Chapter – 42
He was about to leave immediately, but suddenly hesitated for a moment. Normally, since he had already obtained what he wanted, he would have turned away without any lingering attachment. But then certain words came to mind.
“You can become a good person again, Marquis.”
His heart suddenly throbbed painfully.
A good person… He no longer even knew what that truly meant anymore…
Was a good person someone who sincerely treated others with kindness, only to be betrayed in the end like a fool? Wasn’t that exactly why even the young Kiana had shown no interest in him, knowing how foolish that was?
He had thought that the boy who once experienced his first unrequited love and could only watch from afar, helpless and awkward, no longer existed in this world.
But the moment he considered the possibility that Kiana might come here, his feet refused to move easily.
He had no idea what Kiana intended, but regardless, he did not want her to end up in danger for no reason.
Ever since the day they had accidentally met in the forest six years ago.
‘Kiana Prelai…’
Six years ago, when a boy and girl of the same age met alone in a forest instead of at a social gathering—
Kiana had not recognized him at all, but he had identified her the moment he heard her voice. Even without trying to figure out who she was. Even though he truly had not wanted to know.
He thought fate was truly strange.
The people he had trusted with his life had betrayed him, yet the girl he could never grow close to had saved him instead.
After that, Cesare had watched Kiana from afar for a long time.
He had sworn never to trust anyone again and never to let anyone into his heart. However, Kiana’s abilities were absolutely necessary for his return. So he resolved to use her only as much as needed, without dragging her into his dangerous path unnecessarily.
If things escalated to the extreme, a bloody storm would sweep through the Empire, and he wanted Kiana to remain safe and peaceful at the Academy. That was why he had only sent research requests there until now, but then Kiana suddenly returned…
Back in that alleyway where Kiana had comforted him, he had felt as though he had become that idiotic crown prince from the past again.
Soft-hearted without any defense, shaken far too easily.
“Buuut whaaat waaas thaaat fooor?”
“For Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
He had sworn not to trust anyone, and yet he wanted to believe those words so desperately.
Still, regardless of that, he intended to receive only the bare minimum of her help. Hiten was not an easy opponent, and he had absolutely no intention of involving Kiana in this matter.
‘But I’ve already received far too much.’
Without Kiana, he probably would not have found the holy relic this easily either.
‘Just in case…’
After hesitating, Cesare slipped a note into the mechanism beneath the goddess statue’s feet. The contents were brief.
He stared at the neatly folded note.
‘If I leave it like this, she’ll lose interest now. She won’t keep tracking me anymore.’
As he was about to stand after leaving the note, he hesitated once more.
‘…Still… if there’s nothing there, would she be very disappointed?’
Either way, thanks to Kiana, he had obtained the holy relic. He was genuinely grateful.
He pulled out a diamond from inside his coat. It was an enormous gemstone with exquisite craftsmanship—clearly valuable to anyone who looked at it.
‘This doesn’t mean anything special. It’s simply a gesture of gratitude. That’s all. I hate owing people, and I only want us to use each other in a clean, uncomplicated way.’
He placed the diamond on top of the note and restored the mechanism to its original state.
Just then, the sound of approaching hoofbeats rang out, and Cesare hurriedly concealed his presence.
At this late hour, the kind of person who would rush all the way to the goddess statue…
‘If it were the young lady, she definitely would’ve come by carriage.’
Just as his body tensed, wondering whether Hiten had already made a move—
“What a terribly low-class place.”
It was Avian’s voice.
“Now that smuggling has been cracked down on, it seems pyramid scheme swindlers are gathering here instead. We should begin inspections in another direction immediately tomorrow.”
“Do as you wish.”
The responding voice sounded utterly lifeless.
Kiana, dressed in a blue checkered dress, accepted Avian’s help and lightly jumped down from the horse.
At that moment, Cesare frowned deeply.
Avian continued in a serious tone.
“You made the right decision calling for me. If you had come with some mediocre escort, something terrible could have happened.”
“Did you really think I’d come to a shady place like this without calling the captain of the guard? My master’s thesis was literally about finding the most efficient optimal solution.”
“Ahem, even so…”
Avian spoke awkwardly.
“You already have a lover, yet you requested my company… so I found it a bit strange. But once I saw the destination, I understood.”
