Chapter 18
Chirp chirp.
It was a warm morning filled with the sound of birdsong.
Frina sat up in bed, her hair sticking out wildly in every direction.
“Wow……”
It felt like something enormous had happened last night, but her head was still foggy.
‘Hugo is Declan…….’
And now Declan suspects me.
This has to be a dream, right?
Please…
Had there ever been a moment in her life this hopeless?
Looking back on it, even their first meeting had been strange.
The place where Frina and Hugo first met was a shabby temple.
It was somewhere poor people went to receive free bread distributions, and yet…
Why would Declan even be there?
‘He approached me on purpose because he knew who I was!’
Because he knew she was the illegitimate child of one of the Ten Great Houses—the Orbanon family.
…One of the families Declan would eventually destroy.
‘I cut ties with that family ages ago….’
Frina had only lived in the Marquis Orbanon household until she was sixteen.
To the Orbanons, who valued honor above all else, she had been nothing more than a stain on their reputation. So when she left the family, their reaction had been closer to relief.
Why had she never once doubted Hugo’s feelings?
“I fell in love with you at first sight. Without you… I can’t go on.”
“……You’d probably be fine without me, though.”
The trembling eyelashes, the flushed cheeks when he said those words—they had felt so sincere she couldn’t help but believe him.
‘……Well, I guess that level of acting is why even the protagonist got fooled for multiple timelines.’
Still, for whatever reason, the Declan of the past had clearly needed Frina.
‘What happened to that illegitimate child in the original story again?’
There hadn’t been any detailed explanation—just a passing line.
But considering Declan’s personality, he probably killed her.
Fortunately, Declan had lost his memories and didn’t remember Frina right now… but there was no telling when those memories might return.
‘Then what about my escape plan?’
At this rate, there was a good chance it wouldn’t go smoothly.
Ah, no…
She only needed to endure for one more year.
Just until her younger siblings graduated…
Feeling faint, Frina turned to the bedside table.
The ring Hugo had left for her sat there.
Carefully, she picked it up.
‘This ring…….’
It looked like an old antique.
Sharp thorn-like engravings coiled tightly around the darkened, oxidized metal band.
Frina stared at it for a long while.
Because it reminded her of a certain ring described in the original novel.
‘……No way.’
A chilling thought crossed her mind, but she forced herself to dismiss it.
There was no way Declan had given her the heirloom of the Caesar family.
Did he even realize what kind of object that was?
It was practically Declan’s lifeline.
The source of the overwhelming power he wielded—and the reason the protagonist, Havel, had died over and over again.
There was no way.
…There couldn’t be.
A thousand years ago, the Emperor personally bestowed divine relics upon the Ten Great Houses that had helped found the empire.
‘One of them was the Caesar family heirloom.’
Each of the ten relics possessed different abilities.
The Caesar heirloom, in particular, was terrifying—it allowed the user to dominate another person’s body and suppress their actions.
Surely Declan hadn’t given something like that to her…
And yet, she couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.
‘……For now, I just need to stay as quiet as possible.’
Frina’s behavior at the banquet had been more than enough to arouse Declan’s suspicions.
So all she could do was hope he forgot about her existence altogether…
Fortunately, the next few days passed peacefully, just as she wished.
“Frina, what are you doing?”
A coworker from Daisy Hall approached her.
“Reading the newspaper.”
There was no way Declan would simply let things slide, yet there wasn’t a single article related to Count Seitan.
Frina searched every page thoroughly to see if there was any mention of the Caesars instead, but…
[Where Has Caesar’s Attention Landed?
All Eyes on the Rare Relic ‘Tracker Orb’ at the Upcoming Auction!]
‘……This man is ridiculously relaxed.’
Frina was dying from anxiety, while Declan was apparently busy showing interest in some relic auction.
‘But why would Declan want the Tracker Orb?’
Was there something he was trying to find?
