Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Translator: yun

As time passed them by, the two that were constantly burdened by their lives met. 

The lives of the one who was facing death and the one who had died multiple times before were surprisingly similar. Thus, causing them to evoke compassion and sympathy for each other, eventually leading them to lean on each other. 

Once waiting endlessly while being trapped in a locked room became lovely to him, her voice, gaze, expressions, words, gestures and fidgets became lovely as well. She had become uncontrollably precious to him. 

In the end, the emotion that destroyed his heart, broke out of it and screamed to be known that it was love. He finally admitted that it was. 

For the first time, Amor resented his life. Why couldn’t he live for a long time? He was furious. He suppressed his unbearable sorrow and sadness before locking them up. 

He thought that his affection was that of a corpse’s. 

If she was even a little sad about his absence at all, her sorrow would please him and her sadness would make him ecstatic. 

Sooner or later, his life would end with him being a sacrifice. He hoped that the person who was able to touch his heart in the end would remember him. 

Before meeting her, he lived luxuriously as if he was not going to die. To the boy who was being chipped away in his palace without anyone knowing, the girl had cried for him to find himself and live. 

‘Nothing lasts forever.’

No, was there really nothing? What he knew was a truth that only he himself was aware of. He was the only one in the world who knew of her deaths.

Was it better to forget? 

He guessed so. If that was what she wanted to do, he should let her.

He could dedicate everything to her. Hasn’t he been living as if he couldn’t die? 

Castor. 

He recalled the fear and hatred he had towards Castor and also the small amount of comfort he received from him. Before saying goodbye to the one whose only function in his life was to bring unpredictability. 

“Hello. I didn’t think you’d call for me.”

If she could be happy. 

“I have something to tell you. Julian.”

Even his hardships would taste sweet.

In historical and period dramas, kings and other people of equally high ranks would look down as they sit someplace higher. But why did she not feel like she was sitting in a higher position even though she was? 

Even when Rebecca was on her knees, her elegance overflowed and her aura was overwhelming. 

“Rebecca… please get up.”

Those were her thoughts as Ashley struggled to get Rebecca to rise. 

“How many times have I said this? You’ll have to get used to this.”

Well, even if hundreds and thousands of people were in front of her, could she get used to it overnight? 

She might just be a shell of herself now but she could not remove herself from the mere citizen she was in her previous life. Moreover, other than what happened in the banquet, she had yet to see herself as a princess. 

“Ha… You’ll have to get used to it slowly.”

Knowing Ashley, Rebecca tried to give her realistic advice. 

‘I mean, I am grateful but…’

She was thankful for Rebecca’s efforts but there were ten other templars as well as Lord Ray in the same room. Furthermore, it was hard to get used to the mere sight of Rebecca kneeling and looking up at her. 

No, it just felt a little iffy. She was going to stand on stage soon. 

‘I’m going to be standing on stage in front of tens of thousands of people. How can it be the same as some troops and a lady…!’

But she wondered why she had to get used to someone kneeling and looking up at her. Honestly, she wondered what was the point of her sitting at the top. There were still 7 princes above her. 

Anyway, Ashley did it only because she was told to do so but her expression hardened uncontrollably. Still, for some reason, Rex was watching on with excitement. 

“Your elegance is overflowing. Princess!”

Only after his reverent whispers did Ashley believe that the people watching must have a problem with their eyes.

In their eyes, her stiff figure must have morphed into something else when in reality, she was ashamed and felt like cringing.

“Your outfit will be ready soon.”

Staring at Rebecca’s expression, Ashley nodded. 

The robes that Rebecca had prepared by gathering and consulting all the famous designers in the capital were unique thanks to the money Fleon had generously provided. 

‘I mean…  What’s the point of having high quality clothes?’

The one who would be wearing the clothes did not care for it at all. Shouldn’t someone apologise to the robes?

“Two days from now, there will be a meeting with templars who are also technicians to try it out. Mistress.”

Rebecca was referring to the rehearsal. 

“Yeah, but, didn’t you say that there was another reason for this gathering?”

Then, the templars moved in unison. They placed what seemed to be a small mode on the ground. The model that mimicked the stage they were going to set up looked very delicate.

‘Wow… that’s awesome.’

When he noticed Ashley’s look of admiration, one of the templars looked proud.

“F-f-for the Templars of Vulcanus, this is nothing.”

Ashley smiled brightly. She found such a huge man acting shy cute. Then, the templars began fighting amongst themselves, ‘I was the one who made this!’, as they tried to brag over each other. 

“Pfft. Slow down everyone. Speak slowly.”

Surprised by the templars who were acting like uncle fans seeing their favourite celebrity, Ashley spoke in the midst of her laughter. 

‘It’s hard for older men to act cute but they really are cute.’

Still, in the midst of it all, Ashley turned to face the gaze that had been pricking her cheek. Then, she made eye contact with Fleon who was staring at her with a mysterious expression. 

“… Why? Do you have something to say?”

Fleon shook his head before explaining that he was only furrowing his brows for a moment. 

“Now that I’m looking around, where’s Dane? I don’t see him.”

“That guy’s busy. The 2nd Prince called for him.”

“Is that so? That’s important.”

