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Chapter 60




Yeu-ju took away my first love, Chapter 60
“Haa...”
I heard my mother, who was standing next to me, trying to suppress her laughter.
“Just laugh.”
“Kuh, kuh. No, I didn’t think that emperor would just... kick.”
My mother, trying to hold back her laughter until her face turned red, eventually left the room.
Thinking back to what had just happened, I could understand my mother’s reaction.
“Hmm. I didn’t expect His Majesty to be so flustered.”
My father, who heard the news late, seemed to find the situation to his liking.
‘It wasn’t the worst, but...’
My expression of gratitude had an enormous impact on Aster.
His pale face turned as red as if it were about to burst, and his sapphire-like eyes, which usually sparkled, lost their focus and wavered.
‘T-thank you.’
He left his seat in a hurry, leaving only those words behind.
All I could do was stand there, dumbfounded, watching his retreating back.
‘This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him like this.’
Though he appeared aloof, Aster was particularly weak when it came to unexpected physical contact.
Still, I didn’t expect him to react so sensitively to a kiss on the cheek.
It felt strange to see him blush so openly, a sight he usually kept hidden.
It was like a secret shop I knew about had suddenly become famous.
“Miss.”
Lily entered the tent, her face flushed as she leaned in to whisper in my ear.
I felt a flutter of excitement, sensing it was good news.
“Miss Alison wants to meet you briefly. She said to meet her under the tree behind the camp.”
“Now?”
“Yes, she doesn’t seem to have much time. I told her you’d go, but what should we do?”
I checked the time. If the nobles weren’t enjoying their leisure, there were almost none left before the knights’ hunting competition.
They were probably all preparing to leave. It seemed she wanted to meet me briefly in the midst of this chaos.
Now that Wilhelm had returned safely, Tatiana wouldn’t be looking for Alison anymore.
‘She must be desperate to meet me even for this short moment.’
Perhaps their relationship was more special than I thought.
I got up from my seat immediately.
“I’ll be back after meeting someone. You two should spend some time together.”
My parents readily let me go.
They probably thought I was going to see Aster.
“This way, Miss.”
Following Lily, I arrived at the meeting place, where Alison was waiting.
She had been pacing back and forth, looking anxious, and immediately approached me when she saw my face.
“Did you really see Robert?”
She spoke without even greeting me, seemingly in a hurry.
Lily interjected slightly, and Alison stepped back.
“I’m sorry. I’m in a hurry...”
“It’s fine. To answer your question, I did meet Mr. Robert.”
Alison’s face lit up with unmistakable joy.
Her eyes shimmered as if she were about to cry.
“He’s... alive. Robert is... alive.”
“Yes, but he’s not doing well.”
At my words, Alison bowed her head deeply. I asked Lily to keep watch around us.
Left alone with Alison, I spoke bluntly.
“I know you embezzled research funds for Professor Gregory.”
“T-that...”
“And I know you accepted Tatiana’s proposal to cover it up.”
Her face turned red as if it were about to burst.
“I didn’t make this choice just because of that.”
She mumbled softly. I wanted to hear her properly, but an unwelcome guest appeared.
“Miss!”
At Lily’s cry, we stopped our conversation. Tatiana, who had appeared right behind her, shouted.
“I didn’t expect you to try to take even my personal physician, Karina.”
She was angry as if I had committed adultery.
From what I heard, she didn’t seem to have such deep affection for Alison.
But since we were caught, I decided to act boldly.
“Take? I never intended to.”
“Don’t lie. Ah, did you call her to investigate me? That would be even worse.”
“I knew you’d think that, so I met her in secret...”
“Liar.”
Tatiana clearly didn’t intend to believe me.
“You know, Nivea lost her sense of smell. I just wanted to find a way to heal it. I heard that Mr. Alison’s research at the academy was famous.”
Mentioning Nivea’s name, Tatiana’s face stiffened.
Was she feeling some guilt?
