IITYVA 13

Chapter 13

Taking advantage of the moment when As let his guard down, I tried to sneakily find out his wish, but was caught off guard and quickly looked away.

“What wish did you write down, Einra?”

As I averted my gaze and pretended to be distracted with a fake cough, As asked.

I turned my eyes back to him and winked playfully with one eye.

“That’s a secret.”

“…That’s no fun.”

As stared at me blankly for a moment before quickly turning his head.

His ears, visible between his curly hair, seemed to flush red for some reason.

I was tempted to tease him a bit, but I decided to behave since I had a guilty conscience.

‘What if As ends up hating me?’

As I thought that, I suddenly remembered Akses.

Someone I didn’t want to be hated by.

Even though I wouldn’t be scared if the emperor hated me, I particularly didn’t want Akses to dislike me.

‘Actually… I kind of wish the emperor would stay away from me a little.’

Do you know what social distancing is, Your Majesty? I’d appreciate it if you could do that with me.

Staring absentmindedly at the sky, a thought suddenly crossed my mind—does As know Akses?

“As.”

“Yes?”

“Do you happen to know Archduke Akses de Serenia?”

At my question, As blinked slowly once before opening his eyes again.

His red eyes met mine.

Then, he opened his mouth slowly.

“Akses de Serenia?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you asking about him?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you knew him.”

I looked down at As with a slightly hopeful expression.

If As had any ties with Akses, it meant that once we went back, there might be chances for As to speak well of me to him.

But As’s answer was quite vague.

“I know he’s the Archduke of Serenia.”

“…Ah, I see…”

I awkwardly laughed and slowly looked away.

It would be rude to press him further.

‘Why do I feel so uneasy…?’

I felt like I was missing something important, but couldn’t figure out what it was. It was frustrating.

‘Do you like me?’

It was a question I’d tossed out just for fun.

I absolutely hadn’t expected a serious answer.

Something like “Don’t joke like that,” or “That’s not funny,” would’ve been more than enough.

I hadn’t even considered any other kind of answer.

‘…I like you. A lot.’

So when I heard that kind of response, I froze on the spot.

‘No, Einra!’

I shouted to myself.

Even though I knew this was just a dream, even though I knew I couldn’t change the past that had already happened, I still shouted.

‘You absolutely can’t just run away…!’

Even if it felt like silver bracelets were being locked onto both wrists.

Even if I wanted to disappear somewhere immediately.

That was something I must never do.

‘I… I’m sorry!’

A cowardly apology like that, followed by running away, was something I could never allow myself to do.

“No!”

I shouted as I bolted upright.

Sunlight streamed gently through the window, settling warmly around the room.

Wiping the cold sweat off my forehead, I tried to steady my breathing.

I sighed quietly and climbed out of bed.

“Dreaming about old embarrassing memories… this probably means I’ll be hearing from the emperor soon…”

And that hunch turned out to be correct.

After a quick wash with a summon from Quiel, I found a small pigeon sitting quietly on my windowsill.

Around its neck hung a pendant bearing the crest of the Elberk imperial family.

‘A pen and sword crossed… What is this, humanities and military cross-section? Not even close.’

This was clearly a STEM-based discrimination.

Mumbling sarcastically to myself, I opened the window.

The pigeon, controlled by a spell, waddled in as soon as I did.

I took some pigeon feed from a drawer and sprinkled it on the sill.

“Good job flying all the way here, little dove.”

While the pigeon pecked at the food, I carefully untied the note wrapped around its leg.

‘Of course.’

The tiny slip of paper, barely the size of two fingers pressed together, was filled with writing.

The spacing between characters was nonexistent, and the line spacing was abysmal.

My head started throbbing immediately as I pressed my forehead.

“You can’t even find the main point with writing like this, Your Majesty…”

Elegant penmanship meant nothing when the readability was this terrible.

After ten minutes of struggling through endless whining about when I would return, I finally found the main point hidden at the end.

Scribbled messily at the very bottom:

[Wildfire in the Verbena Forest of the Saxen County.]

“…A wildfire… And I’ve been trying so hard to keep it from getting dry…”

Which adorable little punk committed arson this time?

“I’d love to give them a truly horrific experience to remember.”

I mumbled to myself before realizing what I had just said and quickly shut my mouth.

Looks like my favorite character’s personality has rubbed off on me.

“My morals are broken…”

With a dazed look, I went through my dressing room and pulled out a clean white uniform dress.

“I may be on duty, but I can’t just run out wearing anything.”

After changing, I headed straight to As’s room.

“Einra, are you going somewhere?”

As was writing something at his desk and looked puzzled when he saw me in uniform.

“Yeah, something’s come up. I have to go now.”

As’s face suddenly looked downcast.

If he had puppy ears, they would’ve drooped.

It was the first time I’d seen As make that kind of expression, and I was startled.

As… looked like a child his age for once!

“…Will you be late?”

And that slightly sulky voice—so cute!

But I didn’t have time, so instead of explaining, I simply grabbed As’s hand.

As soon as I did, a soft breeze swirled around us like a veil.

It distorted the air so others wouldn’t be able to see us.

I couldn’t let the townspeople, who didn’t know my true identity, see us flying through the sky on a spirit.

“Einra?”

“I’ll explain everything on the way.”

I couldn’t just leave a kid alone at home when I didn’t know when I’d be back.

Taking As with me, I stepped outside and summoned a high-ranking wind spirit.

“Hisha!”

Before us appeared Hisha, a large spirit in the form of a bird.

I lifted the startled As onto its back and climbed on behind him.

“Hisha, take us to the Verbena Forest in the Saxen County.”

With a nod of understanding, Hisha began soaring into the sky.

Thanks to the wind barrier I had already cast, we weren’t being buffeted by the air.

“Phew, that’s one less thing to worry about…”

Now all I had to do was arrive and put out the fire.

As I sighed deeply, As, who had been blinking in bewilderment the entire time, finally asked,

“…What exactly is going on?”

“Oh, right. Let me explain now.”

While riding Hisha toward the Verbena Forest, I briefly explained to As that I was a spirit user and why we were heading there.

Having already received healing magic from me twice before, As calmly listened without any shock or excitement.

He probably suspected I was either a shaman or a spirit user.

After I finished, I added playfully,

“As, you have to keep it a secret that I’m a spirit user, okay?”

After a brief pause, As asked in a quiet voice,

“…Do you trust me?”

Without much thought, I replied,

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He asked again, seeming genuinely curious.

I tapped my chin for a moment, then smiled gently.

“Because I feel like I can trust you.”

“…”

“It’s just… a feeling.”

Maybe because he reminded me of Akses.

Tilting my head slightly, I added with a grin,

“You’ll keep the secret for me, right?”

“…Of course I will.”

After a moment of silence, As muttered.

I smiled again.

Before long, Hisha reached the Verbena Forest.

‘That took about 10 minutes, maybe?’

Saxen County was located on the northwest border of the empire, and considering that the Haila County was in the south, this was an incredibly fast arrival.

The forest bordered two villages in the county. On the left side, thick smoke and rising flames could be seen.

The fire had already consumed nearly a third of the entire forest.