107 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 107
"Princess, I have something to gain from you.”
Cesare answered readily.
“What is it?”
“……”
He looked down at his silver hair, which seemed to be tinged with vermilion by the bonfire.
“My dreams. My ambitions. What I promised the world.”
It seemed that this space, the only one that lit up in the pitch-black darkness, was breaking down his guard.
To make him spout such useless nonsense.
“I don’t have anything like that.”
“You’ll find it soon.”
“The Venus of Baldina will save your destiny… so.”
He had no certainty, but mixed instincts and reason told him.
Bet your last shred of hope on this girl in front of you. Even if it’s not, you won’t regret it.
“……”
Silence returned. But it wasn’t awkward.
“It’s not so bad… after all.”
She leaned her head against her knees. The encroaching drowsiness loosened her guard.
The heat from the bonfire was warm, and with the mercenary sitting next to her, she didn’t have to worry about being attacked by wild beasts.
A safe feeling. Was this what it felt like to be protected after so long?
‘I don’t know.’
The years of only protecting someone had been too long, and she had forgotten. What do you usually call a moment when you can let your guard down like this?
“……”
Medeia mumbled blankly.
“Achares, I wish you had been there then.”
Cesare turned his head. The Princess’s eyes were half-closed.
Her voice was so faint that you couldn’t hear it unless you strained your ears.
“If you had been, I would have been a little more comfortable. I wouldn’t have had to stay up all night, afraid that Jared would pounce on me.”
Even if you were just sitting next to me now, occasionally poking at the firewood and making a fire.
“I would have been a little less lonely.”
A transparent drop formed between her closed eyes and trickled down.
The hand stirring the kindling paused for a moment.
‘Jared? This was supposed to be the first time the Princess met him?’
A coldness flashed in his Golden eyes.
“……”
The Princess was silent, as if she had fallen asleep.
Darkness fell heavily, as if to hide her secrets piled up layer upon layer.
Cesare quietly draped his coat over her shoulders.
\ \ *
The next day, Medeia left the forest with Cesare.
A man who got off the Facade’s carriage that had come to pick them up, said he was a magician from the Magic Tower, having sent a messenger sometime.
“So you’re the famous Princess of Baldina.”
The slender young man with brown hair looked very tired and sensitive. He reminded her of Ciseo, who was buried in state affairs.
“You can call me Terrence.”
The magician added briefly.
Medeia felt the eyes behind his glasses carefully examining her.
“I heard about the general situation from Achares… May I help you return as the Archmage?”
“Archmage?”
The young man in front of her was too young to be the Archmage.
She had heard that aging stopped when one reached a realm beyond human reach…
“Ah, he’s my teacher. As his proxy, I travel across the continent and am in charge of transportation to the Magic Tower.”
Terrence showed the Archmage’s Seal.
Medeia glanced at Cesare, who was leaning against the carriage with his eyes closed.
‘The Archmage’s disciple.’
She was amazed at the extent of the Facade leader’s connections.
‘So Iason regretted so much in the last life that Facade disappeared without a trace.’
“Then what does the Magic Tower want in return?”
Medeia asked back.
She knew from the expedition in her past life that magicians valued equivalent exchange more than their lives.
Terrence paused for a moment at the Princess’s very reasonable question, unlike the Kazen royals who only made demands of the Magic Tower every time.
“There is something I’m looking for separately…”
Medeia moved her green eyes as if to tell him to speak.
Terrence swallowed a hollow laugh inside.
The noble aura that was at odds with her serene face was indeed worthy of the protagonist who had cornered the Kazen delegation and the Regent Duke.
“Princess, have you ever heard of the Morning Dewdrop?”
At that moment, Cesare, who had been closing his eyes, opened them wide.
‘What, do you think I have the luxury to measure this and that right now?’
As Golden eyes stared at Terrence as if warning him, Terrence answered with his eyes.
“Morning Dewdrop? Is that the name of a magic stone?”
Medeia asked back as if she had never heard of it before.
Terrence, who couldn’t read any change in her green eyes, shook his head slightly and continued.
“It’s a legendary medicine that is said to wash away all the filth of the beginning. You must have heard that the First Prince of Kazen is living on borrowed time.”
“Terrence.”
Cesare warned him as if to say that was enough, but Terrence didn’t stop.
“The Magic Tower believes that the Morning Dewdrop is the solution to cure his illness.”
“Get out.”
Long, straight legs kicked the carriage door open and chased Terrence away.
‘So the Facade was looking for the Morning Dewdrop.’
Medeia could read the answer from their reaction.
The Magic Tower is looking for a cure for the First Prince.
‘Achares is with that Archmage’s disciple now…’
“My dreams. My ambitions. What I promised the world.”
His words that faintly remained in her ears last night.
Medeia suddenly asked.
“Is Facade trying to get involved in the imperial succession fight?”
Cesare, who had been glaring at Terrence, paused.
“What?”
“If it’s the First Prince, it’s not a bad choice.”
Damn Terrence. He’s been hanging out with Gallo, and he’s caught his chattiness. Cesare swallowed the curse toward his friend and asked.
“Princess, why do you think so?”
“The Emperor of Kazen despises those without ability and is wary of those with ability. The First Prince was the only one who wasn’t swayed by that eccentricity.”
Cesare didn’t realize that Medeia was speaking in the past tense.
“Princess, have you ever met the First Prince?”
The air solidified sharply.
“No. But I know him.”
“How?”
“Isn’t it harder to find someone on the continent who doesn’t know him?”
Medeia shrugged.
“At best, he’s a terminally ill man who has been given a death sentence. What’s so great about him?”
Medeia watched his reaction to her harsh words.
‘Facade hasn’t made a decision yet?’
Well, since he’s a big shot who can shake the landscape, any royal with dreams of the throne would want Facade.
“If he were a human who would succumb to illness, he would have died already. The fact that he’s still alive means that no one can follow his determination. Then it’s worth betting on fate, isn’t it?”
Iason, including him.
“If it were me, I would take the First Prince’s hand. Rather than Grand Duke Castulo.”
“……”
At Medeia’s words, the mercenary was speechless for a moment.
“Achares?”
“To compare him to Castulo, is that a compliment or a mockery? The First Prince would be spitting blood if he heard that.”
The mercenary, who threw a cold joke, crossed his arms, turned his back, and closed his eyes.
And swallowed his silent emotions.
Since he was cursed at the beginning of time, Cesare had moved forward relentlessly amidst the despair and sorrow of the many people around him.
But it couldn’t have been easy for him to face the things of the distant beginning.
Every time he had a seizure, every time the curse consumed his body, Cesare repeated without a shred of certainty.
I will definitely survive. I will never give up.
Ceaselessly, almost like brainwashing.
And now, the Princess in front of him was saying.
“The fact that he’s still alive means that no one can follow his determination. Then it’s worth betting on fate, isn’t it?”
That his desperate efforts were not wrong.
The recognition and understanding of others, which he never thought he wanted, rushed in at once, and even Cesare, who prided himself on his cold reason, couldn’t come to his senses.