Chapter 62 – Rudine Eckhart (1)

Chapter 62 – Rudine Eckhart (1)

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 62 – Rudine Eckhart (1)

Rudine Eckhart.

She was born into the Royal Family and grew up as a Princess her whole life.

From the moment she could stand on her own two feet, she learned court etiquette, and as soon as she could speak, she was exposed to numerous scholarly subjects.

No matter how trivial the mistake, it was not tolerated.

From her walking to the smallest habits, she was meticulous in her actions to avoid being criticized by anyone.

Everyone in the Imperial Palace treated Rudine kindly, but that was ultimately just a facade conscious of the status difference.

No one called her by her name, Rudine.

She was only referred to as Princess, or Your Highness.

Not even her father, the Emperor.

Not even her mother, the Empress.

No one gave her affectionate attention.

Only the watchful eyes ready to criticize her slightest mistake were present.

So, Rudine put in the effort.

No one recognized her efforts, but she didn’t need anyone’s acknowledgement in the first place.

She expected nothing and hoped for nothing.

The measure of all value was solely her own ability.

To become a talent worthy of being the Rising Sun of the Empire.

To bear the weight of the responsibility pressing on her shoulders.

That was all there was.

Because these were the things a Princess of the Empire naturally had to do.

Living days that seemed close to deprivation, Rudine became rigid.

She lost her smile, wore a mask, and thus became increasingly cold, growing into a girl befitting the Sun of the Empire.

Then one day.

An unknown boy fearlessly approached Rudine.

— Hi.

It was just a simple greeting and a smile.

His untainted smile was dazzling like a scene from a masterpiece painting.

The boy was clumsy and awkward.

From his jet-black hair to his blue eyes, his personality and appearance, everything was different from hers.

What could it be?

It’s not a hallucination only I can see.

Seeing him wandering around the Imperial Palace as if it were his own home, he was undoubtedly a royal like her.

— Are you going out?

— Want to follow me for a bit?

The boy took her hand and led her outside the Imperial Palace.

Then he gave a bright smile.

An indescribable discomfort bloomed in a corner of her heart.

It didn’t sit well with her that such a harmless person could exist while being a royal like her.

Why does this feel so unfamiliar?

She couldn’t understand it at all.

Rudine continued to associate with the boy after that.

She moved at set times to set places.

As she nonchalantly drank tea, the boy would suddenly appear with a bright smile and carefully approach her.

The boy said his name was Kyle.

It was a name she had never heard before.

Judging by her lack of memory of it, he must be an offspring of a distant branch, hardly considered a member of the Royal Family.

— What’s your name?

Rudine hesitated.

Her name was essentially her status.

She felt the boy’s attitude might change if he knew she was a princess.

So for the first time, she lied.

— Ru.

From then on, the boy called her “Ru”

It was then that Rudine realized the source of the discomfort blooming in her heart.

Expensive clothes, insincere smiles, affected speech, obsequious attitudes...

It was vastly different from how others treated her.

She mistook the unfamiliarity stemming from that gap for discomfort.

Yes, it wasn’t that there was something wrong with her.

Neither her own self, who had endured like this all her life, nor the suffocating Imperial Palace, nor anything else was wrong.

— Do you want to be friends?

— Yeah, you look like you don’t have any friends, too.

— I’m in a similar situation.

The one who was wrong was Kyle.

That’s why she felt uncomfortable.

But she didn’t dislike that discomfort.

One day, she skipped her lessons and got scolded by her mother for the first time.

Another day, she abruptly skipped a tea party she was invited to, just to meet Kyle.

Gradually, Kyle changed Rudine.

The boy named Kyle, slowly melted into the daily life of Rudine, who had hardened to survive in the Imperial Palace.

Or so she thought.

— Pr-Princess...

When she met Kyle a few days later, he addressed her as Princess with a face full of tension.

She couldn’t understand.

Hadn’t he said they were friends? Then why even he...

— Don’t.

It was the first time.

The first time she revealed her emotions with such a crumpled face.

— Don’t call me that.

Her heart ached.

The Imperial Palace was full of people who called her Princess. That was enough.

At least Kyle, she wished Kyle wouldn’t call her that.

The only one who had first asked to be her friend.

Her clenched fist trembled.

A crack appeared in the mask she had worn all her life.

The bewildered expression on Kyle’s face as he looked down at her was evident.

The more he did, the more Rudine’s expression contorted.

She hoped Kyle would say the answer she wanted.

Kyle hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to look around.

And with warm hands, he held Rudine’s hands.

— I’m sorry.

The warmth of his skin against hers was soothing.

— So, don’t cry.

The hand wiping away the tears out of her control was warm.

— ...The answer?

At the question she courageously asked, Kyle nodded.

As always, his smile was clear.

That day, Rudine made a friend for the first time in her life.

Or so she thought.

— Oh, that boy?

— Sorry, but he’s been missing since last evening.

— It seems he left the Imperial Palace.

