Chapter 58

Chapter 58

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For some reason I had difficulty falling asleep that night.

Since the main guests from all five clans had been in attendance at the second night’s banquet, rumor had it that the feast had been far more festive than the previous evening. Of course, there were those like me who had yet to participate in any of the goodwill gatherings and social festivities.

Nevertheless, I suspected that almost everyone who had come to Yggdrasil castle would make an appearance at the banquet on the final night. According to the butterfly I had dispatched to the event hall, Sylvia had been the talk of the evening. With those locks as silver as moonlight and eyes that twinkled gold like far-off stars, she was indeed a lovely creature to behold by any account. But in the midst of all the scenes my butterfly showed me from that evening, one in particular caught me so off guard that I actually laughed out loud.

It appeared that Jeremy had attended the event that night. I can only assume he had become curious about Cassis’ sister, but his reaction upon seeing her had been...

“Damn it! She’s the spitting image of that Blue son of a bitch. Blegh!”

To say he had been fiercely critical would be an understatement. His reaction was the complete opposite to his lovestruck character from the novel.

I really couldn’t stop laughing at his comment, or at how his face had appeared all crumpled up like waste paper upon seeing her. It was safe to say that the Jeremy of my current timeline was unlikely to fall in love with, let alone abduct, the Blue Heiress.

Luzark Castro had also caught sight of her from the corner of his eye, then briefly grimaced. I, however, didn’t detect any sort of animosity in his gaze as he had seemed to have toward me. Noel Vertium had once again remained in his room without making the slightest effort to socialize. Lante had tried to lure him out, but the Gold clan leader flat-out refused to leave his room.

“Thank you. That will be all for now.”

I decided to stop reviewing that night’s events a bit earlier than I had originally intended, then sent my butterfly back to its post in the event hall. The main reason was that the more I used them, the more of a toll it would take on my body, and it was already quite late.

By then, Yggdrasil castle had fallen almost completely silent since almost everyone had seemed to have gone to bed. I, however, just couldn’t manage to fall asleep. Without warning, Sylvia’s image came to mind. Then before long, I recalled the face of another who bore a resemblance to her.

I decided to get out of my bed and leave my room. It had been unseasonably warm that day, but the night air was quite chilly. I soon realized that I probably should have worn my cloak, but ultimately decided not to bother with it as I hadn’t planned on staying outside for very long. Once outside, I noticed there were still some guest rooms with lit windows. One of which I knew belonged to Roussel Pedelian.

It was already past four in the morning, so I pondered over why he hadn’t yet gone to sleep. But then I almost immediately recalled what I myself was doing and abandoned the thought.

After staring at his window a bit longer, I returned to my night stroll. Yggdrasil in the dead of night truly was an eerily quiet place. Perhaps it was the overwhelming silence, but the castle’s atmosphere seemed more austere and heavier than it had during the day.

“So he is still alive,” I whispered to no one as I passed the curtain of tall grass by the roadside.

I approached the nearest cluster of trees, then sat against one of their heavy trunks. While there, I noticed a plant adorned with red berries on the ground that I had chanced upon the year prior when I had come to the same spot for some fresh air. It was a toxic specimen and a rather unexpected discovery considering where I was. All the same, its poison was fairly mild. I had presumed it was probably only potent enough to give someone an upset stomach. Still, seeing them around did bring me a sense of peace.

I then exhaled loudly which caused a flowery haze to materialize out of thin air before me. I was uncertain as to why, but my mind had been wandering rather aimlessly that night.

The story only began in the novel after Sylvia turned 18, but the actual turn of events had proven quite different from what I remembered reading. For one thing, her brother Cassis was still alive. He had safely escaped from the Agreces’ clutches and remained out of the public eye since then.

That was the main reason Lante continued to believe that Cassis was really dead. In that moment, I grinned as I imagined what my father’s face would look like once he finally came face-to-face with Cassis again. I was certain it would be one of the most amusing moments in my life.

