Chapter 76: 77

The voice of a boy who had passed its transformation period was scattered in the cold night wind. 

In just a single sentence, there was an echo that had been built up for four years.

“You’re back safely, Benny.”

I gently brushed his hair like he was a child and whispered.

“…Have you not forgotten yet? Your promise with me.” 

For four years, I worked tirelessly to keep my escape plan from being discovered.

As a princess, I learned manners and acted as if I had completely adapted to the duke’s family. 

The acting was successful. Even Michael thought that I had given up on escaping.

‘But it was actually the opposite.’ 

My desire to run away from Alan had not changed since four years ago.

The more Alan sent heartfelt letters, the more my heart hardened.

“You asked me to help you run away from Bauner.”

Benny replied briefly, but in direct words. I reflexively looked around. 

Then Benny grabbed my hand as if telling me to be relieved.

“I haven’t forgotten.” 

I glanced over at Benny’s complexion and asked.

“…Have you changed your mind?” 

Benny tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the intention of my question. 

“Why are you asking that?” 

“That’s…”

I hesitated and whispered softly. 

“Because if you don’t run away with me, you can live comfortably in the Empire.” 

In the days of slaves who had nowhere to go, my plea might have sounded tempting, but now the situation was different.

Benny became a hero who would be welcomed wherever he went.

If he ran away with me, he had to give up all the popularity and fame he now enjoyed.

‘Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange if Benny breaks his promise to me.’ 

So, for the four years that I couldn’t meet Benny, I devised a way to escape by myself. But the more I thought about it, the more helpless I felt.

There was no place in this empire that was not within the reach of the Duke of Bauner except the Imperial Palace.

If I had to pick one, it was the Western Continent, a lawless zone, and even that was now in Alan’s hands. 

After contemplating over and over again, I finally came to an unbelievable conclusion.

There was only one place in the world where I could be safe. 

And the only person who could take me there was the boy in front of me.

“If you want to break the promise, tell me now.”

I squeezed Benny’s sleeve tightly.

Even thinking about it made me ashamed, but I couldn’t help it.

I needed Benny. Also, very desperately. 

Perhaps to relieve my anxiety, Benny again answered simply.

“The only place where I can be comfortable is with the Princess.”

Benny slowly leaned his face toward me.

“I made a promise before leaving for the Western Continent. I will let the Princess run away to wherever she wants to go.”

“…Yes, you did.” 

“Have you decided where you want to go?” 

I hesitated for a moment, then lifted myself up on my tiptoes, put my lips to Benny’s ear, and whispered the destination.

“There, is it okay?” 

“Yes.”

Benny’s reply came back so easily that it took my breath away.

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“…Thank you.” 

I slowly hugged Benny. I just wanted to express my gratitude, but Benny’s body hardened like a stone.

Surprised, I stepped down immediately. 

“I-I’m sorry. Were you surprised?” 

“……”

Benny touched his lips and didn’t answer anything.

Just as I was about to apologize once more, I heard a loud knock. 

“Princess, are you okay? I heard something.”

They were servants of the Imperial Palace. 

I turned my head towards the door and then looked back at Benny, and he was already gone.

“…It’s okay, I was just talking in my sleep.”

I called out to the servant and laid down on the bed.

I closed my eyes and imagined leaving with Benny to a refuge.

No matter how much I thought about it, nothing but black darkness was drawn.

It was scary to even imagine. When I was in the dark, I often felt like I was in a bottomless swamp.

‘But there’s nothing I can do.’

The debutante would be held in a month, and I would run out of the barrier that day.

***

I couldn’t sleep for a while, and after tossing and turning, I fell into a sudden suffocation. 

When I opened my eyes, what I saw was not the ceiling of the guest room.

“This is…”

A space as white as snow. The scenery in which the sky and the earth were indistinguishable was somehow familiar.

“I’ve been here before”.

I remember exactly. Four years ago, the day I first met the emperor, Igdrasil.

Just like this, I got and ate delicious sweets in a space like a drawing paper.

“Is it possible to have such a dream because of that cookie…”

I walked slowly through the pure white space. Unlike that time, the figure of the emperor was nowhere to be seen. 

I kept thinking about Igdrasil, who was not here. 

To be precise, about the suggestion she had made.

‘I don’t think the emperor will give up the marriage alliance.’

If she had given up with just one refusal, she would not have even offered marriage in front of the nobles.

I could roughly predict how the emperor would come out in the future.

‘She’s gonna leave the men of Bauner alone, and go after me.’

It would be best to persuade me instead of the other family members.

The smart emperor wouldn’t not have known that.

‘Should I turn her down myself? No, I don’t think I’ll be able to even scratch it…?’

In the midst of my aimless walking, I suddenly stopped. It was because someone was standing ten steps away.

She had her back turned so I couldn’t see her face, but I was used to her pale hair that was indistinguishable in the background. 

There was only one person I could meet here. 

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I grabbed the hem of my pajamas with both hands and lifted it up slightly in greeting to the other person.

