Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Because the time we had sat face-to-face and talked for was longer than expected, the empty teacup was tinted red.

Glancing at the clock, it was too ambiguous of a time to call it midnight or dawn.

‘Oh my God. Now I have less time to sleep.’

“I’ll just go.”

Lucas, who was still resting his chin in a disheveled posture, only shifted his gaze to look at me.

“Already?”

“Is it not already time?”

“Ah, I see. It’s already time. Since we are facing each other, I can’t see it.”

Slowly correcting his posture, Lucas patted his left hand in the air, which was resting on his chin. While he was shaking his wrists, I got up and put on my clothes.

There were deep wrinkles in my nightgown from sitting for a long time.

“I will take you.”

“It’s okay. It’s under the same roof, isn’t it?”

Lucas smiled deeply, but he didn’t respond. Seeing that he stood up, it seemed that he was going to take me to my room.

No, I don’t know why he was so adamant on taking me to my room under the same roof.

I wasn’t a child that woke up from some nightmare.

I sighed and walked towards the door. The sound of slow footsteps followed behind me.

“I think Sir Lucas is drunk now.”

Without stopping or even looking back, I said so. ‘It seems like you’re drunk, so don’t think about sending me off and just go to sleep.’

Despite my words, Lucas still followed me at my pace without answering. He must have understood what I meant.

‘Ha… Yes, do as you like. It’s not like I’ll get a fatal disease just because someone took me to my room, so if you want to take me to my room, so be it.’

I lightly moved my shoulders and put my hand on the doorknob.

“I’m not drunk.”

A belated response came from behind, and at the same time, his large, white hand appeared out of nowhere.

His large hand settled on my hand over the doorknob.

The rough and hard touch of his heavily calloused palms wrapped around the back of my hand like how it did that day.

“I pretended to be drunk.”

Lucas slowly turned the doorknob. My hand was under his hand, so naturally my hand was pressed onto the doorknob.

‘If you were going to open the door, open it normally. Are you saying you aren’t drunk after all this?’

“I thought that would make you look at me more.”

Through the open door, the cold energy of the hallway rushed in.

It occurred to me that the air in the room must have been blocked inside.

When I lightly lifted the back of my hand, the large palm fell helplessly as if it had no strength in the first place.

“Drunk people don’t know that they are drunk.”

I took a step out.

Coming out of Lucas’s room, I looked around the empty hallway and then turned back.

Facing my face, Lucas was quietly looking at me with an awkward posture that kept the shape of his hand away from me.

“Sir Lucas is drunk.”

The corners of his mouth, which had risen faintly, came down slowly, as if they were falling to the floor under gravity.

The lips that maintained a straight line didn’t seem to open again, so I was wondering if it was okay to say goodbye and go.

The lips that seemed to never open opened again.

“…… From now on, try to go to other people’s rooms at such a late hour. Selena.”

What nonsense is this? Wasn’t this a discussion about whether Lucas was drunk or not?

However, since the face that brought up the matter was so serious, I just answered his words as if I didn’t know.

“So that’s why I asked earlier, and Sir Lucas said it was okay.”

He said he was fine, but now he was nagging me.

When I tilted my head and asked back, Lucas, whose lips and eyes hardened, let out a low sigh and swept his face with one hand.

“I am worried about you now.”

Well, to be honest, going to the room of the opposite sex at a time like this is something to worry about in many ways.

He wasn’t wrong, it was something to be concerned about. I nodded my head nonchalantly and affirmed that statement.

But, again, I had something to refute.

“Really? But even if you don’t worry, I know that much.”

“Has someone you know come to your room?”

Huh, who was it that stopped me from turning around to go?

After rolling my eyes, a little dissatisfied, I fixed my eyes on Lucas again.

This guy was drunk. I was sure he was out of his mind, so I would have let this much be said.

“Because it’s Sir Lucas.”

“What?”

The hardened face loosened a little.

Seeing Lucas asking back with a bewildered face, I thought that he misunderstood a bit.

“Because Sir won’t do anything to me.”

“…How can you believe that?”

Lucas’s eyes started to shake a little at my resolute tone. The shaking soon went away.

It was quite enjoyable to watch the puzzled face, but it was a pity.

I yawned profusely. After going out, it was late, so I started to doze off like crazy. Once I thought I was sleepy, I wanted to sleep unbearably.

