Fakes Don’t Want To Be Real - Chapter 88

FAKES DON’T WANT TO BE REAL

~ 88 ~

 

As expected, she knew it.

He was a man with hundreds of years of memory, thus he might know the secret of Silkisia. Then, instigating the emperor to make him meritorious, it was not to help her-

 

“You did it on purpose. You know I won’t be able to go to the North.”

“It gave me a surprise.”

 

Widnix readily admitted.

 

“But since the things had come to this, it’s not a bad idea to go to the North.”

“…?”

“Go, and don’t come back.”

 

His cold fingers touched the nape of her neck, as if wanting to caress it, but dropped it after a moment.

 

“I hate you, Princess. But I don’t want you to die, either.”

 

Psychke looked at him from a distance. And, as he was about to leave, she reflexively opened her mouth.

 

“Why?”

“I thought Verndia’s survival was better than yours, Princess, but it wasn’t.”

 

Voicing that, he left her with seemingly incomprehensible words with a tinge of loneliness.

Then, like someone who remembered something he had forgotten, he stopped on his big feet.

 

“I heard from Verndia that you’re suffering from the side effects of the Beast’s Blessing.”

“That’s right.”

“I will solve it. I will reach out to you, but don’t ever go with Verndia.”

“Widnix! You son of a b**ch!”

“I shall, then.”

 

Widnix went on his way, ignoring Verndia, who was running towards him with rough footsteps.

He was about to come as soon as it was over, but I was late because the emperor held me back and said that he would send the knights unconditionally. He was about to chase the two immediately but the Emperor held him back, saying that he would send the knights unconditionally. He glared at Widnix, despite that his back was in front of Verndia’s menacing look.

 

“What kind of b*llsh*t is that guy talking about- No, more than that, Princess…”

 

He grabbed her arms, lowering his voice so only she could hear him.

 

“You can’t go to the North.”

“I can.”

“What?”

“Let’s go somewhere else for now.”

 

There were several eyes watching them so he agreed to her request.

 

* * *

 

‘Five.’

 

Swish

 

‘Six.’

 

Swish

 

‘Seven.’

 

Whiick- Paak!

 

“Ugh.”

 

Psychke groaned as the wooden sword struck her in the stomach. She tried to endure it but it was painful after quite a while. Verndia was sorry that he hurt her, letting out a pained sound.

 

“Are you okay?”

“… Yes I’m okay. I will do it again.”

 

She straightened her broken stance.

She bit her lip to try to contain her throbbing pain, and pointed the wooden sword at him where she felt his presence. Her eyes were covered so she couldn’t see anything, but feel the presence.

Following her insistence, Verndia proceeded to do a few more sums.

In the distance, hired hands threw fist-sized rocks, and as Psyche dodged them, they slashed at her without warning with wooden swords.

Pak!

 

“Ugh!”

 

The fit didn’t sound good.

She didn’t let go of her sword, but her arm which holds her sword drooped down.

As he caught her when she stumbled, he said.

 

“That’s all for today.”

 

The stone-throwing servants bowed and retreated. And Verndia removed the black cloth covering Psychke’s eyes. Her eyes slowly turned bright, adjusting to the light. The first thing she saw was a man who looked at her with a light sigh.

Contrary to his hardened expression, his tumultuous mind was transmitted through the ring.

To alleviate it, she said calmly, enduring the pain.

 

“But I could now dodge the stones so does the Duke’s attacks… I think if I had a little bit left energy in me, I could dodge everything, and it’s better to live with practice than without.”

 

That way, I won’t avoid the monsters that attack me, Psychke murmured. While he clicked his tongue.

 

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have to participate. Only I know that a princess can use sword skills. So I’d rather go for tactics-”

“No, I hate that.”

 

Psychke flatly refused.

The emperor said that she should go to the north to establish his skills, but he did not specify in which field. Therefore, she was entrusted to him. Since she has eye phobia, she won’t be able to go outside the North that fast.

However,

 

“Even the Duke knows that I have to step in to take out Asum with little damage.”

 

Although Shiona and Dalua are receiving help from the Magic Association for the herb case, they still haven’t found a way to deal with Asum. And he knew it, too. So, the most efficient way to deal with Asum is to use a card called Glorielle Silkisia.

But the sight of snow frightens her making her unable to move or worse, she would go mad. That was why, even if it was successful going there, facing the monsters was not an easy task.

 

‘I could just fight them with eyes closed.’

 

At first, he thought Psychke was joking.

 

‘Are you feeling well? I will help you with sparring.’

