Chapter 34

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Chapter 34 – It’s Your Turn Again

Kaligo shut his mouth firmly for a moment.

“Drink,” Ashia said as she poured cold water into a cup and pushed it in front of him.

“…Thank you.” Kaligo quietly took the glass of water and drank it in one breath before setting it back down on the table. The tips of his ears that had been tinged red gradually regained their normal color as time went by.

Ashia continued talking as she stared at him. “So… it was an inevitable choice. I see.”

“Yes.”

“So the reason for our unhappy marriage for five years was because of my life?”

He couldn’t look at Ashia properly and fiddled with the glass of water. His unfamiliar expression was somehow refreshing and cute that she almost burst into laughter.

She looked at him, barely suppressing the corners of her mouth. “…Do you have more to say?”

“Isn’t it your turn again?”

“Ah…”

It was Ashia who told Kaligo that it wasn’t only her who should confide.

“Well…” Ashia got up from her chair and reached out to Kaligo. “How about we reconcile first?”

He stared blankly at her outstretched hand and slowly opened his mouth. “Are you forgiving me? This easily?”

“Forgiveness? I am reconciling with you. It was partly my fault for not trying to resolve the misunderstanding.”

This was what time did. It didn’t make someone forget everything entirely, but rather, it didn’t let the resentment and anger one had remain intact. Those unstable and dark emotions were gradually fading away.

Forgiveness and reconciliation – it might have been impossible if it hadn’t been for the time that Renna lived as Ashia. But time passed, and Renna came to love her life as Ashia. For her now, things associated with her life as Renna were nothing but memories.

Kaligo slowly reached out and took her hand as he stood up from his seat. “I caused your death. Are you still going to forgive me?”

“Oh… right. You did, right?” Her eyes were round with realization “I was curious about that too. Why the hell did you revolt…?”

Bang! Bang!

Loud knocking grabbed their attention.

“Ashia! Ashia!!!”

“Vershia?” Ashia quickly ran to the door. “Vershia?! What’s going on!”

“A-Ashia! M-m… Mister Derek, he! Sob. Sob.” she cut off, out of breath. “Black Forest! He went to the Black Forest…”

“What?! I told you not to go there!”

Ashia immediately swept the potion bottles on the shelves of the store and put them in her bag.

“What happened?” Kaligo walked out from the hallway where Ashia’s bedroom was. He saw Vershia sitting on the floor.

“Ah, I’m busy right now so tomorrow, Kaligo… Ah, no. I will be making a potion for a knight and I must find its ingredients first, so you can go back now.”

“Yes?”

“See you again, alright?” Ashia lifted up Vershia and went outside, dragging her out—completely abandoning their conversation.

“…”

Kaligo, who was left alone on the spot, looked at Asha’s disappearing back with a smirk. Then he looked down at his hand, which still felt warm from hers, and recalled the words she had just said.

“You worked hard, Ashia.”

Ashia sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“He would have needed his arm amputated if I had been late.”

“…Hmm, I’ll tell him to be careful.”

“Tell him never to go in there again.”

“Okay.”

Ashia left Derek’s shop and looked up at the sky. Her shuddering exhale turned into mist.

‘How many times was it…’

It was forbidden to enter the Black Forest, and nobody knew when exactly it was banned. One day, people who entered it out of curiosity disappeared or came back alive having a part of their body cursed or something.

Those people risked their lives to sate their curiosity

She used various means to prevent people from entering the forest, but it wasn’t easy to stop a group of curious people that gathered. However, Ashia couldn’t just stand at the entrance of the Black Forest all day. Although they bravely entered the forest and had her cure the wounds of the returning people, she had no intention of saving the lives of strangers. There were too many other things to do, and she wasn’t generous enough to even care about those who ignored her warnings.

That was how she lived quietly for the past seven years. There were a few accidents in that time frame, but except for that, it did no damage to the original novel as she planned. That was until she met Kaligo.

Everything turned to chaos because of him

Ashia hurried her steps while grumbling, “And so what if he’s the male lead?”

When she returned to the store and finished tidying up, the sun had already set and darkness fell over the street. Watching the night view outside of the store for a while, Ashia ended the day by locking the door. When she entered the bedroom through the hallway, she saw the cup he had drunk from on the table.

– It was to save you.

‘Tch…….’

