- Chapter 4

Elschnein, who left the cabin, frowned slightly. It seemed to be close to noon. The sunlight was strong.

 

“Your luggage?”

“Tha, that’s it.”

 

Kylian lightly picked up the large bag Elschnein was holding with both hands and loaded it into the back of the carriage.

 

There was nothing but a bag.

 

‘Phew. Did it go over well?’

 

Elschnein stared at Kylian, who was turning around with his hands on an old carriage.

 

Wide shoulder and straight back were visible.

 

 

‘You don’t… remember, me?’

 

 

It was not a shock, instead a voice full of suspicion.

 

 

‘Uh-huh. I just came to my senses at some point, then I was already here. I don’t remember the past. You, who are you?’  

 

 

And after acting with all her might, Kylian decided to take her to his mansion after saying that she and him are a long-time friend.

 

It was expected by Elschnein.

 

No matter how hateful she was, Kylian would have no choice for her, who had lost her memories.

 

He needed her. She, whose memory is intact. That way, he can get Arwen back.

 

Now, when they go back to the mansion, he will try to restore her memory somehow.

 

‘Hmm. Was it a little forced to surround the bowl because of the drying valley water?’

 

He won’t torture me even though he knew I’m lying, right? Elschnein shook her shoulder.

 

‘But firstly it got away…’

 

When I was facing him in the cabin, I didn’t know because I was paying all my attention to my memory loss acting.

 

‘You’re totally an adult now.’

 

In her last memory, Kylian was a teenager, now became an adult man.

 

In the past, he was blunt, perhaps because of his poor background, but…

 

He was such a beautiful boy with long eyelashes and red cheeks that had a sweet smell that was not yet ripe.

 

“Elschnein.”

“Huh?”

“Hold it.”

 

Kylian turned around and reached out his hand. It was a gesture to escort her to get on the carriage.

 

‘His hand became bigger too.’

 

The hand sticking out to her looked bigger and firmer than the hand in her memories. The face that she sees when she slightly raises her eyes was unrealistically handsome.

 

There was no more atmosphere like a soft little prince.

 

Elschnein suddenly thought, he really is the male lead of this novel now.

 

‘The original story originally starts a year ago.’

 

The 12 years he spent with her was his past, described in one line in the novel. The him now, is the real appearance of the male lead.

 

“Are you changing your mind? Do you want to stay in the cabin?”

“Hhuh?”

 

I guess I was too absent-minded because of the unfamiliar feeling that slightly bloomed on my chest. Kylian stood a little crooked, with his hand out.

 

“Nn, no, no. I was just wondering if this happened often in the past?”

“What kind?”

“Holding your hand like this to get on the carriage.”

 

Elschnein intentionally snooped her head, grabbed his hand slightly, and climbed into the carriage. This kind of thing didn’t happen in her memory.

 

“I do that often.”

 

Kylian gave a rather low answer and followed her into the carriage. Then, he sat across from her and closed his eyes right away.

 

As if he didn’t want to look at her.

 

‘Huh? He does that often?’

 

Did I misunderstand? Elschnein tilted her head.

 

But soon she understood. Ah, it looked like many things like this happened, for him to often reach out his hand.

 

Without her, Kylian must have been famous as a guardian of the Holy Empire, so he seems to have gotten used to the manners of the nobles.

 

For him to reach out his hand for her, the hateful one, it must be such a habit.

 

Elschnein looked out the window, thinking that he had really grown up.

 

 

‘This time… I don’t intend to repeat the same mistake as last time. Elschnein.’ 

 

 

It was something he said before leaving the cabin, while staring at her.

 

Maybe he is saying that he won’t be fooled by her again.

 

But Elschnein, once again, would have deceived him.

 

 

***

 

 

Kylian came alone on a black horse, he got the carriage from a nearby city.

 

The horseman he brought looked curious about the customer who was going all the way to the island in the forest on the outskirts, but he saved his words when he saw a huge black horse running in front of him.

 

Thanks to this, the carriage was too quiet until it arrived at the island. The problem was that it was too much.

 

‘So suffocating.’

 

Even Elschnein, who was originally not talkative, felt like a spider web was sitting on her mouth.

 

So it took quite a lot of courage to take out a sentence like this.

 

“Flower shop! Ahem, flo, can we stop by the flower shop? Kylian.”

“Flower shop? Why a flower shop?”

 

Do I have to tell you the reason? Elschnein looked away and smiled awkwardly.

 

“There’s something I must buy.”

“You can get enough in the mansion tho. What flowers do you need? Just tell me. I’ll get it.”

 

Ugh.

 

“It’s because I need it right now.”

“…”

 

Kylian stared at her instead of answering. No wonder the gaze is stingy.

 

‘Is it because he’s afraid I’ll run away?’

 

For Kylian, she was an object of hatred and a criminal who should not be missed.

 

Because Kylian is calm in front of her, she keeps forgetting, but it was a fact she should not forget.

 

‘But since I’ve lost my memory, there’s no way I know that.’

 

She shamelessly tried to get away. She waited for his answer while blinking with her innocent face.

