Chapter 62
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Only One Who Understands (1)
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My breath fills up to the tip of my chin.
Sweetness lingers in my mouth.
"Hoo, hoo..."
The moment we arrived at the palace entrance, my heart pounded wildly from sprinting with everything I had.
Who could've guessed the princess's room would be the farthest from the entrance?
Even so, thanks to Hanna guiding me through a shortcut, we'd made it in the shortest time possible.
I steadied my breathing as much as I could and quickly scanned the surroundings.
- Rumble...
A massive wooden door lay shattered and embedded in the wall, while the chandelier hanging from the ceiling dangled precariously, dented and deformed.
Every marble pillar in the corridor had cracks spiderwebbing across their surfaces, on the verge of crumbling.
'They were really trying to bring the whole palace down.'
I knew the princess's power was terrifying.
Wielding telekinesis with just her will, without any mana assistance—that was incredible.
But I hadn't realized it could shake the entire palace and crush pillars and walls carved from rock.
If Elaine had pushed just a little harder, at least the whole third floor would have collapsed.
But by some miracle, there were no casualties.
The servants and guards, frozen in fear and too terrified to approach, simply watched us from afar.
'We made it in time.'
I turned to the girl panting beside me just like I was and murmured softly.
"Miss Hanna. Thanks to you, we barely made it."
"Haa, haa... No, you insisted on coming straight here, Central Officer."
She brushed back her sweat-matted red hair and muttered.
"We almost had a disaster..."
If we'd stuck to the original plan, we would've been way too late.
My primary goal in visiting the palace was to consult with the Minister about the accident-free performance bonus.
I'd planned to meet Minister Carton first, then the princess.
But what Hanna had said in the carriage nagged at me.
[The princess smiled for the first time while writing that letter with you, Central Officer. It was the first time she's ever tried talking to anyone besides me.]
[But then the Queen came in suddenly... and took all the letters. I got punished for encouraging the princess to do something so dangerous.]
[When her emotions run high, her power goes berserk... So the Queen forcibly applied the Blessing of Peace and removed anything that might stimulate her.]
Hope has two sides.
Despair.
The princess had hope.
Elaine had Hanna. And letters—her sole window to the world.
But when something precious is taken away, the resulting emptiness feels even greater than if it had never existed.
'I know that feeling.'
The Visual Officer's voice echoed in my mind.
What had I done when I lost her?
Emptiness turns to sorrow, sorrow to rage.
And rage brings destruction.
'In my case, thankfully, I had the dark organization and Gerard as clear targets.'
But the rage of the suppressed, despite their power, is on another level.
A vicious cycle leading to destruction aimed at the world or themselves, breeding more emptiness.
And she had the power for it.
'That's why I scrapped all plans and came straight here.'
I checked Elaine's condition with a heavy heart.
Her cheeks were gaunt from days without food.
Her pale bare feet, untouched by sunlight, were bleeding from stepping on shards when she shattered the door.
Her brown hair, which should have been neatly arranged, fluttered as if caught in an invisible wind, overwhelmed by her own power.
Gone was the somber, demure figure I'd seen in the royal mausoleum.
The Elaine before me now resembled the harbinger of disaster—the Visual Officer on the brink of mana overload.
A fierce wildfire ready to burn everything, yet like a candle flame that could flicker out any moment.
"..."
Only her green eyes, fixed on me, slowly regained a spark of life.
But even that trembled unstably.
Still, there was hope.
'She hasn't crossed that final line.'
She hadn't killed anyone.
No matter how angry or out of control, no one was hurt.
'As long as that's the case, it won't escalate.'
Property damage and loss of life carry different weights.
With no casualties yet, if I could calm her quickly, it could be resolved.
I just needed to convince her to fully retract her power.
I opened my mouth calmly.
"Princess."
But a problem arose.
"Ah... uh..."
I suddenly remembered she had mutism.
"Damn."
This wasn't good.
What she needed was conversation. Not my one-sided words.
Hanna, who had rushed into the room, called out in panic.
"Th-there's no paper or pen!"
I was reminded again that the Queen had confiscated letters—their only means of communication.
No way to communicate.
"Damn."
That was when it happened.
"Over here, this way! The princess..."
