Chapter 4
Elschnein squinted slightly as she stepped out of the cabin. It seemed to be near noon. The sunlight was intense.
“Is that all the luggage?”
“T-That’s it.”
Killian lightly picked up the large bag Elschnein was holding in both hands and loaded it onto the back of the carriage.
Besides the bag, there was nothing else to call luggage.
‘Whew. Did that go over well?’
Elschnein rested her hand on the worn-out carriage and stared quietly at Killian, who had turned his back to her.
His broad shoulders and straight back were in view.
‘He doesn’t… remember me?’
The voice in her head was filled not with shock, but with doubt.
‘Hmm. I just came to my senses at some point and found myself living here. My past memories are fuzzy. Who… who are you?’
‘……’
After putting on an Oscar-worthy performance, Killian had declared that they were old friends and decided to take her to his mansion.
Just as she had predicted.
No matter how much he hated her, Killian couldn’t bring himself to harm a woman who had lost her memories.
He needed her—her with her full memories. That was the only way he could retrieve Arwen.
Once they returned to the mansion, he would surely try everything to bring back her memories.
‘Hmm. Was it too much to say that I used the bowl’s power to its limit because the valley stream was drying up?’
Surely, he wouldn’t torture her knowing she was lying, right? Elschnein gave a little shiver.
‘Well, I got through the first hurdle at least…’
When they were inside the cabin, she had been too focused on pretending to have amnesia to notice.
‘He’s fully grown now.’
The Killian in her last memory had been a teenager. Now, he was a full-fledged adult man.
In the past, perhaps due to his rough upbringing, he’d had a blunt personality…
But outwardly, he had looked like a delicate young boy with gentle lashes and blushing cheeks—a sweet, unripe kind of beauty.
“Elschnein.”
“Hm?”
“Take my hand.”
Killian turned and held out his hand—a gesture to help her into the carriage.
‘Even his hands got bigger.’
His outstretched hand looked bigger and sturdier than the one she remembered. And the face just slightly above it was unrealistically handsome.
The soft, noble aura was gone now.
Elschnein suddenly thought—he really was the male lead of this novel now.
‘The original story starts about a year from now.’
The 12 years they had spent together were merely described in a single line as his past. This man before her was the real male lead.
“Changed your mind? Want to stay in the cabin?”
“Huh?”
She must’ve spaced out, caught in unfamiliar emotions rising in her chest. Killian still had his hand out, standing slightly crooked.
“Oh, no, not at all. I was just wondering if this happened often back then.”
“What did?”
“You holding my hand like this and helping me into carriages?”
Elschnein tilted her head deliberately and lightly took his hand to step into the carriage. In her memory, that had never happened.
“It happened often.”
Killian answered softly and climbed in after her, sitting directly across and closing his eyes immediately.
As if he didn’t want to look at her.
‘Wait—often?’
Had she misunderstood? Elschnein tilted her head.
But then she understood. Ah, he meant he often held hands to help people into carriages.
During her absence, Killian had become a celebrated protector of the Holy Empire, so he was probably accustomed to noble etiquette now.
Even offering his hand to someone he loathed—like her—was probably just a matter of habit.
Elschnein looked out the window, realizing again that he really had grown up.
‘This time… I won’t repeat the same mistake. Killian.’
It was what he had muttered while staring at her before they left the cabin.
He probably meant he wouldn’t be fooled by her again.
But Elschnein intended to deceive him once more.
* * *
Killian had come on horseback, so he arranged for a carriage in the nearest city.
The coachman he brought along seemed curious about the mysterious passenger being picked up in the remote forest, but after seeing the large black stallion ahead, he wisely kept quiet.
As a result, the journey to the capital was uncomfortably silent. Too silent, in fact.
‘I can’t breathe.’
Even Elschnein, who wasn’t especially talkative, felt like cobwebs would start forming in her mouth.
That’s why it took considerable courage for her to finally speak up.
“Flower shop! Ahem, c-could we stop by a flower shop, Killian?”
“Flower shop? Why a flower shop?”
Did she really have to give a reason? Elschnein forced a smile and made something up.
“There’s something I absolutely need to buy.”
“You can find anything you need at the mansion. What kind of flower is it? Just say the word—I’ll have it delivered.”
Ugh.
“I need it right now.”
“……”
Killian didn’t respond. He just stared at her silently. His gaze felt piercing.
‘Does he think I’ll run away?’
To Killian, she was both an object of hatred and a criminal that couldn’t be allowed to escape.
He acted calm in front of her, but she shouldn’t forget that.
