Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: EP.150 43-4. Is Conviction Stronger Than Will?
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There was a reason I wanted to check the imperial calendar. Time in dreams doesn't follow the same rules as reality.
Emperor Locke set down the knife he was holding, his face lost in thought. Now that I looked closely, there were no scars on his eyes either. The sense of wrongness was growing stronger.
"Imperial year... This one's the tenth, right?"
The emperor had the year wrong. The current imperial calendar was year 18—the empire had been founded two years after Pine was born.
That would make Pine the same age as me when I entered the academy. It was a contradiction.
This was probably my deepest wish.
Thanks to Magic Hat, Empress Bellin hadn't died, so Pine had her black hair, and there were no issues with our marriage.
"Speaking of which, when are you planning to hold the wedding?"
Emperor Locke brought up the marriage. Given the fiancée setup, it made sense for the topic to come up.
His face twisted in agony, as if even uttering those words took great effort.
"I'll need a little more time to think about it."
The bold fiancée premise had almost won me over, but if it was going to happen, I wanted official permission for marriage to Pine.
At the very least, I didn't want a love that I hadn't earned with my own hands.
"Licht, what's wrong with you...? You weren't like this when we talked yesterday..."
Her hand slid under the table toward my thigh. I grabbed it immediately, stopping her.
Unlike the Pine I knew, this one was forward. She wasn't an empty glass knight worn down by emotions.
"Don't tell me a beautiful fiancée like me isn't to your liking...?"
"Of course not."
Even after I pushed her away once, she intertwined her fingers with mine, showing affection. Her black wolf ears perked up cutely.
Marrying a pretty and beautiful princess would be nice, sure.
Pine Granasia was objectively stunning. There were guys at the academy who sought her out.
Money? Honor? It would all come in quantities beyond counting. Her exact status even included succession rights to the throne—crown princess.
But the reason I liked Pine Granasia wasn't her status. It was her pure, unadorned self.
"Or has your love changed? Licht?"
"No, that's not it either."
The meat wouldn't go down easily, no matter how much I chewed. Even if this was fake, seeing Pine saddened by the delay in our marriage tugged at a corner of my heart.
"You're so cold, like someone else..."
Her black wolf ears and tail drooped, refusing to lift. As I held my fork to my mouth and glanced at Pine, someone spoke up.
"Licht."
"...."
"You and Pine have been engaged since childhood, haven't you? Why put off the marriage all of a sudden?"
I hadn't expected to hear my name from her.
Empress Bellin spoke while sipping her mild milk tea. The woman in the black dress, just like fake Pine, smiled gently.
A figure trapped in Magic Hat's Heart Queen card. In the game, I'd never met her properly. Hearing her speak like this brought a wave of fresh emotions.
"You two were head over heels for each other... What's the problem? Your face looks perfectly handsome, no scars or anything."
The face I'd checked in the mirror earlier had no burns. Just as Kainel had said—a clean, handsome look.
This was the third time the boundary between dream and reality had blurred. It was getting tiresome.
"...Just marry Pine here and live happily ever after."
She wasn't even pretending to hide it anymore. The moment the empress realized this wasn't the real world, she went straight to the point.
I'd gotten a read on Tar Dune's temple. A place that lulls you into happiness to break your will.
They said it had been used in ancient wolfkin coming-of-age rites, which explained the leisurely approach.
"Isn't that what you wanted? Licht?"
"I want Pine's happiness, not my own."
I spoke politely to Empress Bellin. It was a given that Pine couldn't be happy without completing the Grand Route.
Every time I'd tried to take down the demon lords tied to the Nameless Saintess one by one, the status window had warned me.
Combining past and present info with my abilities, her death seemed inevitable.
"...That's my idea of love."
Furious at the fake twisting her three-inch tongue, I stood up. The real Empress Bellin never would have even mentioned such a thing.
Forcing marriage on me for her daughter's sake? Absurd.
