Chapter 96 – 96
Clutching the handkerchief that was completely soaked with tears, Clope finally stopped crying and cautiously spoke to Euro, who was gazing at her in silence.
“Father is here in the capital.”
At Clope’s words, Euro blinked in surprise.
“He doesn’t know you’re in the capital?”
“He does.”
“Then why did he come himself instead of just sending my brother…?”
The Emperor had likely sent the invitation directly to the King of Norden. Since it was impossible to know what might happen at the birthday banquet, he probably hoped the King would come in person to handle any situation that might arise.
A prince would have been sufficient for such an occasion, but the Emperor would not have permitted that. However, since Gail had insisted on bringing Clope to the capital, it would have been better for the King to avoid appearing at the banquet if possible.
The King was not someone who would be unaware of that, so why [stolen content]unauthorized copydid he come to the capital himself? Gail wouldn’t have wanted this either. Euro narrowed his eyes.
“He said he wanted to see you.”
“What?”
“He must be worried. You left so suddenly without even saying goodbye.”
However, Euro let out a hollow laugh at Clope’s words. Worry? That was absurd.
“I feel bad saying this, but Sister… worry? You know better than anyone that he’s not that kind of person.”
“I’m sorry. I told him everything.”
“What?”
“…You know.”
“What are you talking about? What did you tell him?”
Euro looked completely bewildered, [unauthorized copy]and at this, Clope [visit our site][Read on Read BL Novels]seemed greatly flustered and remained silent for a moment.
Seeing her reaction, Euro felt even stranger. Had there been something important in the conversations he’d had with Clope? No matter how much he searched his memories, nothing came to mind.
At most, it had been trivial small talk shared over meals. He couldn’t tell her that he was a possessor, nor could he speak of the intimate inner workings of Euro Leches’ life.
Therefore, there were no secrets Clope could have relayed to the King, and even if she had shared their casual conversations, it wasn’t something she needed to apologize for.
So why was Clope hesitating to speak, glancing at him so tentatively? Euro pressed her for an answer.
“I’m asking what you’re talking about.”
“…About what happened a few months before you went to Silon.”
At Clope’s words, Euro closed his mouth and let out a long sigh. A few months before going to Silon—exactly when was that?
It was difficult to gauge whether it was before or after his possession. If she was talking about something from before the possession, it was even more troublesome since he had no knowledge of it.
“Do you really not remember? You’re not just pretending not to know?”
“….”
“How could you… No, that’s right. It’s possible. You didn’t wake up for two days.”
Clope muttered to herself while Euro remained silent, then finally met his eyes as if she had made a decision. However, she hesitated for a long time, unable to bring herself to say it, before her lips finally trembled.
“…You took medicine. You took pills.”
“Medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Why would…?”
“You took a huge amount.”
Only then did Euro understand Clope’s words. In other words, Euro Leches had attempted to take his own life a few months ago.
“When you woke up, I hugged you and sobbed. You must remember that.”
“….”
“But when you woke up, you looked so vacant that I couldn’t bring myself to ask why you did it. For a few days after that, you were dazed, and you didn’t even come to see me, as if you had become a different person…”
As Clope added these words in a murmur, Euro finally remembered exactly when she was referring to.
For a moment, his head felt numb, as if someone had struck the back of his skull with a hammer. If his memory served him, it was immediately after he had possessed the body.
When he woke up, he found himself in a space that looked like a drama set, and a strange woman wearing a dress that looked like a stage costume had suddenly hugged him and wailed, leaving him completely disoriented.
“On the day you told Father you would go to Silon in my place, I went to see him separately and told him what had happened to you.”
“….”
“That he must never let you go… because I felt like I understood why you wanted to go to Silon instead of me.”
Clope’s face crumbled once again. But Euro remained half-dazed, unable to even comfort her.
‘So, the moment I was stabbed to death, Euro Leches died too?’
Euro muttered inwardly. It was an unbelievable story. He [unauthorized copy]couldn’t understand why Euro Leches would [visit our site]have tried to end his own life.