It felt stupid. There were so many things they could have talked about, but that was about the gist of it. The five years of marriage and death—around it was his effort to save her life. It didn’t mean that he put his effort on the wrong thing. It was also understandable how she couldn’t easily confide in him.

However, it was a clear fact that their misunderstandings were also the effect of not being able to communicate properly.

‘Would something have changed if we had a conversation together?’

Her mind was replaying Kaligo’s words even until she went to bed. It was a day that wasn’t that much different from other days, but it seemed as if something that had been bottled up inside her for many years had escaped.

‘Ah, should I have told him about the female lead…?’

Her thoughts became complicated again when she thought of Aileen.

‘Oh, I don’t know… Let’s think about it tomorrow.’

Ashia pulled the blanket up to the top of her head and buried herself. After tossing and turning for a while, she could not resist the rushing fatigue and quickly fell asleep.

Another day passed and the sun came up, but the lights in the Grand Duke’s office did not go out all night. Due to his frequent outings recently, the documents he had to deal with were stacked on top of his desk, layer by layer.

“This is a list of members from each empire.”

Kaligo turned over the papers that Redin handed over and looked at them carefully. “Make sure that the supply of gold won’t be cut off.”

“Yes, my lord.”

While doing things in a hurry, Kaligo wouldn’t simply skimp on them or neglect them. These were the habits he developed since his time as a duke. Kaligo paused as his hand held a certain document.

Redin, who was standing by, checked the documents and carefully opened his mouth. “My Lord, he…”

“I remember he told me he was going to take care of his old mother.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“…It seems that you were coaxed beforehand.’

Coaxing, he liked the word coaxing. In fact, he turned his back on the Grand Duke. It was stupid to do so.

“Take care of him.”

“I received your orders.”

Kaligo was infinitely merciful to his people, but the moment they turned away from him, he was sharper than any other blade. Needless to say, if it was some kind of betrayal…

“What about Kyrian?”

At his question, Redin put the letter on his desk from his arms. As Kaligo pulled out the letter and opened it, Redin added, “He’s on his way to the capital now.”

“Capital?”

“I sent him there because of what you told me to take care of.”

“Hmm…”

Kaligo put the letter he was holding down on the desk. He looked straight ahead and thought for a moment, then leaned back on his chair and said, “If he has some things to do in the capital, he should be able to find lodging.”

“Yes, but still…”

“It seems that His Majesty the Emperor is plotting things.”

“Yes, my lord. It seems to have something to do with the Royal Family.”

“It must be, seeing that the Crown Prince already knew about it.” After staring into the air for a moment, he got up and picked up his coat.

Redin followed closely behind him. “Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“The Imperial Palace.”

“Since we have sent Kyrian, how about waiting for him…?”

“Kyrian is Kyrian, but I have to move too.”

“…”

He just started talking to Ashia. That day’s conversation wouldn’t be everything. There were still a lot of unresolved issues between the two of them, and Kaligo still had a lot of work to do. He had to deal with the things that were getting in the way of his relationship with her.

‘If the warnings don’t work, you’ll be in a lot of trouble, Your Highness the Crown Prince.’

Wasn’t it the Crown Prince who told Ashia about his engagement that he was unaware of? He might not know it, but there may be another plan from that snake-like person.

Redin and Kaligo got into the same carriage. Of all things, Ventus had to move to the Imperial Palace so he had to move by carriage.

“You don’t have to follow me.”

“I will go with you.”

Kaligo wasn’t planning on making a big scene, but Redin decided to accompany him out of anxiety. In fact, Kaligo doesn’t like the Imperial Palace. It was the same as outside and inside the book, and as soon as they arrived, his body started to express discomfort.

His turbulent spirit while walking inside the Imperial Palace was no different than when he was on the battlefield.

Redin gulped. “My Lord…”

“I know.” Kaligo had no idea what Redin was worried about. He walked down the corridors of the Imperial Palace and reached the Crown Prince’s office.

The soldier guarding the entrance blocked Kaligo from entering.

“Move.”

“I am sorry, Grand Duke. Someone is inside. I received an order not to let anyone in.”

Kaligo’s eyes narrowed.

Who came first?

Unless it was the emperor, there was no way that the soldier would stop the Grand Duke Kaligo.

“Move.”

“G-Grand Duke.”

At that moment, when the atmosphere was becoming increasingly harsh, the door to the office opened.

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