Chapter 329

Oblivious, Yanghwa tightly gripped Julius’s hand, tears in her eyes. She promised to come back and play with him, urging him to stay healthy and avoid harm.

As a result, the precious manuscript in Jungyeonhae’s hand got crumpled.

Loving without interference… As with the original plot, appeared to be a challenging endeavor.  Julius had to overcome as large as five great mountains to embark on his 100-year journey with Yanghwa.

“Dalia, I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you. Because I couldn’t be of strength… Friends are supposed to be there for you and give you strength when you’re having a hard time,” Yanghwa said, tears welling up.

I smiled and replied, “I don’t want to see my friend hurt, so the Princess should return to her family, where she’s safe and sound and where she’ll be loved and cared for.”

“And you, Dalia?”

“I’ll be happy here.”

“You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie?”

“It hurts.”

I remained silent.

“You’re sick right now.”

Teardrops glistened in her big, deer-like eyes. Despite sensing a magical aura from me each time, she had refrained from mentioning it until now.

Yanghwa reached out her small hand, holding mine tightly. Her hands were smooth and fair, bearing faint traces of the hardships she had endured in recent years.

As I blankly stared at the hand caressing the back of mine, Yanghwa gazed into my eyes with her deep, dark brown eyes, making me forget that she was actually two years younger than me.

‘When it hurts, it’s okay to say it hurts. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Of course, don’t worry.”

“But… Dalia.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“You smile as if you’ll disappear.”

“…”

“Why are you saying goodbye as if there will never be a next time?”

“Princess—”

“Why are you in more pain than before?”

“It’s because you’re worried, Princess. I’m perfectly fine. I’m used to being this sick, I don’t feel a thing.”

‘……Dalia.’

Yanghwa once told me she could feel terrible pain in my magic. She’d said it was terrible enough to make her cringe and run from it, but had it gotten worse?

I had a bad taste in my mouth because too much had happened to say nothing had happened. Hiding it from Yanghwa, who already had a vague idea of what I’d been through, wouldn’t help.

Despite what she says, she’s not a child.

Since she was a child, she has felt the magic that everyone has, the emotions that each magic emanates, and she has felt all kinds of things, and she may have become an adult before anyone else.

So it’s hard to hide everything from her.

“You know what? Even if it hurts, even if it hurts…… even if it’s really terrible, the one who smiles at the end is the happy one.”

“…”

“So just smile and wait.”

“…”

“It hurts, but it won’t be the last time.”

It was nothing more than soothing words, but Yanghwa sobbed and let go of my hand.

Of course, she made me promise to break her pinky finger. She really thought I was going to break it.

Julius, watching from the sidelines, turned a little blue.

“Countess, are you ready?”

Since Mimi was not around, I had left the dressing up to her maids and was dazed to my heart’s content. I blinked and came to my senses when I heard Barristan’s call.

Before I knew it, the maids were already standing in the distance with the last piece of my outfit, my robes.

“Yes, it’s done.”

At the word “done,” Barristan opened the door and walked in.

I donned the robe I’d worn when I was taken to the Knights once before.

I’d been forced to discard the robe after the beating I’d taken. It had been a gift from Kaichen, and he liked the design, so when I missed it, Kaichen gave him another identical one.

When I asked him if he had only prepared one set, he casually answered that he had only prepared a few extra sets since I had a lot of accidents and got dirty.

Why didn’t he give me several from the beginning if that’s the case? What was he thinking, giving them one at a time?

When I stared at him wordlessly, unable to understand his intentions, Kaichen looked away and said.

“I like it a lot, so I thought it would be a shame if it got spoiled or damaged, so I tried to replace it.”

At first, I tried to ask what that meant, but I kept my mouth shut when I saw his blushing earlobes. My racing heart told me I shouldn’t tease him with my words.

I exhaled slowly, and this time, my face turned bright red. He said I loved it so much that if it got ruined or worn out, he would secretly try to replace it with a new one.

God, you crazy man. Doing something so cute without any shame.

“Ugh.”

I giggled, and Barristan coughed, snapping me back to reality.

I managed to keep a straight face and put on my robes. They felt comfortable, and the design was beautiful. I felt like I was wearing a dress.

It was very hot, so I wore wide shorts above my knees and boots covering my calves. If the robe didn’t have temperature control, I wouldn’t have worn it, no matter how nice and pretty it was.