Chapter 16
Let’s be strangers now
Episode 16
‘Prince, Prince.’
Fine, white hair tickled Erich’s cheek.
Erich managed to lift his eyelashes, looking at the girl who filled his vision.
Her clear blue eyes were so bright that even the faint shadows couldn’t fully dim them.
She was gazing only at him….
‘Move your hair….’
Finally, Erich let out a ragged breath and spoke slowly.
Elisha blinked a couple of times, then slowly began to shake her head.
As she did, her hair danced again, tickling Erich’s face.
Swaying, swaying.
‘What are you… doing?’
Unable to bear it any longer, Erich raised his hand and brushed Elisha’s hair aside.
Only then did Elisha straighten her upper body, which had been leaning in close.
‘If I don’t do this, you don’t move, Prince.’
‘….’
‘I wanted to check if you were dead.’
Her voice was incredibly calm, as if she were merely recounting the events of the day.
Erich tried to let out a hollow laugh as if he had expected as much, but he immediately broke into a cough from the heat rising in his throat.
Elisha’s eyes went wide, and she lunged toward him again.
This time, she had tucked her hair behind her ears.
‘Does it hurt a lot, Prince?’
Elisha’s characteristically clear, ringing voice echoed through the bedroom.
Erich exhaled a raspy breath and managed a small nod.
Seeing that no one was stopping Elisha, it seemed there was no one else in the room but the two of them.
It was only natural, as he had dismissed all the maids so he could sleep in peace.
Though he didn’t recall inviting her.
‘You, here, how….’
‘I teleported.’
Before Erich could even finish his sentence, Elisha beat him to the answer.
She frowned for a moment as if she couldn’t understand something, then spoke clearly again.
‘I saw the physician coming and going. Is it okay for you to be alone like this?’
‘Because it’s noisy….’
‘What if you lose consciousness while you’re alone?’
‘I won’t. If I rest, I’ll get better.’
Erich said, his eyes half-closed as he glanced at Elisha.
Her silhouette seemed to split into two, then merge into one, and split again.
It was likely due to the rising fever.
In times like this, all he really needed to do was close his eyes and sleep the day away. Being this sick wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence for him.
And yet, the reason he kept forcing his heavy eyelids open was…
‘Your expression… is really funny.’
Because the ripples appearing on that pale face, which was usually so serene, were somehow fascinating.
Erich muttered as he let out a dry cough.
Elisha felt her face a few times, then narrowed her eyes.
‘Your face is funnier, Prince. It’s weird.’
‘….’
‘You’re as red as a tomato.’
And the Prince hates tomatoes.
The small girl grumbled with a deep scowl. Erich was suddenly seized by the urge to tease her.
He couldn’t actually do it, though, because every syllable he uttered made his head throb and his throat sting.
‘You’d be… the same… if you were sick….’
That didn’t mean he intended to let it slide, either.
Having finished his fragmented sentence, Erich gathered all his strength to curl the right corner of his mouth upward.
Elisha, who had been staring blankly at him, replied.
‘I’ve never been sick before.’
She tilted her head as if she had heard something incomprehensible.
Then she pouted her lips, tilted her head the other way, and finally allowed a faint smile to play on her lips.
‘You’re weak, Prince.’
She didn’t miss the chance to say something that would get under Erich’s skin.
Erich’s eyebrows shot up involuntarily at her words.
He was already burning up with fever, but hearing that made him feel like a fire was being stoked inside him.
If he had known he’d hear something like that, he would have rung the bell and kicked her out immediately….
‘But you’re good at inventing magic, Prince.’
But before he could reach out and grasp the bell, Elisha spoke first.
‘So, someday, you’ll probably make a spell that cures things like this in an instant.’
‘….’
‘Until then, I’ll protect you.’
Soon after, the girl’s small palm was placed over Erich’s eyes.
Seriously, why did she keep falling into this sense of obligation to protect him?
Just as Erich tried to lift his leaden arm to brush away the hand over his eyes.
‘I just felt like doing it.’
As if reading Erich’s thoughts, Elisha whispered softly.
‘I don’t like seeing you in pain, Prince.’
So, she just felt like doing it.
“Honestly, I thought you just ran away.”
Dust motes drifted here and there through a beam of sunlight.
Dante immediately waved his hand in front of his face and coughed lightly.
Beneath his feet, the traces of a teleportation magic circle were slowly fading away.
Not long after Elisha had proposed the deal, the guards had descended upon the inn.
Naturally, Elisha had escaped them and slipped out of his grasp.
‘I wondered if she might just disappear entirely.’
Contrary to his expectations, even while keeping her distance, Elisha had waited for him until the investigation was over.
Though the investigation itself hadn’t taken long.
‘Most of them seemed to accept it when I said I was the Magic Knight Commander.’
Since they hadn’t asked further about the person in the robe, there would be no mention of Elisha in the report going up to Erich.
Dante was overcome by a feeling of not knowing whether to be happy or not.
If she were caught, he’d be dead; if she weren’t, he’d be entangled in something troublesome.
Though he felt he was already terribly entangled.
“I didn’t think I’d be coming here again.”
Dante finally spoke as he took a step forward.
Regardless, Elisha looked around with an unimpressed expression.
Bookshelves surrounding them on all sides, and the scent of paper seeping from the books tucked inside them.
“It’s the Renar family library.”
It had been quite a while since anyone had visited, not since the previous head of the family died.
