CH 18

Albert grabbed the wand, and as if they had been waiting for that moment, someone’s voice was immediately transmitted.

[ Your Highness, it’s Baron Verzen. Duke Masen was attacked by a dark mage. His condition isn’t good! ]

“His condition…”

[ Please come here to see for yourself. ]

“……”

[ It’s urgent. Please, I’m telling Your Highness the truth…! ]

The hurried voice implored him.

Albert’s eyes narrowed at this.

“The Duchy.”

Mumbling briefly, he turned to me.

“Rosé, it’s sudden, but we’ll need to go outside.”

“…Outside? We’re going?”

It was an unexpected outing. I never imagined that I’d be able to leave the tower like this.

Albert nodded. Then, he immediately put on a coat.

“Get ready.”

I just received a confession from my boss, but now I was being put to work. Can’t I adjust first…?

With a puzzled expression, I nodded anyway, but I suddenly remembered Blanc. It worried me to leave him alone in the tower.

“…Can we take Blanc with us?”

“If you want.”

I went down to the kitchen and carried the sleeping Blanc carefully. Then, I waited for Albert to come down to the first floor.

But then many minutes passed and it didn’t seem like he was going down any time soon.

Eventually, I went up the stairs again, and Albert was waiting for me there, the wand in his hand.

“Your preparation time was quite long. Let’s go.”

“No, isn’t it the Prince who’s late? I was waiting for you downstairs!”

I thought Albert would remove the spell on the tower and we’ll leave through the door. He’s a genius after all. After solving the binding spells, he could even go in and out of the bathroom whenever he wanted.

“Unless I’m crazy, I wouldn’t go through the door. Aren’t there soldiers on duty there?”

Albert didn’t proceed down to the first floor. Rather, he went up to the attic—that is, my room.

“…Your Highness. Sorry, but aren’t we going through the door?”

“I can’t go through the kitchen freely yet. If I solve all the spells in the tower, the mages will find out what’s happening. This is the only way.”

If I didn’t know Albert, I’d be looking at him like he’s crazy right about now.

…Where on earth can we go in this attic?

“We’ll be travelling through the sky.”

Albert waved the wand before I could even ask what that meant.

Then, the roof of the attic faded.

Amidst the dark sky, countless stars twinkled.

“Rosé, hold my hand.”

After I took Albert’s hand, he walked up towards the starry sky with me.

I thought that the roof disappearing was just an illusion. But then we quite literally went through the roof.

How long has it been since I was outside?

Taking in the air outside, it was much sweeter and much more refreshing than I remembered, and the evening sky was breathtaking. The countless stars glimmered like jewels.

I wondered when the last time it was that I saw such a clear sky. I was used to seeing the night sky after working overtime, but this was completely different.

“Wow… It’s so pretty.”

Haa, I inhaled and exhaled deeply. The air in my lungs seemed to seep through my bones.

And I realized it, just how much I wanted to go out, just how frustrating the life I thought I had gotten used to really was.

A smile tugged on my lips automatically. While basking in the fresh air with my entire body, I suddenly felt embarrassed when I realized that, next to me, Albert was observing me.

With his arms folded, he just watched me.

Oh, gracious prince. I’m once again indebted to you.

I bowed my head and averted my gaze for a moment, but our eyes soon met. Seeing me act like this, Albert smiled.

“Are you done, Rosé?”

“Yes. Thank you very much for waiting.”

When I bowed to convey my gratitude, I suddenly couldn’t breathe. The sight below rendered me speechless.

Right now, as we were atop the tower, it would be right to say that it was ‘Covered by the dark night sky, it’s the perfect scene~’ and it really was almost perfect. In this dark landscape, it couldn’t be helped that Blanc stood out because he was perfectly white, but only to those who had magic or could see his true form without his disguise.

I saw the soldiers patrolling around the tower. The guards were standing in intervals. Even in the far distance, I could see that the soldiers stationed there were in droves.

I couldn’t see this from the tower because there was only so much that could be seen through the window.

King Impotent’s vigilance was much tighter and more ruthless than I thought.

“I see the reason why Your Highness said that we shouldn’t go out the door. I knew it, our Prince is very smart.”

As easy as breathing, the flattery came out naturally. Oh, but it wasn’t just flattery, I really do mean it. If we had gone through the door, who’s to say that we wouldn’t be caught already by now?

How would we get from here to our destination? Where’s the Duke? When I looked up to ask Albert a question, he already had an answer ready as if he had been waiting.

“We’ll be teleporting to get out of here. Duke Masen lives in the north, and the only way to get there right away is through teleportation.”

I’d never heard the name of the Duke, but I knew what position he had—Duke of the North. I really did transmigrate into a novel, huh. So I was curious.

“Does he have a blunt, brusque personality?”

“…He’s rather gentle, but why are you curious about that, Rosé?”

Because it’s a traditional cliché—Duke of the North, cold to everyone else yet warm only towards his lady. You could say it’s similar to a cold city man.

Anyway, I didn’t explain any of this for fear of being treated like a crazy woman.

“It’s nothing.”

Shaking my head, I realized that I should have asked the most important question. Ah, I almost forgot.

