Tch! If he doesn’t believe me… then I’ve got no choice but to use a method I don’t particularly like.
“You—do you even know who I am? You can’t just talk to me like that!”
I stood up, planted my hands on my hips, and tilted my chin up. I had to look as confident as possible.
But… it didn’t seem to be working as well as I’d hoped. The boy just stood there, staring blankly at me. Still with that same disapproving expression.
Hey, that look… it’s seriously annoying. And oddly familiar too. Like I’ve seen it on someone else before.
“Can’t you hear me?”
“I know exactly who you are.”
His deep green eyes locked onto mine. The way he stared sent a chill down my spine.
There was something strange about him but I couldn’t figure out what. I leaned closer, rising on my toes so I could get a better look at his face.
The boy didn’t look away. He just kept watching me and then he smiled. It wasn’t a smirk or anything easy to read, just a quiet, unsettling smile.
“Senika Evienne. The only heir of the Baekryong Clan who isn’t a dragon, but a human.”
“…!”
What the—? How does he know that? Unless he’s from one of the Four Dragon Clans, there’s no way he should know I’m human.
“Who… are you?”
“I can’t tell you that. Not yet.”
“What? You can’t just say that!”
You know who I am but I don’t even know your name? How is that fair?
“I didn’t expect to meet you here.”
What does that even mean? You’re literally in our clan’s territory, how could you not expect to run into me?
Wait a minute… are you one of those hidden children from our clan?
“What’s your name?”
“Roel Hartfilia.”
“…Hartfilia?”
Wait, that name… where have I heard it before? It sounded really familiar…
Roel stepped past me, just out of arm’s reach, and pulled a book from the shelf. After glancing at it, then at me, he handed it over.
“This book should help you.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll understand when you read it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you and I are similar… humans.”
He hesitated slightly when saying “human,” but right now that wasn’t what was bothering me the most.
The title of the book Roel handed me:
“The Temple’s Wish.”
Just from the worn edges of the cover, I could tell it was different from the others. There was something… off. Almost like I could feel the author’s pheromones lingering on it.
“The parts you’re curious about—about us—might not be in there yet, but it’s better than knowing nothing.”
Curious about “us”? Why lump me in with you? We just met!
Everything this guy said was suspicious. I narrowed my eyes.
“How do you know things I don’t?”
“Because I’ve been investigating.”
Investigating…? What does that mean?
The more he spoke, the more I felt like I was being pulled into some bottomless pit. A place I knew I shouldn’t go but couldn’t help falling into.
“Well then… I’ll see you when the time is right.”
“Hey! Wait!”
But Roel had no intention of answering any more of my questions. He left the bookshop, leaving me behind in a cloud of confusion.
I ran out after him, but he was already gone—like smoke, without a trace.
“In this world, there are events that cannot be explained by words or letters.
Surely many of these things pass by unnoticed simply because we fail to see them.
All of them may be someone’s deepest wish.
If you too wish with all your heart, it shall be granted.
However, you must understand one thing.
Every earnest wish comes with a price,
and you will have to bear the responsibility for the outcome.
Even if that outcome is your death, or the world’s destruction,
do not blame the gods.
For it was your own doing.”
— from The Temple’s Wish
After Roel vanished, I tried to read the book he’d given me, but it was almost unreadable. Most of the pages were torn or the ink had smudged so badly that I couldn’t make anything out.
I managed to scrape together a few legible parts… but even those gave me a strange, uneasy feeling.
I needed to look through this again at home, maybe I’d find something hidden in it.
The problem was… it looked way too suspicious. From the title to the shabby appearance, there was no way I could just ask to buy it.
“Hmph… guess there’s only one option.”
After thinking it over, I decided to hide the book inside my clothes.
Yes, I knew it was stealing but I had no choice. I wasn’t ready to tell Hale everything yet. Not until I understood it myself.
“…Are you really planning to read that whole thing?”