"Licht..! Wait..!"
The black Pine chased after me. She gathered her long dress in both hands to keep it from dragging, running with hurried steps that grated on my ears.
"What did I do wrong..? Is something bothering you?"
The one I loved was the glass knight Pine. Not just any Pine.
I'd fallen for her as the Nameless Saintess, sure—it felt like first love.
'But I fell in love with her again as Mardol.'
Even when we barely knew each other, she'd been considerate of my burn scars, taught me swordsmanship to get closer, always checked on me first.
I'd owed her my life twice—once against the Apostle of Gluttony, once fighting Head. She'd even taken a bullet to pull me from a dream.
"I want real love, not a fake one."
Besides, the real Pine was resilient. Even when I ran from my feelings, she kept challenging me. In the north, and now too.
A love that overcame everything. I'd already fallen helplessly for the silver-haired princess.
The moment I recognized the illusion and willed myself out, the space around me began turning black. The scenery shifted like a black-and-white Polaroid.
"...."
Everything froze like a paused screen.
The fake Pine could no longer approach, locked in place. A single tear rolling from her eye stabbed me with guilt.
'A test of will, huh. Definitely dangerous.'
Like the apostles' powers or Akasha's temple, the game world was so vivid because it was no different from reality.
I wiped away the gem-like tear. The cold touch on my fingertip left a pang of regret.
That was when it happened. A status window suddenly popped up in front of me.
The light pink window, spamming hearts like always, began covering my vision.
This thing worked here too?
The creator of [Black Heart] could even extend power into the game world? The status window was evaluating my actions.
Looking again, her dress had a deep back cut, complete with a garter belt. The black fabric clung to Pine's soft curves, revealing them plainly.
Far from lewd, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
If the real Pine had gone dark and was squeezing me like this, maybe—but this was just an illusion.
With those words, my vision cleared to reveal a white door creaking open.
Pine Granasia came to her senses at the chirping of birds.
"...Where is this?"
As she lifted her groggy body and looked around, an unfamiliar sight greeted her.
A place with massive white structures everywhere. The black floor resembled a stone path but felt rough.
"How'd you do on the midterm?"
"Don't ask. I bombed it."
"Wanna hit up pizza then? Or karaoke?"
Boys and girls in black uniforms—opposite of Grand Hearts Academy attire—walked by. Pine recognized the group of students.
'They look like the people from Licht's nightmare last time...'
Unlike Pine with her wolf ears and tail, they were humans with black hair like Licht.
Afraid they'd find her strange, she pressed her wolf ears down with her hands.
"Let's grab some cup ramen over there first."
But they passed by without noticing her. Watching people eat something red in front of a vendor stall filled Pine with dread.
"Licht..!! Where are you..!"
This foreign land where she knew nothing. At least last time, she'd had the goal of saving Licht.
Pine, once used to being alone, now felt anxious without him. The worry blooming in her heart gnawed at her relentlessly.
"Licht.."
The princess of the Granasia Empire leaned on Licht.
She'd thought a temple testing will meant tackling the dungeon together like always, overcoming it side by side.
Licht had always been that for her. A Black Knight who rushed in when danger struck. An invincible knight who knew no defeat.
But now, she couldn't sense his usual heartbeat. Her magic circuits severed, her heart felt coldly indifferent again.
"Where are you..?"
It hurt like glass shards in her heart. Her unreachable voice turned to sobbing, and soon Pine collapsed to the ground.
"...."
No one came looking for Pine. Like her childhood locked in the palace, crying endlessly, she sank into despair.
"Sis, why are you crying..? Lost?"
How long had she been crying? Someone appeared before her. The familiar face made her look up.
"...Licht?"
"My name's Lee Soo-hyun."
The boy from the burning white building, with night-sky black hair and brown eyes.
"No way, are you a foreigner, sis..? Cool hair color!"
Childhood Licht sat beside her, smiling brightly.