CH 15 Elheim

The end of the hunting competition was a mess.

Obviously, it was an event held by the Duke of Elheim in order to mock Michael Birce.

However, the Duke of Elheim’s mood was rather low.

They did not even announce the lady of the hunting competition or to bestow the game.

“This is the end of the afternoon schedule.”

Aynias announced.

Michael left the hunting ground with light steps holding the silver fox.

Lianrius looked at him and clenched his teeth.

He lost. But what he couldn’t bear more than the feeling of defeat was the fact that he couldn’t give the prey to Liarte.

He saw Liarte mixing among the people and the return to the duchy.

‘I can’t face you.’

In fact, Liarte forgot to even ask Lianrius about the silver fox.

“Lian.”

Aynias caught Lianrius from behind.

“The royal family has decided to come in the evening. Are you ready to meet Princess Ninian?”

His father, the Duke of Elheim, was furious at Birce.

“Yes.”

For the first time in his life, Lianrius was feeling distressed. It was an unfamiliar feeling to him, as someone who had reigned over Elheim all his life.

‘Liarte.’

From the moment Liarte changed, Lianrius’s life began to get messed up.

* * *

In the past, before her regression, the royal family did not visit.

‘Why has the future changed?’

Most of the change occurred around Liarte.

It was the same for the case where the spirit stone woke up and the people of Elheim failed to insult Michael.

Liarte recalled the events that would occur three years later.

Before her execution.

The future Michael Birce would attack the imperial family. It was for that reason that the Royal family did not provide any support when half of the Elheim estate disappeared.

The embattled imperial family went as far as to touch the ancient power and curses.

Liarte stopped.

‘I remember.’

The Imperial Palace was the only place with the largest number of ancient books about ancient power.

The assassins would enter Elheim’s banquet and Michael, who would be suspected of being the culprit, would not be given the chance for the curse to be removed which eventually led to the loss of his sight.

A force capable of offering many sacrifices to create the curse of the seven layered veil.

‘The Imperial family may be behind it.’

It was also suspicious that assassins could enter Elheim.

It is not known where the assassins entered from on that day. It was speculated that they came through a secret passage.

‘Maybe the Royal family brought them in.’

The only carriage that Elheim did not check was that of the Imperial family.

However, it was too early to jump into conclusions. It was because it was just a theory.

The Imperial family and Elheim closely interacted.

‘They probably didn’t try to hurt Lianrius’s future.’

Liarte, who was an unawakener, had managed to survive the poison without dying.

‘It must have been to prevent Lianrius from doing any sort of activities.’

There were two Awakening families that supported the empire.

The Duke of Elheim and the Duke of Birce.

Elheim was a representative nobleman who supported the Imperial family.

Birce was an independent force, but they weren’t cooperative with the Empire in the slightest.

However, thanks to Birce, other countries could not easily enter the Empire.

For the Imperial Family, Birce was both a necessary evil and a shield.

‘Then why did they make Michael blind?’

It could be assumed that they put a curse on him because they couldn’t kill him. However, if so, it would have been better to get rid of other parts instead of the eyes.

‘Wait.’

Unlike before the return, the royal family was visiting this time.

And now there was Michael in Elheim.

She had heard that the removal of the curse would cause a reaction to the one who had casted this curse.

What changed the future was Michael’s eyes.

Perhaps the visit of the Crown Prince and the princess was just a confirmation of the curse.

Liarte recalled the two of them before she returned to the past.

‘Princess Ninian.’

The Princess was a person who really didn’t think about anything. Liarte knew about it firsthand since she had experienced it a lot before she went back in time.

As a person who grew up in a greenhouse, she didn’t even know what the awakeners were like.

She remembered that the princess did a lot of favours for Liarte.

‘Prince Lucas.’

On the other hand, Prince Lucas was evaluated for his trait of having a good political sense.

It was also the prince who would be directly involved with the ancient powers and curses in the future.

Liarte was convinced that one of the people behind Michael’s curse was Prince Lucas.

She decided to discuss the rest of her thoughts with Michael after they met.

Liarte opened a large box that was sent by Lianrius. Today as well, the box was slightly open.

Soon, dresses and accessories she had never seen before caught her eyes.

They were all unfamiliar items.

‘Would an ordinary princess* have enjoyed this?’

(Tl/ N: sometimes the sons and daughters of dukes can be referred to as princesses/princes. And it’s completely different from the Imperial fam’s prince and princess.)

It looked hard to wear it by herself, but she could use the power of water.

Liarte was reflected in the mirror that was made by raising water.

Her hair was long enough to go down to her waist as she couldn’t cut it.