“Since I found out this way, I’ll tell her myself. I want to show Nivea to Mr. Alison.”
“T-that...”
“She lost the most important sense for a perfumer in an unfortunate incident, didn’t she? I think you’d help her. After all, you’re my friend, no matter what others say.”
It was a phrase Tatiana used whenever she asked me for a favor.
Perhaps because I was saying it for the first time, my mouth felt awkward.
“Don’t lie.”
Tatiana’s hand was already touching her bracelet. It was strange, since I wasn’t a target, and touching the bracelet wouldn’t do anything.
“Why do you think I’m lying? I’m being honest.”
“No, Raymond wouldn’t...!”
She shouted as if screaming. Lily stood in front of me, looking uneasy.
“Why do you always accuse us of things that aren’t certain? Even though we didn’t end well, you didn’t need to spread such low-quality rumors.”
As I said this, Tatiana began to cry.
I opened my mouth, looking at her tears.
“What do you mean, not certain?”
“What?”
“I saw and heard it with my own eyes and ears. How can you say it’s a lie? Are you saying the danger of dying in that intense fire was fabricated?”
“Who would believe you?”
Tatiana shouted, flaring up.
The pitiful look she had just moments ago, with tears streaming down her face, had long since vanished like a performance.
Even Lily, standing beside me, was so surprised that she grabbed my sleeve.
For her to lose her composure and reveal her sinister intentions in front of so many people was unexpected.
“You always wanted people to pity you, pretending to be a victim of the men who left you.”
“Did I want pity?”
Tatiana’s words left me speechless.
I had never wanted anyone’s pity.
In fact, there were people I wished would beg for my pity by abandoning their pride.
“The one who begged to be saved was Raymond, and you...”
I took a step closer and looked directly into Tatiana’s eyes.
“Did you perhaps ask him to kill her?”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“Maybe you wanted to get rid of Nivea and take the recipe book. No one would have imagined I’d show up there.”
“No... I... That was Raymond’s...”
“You said ‘we’ just now, but now it’s ‘Raymond’?”
Tatiana’s hands trembled. Alison seemed to have grasped the situation.
“Your Highness, I can treat her...”
“Be quiet!”
Tatiana’s shout froze everyone. It was probably the first time others had seen her lose her composure like this.
Of course, I had no intention of being quiet.
“I, I don’t know. Raymond...”
“Yes, I know you didn’t know.”
Tatiana’s face was almost tearful.
I felt a bit sorry. If I had captured this moment on video and replayed it every day, it would have made me feel good.
“Raymond... He wouldn’t...”
“Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter. It’s the truth.”
Tatiana’s lips trembled, and she clenched her fists, unsure of what to do.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, I felt the air around me stir.
If I hadn’t known magic, I wouldn’t have recognized it as a magical disturbance.
‘How is there magic here?’
Just then, everything in front of me began to sway.
The world started spinning so violently that I felt like vomiting.
“Miss?”
I pushed away Lily’s hand, which was trying to catch me, contrary to my intention. My body moved on its own, as if I were drunk.
“Miss!”
Lily rushed over, startled. Turning my head, I saw a deep river with a strong current.
I reached out to grab Lily’s hand, which was trying to catch me, but it felt like a hallucination, and I only grazed her hand.
“Titi!”
At that moment, Raymond suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
‘Raymond’s magic!’
He was skilled at mind control. The fact that my body wasn’t moving as I wished was likely due to Raymond’s magic.
“Damn you.”
I gathered the remaining magic around me and bound Raymond’s body to mine.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to pull him over.
“Guh.”
Perhaps because he wasn’t adept at magic and was struggling to resist the magic-absorbing tree, blood spurted from his mouth.
And my body plunged into the water on its own.
The recent rain had filled the river with abundant water and a strong current.
Raymond seemed to be in a panic and forgot to resist. I reached out and grabbed his collar.
Looking into his flustered eyes, I laughed as hard as I could.
“Who said I’d die alone?”
And then everything went dark.