As far as Frina remembered, the Tracker Orb was absurdly expensive and disposable.
Even if it was a high-grade relic capable of locating nearly anything that had been lost…
‘Yeah. Terrible cost performance.’
Who in the world would even lose a high-grade relic in the first place?
“Ahem, Frina.”
Around lunchtime, the head chef approached her.
“Frina, the Third Knight Order has group training scheduled today. They won’t have time to come all the way to Daisy Hall to eat, so we decided to deliver the meals ourselves.”
“Then should I take it over and hand it out?”
“Yes. Everything’s already loaded onto the cart, so hurry along.”
Following the chef’s instructions, Frina pushed the food cart out of Daisy Hall.
Her mind was still stuck on what had happened a few days ago.
Seeing as nothing had happened yet, maybe things really had blown over…
‘But there’s no telling when or how Declan might come looking for me.’
She desperately hoped the matter would quietly disappear. But if it didn’t…
Her ominous thoughts shattered at the sharp clang of metal ringing through the air.
Claaang!
In the wide training grounds, the knights were fiercely sparring. Savage blades collided violently in midair.
Without realizing it, Frina had already arrived at the training grounds.
Come to think of it, the Third Knight Order was…
Her gaze landed on a man with snow-white hair.
Standing beneath the pouring sunlight, his pale hair gleamed dazzlingly.
“Havelion wins!”
The place belonged to the protagonist, Havel.
Sweat dripped down his forehead and gathered at the tip of his chin, yet there wasn’t even the slightest sign of exhaustion from the duel.
A stark contrast to his opponent, who was sprawled on the dirt looking half-dead.
As expected of the protagonist—even as a rookie, he was exceptional.
Just as Frina quietly admired him, their eyes met in midair.
The moment Havel’s amethyst eyes found hers, they widened dramatically.
“Hi, Havel.”
Frina simply waved lightly.
Then he immediately strode toward her with long legs—but after only a few steps, he broke into a run.
‘F-fast…….’
Was the distance too far? Or had he been afraid of making her wait?
Either way, there was a desperate urgency in his movements.
Soon, he stopped in front of her.
“What brings you here, my lady……?”
Even though he had looked perfectly fine after his sparring match, Havel’s breathing suddenly became uneven.
“Did you perhaps come all this way to see me?”
The moment their eyes met, Havel’s cheeks flushed bright red.
For some reason, Frina could practically imagine a fluffy white tail wagging wildly behind him.
“Wasn’t training hard? You could’ve taken your time coming over, Havel. You must already be exhausted.”
“How could I take my time when you were waiting for me, my lady?”
“You were worried about me? Havel, you’re so sweet.”
At that moment, whistles erupted from all around them.
“Hey, Havel! Nice going!”
“Yeah! Use this chance to make some real progress!”
Knights everywhere were staring at the two of them.
“Wh-what are you all saying—”
“Hey now! What kind of man gets embarrassed over this? We’re all cheering for your passionate youth!”
Havel looked completely at a loss.
‘Wow, he really reacts easily.’
Seeing the usually stoic Havel become so flustered must’ve made the others want to tease him even more.
How cruel.
“Sir Knights, please stop teasing him.”
“Oh come on, did we say anything that bad? Hey, Frina! Why don’t you seriously give our Havel a chance? He’s more dependable and sturdy than he looks!”
Give him a chance for what?
“Everyone…… doesn’t seem very hungry.”
“Huh?”
“Then I suppose I’ll just head back……”
“Wait, Frina! We were wrong! Don’t go!”
“We’re sorry! We’ll starve to death! Just please leave the cart behind!”
The knights finally noticed the food cart behind her and began pleading desperately.
A wise decision. Hunger humbled everyone.
Frina turned back around.
“……So you came to deliver food.”
Havel muttered gloomily, looking deeply disappointed. His dejected expression resembled a puppy with drooping ears.
Maybe he still wasn’t hungry enough?