The 2nd Prince worked in the same place as Dane but it had seemed as if the work they did were completely different. So, even though he was Dane’s older brother, ‘he feels like a stranger’, was what Dane mentioned about him.

‘The man occupying a considerably powerful position in the Empire called for Dane.’

It was not something she could let pass so easily. Though she was thinking about it, she, of course, did not mention it.

“All the work involving the stage, including the decorations and the staff involved, are going very smoothly. All this can be attributed to Vulcanus’ ardent investments and the information the duke had generously…”

“Enough. Get to the point.”

Fleon interrupted him.

“Brother, why don’t you soften your words more? He’s your aide.”

Since explaining as the representative of all the technicians, Rex finally looked relieved.

Ashley gave a bright smile. Whether it be a friendly or business relationship, it’s best to smile when you’re in trouble. Moreover, weren’t the templars from Vulcanus the real victims for being dragged into this by Fleon without pay. 

“Everything has already been prepared for the princess so that the princess will not experience any inconvenience…”

“I’ll be going too though?”

Thinking about it again, there was no way that her first brother was going to appear again. She thought that things should happen with some common sense. In other words, she was hoping that he had some conscience. 

“However, there’s still one problem.”

“A problem?”

Ashley glanced at Fleon before looking away. 

“Yes.”

Sounding a little troubled, Rex carefully brought it up.

“The Duke of Aventa is a Templar of Swords. And Vulcanus is filled with blacksmiths. It is possible for us to create some additional trinkets to decorate the stage but the templars decorating the stage itself have always been Templars of Flowers, Templars of Snow, Templars of the Sea and Templars of Rivers…”

“So, we are lacking splendor?”

“Yes. We need someone for it.”

In short, he was saying that the main dish was far from complete.

“This was what troubled you?’

“Yes.”

She heard that a princess, who could be considered her grandmother, had employed the help of a Templar of Fire to embroider the sky with the world’s most brilliant fireworks. A huge spectacle like that was needed.

There was a reason why the main dish needed to be made by powerful templars like that of the Templars of Fire, Templars of Flowers and the Templars of the Sea. Because to create a new stage, they would need powerful templars. 

“We will also need a Templar to power all the devices.”

They needed someone to take on the role of an engine. The more divinity a powerful templar pours into the stage, the livelier and more splendid the stage becomes. 

“To get such powerful priests, you’ll need a good enough background or enough money to acquire them…”

The problem was that those templars were too rich to be swayed by even more money. Everyone, including Fleon and Rebecca, looked troubled. Only one person, Ashley, had come up with a solution to erase their concerns. 

“Well.”

Even though the idea hadn’t settled into mind yet, her lips spat out the words she had prepared. 

“There won’t be an issue if we have a main templar who can act as our power source. Then, we can ask my brother.”

Strangely enough, she could remain calm when she spoke.

“What do you mean by your brother? I know these two princes are not templars but…”

She wasn’t originally the kind of person who could stay so collected easily so why? She was so calm and alert that she herself thought that she was strange. 

Ashley fished out a silk pouch decorated with green leaves.

“Can we do this?’

“What are you talking about, mistress?”

“Alright alright. Everyone calm down.’

Even as Fleon and even Rebecca raised their voices together, Ashley still smirked. 

At that moment, Ashley felt like she was a new employee again, stricken with anticipation that she had come out with some groundbreaking idea when she handed in her first report. She had thought she could do anything. Though, back then, it only took less than a week for her to break down. 

Anyway, she couldn’t deny that starting anew did feel very good. 

‘From what point did I start experiencing such refreshing feelings?’

Ashley raised her head.

“Of course, I wasn’t referring to Fleon or Dane when I said that. I’m talking about my brother, the 4th Prince, Amor.”

“The 4th Prince? The one who’s always sick?”

“Yeah. I can’t reveal what temple he belongs to but he’s a powerful templar. As Rex has mentioned, he is sick. So, instead of appearing himself, he gave me this.”

She looked into the pouch that Amor handed her. 

“He said he was coming along but I’m not too sure. He did give me something filled with his divinity.”

“Don’t tell me, is it a device that can transfer his divinity?”

“Yeah. Using this as a medium, he can act as our power source. NIce, right?”

A templar who can act as the power source. Amor was willing to take care of the most difficult and taxing part in preparing this main dish. 

The templars were so unbearably shocked from the sudden mention of the prince and the fact that he could act as our power source that they could not say a word. 

‘Social status is so OP.’ 

More so because the one who would solve the problem was a prince. Since they couldn’t think of another way, one by one, they slowly accepted it.

But the only ones who couldn’t nod their heads till the end were Fleon and Rebecca. 

“You cannot.”

“You can’t!”

Ashley had not expected their outburst so she tried to convince them calmly. 

“Well, I can’t think of anyone else who can do this other than the 4th Prince. By the way, if we refuse his help, he won’t help us out anymore.”

“Was that a threat?”

“I was kidding. Anyway, this is how determined I am.”

Since when had she been so fearless? Was it since she survived her encounter with the tyrant? It seemed like if she cut open her abdomen, Ashley’s liver would be clearly bloated. (1)

T/N:

(1): In Korea, the liver is known to be synonymous with guts or fearlessness.