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“I’ll drink it well.”

The floating teapot drifted gracefully before tilting and pouring tea into a similarly floating teacup.

“Anyway, many of the troops are doubting whether or not we actually need to help the 2nd Prince. The general consensus is that though they consider him to be a good man…”

“He isn’t a templar.”

“Yes, that’s why. He doesn’t have the blessings of a God. There have rarely been a non-templar holding power in the Imperial Family, right? He’s a rare case.”

“That’s why despite his outstanding abilities and good personality, it’ll be hard to change the troops’ opinion of the 2nd Prince. How would an Imperial know how a templar works when he himself is not one?”

“That doesn’t mean they support the Crown Prince. Since too much power will only get in their way, right?”

Granius massaged his temple. Though he might have looked like a giant farmer who lived isolated in a mountain, when I looked closer, I realised he was much more intelligent than he seemed. That made him fascinating to me. Perhaps he felt my gaze but Granius looked over at me and smiled kindly.

“Which pie could we get a bigger piece from in the end? It all depends on our wit.”

The 2nd Prince’s name was Julian Polux Luche Kaltanias. He was the only grandson of Rahaltemisis who was the highest ranking administrative officer in the whole of the Empire. His maternal family had occupied the Temple of Law and Order for generations and were at the peak of their power. It could be said that in terms of lineage alone, he was the most outstanding successor. Even now, with his uncle on his side, he was a prince who could threaten the Crown Prince for his position.

It was clear that the 2nd Prince was no ordinary person since it was written in the original novel that he was the Castor’s rival. I had read that his abilities were not bad and were able to bring him close enough to the position of the Crown Prince but eventually, he was a character that due to his own unfortunate circumstances was trampled upon by Castor.

As far as I know, he looked like a stereotypical prince with long golden hair that looked like silk threads. Rubella, who was even immune to the male lead’s good looks, only acknowledged Hernandez and the 2nd Prince to be handsome. This meant that he was very handsome.

‘Honestly, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him.’

As I recalled the 2nd Prince’s characteristics which occupied much of my thoughts, I trailed behind the deputy officer, Penne’s, back who was leaving.

“It was delicious.”

“Hehe, I was a little clumsy but I’m glad you liked it.”

Though both the Aedile and the man who just hugged me again treated me like I was a young child, I was already close to becoming an adult. This world considered people who were 16 or 17 to be adults after all.

Penne lifted me into the air and with a kind gaze hugged me. He made sure not to hurt me as he held me gently.

After I revealed my age to him, he could not believe it at first and now treated me as such. As someone who he adored but was still wary about.

“I’ll take my leave now. See you.”

“Yes.”

After leaving, only Granius the Aedile and I were left. Being in the office that was currently filled with the warm afternoon sunlight, I felt drowsy and warm.

At times like this, the times when I used to keep dying felt like a nightmare. Although I did not know why I was suddenly thrown into this world, all I could think about was how I wanted to sleep like this for a while because as the sun warmed the still air, everything felt so peaceful.

I needed to face the reality I had been avoiding but I could not.

I would tell Hernandez everything I know every other day before listening to what Castor had to say. What suspicious movements? What did Hernandez want? When was Castor going to come and see me again? I could not rest. The answer sheet I had submitted just a while ago desperately was gone and now I had to face another test.

After moving the trash away, I looked at my hands. The task I had at hand was to look for the necklace.

‘How do I look for it?’

Maybe the answer to that was in the drawer that could only open with that key. I focused on the sound of the scratches the pen made against the paper. Granius was motionless with the exception of his hands.

“Child.”

“Yes?”

As he looked through some documents, Granius called for me softly.

“It stands out.”

I had been just emptying out the trash when I looked back at Granius and blinked confusedly.

Stood out? What? What did? It seemed as if he was rambling. Just then, Granius looked up. The glittering golden window frame behind him reminded me of Castor’s eyes.

I raised my head completely, feeling the anxiety I felt when awaiting the 10th day of Habermia to arrive for some reason unbeknownst to me.

“That necklace on your neck. It’s too expensive a necklace for a fallen noble turned maid.”

“…..”

Someone whom I thought would just be some old uncle who I could joke around easily with during the holidays, stroked his beard and smiled calmly with the dignity of a mountain’s highest peak.

“Wouldn’t that affect your acting performance?”

I grabbed onto the necklace that Sir Ray had given me and looked at him naively as I did not want to confess amidst my confusion. I should just pretend I was innocent.

However, when I looked into his eyes, I sensed a firmness in his once kind gaze. He was advising me. After a few more words from him, I fully realised why he managed to become one of the highest ranking administrative officials in the entire Empire.

“Well, I’m just trying to protect you from any harm, Princess.”

***

“So that’s what’s going on.”

Amor said with a smile as he played around with his snacks instead of eating them.

“So what, you got caught in just three months?”