If this world were a novel, his death would not have been permitted. He was one of the pawns that had to move according to the flow of the story—the narrative.
Of course, since that was a point in time before the novel’s main events began, it was possible he simply didn’t know Euro Leches’ past settings.
Still, Euro couldn’t believe it. The Euro Leches he knew was not the type of person to make such a choice.
He would have rather killed someone else; this was nonsensical. But at the same time, a thought occurred to Euro.
‘What do I even know about Euro Leches to conclude that it’s nonsensical?’
Did he truly know what kind of person the real Euro Leches was, rather than the version in the novel? No, he absolutely did not.
Hadn’t even Melione frequently shown a side different from the novel? The relationship between Gail and the Emperor was the same.
With this, Euro realized. It was no longer feasible to interpret this world solely with the information he possessed. He didn’t truly know anyone.
He only knew the absolute worst endings that awaited the people here.
ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ
Melione looked at the man sitting before him, feeling the throbbing headache gradually subside.
Recently, his condition had been so good that he could have believed the curse had vanished entirely, but since entering the capital, he felt his state slowly deteriorating.
Of course, that wasn’t strange. Just a few months ago, it had been a miracle that he was even holding on with his sanity intact. Come to think of it, the fact that his condition had improved so much was the stranger part.
Compared to the amount of time he had spent suffering, this level of pain didn’t even qualify as “hurting,” but the problem was that this pain was a rarity.
If the pain had been constant, his current state would have been preferable. He might have even felt that his headache was milder today than usual.
However, having experienced a healthy body—albeit briefly—through the healing ability, Melione could no longer brush off the sudden onset of a headache as he once had.
“…Your name is Rayley?”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Melione pressed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut before opening them. When he began to groan and complain of pain, Raymond had urgently started searching for a physician.
In truth, there wasn’t much a physician could do even if they came. Since the cause of the stolen contentpain was a curse, what medicine could possibly solve it?
That was why the Spioren Dukedom did not employ a permanent physician. They simply called someone as needed or ordered medicine.
However, when traveling long distances like this, they usually hired a physician to accompany them, even if they weren’t of much help. There was still a difference between having one and not.
This time, because Euro was present, they hadn’t bothered to bring a physician, and Raymond had not expected such a thing to happen while Euro was away.
Consequently, he had hurriedly brought a physician practicing in the capital, and that was the man now before Melione, named Rayley.
“The medicine seems to be working.”
Melione spoke in a low voice, exhaling slowly. Usually, the headache medication provided by physicians had almost no effect. Even if it did, it was negligible.
But the medicine this man, Rayley, had given him made the pain diminish noticeably shortly after taking it. It was surprising.
“I am glad it is effective. It seems you have had something on your mind recently that has caused significant stress.”
“….”
“Forgive my presumption, but the medicine I gave you is not related unauthorized copyto visit our sitethat… curse you possess.”
At Rayley’s words, Melione blinked slowly. In other words, the fact that the medicine worked meant that the cause of the headache Melione was currently suffering from was not the curse.
“You may take one pill every six hours. If it feels like it’s not working, you may take one more, but the maximum is two pills. After that, you must not take any more until six hours have passed.”
“I would also like a prescription for sleeping pills.”
“How much do you usually sleep?”
At Rayley’s question, Melione narrowed his eyes. Based on recent days, he slept about five hours a day, so he wasn’t at a point where he desperately needed sleeping pills.
However, now that the headaches had started, there was no guarantee he could sleep as he had before. Rayley said it didn’t seem to be because of the curse, but that was not something he could be certain of.
Just as his body had suddenly improved for no apparent reason, the medicine might be working this time for no particular reason either. Though he had lived his entire life with the curse, Melione knew nothing about it.
“It’s not that my sleep time is short, but…”
“….”
“I keep dreaming, as if I’m sleeping too lightly.”
Melione was staring into the air, as if looking at someone beyond Rayley.
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