CH 36

Richard consciously cut off his thoughts there.

He had to cut them.

Because it was over.

Despair? Despair?

Despair was nothing short of the only thing left over from all that bloody time that had passed.

“…ness, Your Highness!”

Ophelia called urgently when his golden eyes, which seemed to see something other than her, rapidly dried up and lost their luster.

At that moment, Richard’s gaze seemed to be directed towards her.

But his eyes still didn’t come back, as if they were going somewhere far away, no, somewhere endlessly deep and dark.

Almost instinctively, Ophelia grabbed his cheeks and shouted.

“Richard!”

Right then, a red light shot through the abyss like the deep sea and pulled Richard out of it.

The golden eyes that had sunk deeply rose and soared to the blue sky at once.

He was facing Ophelia’s blue eyes.

“Ri… chard? Richard.”

At the end of the thinly trembling voice, a low, subdued voice followed.

“Ophelia.”

He gripped her cold, intermittently trembling hands, which were wrapped around his cheek, and squeezed it hard.

“Ophelia. Ophelia. Ophelia.”

Ophelia answered him as he called her name.

“Hey… I’m here.”

At the words that she was by his side, Richard’s dry face collapsed.

Going on her tiptoes, Ophelia hugged him, and he rested his forehead on her rounded shoulder and exhaled slowly.

How long has it been?

Richard slowly raised his head, and Ophelia naturally took a step back from him.

Facing each other, the two opened their mouths almost at the same time, and spoke immediately regardless of who was first.

“I’m sorry for using Your Highness’s name on my own.”

“Call me by name.”

And the silence that followed.

Ophelia’s eyelashes flapped like a hummingbird’s wings.

“…Your Highness? You’re still not okay, are you?”

“Name.”

“How dare I.”

As Ophelia, who took one more step back, looked at him like he was speaking nonsense, Richard went forward as much as she backed away.

“Ophelia.”

“Yes.”

“Call me by name.”

The pupils in Ophelia’s eyes shook like an earthquake, but Richard didn’t give her a break.

“It’s an order.”

“Yes, I’m not… Richard?”

—Was she really allowed to call him by name? Her eyes shifted left and right, revealing her thoughts on her face.

Richard brushed the hair that fell over her forehead and smiled, folding the corners of his eyes.

“Yes. Like that.”

“Yes. Richard.”

It was just calling him by name.

Of course, no one, including the emperor, called the name of the crown prince, Richard.

Perhaps a long time ago there was someone who called him by name.

But as the crown prince…

After a long time, maybe…

Perhaps even when he became emperor, he would be called ‘His Majesty’, not ‘Richard’.

Still, he didn’t care.

‘It doesn’t matter how I’m called.’

‘But only you are different.’

Ophelia.

When he was about to melt and disappear without a shape in the endless darkness.

She called.

He was back because she called him.

No, it should be ‘he could come back’.

“Let’s live together!”

Only she said that.

Even in this terrible loop, only she did not forget him.

‘I didn’t forget you either.’

‘So if you call my name, I…’

The next second, the warmth Richard felt at his fingertips disappeared.

Quietly pulling her neck back and then clearing her throat very awkwardly, she asked,

“Yes. Right. So, Y-Your… No, um… So what are you going to do with that rain?”

“I’ll have to see for myself.”

“You want to see it in person. Then, what? In person? Directly?”

Ophelia brought her face closer, in front of Richard’s nose, as if she had never avoided him or felt awkward.

“Can I go too?”

“The answer is fixed, you’re just telling me to say it.”

“You know well. I will go with you.”

“Good. As long as you can run faster than a horse, there’s no problem.”

“I can ride a horse… what?”

“I’m not going to ride a horse. It’s cumbersome and conspicuous.”

“No, that’s not it. You just said to run faster than horses.”

“Yes, it is faster to just run than to ride.”

Ophelia tilted her head, her mouth twitching.

“‘So, what nonsense is that?’ Nothing changes even if you look at me like that.”

“No, when did I say it’s nonsense?”

“It’s written on your forehead.”

Reflexively covering her forehead with both hands, Ophelia raised her chin with a hum.

“It doesn’t make sense. How can a person be faster than a horse?”

“One could run.”

“No matter how much you don’t want to take me, that reason is just…”

“It’s possible to do it with the record that’s in Bolsheik.”

Ophelia’s jaw dropped.

Richard added, kindly lifting a finger and helping to close her chin.

“It’s a record from someone from another world. I can’t explain it exactly, but I tried it because I had to, and I found it to be real.”

