CH 26

Boom Boom!

There was a loud roar, but nothing came into her ears. Juliana just stared at Louis with a blank expression.

To her, the Empire’s lunatic and the object of fear was more like half fear and half curiosity. By the way, Louis was the lunatic….

“…Haha.”

While in her room, Juliana imagined the lunatic who couldn’t even snore. As a human being, wouldn’t you be curious about what he looks like as a human being?

Naturally, she recalled the rumors she had heard, and she drew an image of him. The imaginary lunatic had skin as bloodless as a corpse, his hair and eyes were black, reminiscent of a dungeon.

While Juliana tried not to be swayed by bigotry, she was forced to be influenced by such rumors.

But who dared. 

She wanted to ask who spread such nonsense.

White skin and dark hair contrasted to form a single chromaticity.

His red lips were thick and very impressive. More than anything else, the golden black pupils evoked the illusion of seeing a star rising in the sky at night. His black pupils gleamed, reflecting her pupils.

She really didn’t know. Why was black such a beautiful color?

‘Crazy… Louis is really crazy.’

He was the lunatic of the empire. Even if everyone denied it, Juliana had no choice but to believe it.

Boom Boom-.

Even with the sound of loud explosions, the only person who didn’t care was Louis.

He was the most unpredictable person she had ever known…….

Louis took a handful of Juliana’s hair and leaned down.

“What are you doing!”

Juliana, who had come to her senses, hurriedly avoided Louis’ hand.

“Huh?”

She avoided him but let go of the handle.

Her vision flipped and her body fell towards the ground.

“L-Lou……”

Juliana stretched her hand upwards. Louis only watched her carefully, but he didn’t hold the woman’s hand.

Boom! Loud explosion sounds were heard, and shards scattered. The fire blazed and engulfed the Grand Duke’s residence.

“Louis!!!”

Juliana floundered her hands in the air as she cried out his name.

Finally, the world went dark as the Grand Duke flew away.

***

Louis looked down at the blonde-haired woman lying on the bed.

“Juliana.”

He called the girl’s name. The woman who fell from the Grand Duke’s residence had already lost consciousness for two days.

“Julie.”

He called out Juliana’s name with a confused look. When her pale skin came into view, his chest sank coldly.

She was like a lifeless doll.

“…..”

Louis frowned and slowly wrapped the back of Juliana’s hand with his. Cold. He slowly looked at Juliana’s face.

Her always smiling lips were dry and cracked. The gold eyes that had been staring straight at him were also tightly shut.

Louis’ eyes fluttered anxiously. The woman’s cheeks, which had a faint blush, were still as fine as white jade, but the blood had faded.

“…….D*mn it.”

Unbearable swear words came out of his mouth.

He wondered what the woman’s reaction would be when she found out who he was. But he didn’t want it to be revealed to her in this way.

As he remembered Juliana’s pale face, he felt like he was sinking into the mud.

“Please…….”

Louis’ fingertips trembled slightly. He lowered his head, lightly squeezing Juliana’s hand in his grip.

***

Something that happened a long time ago came to her in a dream.

“Waaaaaaa!

There was a tremendous amount of cheering that made her ears ring. Juliana looked around blankly. The spectators who filled the large, circular stadium burst into cheers with loud voices.

“…Isn’t this a magic arena?”

Juliana recognized the place and looked around her with a puzzled expression on her face.

When she attended the academy, she used to stay here all the time for fights or practice. It was impossible for her not to recognize it.

‘But why this dream?’

That was then.

“Fire Ball!”

Suddenly, an attack flew from somewhere. Juliana hurriedly leaned her body back and avoided it. The flying attacks passed her and went in the other direction.

‘That.’

Staring in that direction, Juliana gasped for breath.

Juliana was dreaming of the past, as if she were watching from a third person’s point of view. In front of her was a blonde woman who looked a little younger than she was now. Another Juliana was in her dream and she was competing against one of her academy classmates in a magic contest. She skillfully dodged her flying attacks and counterattacked against her opponent.

“…..”

‘If I remember correctly, this was probably before I became a level 6 mage.’

Today was an important match day. She couldn’t let go of the tension as she needed to get good grades on her real-world tests to qualify for an advanced class.

“Frozen Feather.”

In her dream, she put ice shackles on her opponent’s feet.

