Chapter 9
Even after several days had passed since meeting Hugo, the events in the Black Forest still lingered in Prina’s mind.
Especially the words Hugo left her with before he departed.
“…See you again.”
See you again, he said.
“Don’t throw me away, Prina.”
Don’t abandon me, he said.
And that man…
“……”
Prina forcibly shifted her gaze to today’s newspaper.
‘…Whoa. It’s real?’
[Imperial Decree: Anyone Corrupted by Demonic Energy Is to Be Executed Immediately]
The very law Hugo had mentioned was printed across the paper.
‘No, but how did Hugo know about this beforehand?’
…Could he be a noble?
To know about a decree before its announcement, he would have to be either a noble attending the meetings, one of their aides…
Or perhaps an imperial official.
But…
Prina recalled the image of Hugo wielding his sword before her eyes.
He definitely didn’t seem like an official.
‘Who exactly is Hugo?’
Black hair. Red eyes.
In the novel, there was only one person with that appearance—
The hidden mastermind of the story, Declan Kaiser.
‘But Hugo isn’t Declan Kaiser.’
They only looked somewhat alike.
If he truly were Declan, there was no way he would have spared her life in the Black Forest.
Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.
How could anyone live without fear around a man like that?
Come to think of it, the victory celebration ceremony was approaching soon.
Declan would finally enter the imperial palace.
…And that incident would happen.
The assassination attempt on Declan Kaiser.
‘But it has nothing to do with me.’
She worked at Daisy Hall.
Her immediate concerns were rent money and savings for exile—not palace conspiracies.
‘At least the rent issue’s solved for now.’
After all, she’d been handsomely rewarded for safely rescuing the workers from the Black Forest.
“Hey, Prina!”
While she was lost in thoughts of the near future, a group of knights entered Daisy Hall.
Training must have just ended; they came pouring in all at once.
“The usual for us! You know what we want, right?”
This was the type of order Daisy Hall employees hated the most.
‘There are hundreds of knights who eat here.’
“Um… Sir Knight, which menu item did you mean exactly…?”
“You know, what we always eat! The usual!”
That’s exactly what I’m asking.
“Surely you haven’t forgotten who we are, Prina?”
“Of course not.”
That part was true. She vaguely remembered their faces.
‘Not what you ordered.’
“Would bread and soup be alright?”
That was the standard knight meal.
“What? You trying to starve us to death? That’s harsh, Prina.”
“Then what would you like…?”
“How can you not remember what we eat?!”
Again, there were literally hundreds of knights dining at Daisy Hall.
It was an impossibly awkward situation.
That was when—
“Bread and soup, wasn’t it?”
“W-What?!”
“You said you lost all your money gambling and would be eating only bread and soup for a while.”
A cold, detached voice fell from behind the knight who had been causing trouble for Prina.
The man who appeared possessed an unreal level of beauty.
Hair as white as untouched snow.
Eyes like radiant amethysts.
When Prina first saw Hugo, she’d felt like her eyes were being assaulted by beauty itself—
And she felt that sensation once again.
“Y-You…! Who says I gambled?!”
“Sir Virsen, I’ve already placed your order for you, so perhaps you should sit down now. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“I didn’t do anything embarrassing! You insolent little—!”
Virsen shouted with a flushed face, but quickly disappeared to his seat, seemingly ashamed.
One troublesome customer had vanished.
And then…
Prina looked at the man who had helped her.
A far more troublesome person had arrived.
“It’s been a while, Havel.”
Forcing down her complicated feelings, Prina smiled.
“…Yes, Noona. It truly has been a long time.”
A faint smile appeared on his expressionless face.
His devastatingly handsome features became even more dazzling.
Prina could feel the Daisy Hall employees sneaking glances at Havel.
Every one of them wore pleased smiles.
But Prina alone couldn’t smile.
Because…
‘…Havelion Valencia.’
He was the protagonist of this infinite-regression fantasy novel.
The eldest son of House Valencia, currently hiding his identity while serving as a common knight in the imperial palace due to certain circumstances—a man with a complicated story.
But protagonist or not, in Prina’s eyes he was simply…
‘…A kid who hasn’t even come of age yet.’
Havel was nineteen.
He was scheduled to hold his coming-of-age ceremony in just a few months.
Maybe because she had younger siblings around his age, he felt especially young to her.
“…I’ve been busy with missions during that time. That’s why I couldn’t come by.”
“I see.”
“…Have you been doing well, Noona?”
“Yeah. I’ve been doing well—”
At that moment, everything that had happened recently flashed through her mind.
‘Have I… been doing well?’
Her ex-boyfriend disappeared without a word.
Then suddenly acted as though he didn’t know her.
She was threatened with having her arm cut off.
And shortly after returning, she witnessed someone killing people.
Well. Technically she was still alive and unharmed, so…
“Y-Yeah… I’ve been fine.”
“…You don’t look well. Did something happen?”
Things had happened, but they weren’t stories she could tell a child.
“No, Havel. Nothing really—”
“Nothing? Recently some weird boyfriend of Prina’s— Mmph!”
Just then, one of the Daisy Hall workers barged into the conversation, and Prina hurriedly covered her mouth in panic.
“A weird boyfriend?”
But Havel had already heard.
His expression darkened.
“No, Havel. Nothing happened.”
“But just now…”
“Marie, honestly, why would you say things like that in front of a kid?”
Prina scolded her coworker.
It wasn’t exactly something to brag about.
“…I am not a child.”
Havel’s voice dropped subtly.
“I am not a child, Noona.”
As if emphasizing the point, he repeated himself.
“Especially… I hate it when you treat me like one…”
“O-Oh…”
Right. Sorry. That was probably a slip of the tongue.
Prina’s younger brother Liam reacted the same way whenever she treated him like a kid.
“Who are you calling a child?!” he would yell.
‘But to me, both of you are children…’
“Anyway, Havel, what do you want to eat? The usual?”
Unlike the knight earlier, she actually remembered Havel’s regular order.
“Yes. The usual, please.”
…Which meant one bowl of soup.
“Will that really be enough? You’re still growing, after all…”
“It’s enough.”
An instant answer.
As Prina headed back toward the kitchen, she decided she’d add extra meat to Havel’s soup.
‘Kids need to eat well.’
Though there was another reason too.
‘Because he’ll have something huge to do in the future.’
Something enormous.
Truly, unimaginably enormous.
The moment Prina entered the kitchen, her coworkers crowded around her.
Perfect timing.
“Guys, we’ve got an order—”
“Prina, I think Havel likes you.”
“Khk—!”
Startled by the sudden remark, Prina bit her tongue.
“This is great, Prina! Forget that weird ex-boyfriend and just date him instead!”
What kind of terrifying thing was that to say?
“Seriously. Havel may be younger, but he’s one of the best-looking guys I’ve ever seen.”
Well, that part was true.
He was the protagonist. The visual buff was absurd.
It almost looked like a pure white halo surrounded him.
“Don’t you think it’s a waste, Prina?”
“Not at all.”
‘Because in a few months, Havel won’t even remember us anymore.’
Because he would soon—
Experience regression.
He would become trapped in an endless cycle he could never escape.
Before long, those painfully clear eyes of his would be stained with something horribly dark.
Maybe that was why Prina had recently found it difficult to look directly into his bright eyes.
Because there was nothing she could do to save him.
Within the blood-soaked future that was approaching—
Even though she knew all these coworkers laughing and chatting now would eventually die.
…There was nothing she could do.