"Still far!?"
"They're coming! She's in the inner courtyard right now, just wait a bit more..."
A noisy shout echoed from the end of the corridor as a group of people came rushing in.
The guards and servants who'd fled in fear had returned with reinforcements.
One soldier spotted us and yelled.
"Found them! There they are! Call the priests, hurry!"
Priests.
"...!!!"
At that word, Elaine's eyes widened, and she whipped her head around.
"Uh...!!"
Her hand rose again.
- Creak...
The chandelier above them twisted with a grotesque metallic screech.
A little more force, and it would drop, crushing everyone below.
Damn it.
"Don't come closer!"
"It's dangerous there! The princess's power..."
"Damn it, stay back!"
I spun around urgently to Elaine.
"Princess. Stop this. You don't have to do this!"
Her green eyes shook with a tumult of emotions.
A face hating them, hating herself.
Eyes glad to see us, yet terrified.
Unable to decide what to do, her hand outstretched, frozen in indecision.
I had to calm her.
- Rumble...
An ominous vibration began echoing through the entire palace again.
The chains holding the chandelier swayed perilously.
'Damn, what do I do...'
There was no method.
How could I calm her when she was already too agitated to control?
Unless I could talk to her.
'Talk?'
A thought flashed through my mind.
I shouted to Elaine at once.
"I have a way! So stop!"
"...?"
She blinked at me.
"You've never spoken to anyone, not once, have you, Princess?"
After Rasen's death, Elaine developed mutism.
Her words dissolved into mere breaths, leaving only meaningless groans and wails.
'She must have lived fifteen years in forced silence.'
No one understood her words—not even herself, until she gave up.
But I was different.
I took a step closer and said,
"I'll hear everything. All the words you want to say, all the words you couldn't. So pour out that frustration to me."
Doubt flickered in her gaze.
"..."
She shook her head.
As if it wouldn't work anyway.
As if no one, not even me, could understand her words.
She didn't trust her own voice, reduced to breaths.
She didn't trust my words.
Still, I pleaded more earnestly.
"Trust me."
This was the only way.
The one thing only I could do.
"I can hear it. Any words, any language."
"..."
Her green eyes stared at me silently.
And finally, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Ah... uhh..."
A short groan.
The instant I heard it, I focused every ounce of my mind.
Please.
If this Talent truly lets me understand all languages.
If it can even comprehend the tongue of extinct races, then let it hear the words of one still alive but silenced.
'Maybe this power was given to me for this very moment.'
I wished more desperately than ever.
I concentrated harder than ever.
Please, let me hear it.
"Uh... uhh..."
And finally,
[It's all meaningless. It's already too late.]
I heard it.
"No, it's not meaningless."
I replied immediately.
"It's not too late."
Elaine's eyes filled with shock.
"...Huh?"
'Impossible.'
My first thought was disbelief.
Not even Hanna could hear my words.
I turned my gaze to Nathan.
His black eyes gazed at me with relief.
Did I mishear?
Is this a dream?
I stammered in shock.
[C-Can you... hear what I'm saying?]
"Yes. Loud and clear."
He understood me.
[B-But how...?]
"I'll explain later."
Nathan bowed his head.
"Forgive my rudeness. But I must say it."
And then, he called my name.
"Elaine."
Informally, like family alone would.
He continued.
"Don't cross that line."
"..."
It felt like a hammer to the head.
He pinpointed exactly what no one had said—what I'd dimly feared myself.
[B-But I've already...]
"No. It's not too late. That's why we're here."
Nathan pointed to Hanna behind him.
Hanna Meyer.
The girl who'd been by my side longest nodded.
Then, someone shouted from the far end of the corridor.
"...Hanna? You're Hanna, right?"
It was the maid who'd delivered my meals in Hanna's place—the one I'd choked.
Hanna replied curtly to her question.
"Yeah?"
"Weren't you fired?"
"I'm back."
"Why? The Queen told you never to come near the princess again..."
Hanna fell silent for a moment.
Her presence here was blatant defiance.
The punishment for the first defiance had been harsh. She'd endured it brutally.
But a second defiance would be far worse.
Yet she'd returned.
'Why?'
Even I stared at her in puzzlement.