The view from a third person’s point of view was different. Juliana watched the match she had competed in with interest.

The opponent with one foot frozen tried to cast anti-magic. She didn’t give them a break as she quickly blasted her ice spears one after another.

Swoosh-!

Multiple ice spears penetrated the opponent’s defense.

‘Why am I dreaming of this?’

Juliana stared at the match, immersed as she reminisced. While she was preoccupied in thought for a moment, the match was already on its way to its climax.

Kwak-!

Smoke spread with a loud noise. After a while, as the smoke cleared, she saw her opponent in a conceding posture with hands raised up. The man lying on the floor seemed to have managed to avoid the attack from Juliana in her dream.

As a result, the ground in front of it was hollowed out.

“Gently please.”

“You’re exaggerating. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Juliana from the past, who smiled mischievously at her opponent, offered her hand towards him.

“Waaaaa!”

Cheers erupted from the audience again. In her dream her golden hair fluttered as she lifted her magic wand high into the sky. The bright smile on her lips reminded Juliana of her past.

Come to think of it, that day.

Something had happened…. As soon as that thought came to mind, something ran through her head. Juliana quickly scanned through the audience.

At the left end of the audience.

Among them, she found someone. She saw a man sitting in the same seat back then.

It wasn’t that hard to find that man.

Because he was the only one who wrapped his whole body in a robe.

The magic academy had a long tradition.

The winner of the match will perform the Rain of Watering.

It was to form water droplets and give a rain of blessing to the spectators who kept their seats until the end.

Float.

Huge droplets of water formed from her past self and floated in the air.

If it was the original way, water droplets are divided into small pieces and pour water over the entire audience in the form of mist. But that day, she finally relaxed and made a mistake.

Juliana activated one formula, a modified magic formula.

‘No! Stop it…!’

Juliana screamed in haste, but she couldn’t be heard.

‘Ah, it’s ruined’.

Paak! Huge drops of water flew through the air and rainwater poured down.

Drops of water that should have fallen all over the audience fell like a waterfall over one person.

“…..”

Juliana was stunned by the reenactment of the past. In the past she rushed towards the audience in a hurry. A glimpse of the black hair slipped through the robe.

Back then, she was busy so she didn’t notice…….

For some reason, the man who was hit hard by the spray was smiling.

***

“Have you woken up?”

A low, soft, serene voice penetrated into her ears.

… Maybe it was still a dream, her mind was still dizzy as she was wrapped by the warm voice.

Perhaps because the surroundings were quiet, her mood became more warm.

Trudging. A slow motion that seemed to maintain a constant tempo. She heard the sound of someone approaching slowly. Juliana slowly opened her eyelids.

Right before her, the other person’s face came into view, the walking stopped.

She couldn’t see the man’s face, but his unique aura couldn’t be hidden. Juliana, recognizing who he was, moved her arms to get up from the bed. There was no strength in her body. She couldn’t move, she could barely move her fingers.

“You were unconscious for three days.”

The man explained her current condition in a shaky voice.

When he didn’t get a reply from her, the man approached and suddenly sat down on the mattress in front of her bed. The mattress on the side he sat on sank heavily.

“I was worried, Julie.”

With his solid build and his broad shoulders blocking the sunlight, Juliana opened her eyes at ease. Louis smiled softly and caressed the back of her hand.

“I’m really glad you woke up safely.”

There was a hint of joy in the soft tone of voice. Anyone who heard it could tell that the owner of the voice was excited.

“It’s okay now… just relax a little bit.”

Juliana stared into his warm eyes and opened her lips.

“Th-This place…”

Her voice cracked. Her mouth was dry.

She had seen the Grand Duke’s residence collapse with her own eyes. So where were they?

“Juliana really…”

He smiled as if he found her cute.

“Of course it’s the Grand Duke’s.”

That’s nonsense. Instead of responding to his naughty prank, Juliana was silent. Louis fiddled with her hand.

“…..”

She witnessed the collapse of the Grand Duke’s mansion with her own eyes. There was no reason to play around with his boring pranks even in her dreams. Juliana pulled away her hand that he was holding.

“Julie, you can’t move yet.”

Louis said with concerned eyes.

“…Get out of my way.”

Juliana ignored him and moved her feet out of the bed.