chapter 57
57 – Parting the Darkness (1)
“……”
Unlike the first time I rode the carriage, there was an uncomfortable silence inside the carriage to return to the duke’s residence.
There was no portent for the duke to become like this,
Even the country who knew about it was surprised.
However, Irene, unlike me, just learned this sudden fact.
She wonders what she’s thinking right now.
‘The duke has fallen, la.’
I was anticipating and preparing.
The death of Garrot Julis, the head of the house, was the starting point of the tragedy that would come to Irene.
In the original work, the family was taken over as it was in chaos due to the sudden death of the duke.
I had to build up my forces by collecting vassals who were not loyal to me.
Because she couldn’t deal with the ‘disease’ she had suffered before, she became devastated as much as she was devastated,
Can I really do those things with a sane mind?
Of course, if it was now… Maybe even if the duke died, it wouldn’t go on like the original.
But I had no intention of letting him die. His presence was still needed, at least Irene still needed him.
The existence of a father, even if there is no affection between father and daughter.
Garrot Yuris shouldn’t have fallen so easily.
Now I heard and knew everything about what Garot Uris did to Irene.
Those damn things I did to raise you as the next family head of Yuris.
The unimaginable standards set on her in pursuit of her perfection.
It was undeniable that her family home was one of the reasons she was broken.
Even if I knew he acted like that, gritting his teeth and driving a thorn into his chest alone.
She couldn’t deny that Irene was hurt by it.
…He hasn’t apologized to Irene yet.
He couldn’t let everything he did, die like that without a single apology from him.
Even if he died, it would have to be after he repented for his actions and offered a sincere apology to Irene.
So, Garot Julis couldn’t die yet.
I think it might have something to do with the Warlock.
Didn’t an investigation result come out that three years ago, the black magician who first appeared in the Duchy of Julis was actually related to extinction?
Extinction appeared three years ago. If so, the duke that fell this time must be related to the ‘curse’ created by the black magician.
Curse, maybe at this point, there was only one person who knew how to break it.
If I asked the imperial family, I might be able to find another way to destroy it, but that would have been a bit impossible.
As for the curse of the black magician, there are cases where you get caught by using black magic incorrectly.
If I had to say such a thing from the point of view of investigating Roman, it could have been quite delayed.
The things you went to Count Kassim could also be uncovered in detail.
‘…There is one person who will come to you if you ask for help.’
I wonder if he will be able to come this far because he is busy with various investigations.
However, what bothered me more than anything was Irene’s expression.
She always had an insensitive expression, but that expression was quite different from the usual Irene I know.
So, should I say it’s the expression when I first saw Irene?
I felt like my always sparkling blue eyes were empty as I suppressed my emotions.
I didn’t want to see her wearing her mask again for long.
“My lady.”
“…Right now, I don’t want to talk to you.”
She looked out of the window of her wagon and said that without even looking in my direction.
She didn’t like it. Until now, she had smiled shyly, but the fact that she made that expression
That she is about to sink into her sorrow again. I didn’t like it.
“Is that so?”
I couldn’t just leave it alone. It took two days to get to the duke’s residence.
To be with Irene in such a state during that time, would that be possible without Lopena?
I looked at her. Until she looks at me, she turns her attention to me at least a little.
Took,
It wasn’t too difficult to move around in the rocking wagon.
The developed body made it easy to balance.
Very lightly, as I sat next to Irene, Irene finally looked at me.
“Now you’re looking at me.”
“Evan, what are you doing…”
“I hate it when you show that expression.”
She spoke frankly. I wanted to add more, but
I thought that an honest word would work better than that.
I didn’t want to see the gloomy expression. I knew she was distraught, but she hoped it would at least give her a little hope.
“If you look so depressed, what do you think the viewer will think?”
“……”
“Me too, it’s just as difficult. I wouldn’t say that I understand what the young lady is thinking, but when you look like that, it hurts me too…”
I didn’t want her to smile even in this situation.
No matter how much a father cut off ties, no child would be thrilled to hear that such a person had fallen.
