Chapter 65
“Ahh! A snake! Sir Jex, a snake!”
Dierian shouted.
He jumped up and clung to Jex’s large frame.
Sss, sss— a small snake slithered leisurely past them.
“It’s not poisonous. If we just avoid it…”
“There! A scorpion, a scorpion!”
“…That’s a mantis, not a scorpion,” Jex said with a sigh.
Dierian climbed down and shivered.
“I think I need to make another blue horse.”
“Didn’t you say we’d see the gates of Robsion soon?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to keep walking with all these creatures! Some have no legs, others have too many!”
“…Sir Dierian, how do you even make those magic potions?”
Jex asked sincerely. Dierian scowled as if the question made no sense.
“They’re precious, rare ingredients, of course.”
Centipedes, snakes, worms, and other mysterious bugs?
Jex shook his head. The midday sun blazed fiercely above them.
“We’re almost out of the forest. Please don’t waste magic and just endure a bit longer.”
“Tch.”
Dierian rubbed his dry hands over his face.
His body was already at its limit after days of using magic. The two of them had crossed the mountains through days of unrelenting storms.
‘If not for Dierian’s magic, we would’ve been trapped halfway up the mountain.’
Jex once again realized how amazing Dierian’s magic was.
The powerful magician, however, was grumbling nonstop.
“Haa… why am I suffering like this? Damn that Ripherius. When we get back, I’ll finish that curse spell and send it his way…”
“Sir Dierian.”
“What?”
“Are we really doing the right thing by heading to Robsion without finding Her Highness first?”
Dierian looked up irritably at Jex. The knight’s stoic eyes trembled slightly.
Tsk. Dierian clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“We had no choice. Tracking her is impossible, and it’s better to wait at the destination than to miss her entirely.”
“Is the tracking spell still blocked?”
He nodded instead of answering.
Frustration boiled in his chest.
Neither tracking magic nor detection magic could reach Eslyn.
It wasn’t just a matter of lacking magical power.
‘Who dares block my magic like this?’
The magician’s sharp gaze turned icy.
“At least it’s not dark magic I sense… that’s the only good news,” he spat bitterly.
“She’ll be fine with the Duke.”
As much as he hated to admit it, it was true.
That man would protect Eslyn even if it meant dying ten times over.
“You mean Duke Ripherius?”
“Yes.”
Dierian answered curtly.
“Sir Jex?”
Suddenly, the presence beside him disappeared.
When he turned, Jex was standing still like a statue.
“Sir Dierian.”
For once, Jex’s face was grim.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth? That you and His Grace had planned all of this?”
“Sir Jex…”
“If you had at least told me Her Highness was alive…”
“…”
“I was her knight, you know. Do you even understand that?”
A chilling wind blew from nowhere.
Dierian pressed his lips together, his jaw tight and slanted.
“Of course I know. We all swore loyalty to her. How could I not?”
A shadow fell over Jex’s face, and heavy silence settled between them.
“Damn it,” Dierian burst out and roughly ruffled his hair.
“That wasn’t sarcasm just now,” the magician quickly added.
“It was the best choice we had, Sir Jex.”
“The best choice?”
“We didn’t know Her Highness would lose her memories… neither that man nor I could have predicted it.”
Jex’s reddish-brown eyes sank darkly.
‘Her Highness lost her memories?’
His voice echoed in disbelief.
‘Why? No… we should tell her the truth quickly and—’
‘No.’
The man coldly cut him off.
‘Eslyn’s last request was for us to reveal nothing.’
‘What kind of nonsense is that?!’
‘We didn’t expect Eslyn would lose her memories, just as you didn’t.’
Tebet Ripherius muttered, his face exhausted from days without proper sleep or food.
‘But right before she died, she knew she would lose them. She realized something when she drank that poison… maybe she met someone…’
Tebet’s eyes flashed sharply.
‘Then the answer lies in Her Highness’s memories.’
The magician’s frozen mind finally began to turn again.
‘All we can do is stay quiet and wait for her memories to return.’
‘Yes. We don’t even know how much she’s forgotten. This is the only option.’
‘But to just stand by and—’
‘Are you defying your master, magician?’
‘Of course not! I just… can’t stop thinking about the confusion she must be feeling…’
‘I’ll protect her. In the safest place in this empire.’
‘The northern duchy?’
‘It’s certainly safer than Count Frey’s estate.’
“…”
Dierian stayed silent. He couldn’t deny it.
‘Was it Kella Ronain, the head maid? Move her. Create an identity for Eslyn that no one can question.’
