Chapter 83 – 83
Having spent the entire night tossing and turning, Euro finally opened his eyes well past lunchtime. He had lived his life as if a single day were never enough, but now, time was the only thing he had in abundance.
The spring festival had ended, and Larry had discovered his secret. There were no more Relics of Yanli to collect, and Melione refused to see him.
Euro’s quarters had been moved to a detached building. The place where Clope had stayed in the novel had now become Euro’s bedroom. Even after moving to the annex, he continued to head to the dining hall every day at lunchtime. However, Melione never came.
Three days passed in this manner. Dent, knowing that Euro remained awake until dawn, pacing throughout the annex, did not bother to wake him.
Instead, he had a servant replace the bedroom curtains with thicker ones. It was for Euro, who only managed to fall asleep around dawn.
“My lord, if you are awake, may I come in for a moment?”
Having barely managed to push himself up in the pitch-black room, Euro answered Dent’s call in a husky voice.
“Yes.”
At Euro’s answer, Dent carefully opened the bedroom door and pulled back the curtains. A flood of sunlight, bright enough to sting the eyes, poured in, causing Euro to frown.
“Did you get some sleep?”
“Yeah, I slept.”
Though he had tossed and turned, waking up intermittently, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t slept at all. However, there was a qualitative difference between sleep at night and sleep during the day.
No matter how much he slept, the fatigue would not fade, and dark shadows hung beneath the eyes of his already gaunt face.
“An invitation has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
At Dent’s words, Euro forced his swollen eyelids open and reached out to him.
“The birthday banquet?”
“Yes.”
Since Euro already knew that a separate contact would come for him, he gave a small nod and took the invitation from Dent.
Moving his hands slowly, Euro opened the envelope and took out the card. As soon as he saw the contents, he let out a small, hollow laugh.
“Euro Leches…”
He already knew this from Clope’s letter, but seeing those words after the [Read on Read BL Novels]turmoil with Melione made him feel as if his body were sinking.
It wasn’t that he had any particular affection for the name ‘Euro Spioren.’ He had never referred to himself as such, nor had there been a reason to.
He was neither Euro Leches nor Euro Spioren. He was simply Kim Euro. Since being possessed into this world, he had lived constantly reminding himself of that one fact.
If he had to act like someone, he wanted to act like ‘Kim Euro.’ Therefore, whatever name was written in such a letter didn’t matter at all.
And yet, for some reason, Euro stared at the name Euro Leches for a long time with a heavy heart. Who am I? Who is the Euro Leches this person is referring to?
Should he answer this summons when he didn’t even know who they wanted? Could he even make it to the capital with the few doses of Larry’s medicine he possessed? What could he possibly gain there?
Euro had neither will nor motivation. Simply surviving had been his entire goal in life, and while he was now in a situation where that could be achieved at any time, a suffocating feeling, like something stuck in his throat, would not go away.
“…What does His Excellency intend to do?”
“Well, according to the head butler, he did not give a definitive answer.”
“Shouldn’t it take about two weeks by carriage from here to the capital? They wouldn’t travel by camping along the way.”
Thinking about it, the invitation arriving now felt somewhat late. There seemed to be some noise regarding the birthday banquet, but as someone in Norden, Euro had no way of knowing.
“The roads from Silon to the capital, Paltrini, are well-maintained, so unauthorized copyit [Read on Read BL Novels]doesn’t take a full two weeks, but as you said, one should leave with that much of a buffer. Just in case.”
“Even if I decide now, the schedule will be tight…”
“What will you do, my lord?”
At Dent’s question, Euro narrowed his brow. Originally, he had things to discuss privately with Gail, so it was a journey he absolutely had to take.
But that was before his health had deteriorated this much, and when the plan was flowing according to his own thoughts.
As it stood now, there was no need to speak with Gail privately, nor did he particularly want to meet him.
Whether Euro chose a life where he simply died here, or followed Larry’s advice and only pretended to be dead, once he stepped out of this narrative, nothing remained but tragedy.
He had no desire to go and witness the final faces of people who would die if left alone, nor was there any meaning in seeing Gail or Clope living and moving about normally.