'You have no reason to go this far for me.'
Separate from how much I cherished her, I didn't know what she truly thought of me.
Hanna hesitated under my green eyes, then said softly,
"B-Because... I want to help my friend."
"...."
Friend.
That single word made my chest ache.
'So I wasn't the only one who thought that.'
A sense of relief for the first time.
Just as Hanna saw me as a friend, I saw her as one too.
Despite the vast gap between princess and maid, she never wavered.
To realize it only now.
My heart hurt. It pounded so hard it hurt.
But at the same time, something swelled thickly inside.
- Rustle.
My hand slowly lowered.
No matter how cruel this world, no matter how heavy my sins.
There was someone who understood me.
Someone supporting me.
I hesitantly asked Nathan the question I'd never voiced to anyone.
[Am I a monster?]
Everyone calls me a monster.
Do you think so too?
"Who says that? Anyone can see you're a princess."
Nathan frowned as if it were nonsense.
[Am I... bad?]
Is it my fate to be born bad, commit sins, and end as the villainess?
No matter the circumstances, what I did was horrific—so is my very existence evil?
"To some, yes. To others, no."
An honest answer.
Nathan turned to Hanna and said,
"But at least the Central Officer and Miss Hanna don't think you're bad. Right?"
"Right! I absolutely don't think that!!"
Hanna squeezed her eyes shut and yelled.
"Never! Our princess did nothing wrong!!!"
Her shrill cry echoed down the corridor.
Despite the harsh punishment from the Queen, her spirit was unbroken. My lips twitched for the first time.
A final question, whispered low.
[Can I... be forgiven?]
The deepest truth hidden in my heart slipped out.
The honest wish I'd never dared think.
[Can I be forgiven... for everything I've done?]
From my brother.
From countless people.
From myself.
Can I forgive myself?
Tell me the answer.
My only understanding one.
My friend.
My precious person.
Would you know?
"I don't know."
Nathan shook his head.
His unexpected reply made me look up at him.
A wry smile crossed his face.
"Even I can't say for sure if I've forgiven myself."
His black eyes looked at me, but I sensed another figure overlapping within.
Someone from his distant past memories.
Undoubtedly the one whose tears he'd shed in the royal mausoleum.
"But even so, there must be a way."
The Central Officer took another step forward.
"Let's find it together."
He extended his hand.
"The three of us."
Hanna reached out her right hand too, her face brimming with tears.
"I'll stay with you to the end, Princess."
Brilliant light from the window illuminated the two of them.
A dazzling, beautiful light that didn't suit me, who'd dwelled in darkness.
If I grasped those hands, I'd truly be free.
'I want to be there too.'
Unrestrained, freely.
In their world.
I moved cautiously toward it.
Slowly extended my hand.
The moment our three hands were about to meet,
"Elaine!!"
A horribly familiar voice rang out.
The person I feared most, who'd even thrown her fan aside to run here.
It was Helena Castor.
"!!!"
My hand jerked back hastily.
The Queen's ash-gray eyes swept the surroundings.
She took in the mangled chandelier, the cracked pillars, the shattered door of the room where I'd been confined for years.
Her face twisted.
"Th-This is..."
Deeply etched memories of Helena stirred and revived in my mind.
"Again...? You're going to do it again...?"
Just like back then, my mother's face filled with despair was there.
"Ah..."
Fear crashed over me.
But this time was different.
- Swish.
The Central Officer's hand touched my shoulder.
"It's okay. Elaine, you're okay."
Warmth from his hand seeped in.
He turned to Hanna.
"Miss Hanna. Take care of Elaine."
"Yes. Leave her to me."
My longtime friend immediately stepped up to support me.
- Step, step.
The Central Officer walked between the two mother and daughter staring at each other.
Blocking my view of my mother with his body.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
With a rigidly set face, he glared at his tenacious nemesis.
He straightened his clothes and spoke in the calm, resolute tone unique to immigration officers.
"It's been since the trial. Central Officer Nathan Kell, at your service."
In my mind, I drew a line.
One she could never cross.
Never to reach Elaine.
"Central Officer...!"
Helena ground her teeth, calling his title.
The twisted oppressor and the sole understanding one faced each other.