Chapter 300

Chapter 300

Translator: yun

I stopped in my tracks.

I thought I had heard her wrong. But looking back at her, Rebecca’s expression gave me the answer.

“Are you surprised I brought it up?”

“... No.”

She let out a low laugh. Her cold expression relaxed momentarily, making her look a little wistful.

“Mistress. I recognise your loss. And I hold the dead close to my heart. I had said it in place of those who are not here.”Rread latest chapters at novelhall.com

She looked into the far distance.

“I hope you think the same, mistress.”

“I... do.”

“Yes.”

Rebecca smiled before walking away. Lowering her eyes, the sorrow she displayed a moment earlier had disappeared. I would not grow by cowering in sadness. Neither would I grow by moving past it. I had to calmly acknowledge it. That seemed to be what Rebecca was trying to convey as she walked away.

“I have gotten everything ready. You may leave with the patrols.”

“What about you, Rebecca?”

“I’m thinking of heading somewhere for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“To be exact, I was planning on meeting someone.”

A moment later, she spoke to me again in front of the carriage.

“Mistress. What family do I hail from? What kind of templar is my father?”

“... The Duke of Aventa is a Templar of the Sword. But why are you asking?”

“My father had an older sister though she was not that much older than him. She was my aunt.”

I listened to her wordlessly, not understanding why she suddenly brought this up.

“She was once a Templar of the Sword who was more skilful than any other but she had one day disappeared, defying an Imperial Command. But I heard from her the other day.”

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Marissa. She no longer wishes to be called by her last name.”

I widened my eyes.

“I plan on asking her to return to her family.”

I widened my eyes. (1) I wasn’t surprised to find out that the Saintess Marissa was Rebecca’s aunt. Because I already knew that. But I was surprised to see Rebecca bring this up. Ever since she had opened her heart to me, she had never talked much about her family.

“... What if she doesn’t want to return?”

Rebecca seemed to ponder for a while before saying.

“If she doesn’t, I’ll ask her to teach me.”

Her red hair shook vigorously like a blazing flame in front of my eyes.

“You want to learn swordsmanship?”

Black eyes met mine in the midst of the swirling winds.

“No.”

Hairs of two different colours intermingled in the air. My heart was thumping loudly.

“Swordsmanship was not the only area she excelled in.”

Rebecca did not speak any further. She said she would tell me when she had the chance.

“No law in the Empire bans women from becoming dukes.”

Her blacks eyes glistened like black stones embedded in white snow.

“The coup had only brought losses. To the patrols and to me too.”

Was it because she was glowing like fireworks that my surroundings were blurring? Her smile was cold but her gaze remained clear.

“But time moves forward without giving time to grief. Perhaps the world would change according to what you do now.”

As the carriage began to move forward, Rebecca slowly edged away.

I thought he was smiling but instead he was staring at me. HIs eyes then widened.

“You said you were a maid?”

“Huh? Yes.”

Why did he look so shocked?

The corners of most princes’ eyes were slightly raised. Fleon, Amor and Dane’s eyes were like that.

Though it made them look like various breeds of cats.

But Julian’s felt quite different. The corners of his eyes dropped softly, drawing a gentle brow line and his nose was sharp and prominent without taking away from the rest of his face, blending into the rest of his features harmoniously. Perhaps it was because he was smiling but despite wearing tattered clothes, just curling his eyes alleviated him out of his shabbiness.

‘So, his good looks weren’t for naught.’

Being one of the main characters in the story, he was indeed beautiful. I understood why he was praised but I was not impressed.

‘But why does he still look so shocked?’

Even with that calm smile, he still looked surprised. Julian slowly held his forehead.

“You’re a maid?”

His eyes were dark brown like the colour of the soil after rainfall. Confusion was swirling within them.

“Impossible. Why are you just talking to me like this? Did something come up?”

“... Do you know me?”

“How could I not? You’re my only sister. The sole Imperial princess.”

Eyes of different colours faced each other. Goosebumps dotted my skin. How did he recognise me?

“Ashley. I’m meeting you again. It’s nice to see you.”

He spoke as if he knew me very well. I retreated a step when I saw him waving his hand as if we had met before.

“How do you know me? I don’t think we’ve ever seen each other.”

“You’re not wrong, are you?”

I had never meant to hide who I was anyway. I had been planning on keeping this pretence until the opportune time arrived.

“Don’t you remember? I can recognise you from first glance.”

“Through what?”

He could have recognised me through the colour of my hair or my eyes. But it felt different. He was acting friendly with me as if we had met before.

“Speak clearly. I don’t like people beating around bushes.”

“Oh my... You really don’t remember, do you? I thought you would have a vague recollection of it.”

He smiled awkwardly.

“I had even given you a gift. So, I thought you’d remember.”

“A gift?”

“Yeah. On the day of the Founding Festival, I had gone out with my Templars of Wisdom. To buy a little something. And there you were, with the desert princess and, for some reason, the Prince of Walter.”

As he spoke, I recalled the past. And I soon realised what he had been referring to.

“If we meet again, shall we have a meal together?”

“A meal? You don’t have to...”

“Fate flows in accordance with the gods’ will.”

“... Are you flirting with me?”

A long time ago, before the [Primo Salvatio], Prince Cjezarn insisted on being given a stage tour which was why we went on one along with Ahasia. And the man I happened to meet at the stall.

“Does fate have to involve a relationship between man and woman?”

His face overlapped with Julian’s.

“... Ahasia’s necklace?”

“Ah. So, it was the desert princess’, right?”

Julian gave a slight smile. He had given me such a weak first impression that I could have never imagined him to be the leader of such a huge faction at the time.

“So, you’re saying that that pushover was you?”

T/N:

(1): The author repeated this twice. Not sure if it was a mistake but I left it in just in case.