Dante spoke as he walked, not looking back.
His gaze was constantly scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.
“So, why did we come here?”
Since he had already smashed the communication stone, it wasn’t like he was in separate contact with Erich.
Elisha asked, tilting her head slightly. Dante replied, still without looking at her.
“There are a few perks I’ve enjoyed while being friends with Erich. Though probably not as many as you.”
“….”
“Ah, found it.”
I knew it would be here.
Dante soon pulled a piece of paper from between the bookshelves and smiled.
Elisha could immediately recognize what that paper was.
This is….
“A Pact Scroll?”
“If we’re going to make a deal, shouldn’t we have something like this?”
After he finished speaking, Dante’s violet eyes curved into a soft smile.
Elisha stared blankly at the Pact Scroll in his hand.
The ‘Pact Scroll’ was one of Erich’s magic-related inventions.
It was an absolute contract that used each other’s mana and signatures as the medium for the pledge, and in the event of a violation, it could even take the violator’s life depending on the contract.
Certainly, with this, there would be no reason for either of them to break their promise.
“But Erich shouldn’t have made the Pact Scroll public yet?”
“It’s not a real Pact Scroll, but one of the earlier prototypes. He told me to let him know if there were any side effects after using it, so I’d just left it alone without using it.”
Elisha frowned slightly at Dante’s words.
No wonder Erich had been complaining, ‘That fellow Dante isn’t doing his job,’ and had unusually gone to experiment on the effects himself.
“Even if it’s a prototype, since the creator is Erich, its effectiveness will be perfect.”
“I know.”
Dante wouldn’t know, but Elisha had already encountered its effects firsthand.
Because the other party to the pact had been herself.
“Honestly, I wonder if this is okay.”
Dante continued as he pulled a quill from his breast pocket.
“But what else can I do when this is the only way for everyone to be at peace?”
It was extremely uncomfortable, but honestly, Elisha was the one who held the upper hand in this deal.
Unlike him, Elisha could just disappear at any time.
So, in the end, this Pact Scroll could be called a minimum safeguard for himself.
‘For now, I have to hold onto Elisha like this and find another way to connect the two of them.’
He couldn’t exactly stay stuck in the middle and suffer forever.
“Anyway, I should write down the most important thing first.”
After speaking, Dante shrugged his eyebrows and held the hand with the pen high.
Elisha silently watched the quill as it moved without hesitation, following his hand’s lead.
If it was the most important thing.
“What should we make the penalty for breaking the contract?”
“Life.”
“No, that’s a bit….”
It seems a bit much.
The pen that had been moving excitedly stopped in an instant. Elisha blinked her eyes blankly.
“Why that reaction? Were you planning on breaking the contract?”
“No, it’s not that. There are plenty of other things. Like losing your sense of taste for the rest of your life….”
“Life.”
“…Fine.”
Your determination to fulfill the contract is certainly impressive. Very reassuring and good, I suppose.
Dante breathed a small sigh and then continued to move the nib of the pen as he spoke.
“Dante Renaud shall remain absolutely silent regarding Elisha’s whereabouts and shall periodically inform her of the situation in the Imperial Palace and regarding the Emperor. In exchange, Elisha shall share and take over Dante Renaud’s workload. The scope of the shared work shall be all the clerical work I am assigned.”
“All of it?”
“It’s only ‘clerical’ work, after all. Honestly, I’m the one losing out the most here.”
Dante snapped, his face clouding over slightly.
Elisha narrowed her eyes along with him for a moment, then let out a shallow breath.
Since it was true that Dante Renaud had become caught between her and Erich, she could easily grant a request like this.
Besides, wasn’t the Chief Archmage’s work primarily dealing with Erich? Specifically, the part about testing the magic he researched on the spot.
“I’ll bring the documents and leave them to you, pretending I’m doing overtime at the manor, so you don’t even need to come to the Imperial Palace.”
“How will you know where I’ll be?”
“Where else would you be?”
Dante, who had been continuously moving the pen nib, glanced at Elisha and spoke.
“Here.”
At the same time, Elisha’s brow furrowed.
“Here?”
“Then did you really plan on staying at that inn?”
His violet eyes gazed at Elisha as coldly as her own.
“It’s an old manor that isn’t being used right now anyway. The servants only come once a month, so you don’t have to worry about being caught by other people. Seeing how well you got along at the inn, it seems you know how to handle most things on your own.”
“It’s not like I was handling meals on my own, too.”
“I have a plan for that.”
Soon, the corners of his eyes curved softly. The sharp look from just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
“Anyway, I think this should be enough for the details.”
Dante held out the Pact Scroll to Elisha and pulled the corners of his mouth up.
Elisha carefully examined the contents written inside.
First.
Dante Renaud shall never speak regarding Elisha’s whereabouts.
Second.
Dante Renaud shall report the situation of the Imperial Palace to Elisha whenever she desires.
Third.
Dante Renaud shall provide Elisha with stable room and board. The location shall be the Renar family’s old manor.
Fourth.
Elisha shall take charge of Dante Renaud’s clerical work in general.
However, this is limited to work that Dante Renaud personally delivers to her.
Fifth.
Elisha shall not leave the Renar family’s old manor without Dante Renaud’s permission.
In case of breach of contract, the non-compliant party shall lose their life.
“Dante Renaud.”
Finally, having examined all the clauses, she spoke, her blue eyes fixed on Dante.
“You shouldn’t play tricks in front of me.”
