CH 33

“It’s been on my mind, that you might have been cursed. But it doesn’t make sense.”

“…….”

“For you to have been cursed, there are three requisites—the dark mage’s soul, the mage’s tool, and the item that holds the curse itself.”

I readily accepted his suspicions, even though I knew it’s impossible that I got cursed. In the first place, the conditions couldn’t be established since there were only two people here in the tower, me and Albert.

“If you were a dark mage, then everything would make sense. Even though he despised me, Rosteratu didn’t dare harm me before. But then he had a sudden alliance with the mages while they were in disarray.”

If I was a dark mage, then I could use my own lifeforce to manipulate other people, that’s true. Looking into Albert’s eyes the entire time he explained this, I couldn’t say anything back.

Yeah, that could really be the case. Rosé Artius, not me—she could really be a dark mage. Because her backstory was never explained in the novel. No one needed to know the circumstances of a minor villain.

“The more a dark mage uses magic, the more their physical body would break and their mind would gradually collapse. The fact that you’re acting like a different person is something that could have been rooted from psychological collapse.”

And in the middle of his explanation here, I couldn’t believe there was a plausible reason for me to have become a ‘different person’. The excuse I gave him, that I turned over a new leaf overnight, really didn’t work on him, huh.

Raising his gaze, Albert stared into my eyes. His voice, reminiscent of a snake’s hushed whisper, made my shoulders flinch.

“But even if your memories can’t come back to you, I just know that people don’t change so easily.”

…I was reminded of the Albert inside the novel, the one who killed Rosé.

“You’ve always wanted me.”

Because he wouldn’t say everything at once, I couldn’t predict what Albert’s conclusion would be. Even more so now because I knew he was suspicious of me.

“I don’t trust people easily.”

That gentle tone of his sounded like a death sentence. His gaze persistently swept over my entire face, so close in front of me as if he was about to devour me whole.

The hand that reached towards my neck gradually rose and caressed my cheek. It’s an inherently romantic gesture, but I could only feel terrified.

Because I knew that Albert was truly capable of strangling me.

I should say something—anything. Please trust me. I’m a different person. I have no memories of being a dark mage.

Gently placing my own hand above Albert’s hand, which was still wrapped atop my cheek, I opened my lips to speak.

“Prince, it’s just that, I…”

Albert placed his index finger over my lips, and those lips that tried to spew excuses closed in an instant.

“Listen to me for a moment.”

His words carried such pressure. Even so, those words rather made me feel calm.

Right. Let’s listen to Albert first and try to organize this situation. Taking in a deep breath, I nodded.

It didn’t take a long time before Albert spoke once more.

“That’s why I should trust you.”

The atmosphere around us led me to believe that this conversation would absolutely not go this direction.

“…Pardon?”

I was just about to beg him not to kill me, but I was instead taken aback by the unexpected statement. And this was all the more because I knew Albert was very well in the right position to doubt me entirely.

What are you thinking?

I stared at him, wrinkles forming on my forehead.

But at this, Albert’s low-pitched laughter rang out. As though he could read my thoughts, he answered my unspoken questions.

“I’m saying that I’ll trust you, Rosé. And that we’ll be going out the tower again.”

His face was much too close. Knowing how to smile so brightly like a child and knowing how to glare so fiercely that I thought he’d kill me—they were both sides of him.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe his declaration that he’d trust me. I couldn’t understand Albert at all at this moment.

How long has it been exactly since you met me? You and I are only bound by a contract, and once we leave this place, we’ll be strangers who have nothing to do with each other.

Albert must have met countless people in his life. And the position he had wasn’t something light to bear. How could he agree to going out of the tower again just because he says he’s going to trust me?

And besides that, I was also terribly flustered by this blind trust that I neither wanted nor wished to receive. And it was also worrying that a lot of things might go wrong for Albert because of me.

He’s the male lead of this world, so he wouldn’t easily die, but the story was already changing little by little, deviating from the original story.

“If we’re going out, then where are we going?”

“We’ll go to the north again. It would be easy to fool the mages if we go there because they avoid cold regions.”

So this meant that we’d be meeting Duke Liam Masen and Baron Schubert Bergen, Albert’s biggest fan, once again.

I recalled the reason why Albert hurried back to the tower before—it was because he didn’t want to show them his weak side.

But if he were to go out there again, he’d have to lie sick in bed for a week, and he wouldn’t be able to hide it this time.

“Is that alright? You said you didn’t want to show your weak side like that.”

“Who’s the one who told me that I can show this side of myself, too?”

“……”

“I’ve decided to trust the sincerity of the person who said that.”

My words were coming back to bite me. Albert always just listened to me during the most inconvenient times.

“I thought you’d at least thank me for this.”

Albert’s thumb swept over my lower lip and gently pressed down. His eyes contained a strange, heated fire within them. However, I shook my head and pushed his hand away.

There’s still something I had to ask.

“Am I really a person you can easily trust?”

“You’re asking a weird question.”

