Translator: Kimmy
⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅
Karlos didn’t mention anything to anyone but everyone subconsciously knew not to go near the detached castle so it was a perfect place for the crown prince to hide.
Karlos pushed the ground with the tip of his shoes.
It’s not like he avoided the place but now that he had to go, his old memories crawled back to him, holding him back.
But he was worried if Maximilien would find him first and turn Diego into a frog or something.
Karlos clicked his tongue and dashed forward.
Dried leaves fluttered behind him.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
Is she an angel? Diego blinked.
“T, that’s all I have. Eat this first……”
“T, thank you.”
He finished the bread the big-eyed brown-haired angel gave.
Eating etiquette? Hygiene?
He didn’t know any of that.
Diego always kept his father’s word of, ‘You must always eat well because you won’t have the energy to do anything without food. Those who share food in hard times are good people.’
He was not in the situation to reject too since the sandwich he had yesterday was definitely not enough.
Eva looked at the young man eating 3 slices of bread in a split second from head to toe.
His face and body were dirty with black smears and dust but his clothes were not raggy and the fabric looked expensive.
He looked like…….a nobleman who just got robbed.
“Uh, I think we should get the guards….”
“No! No! Please?!”
Diego started fumbling.
He couldn’t allow himself to be back in control of Lesa’s cruel savages!
It didn’t matter to Diego that the guards didn’t even know he was here.
The young man in his early 20s was too stuck up with the new environment and pride that he couldn’t think straight.
“Uh, b, but. D, don’t you need he…..lp? We should get something for you to eat and dress…..Or, uh, are you in some kind of trouble….?
“I can just wash in the fountain! And I can eat the fruits in the forest! The shrubs are warmer than it looks! So, there’s nothing wrong, p, please!”
Eva’s head went blank at his wild answers.
Wasn’t he a nobleman?
Judging by his awkward way of saying “please” he must be a foreigner or a son of a high nobleman so she thought he was a person that never had to say ‘please’.
“But still, I don’t think it’s alright to live here….?”
Eva worried as she spoke. Maybe he lived here for a long time already. There are many weirdos among the high society.
It could be his hobby to occasionally live like he was stranded on an island.
But thankfully this young man didn’t seem to be that sort.
“That’s true, I will escape from here!”
“Ah, are you lost like me?”
She couldn’t be the only one lost in this big palace.
Eva accepted that.
She was already exhausted from having to talk to so many people and walking.
Her legs were aching but she didn’t get any closer to Brigitta and was just circling around her so her judgment reached its lowest.
On top of that, she was hungry because she just shared her lunch with this poor young man.
The weather was pleasant but she was lost; she was tired but nothing was turning out in her favor.
It’s not such a bad thing to meet another lost person to befriend on this unlucky day?
Eva let go of most of her common sense.
“L, let’s find the main road.”
“I thank you greatly for your kindness.”
“Okayyy…..”
Diego thanked Eva politely.
She gave him food when he was hungry and guided him when he was lost, she really must be an angel.
In the holy scriptures he read in Cartul’s library as a child, it was written, “When you are in your most desperate, an angel will appear as the lowest among you and guide you.’
Like right now!
Diego’s eyes sparkled.
Look at her pacific face! Isn’t it as merciful as the angel guiding a poor soul!
Actually, Eva was just making a what-the-hell face but Diego was already blinded by faith.
Diego was distorting the reality of her.
When she ran her fingers through her hair, he believed her hands were the movements of an angel.
When she tripped over her own foot, he believed she was walking like she was waltzing.
His useless faith was only getting stronger.
The slices of bread Eva shared were like a shocking religious experience for Diego who struggled so much here.
It was a stupid reason but Diego couldn’t be helped: He had already developed an unconditional liking towards Eva like ducklings following their mother.
The naive crown prince sparkled his eyes even more.
“T, then let’s go…..”
It was sparkling in his perspective but to others, it was overly greasy. Eva turned her back at him as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Is anything bad going to happen? Should I not have helped him? Should I run?
But it was awkward for her to just say “I see, then adios!” and part ways.
Eva made a tearful face.
This is why the Baroness told her not to interfere in other’s businesses!
Diego tagged along with Eva who sighed continuously and looked at the scenery.
Things that were hidden in the dark at dawn now could be seen.
It was a castle that was not too big and not too small.
The garden had many small fountains and huge trees that were not pruned for a long time stretched out everywhere making it look abandoned.
Some of the trees were even dead, creating an eerie mood.
Strangely, the walls surrounding this castle were unusually high but on the contrary, the gate was wide open.
It was a confusing structure between welcoming and unwelcoming.
Was this place abandoned?
But it was odd because it seemed wasteful to neglect this big and steady area in the middle of the palace.
And besides all, there was still clean and fresh water coming out from the fountains–which Diego utilized to satiate his thirst.
Even though Lesa was wealthy, they wouldn’t waste their magic and engine to bring water to the fountains of an abandoned place.
It was also strange that the roads were clean.
It felt more like a place that was ‘acting like it was abandoned’ rather than a place that was actually abandoned.
“Wait no, that’s even weirder.”
“W, What?”
“I, It’s nothing! It just all feels a little odd…..”
“Oh……T, this place does seem odd right?”
Even Eva who didn’t have the knowledge about palaces like Diego could feel something was strange.
A slightly old building surrounded with big tall walls.
The windows on the 1st and 2nd floor were drawn with black curtains and none of them had balconies.
Eva felt a little cold even though the sun was high up in the sky so she tied her coat tighter and rubbed her arms.
A soft cry of a cat could be heard.
Diego was not feeling any different from Eva.
It was not this bad but Cartul also had a place similar to here.
It was located on the outskirts of the palace so it wasn’t as cared as the main buildings.
And every unlooked place like these had a scary story.
Diego thought of the story he heard from the guards and shivered.
“I heard this type of places have ghosts….”
“Uh, Uuuh, I, I heard something similar too”
Eva replied to what seemed like his self-talk to reduce her fear.
“I, I heard that in palaces there are always a lot of ghosts….Like a knight that died under false charge or a maid that drowned.”
“Y, yes. I heard in many places, the dead spirits that have yet resolved their grudge envy the alive and roam to scare the living.
“T, that’s true. T, there are many people that saw the spirits of the princes who have lost their lives during the war, commanding and roaming like l, l, living people.”
“Really? I never heard of that one.”**
“My country has similar stories. There’s a tower in a secluded place and I heard the screams of the princess who killed herself rings there every night.
“The secluded tower in your country is a magic tower. Which means it’s all bollocks. It’s a place a princess cannot kill herself in the first place.”**
“Eh, really? I didn’t know!…….huh?”
“O, ohh, I see……..! Wait.”
Eva’s and Diego’s steps halted at the same time.
There were two people here but there were 3 voices.
No, It can’t be.
That was the topic of their conversation just now. A spirit that roams the palace not knowing it’s dead–
Chills ran down their backs.
They rubbed their sweaty hands and forced themselves to look back like a broken puppet.
There was a huge black thing standing.
“Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
Karlos looked at the two who dropped on the ground, screaming.
What combination is this?
⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅⋅⋅⋅
TL/N: Just for clarification I put (**) marks on Karlos’s line when they talk about ghost stories.