Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book - Side Story 5-2

Side Story 5-2

Translator: yun

“Hello.”

“H-hello?”

The man flashed a welcoming smile.

“So, there was someone around here. I wasn’t wrong.”

The man looked to be on the slender side. He did not look like a knight. Could he be a part of the administration? As I stared at the man walking my way, his sparkling blonde hair was what caught my attention first.

‘That’s strange, there’s no way an official wouldn’t recognise me…’

It happened while I was lost in thought.

Thud.

I widened my eyes.

“… Are you alright?”

I looked at the man who had fallen almost majestically in bewilderment.

“Yes. I’m alright.”

Was he Julian? No, he didn’t look like him at all though? I realised that there were people in this world other than Julian who could also trip over nothing. But then I realised something.

The man had his eyes closed.

“I’ll help you up.”

“Ah, thank you!”

The man’s voice was as gentle as his first impression. I held out my hand so that he could use it to get up before carefully asking.

“Are you perhaps blind?”

“Ah. No, it’s nothing like that.”

The man shook his head as innocently as his expression.

“Then, why are you closing your eyes?”

Walking with one’s eyes closed was not something someone would do without a reason.

“Well, would it be easier to say that it makes me uncomfortable otherwise?”

He smiled.

“I often see things I don’t want to with these eyes of mine.”’

I mean, even if that was the case, did he have to close his eyes… I mumbled before stopping.

Because the divinity I could sense from this man felt familiar. This power… Wasn’t this the Power of the Lord?

‘This man is a Templar of the Lord?’

At that moment, the man’s eyes slowly opened to look at me. I became certain once I noticed gold swirling in his brown eyes.

It was golden. I was sure now. This man was a Templar of the Lord.

However, as I wondered what a Templar of the Lord was doing here, he calmly spoke.

“You see what you don’t want to see.”

“Yes. That’s why I practised walking with my eyes closed. For a long time.”

Was his ability similar to my diary’s powers?

“It must have been uncomfortable.”

“I was. Just as I am now, the moment I open my eyes and look into someone else’s, I either see the truth or their future.”

“Can you see that now too?”

“Yes. That’s how I know why you’re so calm and who you are.”

The man smiled innocently.

Just then, I felt a sense of deja vu as I stared at the wheat-coloured blonde hair fluttering on the man’s head. In a land where people usually had bright colours for their hair, a faded blonde was definitely not common here.

“Do you already know my name?”

“Do you think I would?”

“Acheron. That is my name.”

I could not look away from the man who continued to smile brightly. The shape of his eyes that looked like mine and his Power of the Lord. His curling eyes.

The man who held my hand gently said.

“Hello, my daughter.”

***

The current weather was as good as it was in the past. Under the speckless sky, I sat in front of a small tea table.

“You don’t look too good.”

“Yes. I am worrying over a number of things.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“What are you worrying about?”

I lifted my head to stare at the man.

“Who knows?”

Staring at the hot cup of tea that I had not initially noticed placed in front of me, I mumbled. It had been 10 minutes since we sat face-to-face after I followed him here.

“I was worrying over why I was sent here.”

“Aha.”

The man flashed an innocent smile.

So, this was my birth father? If Castor was able to create a dimension where time could be all tangled up, I might be able to move across time as well. But I did not fully understand how that would work.

For what reason? Why?

I let out a sigh before placing my teacup down and saying.

“You are a Templar of the Lord, aren’t you? Just to let you know, I am also a Templar of the Lord.”

“I see. I thought that would be the case.”

The man nodded. I continued explaining myself.

“My powers allow me to realise whatever I desperately wished for. But I don’t understand why they sent me here.”

“Well, isn’t it because there’s someone you want to meet here? Maybe me?”

I deadpanned.

“Why would I?”

He might have been my birth father but I had never even seen his face or heard his name before. Was there anything I had been desperately longing for from him? But when I noticed that he had become sullen, I quickly opened my mouth.

“No. No, that’s not what I meant! It’s not that I didn’t want to see you. I just wasn’t that desperate.”

“Ah, so, you’re saying that you missed me, right?”

“… Well, I guess. Or you could say I was curious?”

… Most probably?

“Is that why you wanted to see me? Really? Just as I have?”

Blinking my eyes, I nodded reluctantly, the man clapped his hands radiantly.

“I wanted to see you too. Very much!”

…His expression slightly pricked my conscience.

“I never thought I would receive a prophecy in the form of my daughter from the future.”

“Yes. I never thought I would time travel back to the past too.”

