CH 35

“What? Sir Vernon?”

Davan’s words felt out of the blue.

Why is Vernon mentioned here? Who else is this ‘Sir Vernon’ if not Cadel Vernon?

“There’s nothing between us.”

Anyway, as soon as Cadel’s name came up, I drew a line firmly.

I had nothing to do with Cadel. I just wanted to save myself as much as possible by avoiding bumping into him.

“You seemed quite close.”

Davan’s eyes opened slowly.

“It was a coincidence.”

I passed on it as if it was insignificant.

I helped the horse and pretended to be nice, but what the hell is this…

I was completely convinced by today’s work.

No matter what happens, I will never have anything to do with Cadel Vernon again, and I’ll have to stop pretending to be nice.

“If it was just a coincidence…”

Davan, who was crossing his legs, twitched his toes briefly.

“Would you greet each other in such a friendly way?”

I can’t believe you said we were greeting each other in a friendly way.

Who? Me and Cadel Vernon?

I was wondering how he thought of it that way.

‘Aah…’

At that time, I suddenly remembered the last image of Cadel.

I was very nervous but was also flattered to see him waving his palms.

‘Well, it was cute.’

It was enough to give about +1 point to my favorability toward Cadel, which had been constantly gaining negative points.

When did Davan see it again?

“I know that much.”

I answered with my back straight.

“…”

Davan tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand what I said.

“I know why Sir Vernon is being friendly to me.”

There was no way I didn’t know what he was worried about right now.

He must be worried that the fiancee of the ‘Duke Khajans’ is leaking any information.

“What is the purpose?”

Davan asked in affirmation.

I shrugged my shoulder once with a relaxed expression.

“When Sir Vernon asked if we knew each other well, I didn’t say anything.”

“…”

“Because I know what he wanted to know from the question.”

Davan’s expression that didn’t leave me was strange.

He seemed to be wondering what to say and at first glance, his eyes seemed to harden.

“I’m not thoughtless enough to talk about useless things.”

As if telling him not to worry, I spoke a little more clearly.

I was the one who knew more about Cadel than anyone else.

I knew who Cadel was and what his future would be like.

Above all else, it was me who wanted to get away from Cadel more than anyone else. Me!

“Really?”

I thought that if I nailed it this much, Davan would pass without saying much.

But Davan’s gaze remained pretty persistent on my face.

“You think that’s all there is?”

Huh? My eyes wandered for a moment at the unexpected question.

‘Isn’t that all?’

His words seemed to imply that there was more to it.

No way…

Maybe there’s something else I haven’t noticed with Cadel?

“What else could there be?”

Davan looked at me for a moment as I tilted my head, then turned his eyes to the air.

“I don’t think that’s all.”

His voice was dry. So much so that I didn’t know what it means.

‘So what is it?’

Could it be that you felt the bloodthirst hidden in Cadel’s eyes that I didn’t feel?

— I don’t believe in the truth.

— I think the people of the region will feel most secure when you, and not the court, protect the South.

I remembered what I had dared to say to Cadel.

My vision was clouded by itself.

Now I had nothing to say if Cadel wanted to get rid of me without even realizing it.

‘That goodbye… Was that really a goodbye?’

Was Cadel’s waving hand supposed to me the “last” greeting from him?

One last goodbye before being thrown into hell.

‘Ugh.’

Once again, I became somber.

Even Davan is worried about my life…

Would it have been better to quietly go down to the South and get ripped off by monsters?

‘This is exactly how I feel right now.’

I swallowed my tears as I watched the rain dripping out of the window. Sob.

Familiar landscapes flashed before my eyes.

All of a sudden, the carriage was leaving the ecliptic.

“Where the hell is the Phantom Palace?”

Magnificent and familiar fortress walls caught my eye.

But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t figure out where we went in and where we came out.

I understand that we moved using magic, but…

I wondered what the Phantom Palace would look like from the outside.

“It is really good.”

The memory of the place overlapped when I saw the leaves swaying in the wind.