With a serious expression, I asked.

“Is he handsome?”

My eyes become happy when seeing handsome faces. I’m Albert’s fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be Duke Masen’s fan, too.

Maybe Duke Masen was the second male lead of the novel I never finished. That’s how it usually went for Dukes in these kinds of romance novels.

“I heard Duke Masen is popular with young noble ladies. But you know, Rosé.”

Albert, who was next to me, went closer while still holding my hand.

While we faced each other, he leaned very very close to me, our faces only inches apart. We had each other’s consent to hold hands, but other than that, there was no other contact.

Smiling affectionately, Albert raised his other hand and hovered his index finger very close to my lips. And with a dangerous tone, he whispered.

“I don’t think it’s right to ask me.”

Considering what just happened, it couldn’t be refuted that he was 100% right. And in this world, there should be no appearance that could surpass Albert’s.

“If you’re going to be interested anyway, just be more interested in me. Don’t talk about other men in front of me.”

“……”

“It’ll bode well for you to be more mindful.”

As he smiled, goosebumps rose up my spine. It was an exceedingly warm voice, but the atmosphere was strangely severe.

Albert glanced down at my hand in his. It seemed like a threat that he’d let go of me if I kept talking nonsense, so I immediately zipped my lips. For the first time in my life, I found out that a gentle, elegant tone could sound so menacing.

I tried to change the subject.

“Oh my goodness, you say we’ll teleport…”

I said it to distract him, but after saying it myself, I suddenly felt overwhelmed.

As if walking in the sky wasn’t enough, we were going to teleport. It was a phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by science and did not exist in the world I previously belonged to. And I’ll be experiencing that now.

“Prince, I’m ready.”

Show me your skills! As I waited for Albert to start it, my eyes sparkled. Anyway, I wanted to escape this chilly atmosphere.

Then, a hushed yet clear voice came through Albert’s lips.

”Protect.”

As soon as the word came out, small lights surrounded me.

The incantation was in English, so it wasn’t difficult to understand.

But it begged the question. What on earth was he protecting us from?

Yet before I could ask anything, Albert uttered the second incantation.

”Fly.”

We had just been hovering in the air at this time, but as soon as Albert said this, it became easier to move.

When we took a step forward, it felt so light as though my shoes had wings. I don’t think even rabbits would feel as light as I feel now.

This was magic. I held Albert’s hand and followed after Albert’s steps. It was amazing that this could happen at all.

I knew he was a genius, but I had never seen him use his skills properly inside the tower. He was always busy solving the spells on the wand, and he didn’t use his own magic except for when communicating with his aides outside the tower.

“What Your Highness said just now was a memorized incantation?”

“That’s right.”

“Can I use that kind of magic too if I say the incantation?”

Actually, I had a bit of hope. The spell was in English, and it wasn’t an exaggeration that English was my second language because even though I grew up in Korea, I learned a lot of English words.

But of course, if I talk to any foreigners, my mind goes blank… Such is the memorization of Koreans.

Albert’s eyes curved as he smiled. Thinking that I was caught in my antics once again, I was a bit—no, really embarrassed.

“Incantation is the last step in wielding magic. If everything is possible just because you know the incantation, then everyone here would be archmages.”

“…I know right? It was only a joke.”

I looked down at the innocent-looking Blanc. He was sleeping well even when Albert and I were talking loudly. When I looked at the snoring Blanc, I saw the guards on patrol in my periphery again.

“For now, we need to go up more.”

Albert clenched my hand and looked up. At the same time, he soared higher, and it was the same case for me as I was holding his hand.

We went a little closer to the stars.

The sky seemed to be close enough to touch.

”Light.”

The moment Albert said the incantation, a small firefly-like light appeared on his wand. It lit up the dark sky and led the way.

We walked along the path where the starlight paved the way.

Our speed was much faster than normal walking. As if it was a kind of space altering magic, in no time, the tower was far away.

While walking cheerfully, I met Albert’s eyes for a moment.

But he seemed to be grimacing.

“Prince, are you feeling sick?”

“…I’m alright.”

Albert smiled and shook his head. However, he couldn’t completely hide the traces on his expression of the pain that he was feeling.

…Maybe there was still a spell outside the tower hindering him?

“Prince, if there’s something you’re hiding…”

As I tried to reach him through these words, my hair fluttered in the wind.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand for now, Rosé.”

Albert continued walking carefully, completely blocking my words.

In no time, we escaped from the tower and soon arrived at a small clearing in the middle of the forest.

The quiet forest was chilling.

Only the sound of leaves scattering in the wind could be heard loudly. Other than that, it was so quiet that I felt frightened. Even so, I liked the smell of the forest.

It really felt like I’m alive again.

However, it was impossible to fully enjoy the feeling of being outside.

…But there’s something Albert wasn’t telling me.

I don’t think he wanted to talk, so I decided that it’s better to move first.

There’s a reason why we’re outside.

Grimacing again, Albert and I met gazes.

I spoke bravely.

“Then, I’ll ask later.”

As though he didn’t doubt it, Albert smiled faintly as he heard me say this.

“I like that you’re interested in me.”

It was a small smile, but that in itself was dazzling.