I stared at him as I placed my teacup down. His round eyes, fair skin, the way he looked younger than he was, his cat-like yet gentle expressions and his gullible disposition that made him seem easy to trick. I could see my childhood self in him.

I certainly did not resemble Auresia when I was growing up. She had mentioned this before too but I must have resembled my father more. Was this what people also thought when they saw my face?

“But would you like to address me more comfortably? You don’t have to be so formal with me just because of who I am.”

“Well, I’m more comfortable speaking to you like this, though?”

“Still. You are my daughter.”

The man tilted his head before blinking.

“That’s what I heard I should say. Perhaps… I would have said the same thing when you were born.”

The way he confessed that he was not there to witness my birth was swallowed by his curling eyes as warm as a spring day.

“Maybe.”

I never blamed him. Rather, he felt like such a stranger, it felt like I was kindling a new relationship.

I inhaled a small breath before staring into the face that looked exactly like mine.

‘Where can I find Amor?’

The man looked excited.

The door burst open. Just as I was about to say something, I turned my head. The person who sauntered in looked to be a woman in her early twenties.

“Huh? What? You had a visitor?”

The woman alternated her gaze between the man and I in surprise. The man stretched his hand out nonchalantly before pointing at me.

“Meet my new friend. Sister.”

“Oh my heavens. Oh my heavens, Acheron! You never told me that you made a new friend! You should have said something sooner. Hello?”

The woman wearing a pair of round-rimmed spectacles waved her hands.

Her face was as adorable as a puppy. I immediately realised the moment I noticed her blonde hair and looked into her eyes.

‘This person is also a Templar of the Lord.’

Was she an Imperial member? In this time and age, if she was a Templar of the Lord on top of being a woman, she was eventually going to… I closed my eyes and suppressed my outburst. Running towards me, the woman stared at me before flashing a broad smile.

“Oh, what a lovely girl. How old are you?”

“Huh? Oh? Ah, I am 22 years old…”

Flustered, I spat out my age, the woman’s eyes as she held my hand twinkled.

“So, you’re only three years younger than me. And your eyes are so pretty!”

Hold on, she was three years older than me? With that face? As I stared at her in surprise, the woman turned her head around and stared at the man.

“Does Auresia know?”

“Oh you, it’s not what you think. So, don’t look at me like that. Auresia is the only one for me.”

The man turned towards me.

“Ah, this is Hemaera Pallas Kaltanias, the 1st Princess of the Empire and also my distant relative.”

“What? If you introduce me, I won’t have anything to say”

So, this was the princess that Dane said had been abandoned before me. Someone born with the Power of the Lord but was sacrificed to the crystal due to her weak divinity. I had heard of her.

However, the woman in front of me now was not a helpless damsel but a woman filled with vitality.

“That’s good. You can bring your friend to our picnic today.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, that’s a great idea.”

“Isn’t it? I stopped by just to tell you when it starts. Head to the Western Palaces later at 2! Marissa and Auresia will be coming from the same palace.”

Hold on, where was I going?

“Then, I’ll see you later!”

The woman disappeared as soon as she appeared. It seemed as though she had something else to do as she only stopped by for a while.

“That sister of mine has always been that spontaneous.”

She seemed to be very open-minded too. To notice how similar we looked to each other and yet not say a word about it.

As though he knew what I was thinking, the man explained that his sister was someone who would ignore all else when she was distracted with something.

He slowly raised his head and stared at me.

“As a Templar of the Lord, my powers belong to the powerless. But there are times where we are needed to face an important crossroads, a time where we face our great fates.”

His golden eyes captured me.

“That was what I saw the moment I met you.”

He smiled as tenderly as he spoke kindly. For some reason, I felt my heart tickle as I averted my gaze.

“I want to go back.”

Yes, I urgently needed to return. The man continued to speak to me honestly.

“My daughter, you mentioned earlier that your powers allow you to achieve everything you want, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then what is it that you are wishing for so desperately? If the reason why you are here is not to see someone, then could it be possible that the reason why you’re here is also somewhere here?”

“…..”

When I raised my head slowly, I found the man staring at me.

“You will be able to return once you find the answer.”

Staring back at the man, I jumped up.

“Actually, before that, there’s someone I need to find. Could you help me?”

As he blinked his eyes, his soft smile reminded me of the green leaves piling gently under a tree.

“Of course. We still have two hours before the picnic. And I think I know where he might be.”

He held out his hand.

“Shall we go?”

His eyes glittered beautifully in gold.

I knew gold was the colour I was most afraid of. But strangely enough, I did not feel repulsed by his eye colour like I had with Castor.