Kyle left the Imperial Palace.

Without any word.

Leaving her alone in this dreadful place.

****

Kyle never returned.

No matter how long she waited, no contact or news came.

So Rudine erased Kyle from her mind.

She closed her heart completely and stopped looking for Kyle.

Thus, she handled her duties.

Slowly solidifying her position in the Royal Family as a princess.

Then it happened.

When she first heard the news about Kyle, buried in her memory.

The rosary around her neck vibrated and began to emit a bright light.

A flash of light burst forth.

Rudine closed her eyes tightly.

Tick tock, tick tock.

The faint sound of a ticking clock gradually slowed down.

And when she opened her eyes.

“...What is this?”

Dust floating in the air.

Curtains fluttering in the wind.

A servant raising their arms to shield themselves from the light.

Everything was frozen.

Time had stopped.

The people had stopped.

Everything except for her.

Yes.

It was as if the world had stopped.

“......”

A chilling silence settled.

Standing before this defiance of reality and laws, she was at a loss for words.

Rudine lightly touched the frozen servant.

As soon as her fingers made contact with the skin, it felt like they were sinking into a muddy puddle.

The sensation was like... mixing mud with water, soft and yielding.

The skin, which had sunk deeply, bounced back to its original state as soon as she withdrew her hand.

The sight was disturbingly surreal and grotesque.

Frightened, Rudine ran out of the room with all her might.

The servants walking down the hallway.

A noble lady about to fall on her butt.

The Emperor and Empress chatting in the garden.

Everyone... everyone...!

Everything in the Empire was completely frozen.

No matter how much she ran, she didn’t get tired.

She didn’t sweat, nor did she feel hunger or thirst.

All the natural biological responses of a living person had stopped.

“Ugh...!”

No matter how much she struggled to remove her clothes, the zipper wouldn’t budge.

It was as if it was fixed in place.

Even kicking the dirt several times didn’t stir up any dust.

The glass shards floating in mid-air.

The spittle hanging from someone’s mouth.

“Everything is stopped...”

An overwhelming fear crept up her back.

****

An incalculable amount of time passed in this frozen world.

How much time had really passed?

A year? Ten years? A hundred years?

She didn’t know.

Counting numbers to measure time was only a matter of days.

In a world where time itself had stopped, measuring the passage of time was the most inefficient thing one could do.

“...”

She simply sat down and stared at the frozen sky.

The situation was so absurd that she let out a giggle.

She tried talking nonsense, throwing herself out of a window, and even holding her breath, but nothing changed.

The world was still frozen, and she alone was alive and moving in this preserved world.

“This is absurd! Why am I the only one who isn’t frozen?”

She laughed.

She leaned back and laughed hysterically, then screamed like she had seen a ghost.

She grabbed a mirror lying on the floor and carefully observed her reflection.

Ah, my face.

Yes, it’s my face.

Rudine laughed quietly, fumbling with the mirror.

“Why am I the only one moving? Why!”

A cracked voice climbed up her throat.

The sound of her voice reverberating in a world where everything had stopped was chilling.

Her soul was wearing thin.

She couldn’t keep her sanity.

She screamed and rolled on the floor, pretending to be crazy.

It was the only way she could endure.

Her values and sense of self were suppressed to the point where she started to forget who she was.

Just kill me.

Please, I can endure any excruciating pain.

But unfortunately, her prayers lost their way and only hovered in the air.

At that moment, she realized.

God had abandoned this world.

“Puha...”

Rudine stood up and started walking aimlessly.

She walked and walked, like a mindless person.

How long had she walked like that?

Black Mist.

A massive wall of black haze blocked her path.

“...”

Without hesitation, Rudine walked into the Black Mist.

She walked through the darkness, which was as thick as black smoke.

She emptied her mind.

Whenever she felt overwhelmed, she sat down and screamed.

She walked.

She ran.

She kept moving endlessly.

And then, at that moment.

“...!”

She saw it.

The black haze that had been suspended in the air rippled for a brief moment.

A sigh of relief escaped her clenched teeth.

As she widened her eyes and reached out her hand.

Wooooong—

A massive vibration shook the ground.

Rudine lost her balance and fell helplessly to the ground.

Moments later, the vibration gradually subsided.

At the same time, an anomaly occurred.

“I can feel...”

She could feel the sensations.

The fresh air filling her lungs, the hot tears welling up in her eyes.

She felt all of it vividly.

As she closed and opened her eyes, the scene changed with a swish.

The omnipresent darkness lifted, revealing a new scenery.

Buildings of an unfamiliar architectural style, towering into the sky.

Unfamiliar music echoing faintly.

People walking around in strange clothing.

Along with honking noises, massive chunks of metal were moving around, and people were speaking in languages she couldn’t understand.

Panicking, she reached out to grab anyone.

But.

“...Ha.”

Her outstretched hand passed right through as if they were a mirage.

“What on earth...”

Where is this place...

“...Where am I?”

[Translator – Peptobismol]