‘Ha! Do you think the countess’s head maid will listen to me?’
‘Did you think I didn’t know she’s a magician?’
Dierian’s thin shoulders twitched.
Tebet’s lips curled, though his long-unused face could barely form a smirk.
He gave up trying to express anything at all.
‘That soul potion… is it really your own creation?’
“…”
‘Once Eslyn arrives in the North, you’d better hole up and focus on memory magic.’
Dierian glared at Tebet for a moment, then sighed deeply.
‘It has to be a method without any pain or side effects.’
That was Tebet’s last, restrained warning.
“Damn that Duke,” Dierian muttered aloud suddenly.
Jex glanced at him.
“Haa… Sir Dierian, what exactly are you trying to tell me?”
Dierian snapped back to reality.
“Oh, right. Well… the point is…”
He scratched his cheek.
“The point is we couldn’t tell you because Her Highness lost her memories. If she regains them, of course I would’ve told you immediately. So please… stop glaring at me like you want to kill me.”
Jex stayed silent for a long time. Dierian stole glances at him nervously.
“Look, I don’t know how much you’ll understand, but there were unavoidable, impossible situations everywhere. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is…”
“…”
“…I’m sorry, Sir Jex. For not telling you sooner.”
Dierian muttered in a flat tone. In the end, it was Jex who surrendered first.
“Haa…”
He let out another long sigh and shook his head.
There was no point in pressing Dierian further.
The time without Eslyn had been hell, but ultimately, thanks to Dierian, she was alive.
“…It’s fine, Sir Dierian. In any case, I am grateful you risked your life to save Her Highness.”
“Sir Jex…”
Dierian looked almost moved.
The two resumed walking.
As Jex said, the forest path soon ended.
A well-maintained road appeared, and at the end stood the grand gates of Robsion.
“I may get by, but you’d better be prepared for what’s ahead.”
Jex said as they walked.
“What do you mean?”
“Lord Rohart doesn’t know yet, does he? Nor does Lady Rosana.”
“Is this the entrance to hell?”
Dierian’s face went pale.
Jex turned to him expressionlessly, his eyebrow twitching upward.
“First, you’ll have to deal with…”
He pointed ahead.
“His Highness Erdan, who’s wearing a terrifying expression right now.”
“Ugh.”
Dierian tried to turn and run, but Jex grabbed the back of his collar.
“Impossible.”
Tebet’s voice cut through the air.
Eslyn stopped walking instantly.
“How do you know without even checking?”
“No merchant would be up here in this rain.”
He shoved aside the rocks and debris blocking the path as he spoke.
They started walking again.
“I don’t think so,” Eslyn muttered.
She insisted on stopping by the nearest village on the mountainside.
Tebet was firmly against it.
“It’s a waste of time. What fool would bring horses up here in this weather? Any traders that were here would’ve left. We should keep walking down instead.”
“But we could at least check, couldn’t we?”
“Even checking is a waste of time. Do you enjoy wasting time?”
Eslyn stood her ground.
“If we can get horses from there, it won’t be a waste of time.”
“Why do you keep insisting on the impossible?”
“Why do you keep saying it’s impossible without even checking?”
Eslyn stopped walking again.
Their eyes met in silence.
Tebet was the first to look away. He pushed aside the brush in front of Eslyn and walked ahead.
“You’re impossible to reason with.”
Eslyn tilted her head as she watched his back move away.
“Like that’s anything new,” she muttered.
They rarely agreed. That’s why they clashed so often and argued every time they met.
‘It feels like the old days again.’
Eslyn smiled faintly.
The broad back in front of her stopped.
“Why aren’t you coming?”
He glanced at her sideways.
His perfectly shaped lips curled up slightly.
“If you’re going to waste time, you’d better hurry up.”
Eslyn’s eyebrow twitched.
He was still just as sarcastic as ever.
She swallowed her retort.
A bird circled the now clear sky. Eslyn looked up. The strong sunlight pricked her eyes, and she raised her hand to block it, gazing at the bright sky.
‘I don’t know anymore.’
She didn’t know where this relationship would lead.
‘I’ll do what I have to do.’
Because she knew it was for his sake.
The path was rough from the recent rain. The deep forest was full of unknown dangers.
But she wasn’t afraid.
She didn’t feel lost either.
Maybe it was because the sky was so clear after the storm… or because the warm sunlight felt comforting.
Or maybe…
“Why are you so slow? Do you still have a fever?”
…because she had just realized again that his warmth against her forehead hadn’t changed.