I was like that, and that’s why I was able to understand at least a fraction of how she felt.
“…There is one mage I can ask for help. If he is Perhaps we can find out why the duke collapsed.”
Irene’s eyes widened slightly. Even though she has many questions, she is willing to not ask me a single question. He seemed to be smiling slightly.
“I hope you believe in me. The Duke probably won’t get hurt, and the lady won’t get hurt. And I want you to trust me to make it happen.”
“……”
The silence was long. I thought maybe she could take my words as arrogant.
She looked at her silently, however, without avoiding her gaze.
The blue jewel-like eyes shimmered.
Like the sea in the deep abyss, those dark blue eyes contained not so many emotions.
He looked bewildered and a little surprised.
And when she finally read a faint joy in it.
“…You don’t have to say that.”
Irene carefully pursed her lips and looked at me blankly.
Her hand moves slowly. Her hand on her lap started coming towards me so slowly.
I was shy at first, but now it’s nothing.
So she placed her tiny hand on top of her mine, and she opened her mouth cautiously.
“I believe in you. If I believe in anyone, it’s only you.”
She lightly touched my cheek and smiled lightly.
Unlike before, with a slightly relieved expression.
#
“You must be perfect.”
I think that’s probably my first memory.
Garrot Julis, the first words my father, the head of Julis, spoke to me.
I nodded at my young heart, but at the time I didn’t know exactly what perfection was.
He just wanted to be like his father. He wanted to be like him, endowed with natural majesty, to be admired by others.
Perhaps if his mother had been alive at the time, she might have stopped his father’s actions.
My mother just wanted me to be happy.
I hope you can smile later, and always be happy. I hope I can meet a good person and draw a dream-like love like that.
However, my mother did not exist then.
-Irene.
It’s just the words muttered in the blurry fragments of memories that linger around with a little bit of memory.
It didn’t take long for me to realize what my father meant by perfection.
It has to be perfect. Not a single flaw is allowed.
It was a difficult concept to accept at the age of 6,
After spending a few days in the attic, I realized that concept.
Cold, creaky.
I remember crying endlessly in a place where the only light was pouring in from the small window in the attic.
The child who scratched at the door crying, not knowing what he had done wrong.
In the end, I had to spend the night in the attic for several days.
What was the look on my father’s face when he came out of that cramped place, he looked a little surprised.
He also looked like he was bruising someone, and the look on my father’s face as he looked at me and gnashed his teeth… Yes, he looked sad.
I couldn’t understand.
He did it himself, so why is he so sad. It felt like something was empty.
As if he was starving, the empty part of his heart was not filled no matter how much time passed.
After that, the lady-in-waiting who took care of me changed. And the repeating day
I came across the study that others learn only when they become adults. He spent his time studying magic, swordsmanship, and even a foreign language that was difficult to read.
The time to sleep was getting shorter, and the accumulated fatigue was relieved by the wizard.
However, what a young child needed was not to relieve accumulated fatigue, but just to sleep for the tired body to rest.
No one has shown such consideration to himself. Silently, just silently watching himself.
I hated that gaze. She is the duke’s only daughter,
The strange anticipation mixed in their eyes, calling them the next Sogaju, was burdensome.
They smiled so much, but the eyes they show when they make even the slightest mistake are so cold.
I didn’t like them, and I thought I hated my father even more.
I hated it. I hated him, and I wondered what it would be like if he had just disappeared from this world.
I didn’t want to be perfect. Like the other young girls, I wanted to brag about my accessories without thinking.
I wanted to meet someone I really like and discuss what love is, not my fiancé.
However, the perfection my father spoke of did not allow that.
“The Duke has collapsed.”
However, when she heard those words, what were the feelings she harbored?
My heart thumps and falls, making my vision dark. My heart is pounding,
The emotion that hindered breathing was clearly sadness.
‘Why should I…’
It was hard to understand. Why does she have such feelings?
Obviously hated. And why is she so agitated that her father, whom she hated terribly, has collapsed?
Do you think that person like that is also your father?
