Chapter 22

Becoming a Monster’s Bride (7)

Roelin was trying to neaten her outfit as Kergel’s hand had already entered her eyes. She lifted her gaze and began to look at him in response. Kergel’s golden eyes were silently facing Roelin instead.

“…yes.”

She answered with her gaze casted downwards again and softly put her hand on top of his. Then, she slowly descended the carriage along with Kergel’s escort.

Shortly after getting off the wagon, Roelin could see the scenery in front of her and started breathing in without even realizing it.

Then, Kergel’s voice could soon be heard behind her.

“This is where Cainbert, the founder of Seroif, has been buried.”

“…Cainbert.”

Roelin listened to him and recalled the name of the founder of the Empire.

She remembered what he had said in the carriage before once again.

Was it the tomb of the person who had made him choose her to be his companion?

It was a rather difficult phrase to understand. There was no way to know what his words had truly meant. But still, she didn’t dare to ask him what it signified.

It was just a feeling.

She felt like she shouldn’t ask about them hastily. Of course, it had just been a fictitious feeling without any sort of concrete evidence at all.

Maybe it was also because of the scenery in front of her right now.

His incomprehensible words and the mysterious landscape of the forest that was just in front of her seemed rather similar in some ways.

“…Wow.”

She instantly exclaimed. He, himself however, was not even aware that he had been ‘stabbed’ by parting his own mouth in half while drawing attention to the scenery in front of him.

As such, the scenery that Roelin was looking at clearly exuded an overwhelming beauty and mysterious atmosphere all around.

Except for the narrow trail that was densely packed with silver trees, which had been the first to enter her field of view. The trees were never seen by her before this. No, since she had never been outside the Rakain’s Separate Palace, the types of trees she saw might have been relatively small in comparison.

Even if she never saw them with her own eyes, it was clear that they were very rare trees because Roelin had never encountered them through any plant diagrams or even something alike.

She had never heard of the fact that there was an existence of silver trees in the first place.

In addition, the manifestation of fog enshrouding the silver trees that were swaying like the vast sea was mysterious as well.

Wasn’t this the mysterious forest where fairy tales lived?

Roelin was mesmerized as she stared at the scenery of the forest until Kergel’s voice woke her up.

“Let’s go inside.”

“…What? Oh, yes.”

She blinked like a person who had just awakened and replied in a hurry. Kergel looked at the figure and glanced back. The knights and the horsemen who followed them soon bowed politely to show their respect.

“See you later.”

“…will it be just the two of us?”

Roelin also looked back at the voice of the knights and asked Kergel. Then, Kergel only nodded before he replied.

“Only Cainbert’s descendants are allowed to enter this place.”

“Then, I’ll…”

“If you walk in with a descendant of Cainbert’s, even ordinary people are allowed in as well. Empress, you are the only one who will be entering with me today.”

After hearing Kergel’s explanation, Roelin nodded in response. Then, he took the first lead and began to walk. She followed after Kergel with her dress slightly raised.

As soon as she entered the forest trail while leaving behind the carriage along with the people who were designated to protect them, she felt the moist air surrounding them.

Roelin stumbled as she felt stuffy without even realizing it. At that moment, Kergel, who was walking ahead, turned around—just like he had eyes on the back of his head—before grabbing a hold of her.

“Oh, thank you…”

“Be careful. If you were to go off the road, you could get trapped in a fantasy.”

“Fantasy, really?”

Roelin tilted her head as she thanked him. Then, Kergel continued while gesturing with a wink at the fog that suffused the forest just beyond the trail.

“If you think of that fog as a merely normal one, it’s not good. Each of them will invoke the most feared past under the pretense of fantasy and eventually trap the person inside. And none of the people who got trapped in it had ever escaped.”

“……”

“Well, there may be no reason for you to be afraid anyway. You must have lived in the Royal Palace of Rakain with whatever things you’ve ever wanted while being under the protection of everyone. So, there must be nothing else to fear.”

Kergel added some words in a light tone as he let go of the hand that was holding onto hers before turning around once again and proceeded to move forward. However, Roelin couldn’t keep up with him right away. She could just gaze at his back, which was fading away from his own pale face.

Roelin, who was still looking at Kergel’s back as he kept on walking forward, belatedly took a deep breath. She then folded up her cold fingertips tightly and forced herself to take another step forward.

She was only afraid of …

He thought that there was nothing that she could be afraid of. Therefore, it would have been hard to imagine that Roelin, who was currently following him, was enduring such a pale face.

If that was relief, then it was solace in itself.