“I don’t know whether I actually got caught or not. He could’ve known from the very beginning.”

“I heard he broke the door on the first day? I knew that the Aedile, Granius, had a bit of a temper. But I wouldn’t destroy a door just because the staff I got was a girl. Maybe you guessed right.”

“You seem to know Mister Granius well.”

“He once destroyed some of the trees in my palace. What a stubborn man.”

About four months had passed from the 10th day of the month of Habermia.

I had visited Amor every single day and talked to him about everything I had been through whilst observing his reactions. During my first visit, Amor had been annoyed by my visit and was even angrier when I began telling him about Granius. He soon became resigned to his fate by the second and third visits.

Just like that, he had been treating me like a wall he could just ignore but after four months, he seemed to be interested in what I was saying.

“But why did Granius destroy a tree in your palace, brother?”

“Because he was trying to persuade me.”

“Persuade?”

“All you need to know is that something like that happened. Anyway, you should not hate him.”

Amor who should have been grinding his teeth at such a story considering how much of a plant lover he was, tilted his head and propped up his chin before asking albeit a little absurdly.

“By the way, why are you giving me all the details of your story?”

“Am I not allowed to do that?”

“Don’t twist my words.”

Wrinkles appeared on Amor’s beautiful face before disappearing.

“Tell me straight.”

He was so adamant that my poor attempt at escaping the topic did not work.

“Hmm, who knows…”

After spending 43 days with him like, I was now eating snacks with him decently when I had just wanted to spend time with him meaninglessly.

“Is it because this is the only time I’m here?”

Furthermore, I thought it turned out quite nicely.

“What are you talking about?”

The more I met up with him, the more comfortable Amor became around me. He did not become friendly but he had begun acting more naturally around me.

“Give me a break. This is the only place I have to talk about nonsense like this.”

“In other words, you think I’m easy?”

“Oh, I didn’t say that.”

After realising I was just teasing him, Amor narrowed his eyes at me. He clenched his fist. Then, with a twirl of his fingers, vines wound around my hands and raised them, allowing them to hit me square on my forehead.

“… Wow. I did not think you would resort to such cheap retaliations, brother.”

Why did people here only aim at the foreheads? Was it the best way to hit people right away? While I held my forehead, Amor clapped his hands together.

From where the leaves landed on my forehead, I could feel the refreshingness of eating a mint candy.

“Hm, it looks like there’s someone else who’s sick of you other than me?”

“There is. Fleon.”

“I know him. The 6th Prince.”

He was giving me both the pain and the medicine. As I rubbed my sore forehead, I thought of something. Those times, I would search for Amor to save him. I recalled how I had been so needingly desperate at the time.

After about two months, I managed to escape the constant regressions but I had yet to be able to look at the people who survived straight in the eye for some time.

What if I died again? I was not confident that I could remain unscathed from the trauma.

It had been terrible. I was moved everyday by the fact that Hannah and the other maids were able to move on from those times but at the same time, I remained enraptured in the same fear.

Looking at them, I would soon see the afterimages of their past deaths behind them and it was a nightmare that would haunt me even whilst I was awake. The people who died because of me. Where did they go afterwards? What about the time left behind by those who had died? Perhaps after I died, time continued to flow in those regressions.

It felt as if I was falling from an immense height but I was just a small twinkling light, never going to reach the ground.

Amor.

While I died and survived at Castor’s sword for about 40 times, Amor had never visited me after I saved him. I wished he would at least turn me down but he did not even show up.

He was the same in my countless regressions. He was like sunlight underground. His absence hurt me. In the beginning, I only saved him at first after calculating meticulously and continued saving him after that from the inertia of wanting to change the future but I did save him dozens of times.

“What are you thinking about in front of another person?”

Amor looked at me more comfortably than his expression that night.

The calm air. The soft leaves. The scent of grass. They all drew a vague depiction of a distant future. In that future, I hoped that him, me and all the people we loved could remain alive.

No, I did not want to see anyone die because of me anymore. That was why I still had hope. Although this world seemed to only be biased towards the male and female leads, I thought it would all work out somehow.

That was why I was always thinking. I needed to spare no effort in trying to live in order to prepare for the day that Castor came back for me to kill me and to escape this place before this Empire becomes engulfed in a hellish war someday.

“What should I do if I want to live to see the future, brother?”

“Why are you asking me questions only a four year old would ask?”

There was a reason why I did that. I forced myself to smile.

“Well, I’m just trying to protect you from any harm, Princess.”

Both Hernan and Granius had thrown me some clues. I needed to think about what they were trying to say as well as when and how to use them.

“I have nothing backing me.”

But I had no one who was supporting me and I did not have much information. Sadly, all the information I had was about a distant future. That was why I needed Amor’s help.

T/N:

SORRY FOR BEING SO OFF THIS WK I wanted to post this on wednesday but guess what? i forgot! so i posted it along with friday’s one woopdeedoo.