He organized his thoughts while ridiculing himself. The reason why my father, who had no precursors, collapsed.
Perhaps it is black magic.
Garrot Julis was also one of the knights who had reached the level of expert.
Although I couldn’t say the level was as high as Duke Roman or Evan,
He was also a man with his own strength as a knight who defended the empire.
For such a person to fall ill, how could such an absurd thing be possible?
There was not even a hint. He knew that until then he had been healthy, as it was his father who had given him the data on Romanga.
-… How is he doing?
And one question I couldn’t answer. I frowned at the sudden voice that came to my mind.
Unlike before, his expression in the window of his carriage looked lousy.
An insensitive face that doesn’t even show the slightest emotion. From that expression that I did not know,
For some reason, he seemed to be seeing his past self, so he closed his eyes tightly.
Why did he ask himself such a thing?
As always, he was asking me and telling me.
I couldn’t understand why he had that look on his face and asked himself that question.
That expression, the expression he smiled happily while looking at himself, was definitely not the expression his father would make.
…There were many things I wanted to ask.
He said why did he do that to himself, and why did he demand such perfection from his younger self?
Small scars left from scratching the attic door still remained on his fingertips.
However, you can’t hold on to a person who has fallen and ask such a question.
If it was the curse of the warlock as he thought, perhaps his father would die.
There was no way to break the curse of the warlock.
Even if you defeat the warlock who cast the curse, the curse will still afflict the target.
Isn’t it a curse to die quietly at some point after suffering so much pain?
A fishy taste lingered in my mouth. Before I knew it, I bit my lip, and the bitten flesh was torn, and blood leaked out little by little.
What should I do?
With what kind of mind should I look at my fallen father?
Many thoughts collide and scatter in my head.
By biting his lips, the sight looking out the window like that was slowly blurring.
Took,
The sound he heard right next to him scattered his thoughts just like that.
It was a familiar body temperature. It was a familiar person, a familiar face.
But the voice, the green eyes he had, were always filled with new emotions when he looked at him.
The blurred vision becomes clear, and only one person is contained in one’s field of vision.
Evan Fried, his article. I was looking at myself today.
“Now you’re looking at me.”
“Evan, what are you doing…”
“I hate it when you show that expression.”
The moment the smile disappeared from Evan’s face,
Unknowingly, I kept my mouth shut.
He had never said ‘no’ to me before, and he brought up the word ‘no’ for the first time.
He wondered what expression he was making, while slowly sweeping his face,
My gaze was always on him. The corners of his mouth drew a horizontal line, and it seemed that he was somehow angry with himself.
I couldn’t say anything.
The reason he was giving himself this look was because he knew it was only for me.
“If you look so depressed, what do you think the viewer will think?”
“……”
“Me too, it’s just as difficult. I wouldn’t say that I understand what the young lady is thinking, but when you look like that, it hurts me too…”
Evan furrowed his eyebrows. For a while, I was surprised by the expression I saw for the first time
I soon realized that he really thought that.
The green eyes that always sparkled shimmered, and what was reflected in them was surely sadness,
Unknowingly, I stretched out my hand and then grabbed the empty space.
Oddly enough, the emotion rising up in a corner of my heart was close to relief.
He seemed reluctant to frown at the thought of him trying to understand himself.
I looked at Evan, who cautiously brought up the idea that there was a wizard he knew, and that maybe there might be a solution.
His heart seemed to tickle when he saw that gaze mixed with concern that he might hurt his feelings.
Evan, he told me to trust him.
Maybe he doesn’t know the heart that always believes in him. I was disappointed, but those earnest-looking eyes moved my heart.
The only thing contained in the green eyes was himself.
How can I not believe the words of such a person?
In the first place, I believed in him from the start.
So he didn’t waver anymore. As long as he’s by my side, I’ll be fine.
I have faith that if Evan is by my side, he will be able to overcome anything.
Took,
I could lightly touch his cheek and smile a little relievedly.
“I believe in you. If I trust anyone, it’s only you.”
I hope that Evan will always be by his side.
He longed for one.