My whole body stiffened at the creepy thought of passing by my head.
It was when I closed my eyes.
Something hot poured over my body.
I opened my eyes for a moment.
I rubbed around my eyes with my hands.
There was a lot of red blood on my hand.
Was I dead? It didnât hurt at all. Or did I get hurt?
Yeah, that magic thing looked silly, so maybe it didnât kill me immediately.
But how did I not die when I was covered with blood? Why didnât it hurt?
Thoughts led to the flow of consciousness.
The sound of someone stepping on the snow and breaking it, and the sound of a branch breaking was heard.
It was the sound of human footsteps.
I hurriedly wiped off the blood that covered my eyes and barely looked ahead.
Then, as soon as I checked the source of the sound, I fell into the snow.
It was a man with a horrifyingly beautiful appearance in front of me.
A man with cool eyes enough to think itâs better to die in the hands of a beast.
It was a gaze that I had never encountered, but I could see it at once.
Devan Lantimos, it was him.
Devan stepped closer to me, where I sat down.
The snow piled up on the floor didnât seem to interfere with him.
He was in a black uniform and held a black sword in one hand, from black shoes to handles.
It was a sword that I remembered seeing in his office one day.
Devan was also half covered with the blood of the beast.
To the point where I wondered if it was the same as the uncomfortable liquid on my body, the dark red liquid went terribly well with him.
After shaking off the blood around his eyes, he said.
âYou were here. How dare you run away from me?â
I stepped back while sitting.
Pook â Devan put a sword right behind my head. He was in an attitude that he would not allow running away anymore.
Suddenly, I thought of that.
Itâs already been a little over a year since I ran away from him. In terms of the number of years alone, it was two years. I was already 20 years old.
But at this time, I canât believe he came here.
I looked up at him with faint eyes.
Furthermore, he was different from what I had seen so far.
The black eye patch, which was always in his eyes, disappeared. So his eyesâŠ
Devan bent down and came out to make eye contact with me.
The first thing I saw was the left eye, so red that I thought the blood of the magic that just poured out went into his eyes.
Next was the right eye, which was spread black as if it were about to be sucked in.
He grabbed my chin with his blood-stained hand.
The corners of his mouth were drawing lines.
âWhat do you think? Is it exactly what you imagined?â
I couldnât understand what he was saying.
When I blinked and didnât answer, Devan tilted his head to the right.
When he answered blankly, he burst into laughter and rummaged through the product.
Then he took something out and put it right in front of me.
He had a necklace with a yellow pendant in his hand.
The magic item, which was enriched with the scent of daisy flowers, that Killian gived.
âYou wonât say you donât know what this is.â
âThe goddess of the young sun, who embraces the scent of daisy flowers, will lift your curse.â
As if reciting a poem, he spoke in a wonderful voice.
âIâm sure you already know what itâs about. I donât know how you found out, but I was fooled because Iâve never seen such a creative and enthusiastic person. I canât believe you even used a magic tool.â
He noticed everything. That I cheated on him. That Iâm not the star of the prophecy.
âNo wonder I thought it was weird to fall down even if you used a little bit of your energy. You canât be the main character of the prophecy.â
It was not because of the curseâŠ
I was making excuses now. There was no way that they would trust me.
A cool voice flew into my ear and stuck in.
âWhen you deceived me, you must have felt that determination, right? The weight of responsibility wonât be light.â
PaatâDevan grabbed the sword that was stuck in the top of me and pulled it out.
I flinched and shivering.
The fear of death, which was just around the corner, rewound around my whole body.
Iâve only come this far. Am I going to die from this personâs hands?
What he said when we first met came to my mind.
âI hate lying a lot. I pray that you will be alive for a long time.â
I got goosebumps on my back.
Did he follow me all the way here to take responsibility for my lie?
After a year? Really⊠is he going to kill me?
I recalled a vicious rumor that spread throughout the continent. He deserved it.
I hurriedly opened my mouth.
âHowever, it is clear that you are a great power holder anyway.â
I muttered as if I were talking to myself, and he looked down at me.
â⊠Thatâs right.â
He seemed to gauge something, and skillfully put the sword in the censorship.
