CH 21

Chapter 21: Asher-sama’s pursuit

“However.”

Asher-sama continued.

“Others have seen a different dream.”

“A different… dream?”

While nodding at him, I wait for him to continue.

“That person said that the country remained unchanged. And it was a dream of studying the new sacred flower like Lars. What kind of nightmare did you see?”

I fall silent at the question.

(I have to think carefully)

I consider his question without answering immediately.

If this is indeed a dream of the future as Lars-sama and the others say, does this mean there are two possible futures?

It feels like the result of a choice, where one or the other becomes the future…

And for me, I have now obtained evidence that another nightmare is a glimpse of the future.

(Details of dreams are often related to magic. So if it is true that I saw a glimpse of the future as Lord Lars and the others think, then the future in which I am imprisoned is certain… or so it seems)

Perhaps it was not a bad thing to have moved further away from my father after all.

(Also, Asher-sama may want to compare answers as material for considering dreams)

That’s why you didn’t go to school on purpose, and you came to look for me, right?

Thanks to that, I woke up from a long sleep, but…

(Should I be honest, or not?)

I want to reveal everything and ask for help.

I want to rely on them right now. But the problem is Lars-sama’s dream.

…he will suspect my father as a traitor to the country.

Will he also suspect that I, his daughter, am somehow involved in some form? Will Lars-sama listen fairly to the words of someone who has such doubts?

(Although it has to do with sweets, if it’s a political conversation, it’s another matter. As a result, if Michelia, who became a Maiden of Salvation, made up something about me as a criminal, he would not protect me. I shouldn’t trust him too much.)

But how should I say it?

Asher-sama whispered to me, who was struggling.

“What are you worried about?”

“Huh?”

Asher-sama narrows his purple eyes and looks at me.

“I’ve been wondering for a long time…”

“Huh?”

“About your actions.”

“Actions?”

I was slightly surprised when I was told [I’ve been wondering] for a moment, but what does he mean by actions?

“Why are you so afraid? You weren’t like that before. It’s just that you were just hostile to everything.”

I felt as if I had been stabbed in the heart.

Fear.

It has always been in my heart since I began having that nightmare.

But this is a feeling that I want to hide. It must not be known. That’s why my caution towards Asher-sama welled up.

“Fear? More than that, I’m sure you wouldn’t laugh at my story and say it’s just a fairy tale, would you, Asher-sama?”

Caution turns into a small rebellion.

Asher-sama didn’t pursue the matter any further at my slightly quarrelsome words.

“Of course not. I heard that seeing the future with magic is rare. That’s why I wanted to confirm your story.”

“I see. I understand that you wanted to use it as one piece of evidence. And… you even gave me the flower confectionery to wake me up. I will tell you my story.”

I already owe Asher-sama and the others.

If I had stayed asleep, I would have died in just a few days.

For a moment, I thought that wasn’t so bad.

So I modified my own nightmare and told it.

“The dream I see is the dream of people dying on the battlefield.”

“War…”

Asher-sama mutters and closes his eyes as if he is thinking.

“If this is dreaming about the future… something like a war might happen, right?”

“There is a possibility. If that’s the case… it seems similar to Lars’s dream.”

“Maybe that’s it.”

While thinking of it as someone else’s business, I nodded slightly with my face down.

Because the content of the dream I mentioned was a lie. I haven’t seen anything about the battlefield.

“…It must have been terrifying.”

“…?”

I was about to ask what he meant and closed my mouth.

“It is often the case that noble women have no connection with the battlefield for their whole lives, unless their country is attacked and destroyed. If a woman who has never held a sword sees a situation where she washes blood with blood, it is undoubtedly a nightmare.”

Asher-sama… cared for me who had a nightmare.

As soon as I understood this, something melts in my heart like a drip.

I don’t know what this is.

Even though I don’t understand well, I thanked him.

“Thank you for your kind consideration. However, if it’s something that isn’t happening in reality, it’s okay.”

At the same time, I wonder if Asher-sama is familiar with the battlefield…

It sounded like the way I saw it, but even though this country has experienced conflict, there has been no war for a long time. Where did such an experience come from?