Chapter 319

Chapter 319

Exchetra knew what people were saying about her, but she didn’t care. She simply found it convenient and preferable if people thought carefully and approached her cautiously.

She placed her palm against the warm glass bathed in sunlight. The temperature on the glass was warm for a moment, only to quickly turn cold again.

“Asta.”

At Exchetra’s call, Asta quietly approached.

His arm hadn’t fully recovered from Dalia‘s attack, and it trembled slightly, though it wasn’t noticeable. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but he always hid his hand when he was in front of Exchetra.

As he bowed his head, his injured hand still behind him, Exchetra spoke.

“Do you think the beauty of the world is worth it?”

“Should it be beautiful?”

“Hoo-hoo, I’m reminded of the fool who thought the world was beautiful and wanted everyone to know it.”

“…”

“Even after sacrificing family and friends to make the world more beautiful, in the end, he was a lonely child who cried and cried because no one understood him.”

Exchetra recalled the content she had read in the epilogue after the novel’s completion. She hadn’t forgotten the story for a single moment. She mulled over it every day, fearing she might forget it with the passage of time.

She didn’t want to leave a single gap nor make any mistake.

“I wish I could genuinely feel the beauty of the world.”

“…Do you want to see the beauty of the world, or do you wish the world was beautiful?”

“Um.”

Exchetra slowly withdrew her hand front he window. She rubbed her fingers together against the chill that lingered in her fingertips.

The sunlight was warm, the garden beautiful, and the surroundings were quiet and peaceful. However, Exchetra couldn’t fully appreciate them.

“I…”

If she could look at it with pure eyes, she wouldn’t be in this situation now.

Exchetra thought there might have been a time in her past when she felt that way. A time when some human in her remained.

Was there? Ironically, it didn’t come to mind.

Old memories were hazy as if she had erased them herself. While she perfectly remembered events from her past life and the novel, why did Exchetra’s original memories gradually become fuzzy?

Was it because she became Exchetra, born and raised in this world? If not, then who had she become?

Is it because she was no longer the original Exchetra, but her former self. And if not that, who was she then?

“Maybe I want to shatter the beauty of the world.”

She couldn’t see it, nor feel it.

She wanted to mock the foolish Blue Dragon for every choice he made. If he hadn’t fallen in love with the beauty of the world in the first place, there would never have been a dirty, ugly human in a beautiful world.

“I don’t know…… what I wanted to do.”

With clouded eyes, she stared blankly at the snapdragons swaying in the wind.

Was she a transmigrated soul or the Princess Exchetra? Did she want to become the emperor or not? Did she want to win the battle, or she didn’t care? Did she want to change fates, to twist it?

Her purpose changed every time. To this day, she didn’t know what she was aiming for.

The blazing flame in her heart’s core seemed to yearn for destruction. So that no one would ever be able to laugh.

If she couldn’t see the world for its beauty, neither could anyone else. Everything had to be destroyed.

Exchetra licked her red lips and smiled. It was a cruel smile.

“Let’s go, Asta. Whenever I see their miserable, distorted faces, I might feel that this world is beautiful too.”

The plan was complete.

She knew that Jungyeonhae had come, and with him, the story related to the blue dragon. When she thought of Dalia, who now knew the truth, Exchetra smiled.

How would she squirm and thwart her plans? She was looking forward to it. No matter what she did, it was useless.

“Summon all of the Momalhaut of Heulin. Remember to drug every last one of them.”

“Yes.”

As Exchetra was about to leave the garden, she stopped and turned back.

Asta was unfazed by the sudden halt, and he naturally bowed. His hands, still trembling, remained uncovered.

Exchetra scanned Asta with narrowed eyes, extending her left hand slowly.

“Greet me.”

“…”

Knowing that she wouldn’t repeat herself, Asta hesitated only for a moment before slowly extending the hand he had been concealing.

He received Exchetra’s delicate left hand as if it were a sacred chalice, cradling it with both hands. Despite the visible trembling, Asta, without any change in expression, bent one knee, bowed his body, and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

The genteel and almost sacred kiss continued, and he slowly lifted his head.

With long eyelashes covering his eyes and the sunlight streaming in through the window, his face looked almost like that of an angelic being.

Asta raised his unwavering gaze to Exchetra and spoke.

“May the protection of the blue dragon continue.”

A deep smile adorned Exchetra’s face.

* * *

When I recovered from the dizziness, I was already inside the body of someone called ‘Exchetra Kalhai.’

I stood in front of the mirror, offended that my reflection was that of a giddy little child, but at the same time, a small sense of relief washed over me that it wasn’t the same one I saw every morning.