 

“Alright. We’ll stop by. But I don’t know the location of the flower shop.”

 

‘Phew. It’s a relief.’

 

“Let’s ask the horseman to go around.”

 

If he, the guardian of the Holy Empire, knew the location of the flower shop, that would be even stranger.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Kylian nodded his head with the meaning of consent.

 

Elschnein pulled her head out of the window without thinking of covering her soaring corners of her lips.

 

The wavy sky-colored hair gently fluttered in the wind. She grabbed her hair with one hand and shouted loudly.

 

“Mister! Can you stop by any flower shop on the way?”

“Yes, yes! Okay, Miss.”

 

The horseman’s panicked voice came. Elschnein was guessing why he was panicking.

 

Of course, he thought she was a noble because she was with Kylian, who was a nobleman, but she didn’t act like a noble.

 

If you are a noble lady, you won’t call him, a commoner, with Mister or with respect.

 

Looking at Kylian, he closed his eyes as if he were not interested.

 

‘Hmm. Come to think of…’

 

Kylian has been a nobleman since birth, but he had never touched her body when Elschnein was in the form of a human being.

 

In the first place, Elschnein was not a human being, so she did not have to be bound by human customs.

 

It was their implicit rule that remained unchanged for 12 years with Kylian.

 

However, considering that she will continue to be a human being in the future, she thought that she should pay attention.

 

“Looking at the book, there’s something called etiquette for humans. I, did I forget about etiquette too? Should I learn it?”

“… Etiquette?”

“Uh-huh.”

 

His closed eyes opened slowly. The eyelashes which were facing down rose and the clear red eyes stared at Elschnein with doubts.

 

Etiquette for you, what kind of etiquette for you?

 

It was written like that.

 

“You must have lost your memory for sure. Seeing that you forgot the etiquette you had never learned.”

 

Yelp, if she were a dog, she would have run far away without her tail by now.

 

However, Elschnein, who remembers his chubby cheeks as a child, easily overcame the ordeal.

 

“Rea, really? Then I must learn it. Because of me, I can’t damage Kylian.”

 

Elschnein smiled, pulled up her cramped mouth by force.

 

“Shouldn’t you go back to your spirit form? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that you’re a spirit?”

 

I want to believe that he didn’t mean to be sarcastic, but he was sarcastic. Elschnein knew him very well.

 

“Ahem. I didn’t forget my existence. Because only the middle part of my memory flew through. However, hmm. I can’t go back to my spirit form.”

 

I should say this first, right?

 

“… You can’t go back?”

“Uh-huh.”

 

His red eyes opened wide shortly. He looked surprised.

 

“Why?”

“Hmm. I wonder. Me too, I don’t know… Like you said, Am I forgotten? Haha.”

 

Even though she was smiling, Elschnein can’t tell her inside. She actually wanted to be in the form of a spirit.

 

Then she could walk around conveniently without being seen by others.

 

But she couldn’t do that anymore.

 

She was a spirit that was about to disappear, with little time left to live. The life of the spirit, which created a humanized state, made her unable to become a spirit again.

 

‘The connection with Ellaim* was also cut off…’

*The Water Spirit King.

 

Anyway, I had to stay as a human being from now on, so I thought I should learn more.

 

‘Don’t stand out, I have to move like a shadow to save Kylian and Arwen.’

 

She reflected on her goal.

 

As expected, the top priority is to keep Kylian from getting stained with magi.

 

‘To do that, I have to stick right next to Kylian, as Arwen did in the original story.’

 

And then the events ahead, had to be resolved following the original.

 

At this point, the most important thing was the ‘Altherna’s Week’ in winter.

 

It’s still a long way off, but something very big was going to happen then.

 

‘Hmm. And…’

 

The second is reviving Arwen.

 

I need the ‘Flower of Life’ that grows only eaten dew on the plateau. If I follow the flow of the original story, I will encounter a munchkin item without difficulty.

 

As the name suggests, it is a flower with a legend that it can raise up the dead.

 

As she refers to the original, the alchemy of the previous generation Dragon Lord did not revive it, so this is the only thing left.

 

This, too, would naturally be discovered if she was stuck next to Kylian.

 

“Excuse me, we have arrived at the flower shop.”

“Oh, yes.”

 

Elschnein, who was reflecting on her goals, suddenly raised her head. And blinked as she met the red eyes.

 

Kylian was staring at her.

 

“Why, why?”

“…”

 

Eye contact was short. His gaze turned cold as he looked outside.

 

‘What the? Does that mean, don’t think about running away, just go calmly?’

 

Elschnein scratches her cheek.

 

“I’ll be right back.”

 

She spoke brightly and jumped off the carriage.

 

The place where the carriage stopped was a flower shop with a common appearance that can be seen anywhere.

 

Likewise, the flowers that can be seen commonly anywhere are there.

 

There was a reason why she stopped by the flower shop.

 

It was because of the incident in the Haunbert’s mansion, the place where Kylian stayed, at this time in the original.

 

The demon clan was infiltrating Haunbert’s mansion.