(TL/N: oh my god, this is really related to the author’s previous work!! More on that below.)

“Is there a situation where you have to…?”

“Yes. I had to. To make the impossible possible.”

The memories of the past that were buried in the dry voice had already turned to dust and disappeared, but the experiences that were in the body did not disappear and piled up.

Even though Ophelia hadn’t seen or experienced that far-fetched time, she felt clear somehow, and held his hand that was holding her chin with both hands.

She did it as if she was going to catch and prevent him from falling somewhere.

Richard smiled as he looked at the soft hand wrapped around his own that was much smaller than his.

“Why do you look like that?”

He ran his thumb across her chin and withdrew his hand, but Ophelia did not let go of his.

She couldn’t put comfort into her mouth for the pain that piled up in the golden eyes that met hers, so she had no choice but to hold his hand.

—Don’t be in pain anymore.

—I’ll be there.

—I’ll survive with you.

—So, no more…

No, no matter what she said, she couldn’t undo the wounds he had already received.

Even though limitless time was turned back, the wounds he suffered could not be undone, and he was bleeding without ever healing.

Ophelia put all her strength into the hand holding him, straining it.

About to respond, Richard’s lips parted as Ophelia added strength to the point that the back of her hand turned white, but she was quicker.

“I’ll go with you.”

She didn’t say where she was going, and he didn’t ask either.

He just put his hand over hers, which was holding his desperately.

Then Ophelia took a deep breath and withdrew her hand from his.

She clenched her fist and pounded her chest.

“I can’t run faster than a horse, but I’ll go with you!”

“Ophelia.”

“Being faster than a horse means that you have to move very fast because you don’t know when or where the rain will come from.”

“Exactly.”

“Then if we can find out where the rain will fall, we won’t have to be fast?”

Ophelia stepped towards the map.

“See this? From here to there.”

A clean fingertip swept across the red dots on the map.

“If you want to say that it’s heading to the Imperial Palace…”

“I know, but there’s not enough grounds yet. But if it rains like this one or two more times, there’s enough evidence!”

“You mean to wait for you.”

“Yes! That’s right!”

Although she gave a quick answer, Ophelia soon tilted her head.

‘Oh, it doesn’t sound right.’

‘Wait for you…? Huh?’

Definitely, she said that she would wait until it rained one or two more times.

‘Did that mean to wait for me?’

What?

Richard, staring down at Ophelia’s head which tilted intently because she couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on, said,

“All right. I’ll wait and see. For you.”

.

The next morning.

Ophelia, who had to make sure that the strange rain was heading towards the Imperial Palace, was smiling blankly with a face that seemed like it was about to depart the world.

She was not in front of the map in Richard’s office in the Imperial Palace, but in the drawing room of the Sheffield family’s mansion.

“Ha.”

She let out a short sigh, picked up a gorgeous teacup, and inhaled her favorite scent of chamomile, looking out the window at the sun pouring in.

Only one thought was spinning in Ophelia’s head.

‘The weather is wonderful today.’

But somewhere, that strange rain must be coming.

So, she wanted to escape.

‘No, I want to escape even if a storm is brewing right in front of my eyes and the trees are being uprooted.’

‘Escape no matter what! I want to escape!’

‘What did I do in the past?’

‘I’m not accustomed to running faster than a horse!’

No, it must have been possible because it’s Richard, right?

And what the hell was up with Bolsheik.

After hearing Richard’s explanation about how he could be faster than a horse, Ophelia spent most of last night looking through all the books in her mansion.

And she discovered a more incomprehensible history.

A guest from Murim.

‘Murim? Isn’t that a place I only saw in dramas and movies? I mean, there’s really the real thing?’

Even as Ophelia was raging in delusion, lightning was striking from her left and right.

Ame: YES IT’S CONFIRMED! This world is the same as <the stereotypical life of a reincarnated lady>!! Valerie (and her siblings) are Ophelia’s ancestors!! I’d assume Marshall became the next family head… though I wonder how many generations after is Ophelia, how did Bolsheik go from a county to a viscounty in name, how did they fall on hard times TT_TT and those records is certainly Jia’s secret murim arts lmao

Dea: The author is going the extra mile and i appreciate it, i love it when stories connect (also this is my cue to finish <the stereotypical life of a reincarnated lady>) 

ps: HOW CUTE ARE OPHELIA AND RICHARD?? PLS THEY’RE SO SOFT TOGETHER! they’re melting my cold heart quicker than the sun melts an ice cream on a hot summer day