CH 26

“It doesn’t matter how you look. So please show me.”

“…I can’t.”

“Ruby.”

“I can’t reveal my true identity. It’s not because I don’t trust you. There’s nothing good that will come out of you knowing.”

“…….”

Clyde’s eyes slowly filled with red, even reaching the whites.

“…I’m not asking because I don’t have the means to break your spell, and you know it.”

His voice was so low that it sent shivers down my spine.

The way demons used magic was completely different from humans.

If I were to make an analogy, it would be similar to superheroes in movies with special abilities.

Unlike humans who created spell formulas and activated magic through invocations or magic circles, demons instinctively converted the magic power within their bodies into force to exercise magic.

That meant, in essence, they didn’t understand our magic system.

Clyde was right; he could find a way to break my magic.

But that would involve relying heavily on force and aggression.

I stared at Clyde with a calm expression.

“I know you won’t do that.”

“…….”

“I know you won’t hurt me. You won’t force me to stay by your side and you won’t do anything I don’t want.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because that’s just the way you are.”

Clyde’s lips twisted into a wry smile.

His face, looking at me, seemed as if tears could fall at any moment.

“You’re a coward.”

“…I know.”

“…….”

I pulled up the hood attached to the cloak I was wearing.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah. I came here hastily, so I need to go back soon.”

“…….”

“I’ll be back soon. Be careful not to get discovered by Julion in the meantime.”

“Nothing has changed since then.”

Clyde’s voice reached me as he turned away.

“You leave me every day like that, and I’m just waiting for you to come.”

“…….”

“But it’s okay. As long as you actually come.”

Those words sounded like echoes of his voice from my childhood.

“But if you don’t come…, I’ll come looking for you.”

“…….”

“It’s different from back then. Now I have the power to do that.”

I turned back to face Clyde once again.

Contrary to his seemingly threatening words, his face as he looked at me was filled with profound melancholy.

“I’m sorry, Clyde. I couldn’t keep the promise to meet again back then.”

“…….”

“I miss you a lot too. Really.”

“…….”

“Goodbye.”

Clyde didn’t stop me.

He remained kneeling on the spot, sitting there in daze.

I used the invisibility spell and left Clyde’s dwelling.

I returned home and lay back in bed, but I couldn’t seem to sleep.

‘I thought I had changed my fate….’

I thought everything would be fine since I successfully helped Clyde escape according to the plan.

I thought a tragedy like the original could never happen.

Even after Clyde came back, that belief hadn’t wavered.

But now, it is different.

Hena, whom I thought would live happily with her son, died, and Clyde awakened to his magical powers.

The shock I felt from these revelations was tremendous.

‘Perhaps no matter what I do, I can’t change fate,’ that thought crossed my mind.

Of course, Clyde hadn’t immediately led the demonic army to invade the empire.

But as long as Clyde still harbored resentment towards Julion, the capital, Trachen was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

‘Why in the world did Clyde become so obsessed with me….’

The time we shared was only for a short period of time, maybe a month or so. Compared to that, seven years felt like an eternity.

But Clyde hadn’t forgotten about me.

Rather than diluting, the tender emotions he had held for me seemed to have grown stronger.

Even when we first met at the masquerade, I thought Clyde only resented me.

In reality, most of the words he had said that day were criticisms of me for breaking our promise.

But….

“It’s okay, I got to see you again, finally.”

“So don’t go anywhere now. You’re the only one I have.”

Clyde’s words echoed in my mind, causing my chest to tighten.

How has Clyde spent the past seven years?

When and how did he lose his mother?

And after that, had he lived alone, lonely all the while? During those long years, he thought only of me…

Perhaps, apart from his mother Hena, I had been the only person who had shown him affection.

The reason Clyde idealized and became obsessed with me must have been because of that.

But I couldn’t be there for him.

I could not be his friend.

I am Julion’s daughter, his sworn enemy.

I had told Clyde that I was someone other than Eila Rojasis, but I wasn’t completely convinced that he believed it.

I had to consider that it wouldn’t be strange for him to figure it out at any moment.

Even if Clyde knew the truth and claimed it didn’t matter, nothing would change.

Even if I had the heavens and the earth on my side, my father would never allow me to get close to Clyde.

No, even before that, it was clear that as soon as my father learned of Clyde’s existence, he would try to kill him and eliminate him.

But no matter who my father was, he couldn’t possibly defeat the awakened Clyde.

There was a real possibility that a tragedy similar to the original story would repeat itself.

“It must never happen.”

I didn’t want either of them to get hurt.

To prevent that, I had to separate my father and Clyde as soon as possible, even if it was just for a day.

The problem was that it was practically impossible.

Clyde would never leave the capital of Trachen, where I was, and my father showed no intention of sending me away from his side, at least not for the time being.

It was truly a dilemma.

While I spent the night pondering, I couldn’t come up with a solution.

“Eila, can you take a look at this for a moment?”

“…….”

“Eila?”

A hand suddenly appeared in front of my face, startling me. It was Cecile.

“Why are you lost in thought?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing. What’s up?”

“I’m stuck on this magical formula. There seems to be a contradiction, but I can’t figure out why.”

“Really? Let me see… Oh, no, Cecile, were you looking at this even during our meal?”

It was lunchtime.

I hadn’t even noticed that Cecile was examining the magical formula right next to me while I was lost in my thoughts about Clyde, sitting there with my lunchbox open but untouched.

Cecile was the type of person who couldn’t even put a book down during meals.

I thought she had changed that habit after I started enforcing the rule of focusing on eating, but I guess I got distracted for a moment, and she immediately resorted to this.

“I’ll take a look after you finish eating. Until then, I’m confiscating it.”

“Ah….”

I took the scroll away from her and placed it far from her reach. Then I grabbed a sandwich and held it up to her mouth.

With a sandwich in her mouth, Cecile raised her eyebrows and frowned.

“Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.”

“What are you saying? Finish eating, then talk.”

I chuckled softly and said. Cecile scrunched her forehead, chewing on the sandwich diligently.

“I could have eaten while looking at it.”

“You’re always burying your nose in books. Let your mind rest a bit during mealtime.”

“Tsk.”

Cecile pouted and pushed her lips forward in dissatisfaction.

“Eila, aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh, right, I should.”

I said that, but I had no appetite at all. I barely touched the bread in my hand before setting it down again.

“What’s been bothering you lately?”

Cecile, who was always immersed in her research, had surprisingly little interest in anything else. I remember her asking about a new employee who had been there for a month, saying, “Who is that person? Did they just join?”

If even Cecile noticed that I wasn’t my usual self, I knew I was in pretty bad shape.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I just didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m tired.”

Cecile peered at me closely through her thick glasses.

“It’s funny that I’m saying this, but make sure you get enough sleep at night. You can’t do research or anything properly if you’re sleepy.”