I’m going to stop talking about this pointless conversation or discussion, and go up to bed.

“It’s just… I believe.”

I couldn’t say, ‘I read it in a novel, so I know you’re not that kind of person.’ So I evaded the answer and turned my back without regret.

There were no steps following me, as if he had given up on taking me to my room.

I felt like I could feel the eyes on me until the end, but I knew something.

“Well, good night.”

In the empty hallway, only my voice echoed in the space. A long shadow hung from the light leaking from Lucas’s room.

When I got to my room, I knew I would fall asleep right away.

However, contrary to such expectations, I had to stare at the high ceiling with my eyes open for a long time.

I couldn’t sleep.

No matter how many times I closed my eyes, I couldn’t fall asleep. Fatigue weighed down on the body, and even my mind was in a hazy state. But I still could not sleep. This was torture.

In the end, I only opened and closed my eyes for a while, rolled over this way and then over there, and then slowly got up.

Maybe the moon was too bright, so I couldn’t sleep.

Watching the moonlight pouring through the large window, I completely removed the blanket, stood up, and walked in front of the window. The lights were still on in the imperial palace in the distance.

Were they not turning off the light or was there someone working? Overtime… It must’ve been really hard.

After sending a small sympathy to the hearts of the overtime workers, I pulled the curtain with strength. The window was so large that it took me a few steps before I could draw the curtains.

As soon as the thick curtains covered the windows, the room was plunged into darkness.

Darkness. Darkness. Darkness.

As I looked around the space filled with darkness here and there, I suddenly remembered a strange space where I met Eunji and another me.

That strange space that seemed to be at the center of life and death.

In an instant, goosebumps spread all over my body. I rubbed my legs and pulled back the curtain a little. Light streamed in through the cracks in the curtains.

Yes, this is just right.

Having created a satisfactory environment, I returned to the bed the way I came.

I was about to lie down on the bed again when I noticed the glass bottle I had put by my bedside earlier.

Even in a dark room with only dim light, this glass bottle was strangely clear.

Clatter. Yeah, that sounded good, too.

I carefully put the glass bottle back where it was, lied down on the bed, and closed my eyes with the pleasant hope that I would be able to sleep now.

However, it seemed that the reason for the insomnia was not because of the light.

Even with the curtains drawn, I still couldn’t sleep. I pressed my temples hard because of my hazy head, then sighed and lowered my hands.

‘Stop it, my body. Let’s go to sleep. I have to go out with my family tomorrow.’

Like soothing a child, I threw a crying sound over my body and pulled the blanket over my head. How long had passed, the blanket was filled with air heated by breathing, and I still couldn’t sleep.

‘Ah, I surrender. I won’t sleep.’

‘I won’t sleep.’

Eventually, I gave in to myself. I knew how to give up on things that wouldn’t work. Giving up was my specialty.

Oh, sure, it was very shocking that I gave up on falling asleep.

I stopped sleeping and struggled out of the blanket that was pulled up to my face. I put my head outside and breathed in the air that was lacking under the blanket.

What to do?

Glancing at the clock, it was past 4:00 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep, so I rolled my eyes, folded the blanket again, and lied down on the bed.

Was there a law that said you had to get up and do something active just because you were awake?

What could I do while lying down?

‘Ah, let me summarize the story I heard from Lucas earlier.’

About the monsters, those unfamiliar things.

“Monsters.”

Even when I tried to pronounce it out of my mouth again, it still felt awkward.

The monsters… Are they like dragons… That usually appeared in the movies…?

I couldn’t understand why something that didn’t appear in the original novel suddenly appeared and made my family tired…

“…The original story?”

Contrary to my promise not to get up, I slowly raised my upper body and sat down.

I couldn’t help but get up as the doubts ran through my head.

It was something that came to my mind when I was talking with Lucas earlier, but the story about ‘monsters’ had never appeared in the original story.

Well, it could have been a line or two from a priest or a temple. I didn’t trust myself, either, so I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility… Didn’t monsters have a sense of existence from their name? If so, their appearance would be appropriate, even if it was in a small part of a chapter.

‘For there to be a monster! Oh my gosh! But yesterday’s dinner…’

It wouldn’t have been this way… No matter how much I thought about it, there didn’t seem to be a chapter where monsters appeared

Why? Why did this amazing thing that did not appear in the original story appear in reality?

The outline of the original story flowed quickly into my head.

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