 

That was until he saw her running towards him with her eyes covered.

 

“It will be fine if you keep watching.”

“No way.”

“Even if it’s not okay, you have to be okay. Calm down, Duke.”

 

Psychke struck him down to the point of being cruel to him for refuting.

 

“The Duke tends to be kind to me. If it had been someone other than me, they would have dragged the snow phobia and all to the North.”

“Is my image that bad?”

“Was it not?”

“I can’t say no.”

“Look at that.”

 

She snatched the blindfold from Verndia.

 

“Please do it without kindness this time around.”

“Do it again?”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

 

Covering her eyes, she asked for a hard sparring.

Seeing that her whole body was covered with scars, Verndia had no choice but to respond.

Each day, she continued to train. She closed her eyes and did not remove her blindfold until she fell asleep.

She sharpened her five senses and repeatedly fought the invisible enemy.

On the day of the week,

Shhwaa—

It rained, signaling autumn.

 

* * *

 

Pang-

As she laid in the rain with her sword hanging down, in her sky-viewing position, she heard the sound of an umbrella opening next to her.

She felt something warm that rested on her shoulder.

Even with her eyes covered, Psychke seemed to know who he was.

He said he’d be late to arrive, but there he was; so early.

 

“Do you have any hobbies that don’t suit you?”

 

Was it because of my mood that her voice sounds grumpy these days?

She hesitated to accept the umbrella he handed to her inadvertently.

His hands, which should have been dry, were wet, like someone caught in the rain.

Wanting to be sure, Psychke tried to remove his blindfold but he had blocked her.

 

“Because getting in the rain was my hobby.”

“Do not lie.”

“I don’t want to lie to the Princess. Are you not going to tell me something?”

“What…”

“Why are you acting so hastily? Like someone being chased by something.”

“I’m in a hurry.”

“Do you covet the title so much?”

 

His voice was hoarse, asking openly.

I couldn’t see her because her eyes were covered, but I guessed what kind of expression it was. She couldn’t see him because of her eyes but she could guess the expression he wore. She stood up to share the umbrella with him, raising it higher than his head.

 

“No.”

“Then, are you going to quickly deal with the monsters and break off our engagement?”

“Not even that.”

“Then? Try to understand me. If you say your eyes are scared of the snow, why on earth are you trying to come to the North while going through all this hardship?”

“Can’t I just not say it?”

“Yes, you can’t.”

 

Verndia ran a hand roughly through his rain-soaked hair.

She was all along practicing in the rain, but how did she avoid him?

 

“Because I don’t understand.”

“Uhm.”

“There are many other ways to increase your power to resist Logan. The emperor said he would stop him, but you didn’t like it.”

“…”

“I’ll be honest. I don’t like it when the Princess does this.”

“You do not want me to go to the North?”

“Yes, I hate it.”

 

Verndia said directly. Then she hastily attached the words to Psychke’s darkened face.

 

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t like Princess. What I hate is the situation you’re trying to put yourself into. If it’s not really for the title, why are you doing that?”

 

Psychke strained the hand that held her umbrella. Unlike Verndia’s warm hands, they were cold and hard.

She hesitated, then parted her lips.

 

“I was going to do this from the beginning.”

“What?”

“North, I was going to go there. This may sound like an excuse, but… The day you said you would help me find my memories… I wanted to ask a favor from you.”

“It was.”

“That was it. I was going to ask you to teach me how to fight with my eyes closed. I’ll take care of the monsters, so I was going to ask you to take me to the north.”

“Why?”

“I just wanted to help the Duke.”

 

Having said this, Psychke lowered her head.

She had always wanted to help, but she couldn’t bring it up since she found her memories. Her heart ached at the thought that the Emperor would only offer to go north after she had made such a proposal, and that it would be easy to misunderstand.

However, after a long pause, his voice was the brightest she had ever heard.

 

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Yes?”

 

He snatched the umbrella that was getting in the way and threw it.

In an instant, the light above his head lit up. She couldn’t see him, but she could tell he was getting closer.

And that warmth was right before her; his breath moved to her ears in the blink of an eye.

 

“Was it not, then?”

 

His voice rings in her eardrums was extremely irritating, especially since she was blindfolded.

(TN: Oh my mind—)

She tried to pull away, but he stopped me.

He smelled water as he leaned in closer. And a heart that doesn’t belong to him pounded crazily.

Verndia whispered sweetly through the rain.

 

“If it was not, then I would be very sad.”

“….”

(TN: WAIT, AACKK! STOP! MY HEART… AACKKK!)