“…No, it’s just, it hasn’t been long since you’ve met me, Prince. It’s a bit burdensome to receive your trust.”

That’s right. His blind trust was quite heavy as it was. The same was true of how the way he thought of me changed so easily and so quickly while we’re confined alone here.

What on earth did Albert see in me that he could change his mind just like that?

Albert tucked back a lock of my hair behind my ear.

“It’s easier than you think to see just what kind of person you are, Rosé.”

“……”

“That’s why I also know—it’s difficult to meet someone like you.”

Someone like me… what. It’s much obliged to hear such words from Albert.

“And there are times when I wonder if you’re the one I’ve been waiting for all this time.”

I couldn’t understand the meaning behind what he whispered just now. The one you’ve been waiting for? I don’t think the original story mentioned something about a person Albert’s been waiting for all his life.

Even so, the questions that formed in my mind soon evaporated.

“It’s true, what you said about being burdened because of me.”

“……”

“But isn’t this a good way to shackle you to me?”

“…Shackle?”

“You’re still thinking about leaving me.”

Albert’s matter-of-fact tone left me speechless.

“I have no intention of sending you away.”

And at his low-pitched words, his eyes glinted with a strange light. I could see a momentary flash of madness burgeoning within his persistent gaze.

“…But the contract?”

“The contract will still be fulfilled. Though I never said I’d let you go so far away from me, it seems like you’re planning to do just that.”

…This prince was always so many steps ahead. I really couldn’t win against him. The land in the capital was definitely going to be more expensive. If he wants me to be near him, then I’d feel just how big the gap between the rich and the poor was even more—yet he didn’t seem to mind this.

No, perhaps he never even thought about it. Considering his position, it wouldn’t be the first thing on his mind.

I couldn’t even openly say, ‘Yes, I really was planning to never see the Prince again after leaving the tower.’

But even as he was taking such risks for me, I couldn’t lie either and say, ‘Alright, I’ll only be by the Prince’s side for the rest of my life.’

I mean, I do think Albert will wake up and be hit with the truth of reality later, too. Because he’s a wise person.

Eventually, I chose not to say anything. And I knew that Albert could also surmise why I closed my lips like this.

Even so, Albert’s eyes curved beautifully into two crescent moons. He looked at me with a satisfied expression.

“Silence isn’t bad either.”

“……”

“But rather than a voluntary silence, it’s better if this silence is something I’ve induced.”

The hand resting at the nape of my neck pulled me in gently. Albert’s lips got closer.

“Rosé.”

As he called my name, the tacit question hovered in the air between us. I willed myself to stay silent,

“I’m someone who’d collapse—who’d fall—just for you.”

Until Albert said this.

Would there ever come a day when I’d be able to win against this man? I let out a sigh.

Understanding my unspoken consent, Albert’s lips took my breath away.

The kiss was short, expressing how he cared for me as I was sick.

Yet, it was still so intense.

* * *

Albert made all the preparations for our departure. He also successfully copied my handwriting for the weekly reports I had to submit to Rosteratu, writing them all himself.

In the meantime, I took advantage of my good relationship with the stationed soldiers. They agreed to receive my reports two weeks in advance.

Albert once again put a coat over me as we were getting ready to step out of the tower. I could barely stand because it felt like someone was constantly hammering at my head.

“I’ll warn you now—the moment we go out, you might feel even worse pain.”

“…Because the black magic is going to be triggered.”

Despite feeling terribly nervous, I nodded. After finishing our preparations to leave the tower, I held Blanc in my arms.

“Sick… people… can chaaange…”

“Yes, Blanc. We’re going out so that I can get better.”

Albert then beckoned for me to come closer to him. I steeled my resolve, thinking that we’d have to walk again like before, though I was worried about how painful the headache was going to be.

“Fly.”

The same way we left the tower last time, Albert uttered the spell, his voice resounding against the silence.

Then, we flew up in the darkness of the night.

“Huh…?”

The headache I was so worried about didn’t worsen, but rather than that, I was more surprised about something else.

As we soared into the sky, Albert was holding me in a princess carry just like in the fairytales.

“It’ll be faster if we travel like this.”

“The Prince isn’t the type to say nonsense after all.”

I readily acquiesced. At this, Albert smirked. He seemed to like my answer.

“I’m glad you believe me.”

With Blanc in my arms, and me in Albert’s embrace, we traveled at a much faster pace as though he couldn’t feel our weight.

Actually though, I was glad that I wouldn’t need to look at the scenery below. I was still feeling very nervous, even as I was in his arms.

I tried to shut my eyes,

“Don’t close your eyes.”

Until I heard Albert’s words.

I hurriedly answered.

“It’s scary looking down.”

“Then just look at me.”

While Albert said this with a light tone, he glanced at me for a moment and met my gaze.

As though saying, yes, just like that.

——

t/n: don’t mind me over here, just feeling really soft and vulnerable while i have ‘felt this way’ by crj on loop the whole time i was translating, bye