{ Chapter 38 }
“Now I think I understand.”
Why I used to dislike Bianca so much when we were younger.
Yes, I hated how she used to follow me around all the time.
Yes, I was annoyed when she teased me without knowing her place.
But more than that…
Even though we weren’t that different, she grew up loved by her grandfather. And I didn’t.
Ricardo had never known what love truly felt like.
Even thinking about that unfamiliar emotion made him feel uncomfortable. Sharing it with someone else? That felt impossible.
All he knew was when he stood near someone who was loved, he felt small and pathetic.
It was unbearable.
The small girl’s affection felt more like cruelty than comfort—something he just couldn’t handle.
“Wow, I didn’t know our duke liked this kind of stuff.”
Eliot’s surprised voice broke the silence. He held up a fluffy white doll and grinned.
“What is this?”
It was a fluffy, round doll. At first, Ricardo frowned—but soon realized it was the doll he had seen peeking out of Bianca’s bag earlier.
…Why is it here?
He was puzzled for a moment, but then Eliot spoke again.
“It’s cute! Can I have it as a gift?”
“Get lost.”
Ricardo said tiredly, clearly annoyed. Eliot pouted and walked out of the room.
Now alone, Ricardo stepped closer to the doll.
“……”
Somehow, the doll reminded him of her.
He gently tapped the doll’s head with his finger and let out a small, unexpected laugh.
“Seriously… it’s so ugly.”
***
[In the Empire, they say there used to be two suns. Do you know why there’s only one now? Because the other one… is you, Bianca. I always think about it. To have such a lovely lady as my friend— Could anyone be luckier than me? I bet everyone secretly wants to ask me, ‘How did you become friends with Bianca?’ ‘Please, tell us your secret!’ I can feel their burning curiosity in their eyes! Anyway, don’t skip meals, and I sent you a few drawings you might like. With love, Rayla.]
Ugh. So cheesy!
I frowned while reading the letter.
“Is that your friend?” Leon asked.
I nodded quietly.
He thought for a moment, then tilted his head curiously.
“So after you left your friend, you were alone in Dians?”
“Not exactly…”
I trailed off.
I hadn’t told Cedric or Grandfather that I met Ricardo. It just didn’t feel like something they’d want to hear.
“Hmm…”
Leon narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.
Ugh. I can’t lie to him. I never could.
Unable to bear his stare, I raised my hands in surrender.
“Okay, okay—just listen first and don’t jump to conclusions!”
“Alright.”
“I was with Ricardo. I know it sounds bad, but it really was a coincidence!”
“I’m not judging. I mean… it’s not like you two stayed in the same room or anything!”
Leon said it with a big smile—but his words hit me hard.
“…Anyway, I heard Cedric called you?” I quickly changed the subject, sneaking a glance at his reaction.
Leon muttered with a dry expression,
“Yeah, he did. I thought he finally decided to kill me.”
“Haha… you’re so dramatic.”
“Did that sound like a joke to you?”
…Apparently, it wasn’t.
Come to think of it, Leon was always kind and gentle to me, but when it came to Cedric—he was sharp and on edge. He clearly had no intention of making peace.
I didn’t know what had happened between them, but I was sure of one thing: It had to be a misunderstanding.
Cedric claimed Leon stole something from him. Leon insisted it was something that rightfully belonged to him.
But the Leon I knew would never steal something from someone else. And Cedric wasn’t the type to take what wasn’t his either.
So something must’ve gone wrong somewhere.
I always wanted to ask what had really happened between them, but both of them became so stubborn the moment it came up.
They had no interest in clearing things up, so they both acted like it wasn’t even worth mentioning.
But when they used to get along, they had a really good relationship.
Anyone who had seen them back then—like me or Grandfather—couldn’t help but feel regretful about it.
Suddenly, Leon snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Hey, focus, Bianca.”
“Ah, sorry!”
“I brought the documents you asked for. Not sure how helpful they’ll be though.”
The Owen family had long-standing ties with the temple. If anyone in high society had the closest connection to the temple, it was definitely the Owen family.
“Oppa… I have a question.”
I asked while flipping through the documents.
“Why does the temple grow the World Tree? Not just symbolically—I want to know the real reason.”
If I had asked this in the temple, I probably would’ve been accused of heresy and arrested on the spot.
So this was something I could only ask Leon.
“The World Tree isn’t some grand sacred thing. It started as a simple wish—to protect something.”
To protect something?
“The origin of the World Tree in the Dremokan forest was about using magic to benefit people. That’s it. But now that place is considered heretical.”
I was glad I asked Leon. He always gave neutral, honest answers.
“Eventually, the World Tree in Dremokan began to rot. If that continues, the magic used across the Empire could be affected.”
“…Right.”
Like with my grandfather…
“So the temple decided to grow a new World Tree to stop that from happening. In other words, they’re trying to seal off the Dremokan tree—to protect the Empire by taking the good parts from it and leaving the rest behind.”
“Seal it…?”
“Yeah. If they can just take what’s useful, everyone wins.”
Leon stretched his arms.
“But why are you suddenly interested in the World Tree?”
“Oh, just curious. I wanted to know if the ‘curse of Dremokan’ was real or not…”
“People talked a lot about that after the war.”
Leon paused, then added quietly:
“…The Hessen family went through something similar to your own, so I guess you could call that a curse too.”
I didn’t know much about the Hessen family—never really cared to.
But I did know Ricardo lost his parents when he was young, like me. Still, I wasn’t sure if that was because of the so-called blood curse Elizabeth mentioned.
Didn’t his mother… die by suicide?
In the original story, it was just briefly mentioned—Ricardo’s sad backstory, not something deeply explored. Just something for the heroine to understand his pain.
“I get why you’re curious about Dremokan,” Leon said carefully.
“But if you can, you should stay out of it.”
He was clearly worried. Maybe he believed in the curse, like Elizabeth did.
A curse, huh…
“Thanks. Don’t worry—I don’t plan on digging too deep.”
That was a lie. It was already too late to turn back.
“…Well, if that’s true, then I’m glad.”
Leon hesitated a little, then spoke again in a casual voice.
“There’s this old rumor. On nights with a full moon, the seal around the World Tree gets weaker.”
“…”
“Who knows—maybe on that night, you’ll see the secrets the Empire’s been hiding.”
A full moon night…
It felt like the fog in my mind was finally starting to clear, like I could almost see the clue I was missing.
“Didn’t expect you to share that kind of info.”
“It’s just a rumor. Not much proof behind it.”
If we’re talking about proof, there’s barely anything solid in this whole world anyway.
“I just…”
“…?”
“I wanted you to know that if you ever need help, there’s someone who’ll be there for you.”
Leon smiled softly.
“And it’s even better if that person’s already nearby.”