A place where one couldn’t even hear the grass rustling in the wind.

“Especially when you can’t hear anything…”

At first, I lost interest in thinking that it was all a magical landscape.

An uninteresting landscape with no sound, no scent, no substance.

But as time went on, it got better.

That feeling of being able to hear my voice completely without any interruption.

“Everything is blocked there.”

With his head against the wall, Davan looked at me softly and said.

“You can see the outside from the inside, but you can’t see or hear the inside from the outside.”

“Oh, so we can’t see it from here now?”

Davan nodded his head.

“Because it is a space created to be disconnected from the world.”

“Mm…”

I wondered why I couldn’t see it.

I thought only the inside was magic, but the palace itself was magic.

‘So all sounds coming from outside were blocked.’

If it was visible, I thought there would be a transparent film like a vinyl house.

Where there’s a world I want if I enter.

‘Is everything okay?’

I didn’t understand the Emperor, who barely decorated the garden in it.

“It’s the perfect place. It’s a world where we can only see what we want.”

The words that I had only thought about in my mind leaked out without me knowing.

“It’s a world that doesn’t exist.”

At some point, Davan was looking out the window.

“That’s why it’s an illusion.”

It was a dull tone.

I couldn’t tell what kind of expression he had because I could only see the side view.

An illusion.

It was a strange word.

You can’t see the inside from the outside, but you can see the outside from the inside.

A place hidden from the world.

Where no noise can be heard beyond the border.

‘A rustic garden.’

It was only the Emperor’s illusion.

It was the Emperor’s wonderland that had been secretly hidden from the world.

“Not knowing what’s going on outside.”

The rain that could be seen through the window was getting stronger.

There was no wind, so I had no idea it was raining like this.

“In the Phantom Palace, I couldn’t hear the rain…”

I paused for a moment.

‘That’s right. If it had been outside, I wouldn’t have been able to hear it.’

The conversation I had with Raoul flashed through my mind.

— Is the forest outside magic, too?

— Oh, not over there. That is an ordinary garden.

The place that Raoul said he had gone on reconnaissance was an outer forest.

A place where even cats can come in and eat fruits, leaving footprints.

In other words, it was a world outside the Phantom Palace, and there was no magic. It’s a world, not an illusion.

— Rustle.

— Ugh!

With each memory, I frowned even more.

“Davan. There was definitely a sound.”

“…”

As soon as I threw the conclusion, Davan looked at me as if asking what I meant.

“I heard that strange sound three times.”

“Sure.”

Sure? Sureee???

He seemed to think I was bragging because I heard it three times.

Oh, this is frustrating.

“Raoul said it sounds like a cat that came down to the forest outside to eat fruit and make a noise.”

As I stomped slightly, Davan’s gaze followed my movement and then came up to my face.

“But there is no magic there. It’s the real world.”

“…”

“There is no way that sound could have even reached my ears inside the Phantom Palace.”

Davan just watched me who was getting a little carried away with folded arms.

He didn’t look surprised and didn’t look like he was thinking.

‘What? Don’t you think it’s creepy?’

There was no response, so I went crazy.

“The sound wasn’t caused by a cat.”

I raised my voice in frustration.

But Davan only narrowed his eyes for a moment as if it was noisy.

“Huu.”

I took a deep breath to calm the excitement.

“The sound definitely came from inside the Phantom Palace.”

“I guess so.”

Davan’s expression darkened.

I was embarrassed enough that my face flushed red.

But ‘I guess so’? What do you mean?

The whole thing could have been a coincidence. But it was clear that Raoul lied to me, to everyone.

What was he trying to hide by making excuses?

“In the end, there was an intruder.”

I confessed bluntly, but Davan didn’t look surprised.

“I’m sure he’s one of the insiders.”

He was looking at me with a pretty playful look.

Wait, I feel like he’s teasing me…

‘No way.’

Did everyone know except me?

I felt like jumping out of the wobbly carriage.

“I already knew that Raoul was lying.

“We knew.”

Davan smiled coolly.