Chapter 96

The bard’s eyes widened.

“…could it be, you’ve seen the future as well, Your Ladyship?”

Her words were practically an admission that she herself had also seen the future.

“Hah.”

Letting loose a sigh that was filled with complex and indescribable emotions, Yelena leant back into her chair’s support.

‘So it looks like she isn’t the old woman.’

If the person in front of her was the old woman, she would have no reason to continue pretending to not recognize Yelena.

Yelena stayed silent for a few moments. She wasn’t sure whether to describe her current mood as being relieved, or alarmed. Or was it just satisfaction from having guessed correctly that the person who wrote the play was someone who had also seen the future.

It was difficult to pinpoint which emotion it was exactly.

Having allowed this to continue for some time, Yelena finally broke the silence.

“How did you come to see the future? Have you met the old woman as well?”

“An old woman? No, that’s… for a while now, I’ve been having prophetic dreams.”

“Dreams?”

“Yes. However they only come in the form of brief flashes.”

The bard began detailing the precognitive dreams that she had had. That, one day, demons would invade the world. Although the nations of the world would fight back against these demons, none of them seemed to be able to turn the tide.

‘So it’s from before the world ends.’

The future that the bard had seen came slightly ahead in the timeline than the one that Yelena had experienced.

“…so that’s how it is.”

“About that old woman whom Your Ladyship spoke of…:”

Returning the favor, Yelena also gave the bard a brief account of how she had come to see the future.

The bard leaked a small sigh of amazement, as if she couldn’t imagine that such a person might exist.

“For an old woman to have that sort of power, it must have come as quite the surprise.”

“If I hadn’t experienced it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it no matter who had told me. But now that I have met you, I’m convinced.”

Convinced that the old woman’s abilities were real, that is. Although the truth was she had never really held much doubt. As the entire experience had been far too vivid to suspect that it was all some kind of fraud or trickery.

Goosebumps rose on Yelena’s arms as she recalled what had happened in her future.

At that moment, the bard said, “I too… feel the same way. The reason I wrote this play was because I was looking for someone like Your Ladyship.”

“Someone like me?”

“Someone who also knew of the future, like I did.”

Yelena met eyes with the bard.

“Thanks to this, I’ve also found faith in myself. I think that I’ll be able to put the plans that I’ve made for the future into action.”

Yelena didn’t bother to ask what those plans were exactly. Because in the face of the world’s oncoming destruction, everyone would have to make their own preparations for it.

However, Yelena decided to add just one more thing, “…whatever happens, don’t be in a hurry to make any extreme decisions. Even if the future we’ve seen does come true, things will turn out for the better.”

She would make sure of that. Yelena swallowed these unsaid words down with a gulp of fresh tea.

The bard smiled and nodded, appearing to have taken these words as the sort of general consolation that one might give in the face of a terrible situation.

“Yes. Please don’t concern yourself.”

“Besides that, there is something I am curious about.”

Yelena lowered her teacup after taking a sip and began fiddling with the handle.

“Of those close to you… have you told anyone about the future that you’ve foreseen?”

“There is one person.”

“A family member?”

“No, but while he’s not related to me… he’s someone close enough to feel like family.”

“And he believed you? About the future that you foresaw?”

“He’s quite a simple-minded person, but his one good point is that he’ll believe whatever I tell him.”

Although it sounded like she was making fun of him, Yelena could feel the deep trust and affection that Will held for that person.

“…”

Yelena unconsciously began staring at the bard with envy, before noticing where her eyes had gone and lowering her gaze. Her face reflected back at her from the still surface of her tea.

In fact, until relatively recently, Yelena had been fantasizing about telling Kaywhin everything that she currently knew. It wasn’t because she wanted anything to change between them. It was just that the pressure from being the only person who knew about the future sometimes left her feeling breathless, and it made her wish for someone who she would be able to vent all her frustrations to.

However ,Yelena’s fantasies remained as just that, fantasies.

It wasn’t like she had given up on telling him because she was worried that Kaywhin would refuse to believe her. Instead, it was because she feared that admitting the truth would also reveal that she had her own designs on Kaywhin from the very beginning, rather than having approached him with pure intentions.

If she admitted the truth just because she wanted to reduce the pressure on herself, it would hinder her current efforts to earn her husband’s favour. That was what she had decided.

She tried to tell herself that that was all it was.

“…or maybe it’s just that I don’t want to see any trace of disappointment when my husband looks at me.”

She needed to make her husband fall in love with her, so that she could give birth to his child.

‘After that’s done, maybe it will be easier to tell him the whole truth?’

She was unsure.

As she ran her finger around the rim of the teacup, Yelena thought of what her husband’s disappointment with her would look like.

She could just see her husband sending her a look that said, ‘So in the end you’re no different than anyone else’.

Just the thought of it made her heart feel like it was tearing into pieces. Yelena unconsciously brought her hands to her chest, before freezing in place.