‘But I supposedly lost my memory. I couldn’t know any of that.’
So she decided to go all in on the act. Blinking innocently, she looked at him as if waiting for permission.
“Fine. We can stop. But I don’t know where any flower shops are.”
‘Whew. Thank goodness.’
“Let’s just ask the coachman to stop at the nearest one.”
It would’ve been weirder if the Guardian of the Holy Empire knew the location of a local flower shop.
“As you like.”
Killian gave a slight nod in agreement.
Elschnein didn’t bother hiding the smile that crept onto her face and poked her head out the window.
Her wavy, sky-blue hair fluttered softly in the wind. Holding it back with one hand, she shouted loudly.
“Mister! Could you stop by any flower shop along the way?”
“Y-Yes, of course, my lady!”
The coachman sounded flustered. Elschnein could guess why.
She was traveling with someone who looked obviously noble like Killian, so he must’ve assumed she was nobility too. But her actions weren’t noble-like at all.
A noblewoman wouldn’t call a commoner “mister” or speak so casually.
She glanced at Killian—he had his eyes closed, seemingly indifferent.
‘Hmm. Come to think of it…’
Though Killian was born a noble, he had never once scolded Elschnein for her behavior when she was in human form.
Since she wasn’t human, she didn’t need to follow human customs. That had been their unspoken rule during their 12 years together.
But now, thinking she would remain in human form from now on, she figured she might need to learn a little etiquette.
“I read in a book that humans have something called etiquette. Did I forget about etiquette too? Should I learn it?”
“…Etiquette?”
“Yes.”
His closed eyes opened slowly. His red irises looked at her with clear confusion, his lashes rising.
What etiquette, from you?
That’s exactly what was written all over his face.
“You really must’ve lost your memory. Saying you forgot etiquette you never even learned in the first place.”
Oof. If she were a puppy, she’d have tucked her tail and run far, far away. His gaze was that cold.
But Elschnein, who remembered the chubby cheeks of his youth, managed to brush it off.
“I-I see? Then I should start learning. I wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble, Killian.”
Forcing a twitchy smile, she pulled up the corners of her mouth.
Killian tilted his head and crossed his arms.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just return to your spirit form? Don’t tell me… you forgot you’re a spirit too.”
She hoped he didn’t mean to mock her, but he did. Elschnein knew him too well.
“Ahem. I didn’t forget what I am. It’s just that… a chunk of my memory is missing. And, um… I can’t return to my spirit form.”
She figured she should say this part now.
“…You can’t return?”
“Yeah.”
His red eyes widened slightly—he seemed surprised.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, really… maybe like you said, I just forgot? Haha.”
She laughed, but it stung inside. Truthfully, she wished she could return to her spirit form.
Then she could move around freely and unnoticed.
But that wasn’t possible anymore.
She was a fading spirit, with little time left. The moment she turned human, the life she poured into that form prevented her from changing back.
‘Even my link to Elaim is gone…’
Anyway, since she had to remain human from now on, it seemed wise to learn some etiquette.
‘I’ll stay hidden, moving like a shadow, and save Killian and Arwen.’
She reminded herself of her goal.
Above all, she had to keep Killian from being consumed by demonic energy.
‘To do that, I need to stay right next to him—just like Arwen did in the original story.’
And she had to handle the events that would come, just as they unfolded in the novel.
At this point, the most important event was the “Lord of Aethern” in winter.
It was still far off, but something huge would happen then.
‘And then…’
The second goal—reviving Arwen.
For that, she needed the “Flower of Life,” which grew only on the plateau, nourished by dew.
If the story followed the original path, she’d naturally come across that overpowered item.
As the name suggested, it was a legendary flower said to bring the dead back to life.
She couldn’t do it with the previous Dragon Lord’s alchemy, so this was the only chance.
And staying close to Killian would naturally lead her to it.
“We’ve arrived at the flower shop, miss.”
“Oh! Okay!”
Snapping out of her quiet thoughts, Elschnein blinked at the sudden voice—and met Killian’s red eyes.
He was staring straight at her.
“W-What?”
“……”
Their eye contact was brief. Then he looked out the window coldly.
‘What’s that supposed to mean? “Don’t run away—just hurry back”?’
Elschnein scratched her cheek.
“I’ll be right back.”
Cheerfully saying so, she jumped out of the carriage.
The shop they’d stopped at looked like any ordinary flower shop.
And from there, she bought an armful of equally ordinary flowers.
There was a reason she stopped here.
In the original story, around this time, something happened at the Hounbert estate, where Killian stayed.
A demon had infiltrated the Hounbert mansion.