The gray dress was the same as before as she had several sets of it. Now, her dress was short enough that her ankles and calves could be seen at first glance.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

She looked younger than from the time before she died.

Liarte reached out to the mirror and touched the image of herself from three years in the past.

If it had been before, she wouldn’t have had any regrets in life.

However, she felt that the only thing she wanted now was to live in a world where Michael was.

The grey clothes were then changed to those given by Lianrius.

Her necklace could also be worn by herself using the power of water.

The door suddenly opened.

Liarte, who removed her water mirror, turned her body.

“Lady?”

Lianrius’s maid, as if surprised, had her mouth wide open.

* * *

In the evening, the carriage of the Imperial family arrived.

The Emperor couple did not visit Elheim very often.

This was because there had already been a flurry of appeals for complaints that they would empower the people of Elheim even more if they visited often and this would result into making Elheim the most dominant.

Instead, the Crown Prince became the face of the Imperial couple.

After getting off the fancy carriage, Princess Ninian immediately headed toward Lianrius.

“Young Master Lianrius!”

With bright red cheeks, the princess ran towards him and wrapped Lianrius’s arms with her’s. The two were arranged to be partners during the banquet.

Even if it wasn’t arranged, it was allowed because they grew up like childhood friends.

Next to him stood the other brothers of Elheim.

“I guess you won’t notice me anymore.”

The princess laughed when she saw the well-dressed Danterion.

“It really doesn’t suit you.”

“I think so too.”

Danterion shrugged.

At that moment, no one noticed that Danterion’s gaze had stayed on the Crown Prince who was following the princess.

“Your Highness.”

“Ain.”

“Thank you for visiting.”

Aynias and the Crown Prince greeted each other warmly.

“Thank you for the mineral you sent me last time.”

“It’s from Mount Gehardt. It doesn’t melt at moderate temperatures.”

“Thank you for your loyalty, for sending me something so precious. By the way, I heard there was a hunting contest today.”

Since they visited Elheim with the engagement used as an excuse, the prince deliberately avoided the subject of Birce.

The reason he brought up the story of the hunting competition was because he thought that Birce might have been in trouble.

“Yes, there was.”

Aynias’s expression became a little stiff.

The people of Elheim could not conceal their expressions skillfully as they were more used to solving anything with the power of water.

‘Something must have happened.’

The prince looked around the banquet hall, pretending not to know.

Where was Michael Birce?

It was a banquet for him so it should have been time for him to appear.

As soon as he thought about it, he saw Michael leaning against the wall.

When the prince saw him wearing a velvet eye patch, the prince was relieved.

‘It looks like the curse is still intact.’

The characteristic of the Imperial family were purple eyes.

Although it was not known externally, there was a fact that only Elheim and the Imperial family knew.

The royal family also had unusual abilities like the Awakeners.

Ancient powers, curses, and magic did not work on the royal family.

Thanks to that, the Crown Prince was able to put the curse on Michael and still be safely unaffected by it.

He tried curses through other people, but most of them failed to withstand large-scale curses unlike the Crown Prince.

‘How disappointing’

Without knowing anything, Princess Ninian, who was closely attached to Lianrius the whole time, approached the prince.

“What are you thinking, brother?”

“I was thinking that Young Master Lianrius was unfortunate enough to get engaged to you. Didn’t you skip your homework again today?

“Be quiet!”

Ninian covered the prince’s mouth. Despite that, Lianrius couldn’t hear what they were talking about because he was thinking about something else alone.

“Young Master Lianrius looks so depressed today.”

“It’s his first engagement, so he must be upset. He’ll have a lot to think about.”

“Is that so?”

Ninian was easily convinced.

“I was just wondering if his twin was coming to the banquet.”

The children born in the Imperial family, other than Elheim and Birce, seemed to only have little ability. Hence, Unawakened people were common.

Therefore, Ninian did not understand why Elheim rejected the only unawakener.

“That person is pretty. She looks similar to Lianrius.”

Because of that, the Duke of Elheim hated her even more.

Lianrius was the last born, but he believed that Liarte had killed his wife.

“Really… oh.”

Suddenly, the banquet hall became quiet.

This was because the door opened and a lady who they had never seen before entered.

The Crown Prince recognized Liarte.

The Liarte in his memory was almost shabby and easily intimidated, so he couldn’t recognize her immediately.

‘The lady who entered is the unawakened princess.’

Only after seeing her indifferent appearance did he realize that she was Lianrius’s twin.

She wore a navy blue dress and diamond jewellery.

Liarte, with her hair braided halfway, turned her head to find Michael.

At that moment, those with the blood of Elheim recognized Liarte.

However, no one could easily approach her.

The silence lasted for a while.