“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

As it was a dream anyway, I could have hit the emperor on the back of the head, saying, ‘How can you think of marrying me off?!’, but only polite words came out of my mouth.

‘For some reason, I don’t think I should treat her recklessly even in my dreams.’ 

Igdrasil did not answer for a long time.

As I kept my head in a lowered position, I felt something strange. 

‘Wait a minute. Isn’t the hair too short to be the emperor?’

The Igdrasil I knew was a woman with long hair hanging down like a river. But the light hair of the person in front of me had been cut off from the back of the neck.

I gently raised my eyes upwards. When I looked closely, the person in front of me was also different in size from Igdrasil.

Although the emperor had broad shoulders and thick bones, she had a curvy body, but this person…

‘…A man?’ 

“It’s okay to raise your head.” 

A soft voice rang in my ears.

I slowly raised my upper body. And for a moment, my mind went blank.

Standing in front of me was an incredibly handsome boy.

He looked about the same age as Benny, but he had thick eyebrows and a high nose, exuding a mature feeling.

His soft white hair and pale golden eyes resembled the emperor, but the rest of his impression was completely different.

His skin was as copper as Pedro. The loose shirt also emphasized his exotic atmosphere.

“Oh, I should greet you too.” 

He raised the corner of his mouth obliquely and grabbed my left hand. 

A short kiss landed on my bare hand that was without gloves.

“Long time no see, Princess Lilietta von Bauner. I am the Crown Prince of the Empire, Garou.”

I was completely blown away by his words.

‘Long time no see? Crown Prince?’

‘You mean, he’s the one who I’m supposedly going to be married to?’

“…It’s a strange dream.”

I scratched my head with the hand that wasn’t held.

Did my refusal to marry the Crown Prince create this dream? 

Although I wonder how I came up with that beauty I had never seen before.

“A dream? Right, it is a dream.” 

The boy, who called himself the crown prince, cleared his throat and smiled, curving his golden eyes.

“But I am real.” 

“Yes…” 

“I used magic to enter your dream.” 

“What?”

What did he just say?

“Woah, it was really hard. As expected, my magic doesn’t work well on you. If I hadn’t done it beforehand, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the formula by the time you came into my domain.”

Crown Prince Garou shook his head that was still bent over my left hand.

I couldn’t even understand half of what he was saying.

“You had done what…?”

“Well, let’s move on from such a trivial problem.”

Garou smiled broadly. His narrowly folded eyes resemble Igdrasil.

I took a deep breath as I organized the situation in my head.

‘I got caught.’

I couldn’t believe he came into someone else’s dream. Was it because I turned down the engagement proposal, so he made us having a meeting like this?

“Don’t be too burdened.” 

Garou waved his hand in the air. A bright light flashed in an instant from the wooden ring that was attached to his middle finger. 

The white space distorted like a wet canvas, and a table and a tea set appeared in front of me.

It was the same magic that the emperor used.

“Sit down.”

Garou pulled out the chair in front of me. Contrary to his friendly expression, his tone of voice somehow felt like a command. 

‘Is it a habit of the imperial family?’

I sighed and sat quietly. 

No matter how rude he was to enter my dream, he was someone from the imperial family.

In order not to harm Bauner and myself, it was better to be polite for now.

Even though I was trying like this, the crown prince didn’t show any pretense at all. 

He sat across from me, slumped, and rubbed his chin loosely like an uncle hanging out in a coffee shop.

That temperament, not bound by manners, was the same as that of the emperor.

“We’ve met once, you know?” 

“…I don’t know, Crown Prince.” 

“Don’t be so stiff with me, drop the formal speech.”

“I can’t do that.”

“It’s just the two of us here. It’s because I don’t want you to be nervous for nothing.”

Garou smirked, raising the corners of his lips. 

Instead of speaking informally, I was getting more and more nervous. 

‘Not a chance! Do you think I will be deceived by that?’

The thing that should not be trusted the most in the world was a high-ranking person who said ‘let’s get along comfortably.’

As I shut my mouth, Garou intermittently shed clues, as if giving a hint.

“A carnival four years ago. The masquerade.” 

“Ah…?” 

I didn’t know Garou, but I remembered the masquerade.

Was there the crown prince among the masks that passed by? 

As soon as I started to recall, I suddenly became puzzled.

‘The only imperial family member who came to the masquerade four years ago was the emperor…?’

“You don’t know my face, but don’t you remember this?”

Garou snapped his fingers in the air. A mask appeared between his index finger and thumb.

A golden mask studded with amethyst. It looked so luxurious that I wouldn’t be able forget it even though I only saw it once.

‘…Although, I still don’t remember.’

At that time I was only 9 years old. 

I was not free enough to care about the masks worn by the guests, and when I returned with only vague responses, Garou finally gave up on reviving my memories.

“Well, you can remember from now on. Do you remember this?” 

Garou snapped his fingers again, and this time, a large basket appeared on the table.

As I looked into the basket, I swallowed my saliva involuntarily. 

The basket was loaded with the same shiny sweets I ate four years ago.

“Lilietta, if you really like these sweets, you can eat it to your heart’s content.”

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