However, this backstory that didnât appear in the original was only mentioned in the sub-male leadâs side stories.
Little Duke Drehan, the eldest son of the Rayes family, who was the sub-male lead in the original story, finds an old book in the library of Duke Rayes. It was written by the first Duke of Rayes, and after that, it was a family record continued by his descendants of about five generations.
ă The Elfâs blood is inherently poisonous to a girlâs body, so they usually have stillbirth during pregnancy, and even a child born with difficulty is highly likely to die at an early age. This is because dark elf blood awakens only in girls. Dark elvesâ magic is so powerful that it is difficult to capture it within a human vessel. No cure has been found ă
âŠThat was the record of the first duke known to have lost his young sister. The contents written below were about the characteristics of princesses who were born in the 3rd and 5th ducal families.
ă Unlike men, the princesses of Rayes are not born with pure white-silver hair, but instead, various hues manifest throughout the wavelength, unique to the dark silver hair of dark elves. â3rd Duke of Rayes ă
ă Like the previous princesses, she died around the age of twenty of a severe fever and red spots protruding from her skin after failing to control her bodyâs strength. â5th Duke of Rayesâ Records ă
It was said that girls were precious in the ducal family, but in fact, princesses were cut off completely after the 5th generation. After finding out that the only princess born into the family after 500 years was Ravelia, and that the characteristics of the young girl known as the dukeâs adopted daughter who had recently died confined in a castle were the same as the princesses in the records, Young Duke Drehan becomes mentally ill with guilt for his dead sister and disappears shortly thereafter.
That was the last scene of the sub-male leadâs side stories.
âIsnât the writer really crazy?â âŠI think I thought something like that at that time. What a great pretext to get rid of the sub-male lead. And I couldnât understand why additional information was added about Ravelia, who was already dead. The fact that she, who posed as a fake princess, was actually the blood-borne daughter of the most powerful elf, the dark elf.
But thanks to it, I knew how I should behave in the future in the dukeâs family.
* * *
Even now, due to the continuous pursuit of the princess of the dukeâs family, everyone on the continent already knew the precious name of âRavelia Jenn Rayes.â Thus, I was able to wrap around Lukaâs question about our destination.
âWeâre going to the Rayes ducal household.â
âIf itâs the Rayes Duchy, is it the empireâs founding family that Leah told me about?â
âThatâs right. I stole the newspaper that Raiolla was reading, and I found out something very surprising,â I continued as if exposing a great secret. âThe dukeâs family is looking for the lost princess. Silver hair, green eyes, and sheâs about fifteen years old.â
The darker hue in my hair color was a bit disappointing, but all the other features were pointing to me. If I hadnât been locked up in the orphanage, I would have been dragged into the dukeâs family by the bounty hunters already.
âIf so, then, is Leah the Dukeâs princess?â
I shook my head at Lukaâs unexpectedly calm question.
âI canât really assure you that, but itâs worth trying, right? Since we donât have anywhere else to go right now.â
And there was something I had to solve first.
âLuka, Iâll find your memories.â
Now, Luka was under a double spell by Duke Kavlos, who kidnapped him. One was magic to seal memories, and the other was magic to turn him into a puppet. I donât know about the latter that will be activated when he turns seventeen, but I knew a way to unlock the sealed memories. Compared to the puppet spell, the seal wasnât black magic, so it was enough to break it by eating the âpurification crystal.â Though, Senia was a healing wizard, so she used her magic to restore his lost memories without any of that.
âMy memories⊠How can I find them?â
âI saw an article written by a renowned wizard in Raiollaâs newspaper.â
Raiollaâs newspaper was truly an omnipotent excuse.
âThereâs a way to bring back the memory of someone with memory loss. Eating something called âthe purification crystal.'â
âPurification crystal?â
It was a truly rare thing. It had been found only five times in the world, and its value in the novel was described to be astronomical. And, as far as I know, one of the five places where the crystal was found wasâŠ
âWait, donât you hear a waterfall around?â
I listened to the sound of the rushing water that grew louder as we walked. Holding Lukaâs hand through the trees, we reached a place with a large waterfall sparkling and pouring with a roaring sound.