Then he crouched down in front of me.
ââŠâŠCan you fix this right eye?â
The right eye? I peeked into his eyes.
And when our eyes met, I trembled without realizing it.
He was super handsome when he wore an eye patch, but he looked even more creepy when he took it off.
I even forgot that he was a man who could control my life right away.
In particular, his eyes, which I met for the first time, had a place to fascinate people somewhere.
âDonât just stare at me.â
He spoke in an arrogant way.
Like you know what Iâm thinking clearly.
Trying not to be conscious, I carefully looked into his eyes.
Unlike the red left eye, the right side was black.
âCanât you see the right side?â
âI can see it faintly.â
As expected, the curse hasnât been resolved yet? Even though I put all my energy into itâŠ
I was frowning a lot, but he calmly said.
âThe curse is all gone.â
I opened my eyes round. I thought for a while and opened my mouth.
âAs expected, thatâs not a curse. I told you before. Thereâs something. Because of that, this right eyeâŠ.â
âThatâs why Iâm asking if you know something.â
ââŠI donât know. I didnât know then, and I donât know now. I just knew it wasnât a curse.â
âDid you know that you canât cure it completely?â
I lowered my eyes and only looked at my fingertips.
Once again, I heard a low sigh.
âYou treated my left eye first. Saying that thereâs an order in everythingâŠ.. Why didnât you tell me then?â
I couldnât have said it.
As he mumbled, Devan shook his head with an expression that it was understandable.
âYou were afraid that lies would be revealed. Whatever the truth is, if I have a problem solving the curse, Iâll investigate you in more detail.â
ââŠâŠyes, but I wouldnât have solved it whether I was the hero of the prophecy or not.â
This didnât come out in the original, so probably.
Cordelia couldnât have solved that either.
âSo whatâs the way to fix it?â
When he couldnât answer and just bowed his head, he sighed for the third time.
Then, suddenly, I grabbed my chin and turned it around as if I were evaluating it.
âWhat- What are you doing?â
His eyes went down to my hair, eyes, nose, and mouth.
âThe butler is right.â
Devan stared deeply at me when he said an unknown sound.
Certainly, seeing and not seeing eyes were at a different level.
I donât know if itâs because itâs blood-colored.
Facing those eyes, it was hard to stick to the arrogant attitude I had taken toward him until then.
He gently pressed my lips with his thumb. My eyebrows frowned at the unfamiliar feeling.
âWhat are you doingâŠâ
âYou donât know what it is, you donât know how to fix it. So thereâs only one way left.â
He cut me off and said drowsy.
Through the conversation, I found out that Devan had been unconscious for a year and had released his eye patch a few weeks ago.
I also knew that the old butler, Karen, and Hilda were still living there.
Thatâs all he let me know.
Devan, on the other hand, knew everything.
He knew that I was not the protagonist of the prophecy, and that I was not the Countâs beloved daughter.
It was because the old butler testified that he seemed to have seen a bruise on my body at first glance.
He even knew that Killian was abnormally obsessed with meâŠ
He even knew what I didnât know.
âThat necklaceâŠâŠWhat you said?â
In the wagon heading to the Grand Dukedom, I shouted back, forgetting my situation.
âYou know that pendant is a magic tool. It wasnât just the scent concentrated, but there was a magic at stake to track the location.â
It was only a year ago that I could see why Killian came to the Archduke so quickly.
Somehow, I said I would get a necklace, but I had everything in mind.
âI donât think you did it.â
Devan smiled as if he knew everything.
âWhat about now? Arenât they all being tracked right now?â
âIt doesnât matter if itâs tracked down or not. He would already think you were with me.â
âBut if you knew that weâre in Ellywoon nowâŠâ
I closed my mouth while I was talking.
Devan was right. Iâm already convinced of my position and came all the way to the Archduke, but does it matter a lot whether Iâm in Ellywoon now or not?
ââŠI still feel uncomfortable. You can just break it. Why didnât you do it?â
ââŠIt could be useful somewhere.â
He looked a little upset.
âThen Killian. Did you meet him?â
âWhat did you talk about when you metâŠâ
He seemed to want to change the subject.
âI think you have to thank me first.â