“A lover? You mean Marquis Cesare Levin? Where did you hear that? Rumors spread insanely fast.”
“…My handkerchief was returned from the Levin Marquisate.”
“Oh my, really? He must’ve wanted to announce everywhere that he got himself a smart and pretty high-ranking noble lover. How cute.”
“…Ahaha.”
Avian laughed awkwardly.
Kiana shrugged slightly.
“But Marquis Levin apparently can’t really use his body well. Not just against thugs like these—even ordinary crowds overwhelm him. That’s why I called you instead, Captain.”
Damn it.
Cesare cursed inwardly.
Avian spoke with astonishment.
“No, but despite giving off such a terrifying atmosphere… his aura was practically at Sword Master level.”
“Probably just a common type of bluffing. Anyway, that’s why I asked the captain instead of the marquis.”
Kiana answered casually before glancing up at the moon.
Then she spoke to Avian.
“Um, could you turn around for a moment? Just briefly. I have some personal business.”
“…Yes, understood.”
After that, Kiana pressed the fish-scale carving exactly the way Cesare had done earlier and examined the base with her toes.
Then she discovered Cesare’s note and diamond and let out a deep sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“I came here for nothing.”
Kiana irritably stuffed both the note and diamond into her pocket. Then she pulled out a pen and paper, scribbled something roughly, left it there, and restored the mechanism again.
“You can turn back around now.”
After saying that, she looked up at the sky once more and sighed deeply.
Seeing her dejected expression, Avian spoke comfortingly.
“…So you failed to obtain what you wanted.”
“Yes. It was basically a wasted trip.”
Unlike her troubled expression, her voice remained calm.
Avian cautiously studied her expression before asking,
“Are you alright?”
“Even if I’m not, what can I do? I’m used to failure.”
“…You really didn’t seem like that at all. Back at the clubhouse too.”
“If you aren’t used to failure, how could you possibly do research? You try a hundred times, two hundred times, until it works.”
Kiana answered calmly.
“Until it becomes so exhausting you want to give up, and when that moment comes, you try just one more time again. If you keep trying, things improve at least a little eventually.”
Avian stared at Kiana with a somewhat surprised expression.
“Ah… that’s true. I also… trained like that. Failing again and again.”
“Well, isn’t everyone like that? If you can keep trying, you should see it through to the end.”
“To be honest, I’ve also seen someone who wasn’t.”
“Who?”
“His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Smiling bashfully, Avian continued.
“His Highness was a genius who succeeded in a single attempt at techniques I failed repeatedly.”
His eyes narrowed as he recalled his childhood.
“He was someone who never experienced failure or hardship in life. Everything came easily to him. Everything was simply given to him as a blessing.”
“Ahh. Then why couldn’t he succeed at dieting?”
“Probably because he never felt the need. Even when he was quite chubby, he used his body very well.”
“I see. So he never intended to do it in the first place. Because he was just a genius.”
“I thought Lady Kiana was the same kind of genius, but unexpectedly…”
“Oh, I am a genius. I wasn’t denying that. Anyway, since I failed, let’s go now. There’s nothing more to see here.”
Kiana turned around as if she held no lingering attachment whatsoever.
Then Avian gently grabbed her arm.
“Still, since we came all this way…”
At his subtly tempting tone, Cesare nearly jumped out without realizing it.
But the words that came out of Avian’s mouth were unexpected.
“Why don’t we at least make a wish at the goddess statue before leaving? Earlier, when I overheard the sailors talking, they seemed to believe it was very effective.”
Avian was a far better person than Cesare had expected.
Annoyingly so.
“Ah, well.”
Kiana answered with indifferent eyes.
“I don’t believe in superstition, but since I already came all this way for nothing, maybe I’ll try making one.”
She let out a faint sigh and looked directly at the goddess statue.
The sea breeze swept through her long pink hair.
As she quietly gazed at the statue, she spoke clearly and distinctly.
“Please let His Highness the Crown Prince still be alive.”
At that moment, Cesare swallowed dryly.
With both hands clasped together, Kiana spoke once more.
“Please let His Highness the Crown Prince return safely and ascend the imperial throne without harm.”
In the pitch-black night, beneath the gentle moonlight, a woman stood before the goddess statue with her hands reverently clasped together, praying for his safety.
Cesare thought that he would probably never forget that sight for a very long time.
