t returned.
* * *
“No…!”
Reina reached out into the void as if grasping at Jeffrey’s receding figure, and opened her eyes.
The surroundings were pitch dark.
Instinctively consumed by fear, she gasped for breath, when someone grasped her hand.
Followed by a hoarse voice.
“Reina.”
“Ah…”
Recognizing it was Kaiden, Reina let out a low sigh.
Only then did she realize where she was lying.
Reina let out a hollow laugh.
It had been a vicious nightmare.
Nothing was as horrific as a dream that replayed the moment she regretted most.
As tears welled up in Reina’s eyes again, Kaiden wiped the corners and said,
“Why are you crying again?”
In truth, while Reina had cried herself to exhaustion and fallen asleep, Kaiden had endured quite a bit of heartache.
It happened while he had briefly stepped away.
He couldn’t calm down easily after soothing the crying Reina, whose reasons he didn’t understand.
“It’s because of me… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Even after falling asleep, Reina seemed tormented by nightmares.
Watching her repeatedly apologize and blame herself to someone made his blood run cold.
Just who was she apologizing to?
Even right after waking from the dream, Reina couldn’t easily shake off her anxiety.
Kaiden, gripped by an ominous feeling that she might suddenly leave his side, held her hand.
Surprisingly, her expression became serene.
As if his presence was a comfort to her.
Because of that, Kaiden felt a dull ache in one corner of his heart.
It struck him anew how gratifying it was that his existence provided some solace to this fragile woman.
Amid it all, feeling such emotions felt utterly foreign to him.
At that moment, Reina buried her face in Kaiden’s palm.
The way she lightly rubbed her cheek against his palm was as adorable as a kitten.
She was so lovely, crying one moment and smiling the next.
She acted as if nothing had happened.
That only fueled his anxiety further, but he acted as usual.
“If you cry and then laugh, you’ll grow horns on your butt.”
“Do you believe in that superstition?”
“No. I just said something random.”
Reina let out a small smile at his unserious joke.
Feeling his warmth made her realize anew that she had escaped from that basement.
She placed her hand over his and said,
“I had a bad dream.”
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you going to ask what it was about?”
“…What was it?”
He was cautious even in asking.
He had known she was plagued by nightmares but hadn’t been able to inquire all this time.
Reina gave a bitter smile.
“I dreamed of the moment my brother left for the subjugation in my place.”
“…”
“If I had held him back then, would my brother still be by my side?”
She always regretted that day.
She thought she had killed her brother herself.
So when the emperor abused her, she inwardly mocked herself, thinking she deserved such misfortune because of her many sins.
Then, when she first discovered a clue that Jeffrey was alive, Reina felt a sense of liberation.
‘My brother is alive.’
Just reminding herself of that made tears well up again.
Reina murmured awkwardly,
“I must have looked pathetic.”
At the time, Reina hadn’t even had the presence of mind to care about her surroundings.
It was as if a blocked dam had burst, and her pent-up emotions exploded, leaving her floundering.
Now, thinking back, embarrassment flooded her. Reina wore a gloomy expression.
“They probably all cursed me for not maintaining my dignity, right?”
“No. Everyone was worried about you.”
“…”
“If anyone had such disloyal thoughts, I wouldn’t forgive them.”
Kaiden said, stroking her cheek. His gaze was more serious than ever, suggesting he wasn’t just saying it.
“Worried?”
“I felt like my insides were burning up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not why I said it.”
Kaiden lightly pinched Reina’s cheek. Then he handed her water, and only then did she realize how thirsty she was.
Reina gulped it down. Kaiden, holding the empty glass, asked,
“More?”
“No. But have you seen my watch? I was definitely holding it…”
When Reina belatedly searched for the watch, Kaiden pointed to the shelf above.
“It’s up there.”
“Ah…”
Reina exhaled a sigh of relief and rose from her seat.
Perhaps from crying too much, her head ached.
Reina touched her throbbing head and reached for the watch.
Click.
Opening the watch lid, the inscription she had left came into view at once.
[May luck always accompany Jeffrey on his path.
– Reina]
Reina pondered quietly.
Perhaps the misfortunes she had endured in the past had all turned into good fortune in this life, protecting her and Jeffrey.
She hoped that was the case.
Reina said calmly,
“I want to meet Arteon.”
There were still many stories she hadn’t heard. She had suddenly burst into tears, so he must have been quite flustered too.
But Kaiden reacted strangely.
“You can’t.”
“Kaiden?”
Reina stared at him and then flinched in surprise.
His expression was fiercely grim. His violet eyes gleamed with a deep intensity, as if they might explode at any moment.
“He’s the one who made you cry. I’ll handle it myself, so you should rest a bit more…”
“W-wait. Handle it? Where is he now?”
When Reina asked in alarm, Kaiden averted his gaze.
It seemed a misunderstanding had occurred.
As he continued to avoid her eyes, an ominous feeling arose.
She asked urgently,
“You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“Not yet.”
“Then you were planning to?”
“…”
“Kaiden!”
“I only thought about it.”
Kaiden muttered with a deflated expression.
She was speechless. From the look of it, he had at least locked him up in a dungeon or something.
Kaiden said,
“It was the first time I’d seen you cry like that.”
“Well…”
“So I can’t forgive him.”