âWow, it really existed!â
If what I saw in the novel was accurate, the âpurification crystalâ would be embedded in the cave inside that waterfall. In the original story, Senia is on her way to the orphanage to rescue Luka, but she gets lost in the forest and becomes hungry. It was then that she discovered this waterfall. To make matters worse, as the day darkened, the roar of wild beasts began to echo in the woods, so she hid in a cave behind the waterfall, where, as expected of the main character, she found the purification crystal. As a healing wizard, she immediately sensed a tremendous divine power emanating from a rock and absorbed it to regain her energy. The âpurification crystal,â which was used as a tool to improve the main characterâs ability, was the only thing that could bring back Lukaâs memory now.
The waterfall sparkled like stars embedded in the night sky. It looked as if the water fairy would pop out at any moment. The waterfall was spewing water from a high place, but it was easy to enter the cave because it was underneath. Thatâs why Senia was able to find it and hide inside.
âWhat a fantastic coincidence. That Purification Crystal looks just like this one.â
Entering the cave with the waterfall pouring down, we had to speak louder to hear each otherâs voices. Luka looked at the blue crystal in front of him with a marveled expression, thinking how an amazing coincidence it was. Even in the dark, the crystal emitted a blue glow. It was stuck in the wall of the cave. I grabbed it and pulled it out. However, if we say there was a problemâŠ
âIsnât it too big to eatâŠ?â
I was at a loss by the size of the crystal that seemed like it would be your last farewell if you swallowed it. Senia was able to put her hand on the crystal and absorb its divine power, but that was only possible because she was a healing wizard.
âFor Luka to absorb it, he has no choice but to eat itâŠâ A human who cannot absorb the energy will eat it, and the crystal will melt within the body, infusing it with divine power.
Right then, Luka spoke calmly behind me.
âYou mean I only have to eat this?â
I was flustered as he took the crystal from my hand.
âYe- yes, but itâs not swallowableââ
Crash-! What is that sound, you may ask? That was the sound of Luka hitting the crystal with a stone in his hand. With his powerful strength, the crystal turned into powder in an instant. He gathered the powdered crystal in his hand and swallowed it without hesitation.
ââŠWhat if Iâm lying? Why are you being so reckless?â
I was worried. He trusts people so easily, I was afraid he might get in trouble later.
Luka, who had swallowed the crystal completely, looked at me and opened his mouth.
âIâll do anything Leah says. Even if you told me to drink poison, I will.â
Looking into those eyes that trusted me infinitely, I felt suffocated for a moment.
It was dark inside the cave, but the ruby-like pupils that rarely lose their light looked straight at me. For a moment, the eyes I had met countless times at the orphanage felt somewhat unfamiliar.
At that moment, Luka held himself against the wall next to him and shook his head as if dizzy. Eventually, he fell to his knees and I hurriedly approached him.
âAre you okay?!â
âAre his memories coming back?â His bright red pupils fluttered confusedly. Perhaps the memories of the past that were popping in his head now were not all good. If there were more bad memories rather than good onesâŠÂ I put both arms around him. I embraced the child that no longer fit into my bosom. As if creeping into a long reminiscence, Luka closed his eyes and yielded to my warmth.
After countless minutes had passed, Luka finally opened his shut eyes.
âLeah, Iâm fine now.â
I looked at his face when I heard his rasping voice in my ears.
âDid your memories come backâŠ?â
At my question, he smiled and nodded.
âWere you happy in the past?â
This time he shook his head lightly. The hand holding mine trembled slightly, probably because he was still adjusting to the memories he had just absorbed.
âLuka, do you know where you need to go?â
âYes. No one will be welcoming me, but there is definitely a place I need to go back to.â
No one will receive you. It wasnât a pleasure going back to such a place. Luka smiled and patted my head as I lowered it. For some reason, my heart felt heavy.
âThe place I have to go back to is where Leah is. Always. Even if weâre headed in different places.â
My lips trembled as I asked what I needed to ask.
âThen tell me now. Who are you actually?â
I was mentally prepared. Luka smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth.
âAgenluka Blake DâGriffin. The crown prince who has been abducted and went missing for the past two years. I was the one Leah told me about once.â
I once told Luka about the imperial family and told him about the missing Crown Prince. There was no record of the crown prince having an official portrait, thus, the newspaperâs description I saw only stated that he was a teenage boy with black hair and red eyes.
How would a normal person react to this situation?
âWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!â
I covered my mouth and slumped on the spot, still, I felt something was lacking, so I screamed once more.
âYou- you are the crown prince?!â
This was enough.
I like the fact it didnât take long for her to know sheâs Duke Rayesâ real daughter and Luka recovering his memories. Am I the only one?