Suddenly, I heard a faint clip-clop of horse hooves in the distant night air. Then as the rattle of a carriage came to a standstill, I glimpsed a figure clad all in black step out. Whoever the newcomer was had kept their hood up, so the only distinguishing feature I managed to spot was a sharp chin protruding from the shadows.

And as they appeared to be tall and muscular, it was clear the figure was a man. The moonlight seemed to be sharpening his razor-like chin.

I presumed it was Deon and frowned automatically. It wasn’t as if I knew anyone else with such a physique to keep my thoughts from unhappily settling on him. And what was more, the man seemed to be exuding an aura of invincibility. The weight of his presence alone felt as though it was pressing down on the air around him, which was not a characteristic just anyone possessed.

Despite anticipating his eventual arrival, I had tasked him with a rather difficult assignment, so I had hoped he would have taken much longer to arrive. Without any other visible details, I found myself thinking how thoroughly bothersome Deon’s mere presence was.

Having coolly assessed the man, I turned my head in the opposite direction as he proceeded to come toward me. Suffice to say I hadn’t wanted him to know that I had taken notice of him. I had hoped to avoid talking to him if possible since doing so would only disrupt my calm. But per usual, Deon chose to trample that hope into the dirt.

I listened as his footsteps plodded down the path toward the trees I was amongst, before stopping abruptly a little ways behind me. Then there was an unexpected rustle of fabric, which I had taken to mean he had turned toward me. I was already well aware that Deon possessed outstanding night vision, so it came as no surprise that he had picked me out in the darkness and for whatever reason continued to bore into me. Before long, the plod of his heavy footfalls resumed behind me as he seemed to be closing in.

Unable to hold my breath any longer, I exhaled my exasperation.

“Honestly, when will you ever just leave me be?”

I had spoken under my breath, but he halted abruptly as if he had heard.

In that moment, I was sure he was the devil! I had been as quiet as a field mouse, so what else could explain how he had managed to spot me so instantaneously? Honestly, he had been dogging me for so long at that point that I suppose I shouldn’t have been all that surprised.

“How sick must you make me before you’re satisfied? I told you that I do not wish to see your face! Just how many times must I waste my breath reminding you of that?”

That inexplicable obsession of his really did disgust me, and I was certain that he knew as much. I didn’t so much wish to lay eyes on him or even his shadow, so I kept my back to him and my gaze down.

“Just go, Deon. I don’t want to hear a single word from you. It’s a rare night for me as I’ve actually managed not to be in a foul mood.”

Had it been any other time, I might have been nastier to him, but I really didn’t feel like dealing with him that night. All I had wanted was to enjoy the peaceful night and not have to waste my energy on Deon Agrece.

The air had gone silent behind me. In fact, it was so still that I couldn’t be sure if he was still standing there or had long gone.

Step, step.

To my frustration, the sound of his footsteps resumed. From that close up, there was no doubt he was heading toward me. I could feel myself on the brink of bursting as I began to scold him even more.

“Didn’t I just tell you not to come any clos—?!”

Fwoosh.

The feeling of warm fabric enveloping me from head to toe cut me off mid rant. The heat radiated through all the frozen portions of my body. I suddenly found myself unable to even stir.

I looked down to see that the item providing me with so much warmth was the man’s cloak. I was surprised at how much the weight of the fabric seemed to be pressing down on my shoulders. Even though I recognized the familiar scent from the cloak’s inner lining, I still found myself unable to move. I simply sat there against the trunk of the tree unable to do anything more than breathe as I couldn’t so much as wiggle my own toe.

Then I blinked as the chirp of a grasshopper shook me from my stupor. I stood up quickly from my tree seat and searched the area behind me but found that whoever had been there only moments ago was already long gone. All that remained was the cool air lingering in the place he had stood.

“That... wasn’t Deon.”

The certainty of that thought left me with only one abundantly obvious truth.