“I don’t know.”
Euro let out a sigh and gave only a vague answer. He hated the idea of dying like this, but he didn’t want to stand by and watch everyone’s death either.
Larry had said he had no intention of breaking Melione’s curse, but that was one thing, and this was another. In the first place, Melione wasn’t the only one Euro wanted to save.
Furthermore, if he disappeared now, a tragedy worse than death would follow.
The curse placed upon Melione would be used according to the Emperor’s whims, and if that happened, Melione might spend the rest of his days resentful of himself.
He couldn’t let Melione, and certainly not Clope, die by Melione’s side. Even if Melione ultimately failed to break the curse and died, he wanted to rectify that part.
But that was merely Euro’s wish; since there was no certain method, it was meaningless. Dent, seeing the silent Euro, spoke.
“Didn’t you say you had business in the capital? Isn’t it because of the curse?”
“…Rather than calling it a curse…”
“…”
“No, you’re right. That is also a kind of curse.”
It was different in nature from the curse Larry had cast, but in a way, it was also a kind of curse. A curse called fate, which one is forced to be dragged along by unless someone intervenes to change it.
“…In that case, shouldn’t you go, even if only by yourself, my lord?”
At Dent’s words, Euro gazed at him.
“In my heart, I want to stop you, but you cannot simply die like this, can you?”
“…”
“You came to Silon with barely enough travel funds, let alone accompanying servants, and you did so for the sake of others. So, this time, why not go solely for your own sake?”
“…”
“It will not be an easy road, but what does that matter? You have money now, and you have me. The capital is much closer than Silon, and the journey will not be that arduous.”
Dent encouraged Euro cautiously. This was because, over the past few days, Euro had looked like a man who had lost all reasons for living.
The fact that he was destined to die if he couldn’t break the curse hadn’t changed one bit, yet Euro struggled to find motivation. It was as if the claim that he had come this far because he loved Melione were the truth.
Dent could not understand Euro. The more time passed, the more that became true. However, there was one thing he was certain of.
“You will not die, my lord. You told me so yourself.”
At those words, Euro closed his eyes. Dent was right. He would not die. The plan to find a way to survive, no matter what, had been clearly realized.
Though the medicine Larry gave him wasn’t plentiful, it was enough to go to the capital and return if he departed immediately.
If he stopped using his healing ability, [Read on Read BL Novels]he still had time left. He couldn’t spend all that time solely on [stolen content]trying to persuade the stubborn Larry.
If he steadily reduced the scale of the despair given to this world, another way might emerge. Melione’s condition had improved significantly, and there was still time before death.
Above all, he didn’t want to run away from here. He was used to this kind of despair. It had been that way since he was born. A terribly unlucky person—that was who he was.
The problem was that he had thought everything would go smoothly according to his plan from the start. Despite the fact that nothing had ever gone according to plan, he had been overly arrogant about a few pieces of luck.
“Let’s go.”
Euro took a deep breath and spoke as he exhaled. Although there was no clear method yet, he intended to meet Gail for now.
He was someone who knew the original story. Therefore, there were things he could tell Gail. Gail was a smart man; with a few hints, he would be able to find a breakthrough quickly.
“Prepare everything immediately. I must go to the capital.”
At Euro’s words, Dent’s face brightened. He hurried out of the bedroom, and Euro also rose from the bed and stretched his body.
Nothing was over until it was over.
ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ
Sitting in his office, Melione stared blankly at the invitation that had arrived. The invitation sent by [stolen content]Crown Prince Gail contained only his own name.
It meant that the Imperial Family did not recognize the marriage between Euro and himself. Since they had already conveyed that they would not recognize Euro as a member of the Spioren Family, it was nothing unusual.
However, Melione’s expression as he read the invitation was grim. Whether Euro’s name was written here or not, nothing changed.
He had no intention of going to the capital with Euro. In the first place, the last time he had attended Gail’s annual birthday banquet was three years ago.
Yet, he couldn’t understand why he was so angry. Melione irritably set the invitation down, stood up, and leaned against the window.
What he saw there were the servants diligently loading luggage into a carriage, and the figure of Euro.
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