“Of course I am!”
To make up for it, I bought the entire shelf the book had been on. With that much, they probably wouldn’t notice one book missing.
Or if they did… maybe they’d just pretend not to.
After that, I wandered around the plaza a bit longer before heading home.
“Huh? Miss?”
Rita looked shocked to see me back so soon. She knew how much I’d been looking forward to this trip.
But what could I do? That book had completely taken over my thoughts. Watching people didn’t even interest me anymore.
Thankfully, Hale noticed too. He saw how fixated I was on the book and quickly ordered the carriage home.
Too bad the book he’d bought me wasn’t the one I cared about. Still, it was a book, so it sort of counted, right?
Once we got home, I snuck the book under my pillow and waited for nightfall.
This kind of thing… you just had to read it in the middle of the night.
“Sleep well, miss. See you tomorrow.”
“Mm! You too, Rita!”
Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for.
When Rita’s footsteps faded, I grabbed the book and tiptoed over to the moonlit window.
I opened it carefully and tried reading again. But no, there weren’t any more legible parts than before.
“Why… Why did Roel say this book would help me? What’s it got to do with me?”
I had no idea why he thought I’d find answers in this book or why he kept grouping us together.
No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t find anything in common between us. We didn’t look alike. We’d never met. Total strangers…
So why did he talk like he’d known me forever?
“Wait… could it be…?”
Does he know I came from another world? Was Roel a transmigrator like me?
The questions kept piling up, one after another, until I couldn’t hold them in anymore.
I left my room and walked down the dark hallway.
There was only one person who might have answers.
“Senika?”
A soft light peeked from behind the door as I opened it. Hale looked surprised, it was the middle of the night, after all.
“Daddy…”
“Come here.”
Instead of asking questions, he opened his arms. I rushed into his embrace.
He picked me up gently, patting my back. His warm voice whispered into my ear.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
I shook my head and buried my face in his chest. He smelled like home.
“Daddy…”
“What happened earlier at the bookstore?”
So he knew something had happened, he just waited for me to bring it up myself.
There was no point beating around the bush now.
“Is there… a hidden child in our family?”
“…What do you mean?”
His tone was completely sincere. He really didn’t understand.
“Back at the bookstore… I met a boy I’d never seen before.”
“Did he hurt you?”
Before I could even finish, Hale had already lifted me up onto the desk and was checking my face for injuries.
I placed my hands over his and started talking again.
“His hair was white, like yours.”
“…”
“His eyes were different, but… he knew I was human. The residents don’t know that, right?”
His expression hardened. This wasn’t something he could brush off.
Ugh. If I’d known it was this serious, I would’ve told him right away.
“Senika… did he tell you his name?”
“He said it was Roel.”
“Roel…?”
He looked like he’d never heard it before. If Hale didn’t know the name, that meant the boy wasn’t part of our clan.
Which meant… he was an outsider.
But white hair… only those with Baekryong blood or pheromones had that trait.
So how could Hale not know him?
“Anything else?”
“…I don’t know.”
Roel was… unexplainable. There was a strange sense of familiarity about him.
Almost like he didn’t belong anywhere—just like me.
Hale fell silent, staring off into space for a long time.
Then, his sky-blue eyes focused sharply on me. That meant his thoughts had settled.
“Roel… now I remember. That’s the name of the second prince.”
“…The second prince?”
“His last name was Hartfilia, right?”
He sounded sure. And he was right, Roel had introduced himself as Roel Hartfilia.
That’s why the name sounded familiar. I’d heard it during lessons about the royal family, but didn’t pay much attention at the time.
“…So that’s why they’ve kept the second prince hidden.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Senika, whatever that boy told you, forget it. It’s nonsense.”
“…”
It didn’t feel like nonsense. He spoke like he knew something about me.
I have to meet him again.
He said we’d see each other later so I’m sure we will.
And maybe… just maybe… he knows why I died and reincarnated into this world.
