Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Revealing Her Secret
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Just what was this girl trying to say?
I was caught off guard for a moment and covered her mouth first.
"Wait. Catch your breath. Then we can talk."
"Pardon? Oh... yes."
At least I'd managed to stop her from blurting it out right away.
Honestly, I was flustered.
'Is she seriously about to mention her spirit communion ability...?'
If so, what the hell had all my agonizing up until yesterday been for?
In the original story, it was a power she kept hidden all the way to the latter half. Was it really okay to just casually reveal it like this?
She'd been exceedingly cautious even when confiding in the main male lead, the 3rd Prince.
It felt like the original plot had been twisted in a major way.
'Well, things started veering off the moment I snapped out of it and didn't lock her away...'
Even so, I hadn't expected her to try spilling her ability like this.
No matter how you sliced it, this was going too far.
The problem was, I couldn't straight-up tell her not to reveal that secret myself.
Why? Because that would amount to admitting I already knew about her power.
[Don't tell me the thing in the box is an apple.]
It would've been no different from that classic line.
'But still, none of this makes sense...'
Why was she trying to reveal something so close to her deepest secret?
Of course, even I couldn't make heads or tails of what had happened.
It was a scene that never played out in the original.
If Yelena's knowledge of the original didn't differ much from mine... she might be just as clueless.
And since I was the sole witness to that phenomenon, it made sense for her to ask me about it.
But in my book, that was a far cry from actually divulging her secret.
"Sit down for now."
"......All right."
I guided her to the guest sofa and took a seat across from her.
She seemed a bit worked up, so I had some tea brought out for her.
'Calming her down comes first.'
Doesn't clear thinking only come once your head cools and your emotions settle?
Right now, Yelena needed that time.
Time to sip her tea, steady her nerves, and truly feel the weight of what she was about to say.
This wasn't just because I didn't want to hear it.
Even if it was all a facade, as her companion now, I didn't want her making a choice she'd live to regret.
"How's the tea?"
"......It's good. Fragrant and lovely."
"They say it's a blend that's all the rage down south."
Sure enough, as the warm tea slid down her throat, a sense of calm washed over Yelena's previously impatient expression.
"So, you came to talk about what happened yesterday?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"But first, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"About that ability you just mentioned—one you said you've never told a soul."
"......"
I called it out directly, and Yelena went quiet in an instant.
Her resolve aside, the silence was inevitable.
After all, it'd been hers alone for twenty whole years.
"I didn't hear you out right away and made you sit here with some tea to help you cool off. You seemed that rushed."
"Well..."
"You've never told anyone. Not even your family?"
"......Yes."
"So what's the reason for telling a secret you've kept even from your own family... to me?"
"Because..."
Before she could give her reason, I cut in.
"If this is just to explain away what you did last night, think it over again. I'm not that bothered by it."
"......"
"It's best not to let your current emotions sweep you into a decision you'll regret down the line, Yelena Astria."
She flinched.
I hadn't used her full name in a while, and it felt awkward even for me—but it seemed to snap her back to rational thinking.
'Good. If we can glide past this smoothly, what should I pivot to next...'
"......I know for a fact I won't regret this choice today."
'Pardon?'
But somehow, Yelena's eyes burned with even firmer resolve than before.
Just as I flustered, trying to rein her in, she beat me to the punch.
"And more than that... what happened yesterday seems tied to Your Highness in some way."
Huh?
What on earth did that mean?
In other words, Cassius bore some responsibility for putting Yelena in that state last night?
I couldn't for the life of me see how the chain of events led there.
"And... I've already steeled myself for this...... Kashu."
"......"
She hit me with a nickname out of nowhere, and it jolted me fully awake.
Yelena looked embarrassed, but her expression stayed resolute.
Her face told me... I'd gotten it wrong.
'Did she come here fully resolved too...?'
No one knew the dangers of her power better than she did.
For her to trust me enough to open up—and here I was, refusing and trying to shut her down.
Now that I thought about it, there was a scene like this in the original.
After confiding her ability to the 3rd Prince, Yelena's lines:
[Haa... finally...]
[What's wrong, Yelena?]
[No, it's just... such a relief. I've hidden this power even from my parents all this time... Now Your Highness knows too. It feels lighter than I ever imagined...]
She'd lived under that crushing burden every day, only to feel unburdened after finally telling the 3rd Prince.
She had to be carrying the same weight right now.
"......I see."
In the end, I rose from my seat and locked the door.
"If you're that determined, then I should match it with my own resolve."
The conversation ahead couldn't reach anyone's ears.
And I'd decided to hear her secret.
"I... can actually see spirits. And communicate with them."
At long last, her secret burst into the world for the first time.
Yelena first sensed her ability right around her fifth birthday.
Before her family drowned in debt, her life resembled that of any other noble young lady.
But she realized she was special upon encountering a flower spirit by chance in the family garden.
[Wow! That bee's huge!]
Even with a bee the size of her face buzzing about, Yelena thought it was cute and chased the spirit around.
The bumblebee-like spirit began following her at some point, and by the time she finished etiquette lessons and headed to the garden, their game of hide-and-seek had become routine.
To everyone else, though, it was an undeniably bizarre sight.
A child chattering away at thin air while scampering about.
Fortunately—or perhaps not—the Astria Viscount and his wife paid little attention to Yelena.
By then, their minds were consumed by gambling and debts; they had no time for their young daughter's play.
The servants felt the same.
They were too busy plotting their escape from the couple's antics.
If anything, Yelena playing contentedly on her own—without bothering them—was a relief.
In that irresponsible neglect, she luckily kept her ability hidden.
She truly grasped its value when her history lessons began.
By then, she'd realized spirits were visible only to her and had kept it secret naturally.
But she hadn't understood the risks or worth.
To her, they were simply secret friends no one else knew about.
History changed that: wars sparked by spirits' power and peril. Realizing the spirits she'd frolicked with so freely wielded such might shifted her perspective.
Even her first flower spirit friend possessed feats few mages could match.
Accelerating blooms, conjuring temporary fields of splendor.
Put differently: meddling in life's birth and death.
What made Yelena vow to keep it secret forever happened years later.
She'd visited the forest to see her spirit friends—still treating them as such despite awakening to her gift.
Two spirits quarreled over her, reshaping the terrain on no small scale.
Days later, imperial envoys arrived at the estate.
[We require your assistance investigating the incident in Astria territory's forest.]
Somehow, the imperial family had deduced it stemmed from spirit power.
Spirits were entities under intense imperial scrutiny even now.
Had any servant from her early years been around, her secret might've spilled. It nearly did.
But the viscount family was on the brink of ruin by then; most staff had fled.
Thus, Yelena evaded discovery once more.
But not anymore.
Twenty years old.
"I... can actually see spirits. And communicate with them."
Her voice trembled as she confessed to the man before her.
A power that could twist history's greatest rulers into tyrants, blind even the most virtuous lords.
Resolve aside, unease lingered in her heart's corner—unavoidable.
But she'd crossed the point of no return.
"Spirits, huh..."
"......"
Cassius murmured, lost in thought.
His hand obscured his mouth, making his expression hard to read, but he looked confounded.
Then he spoke.
"......You've endured so much all these years."
"...Huh?"
His words—cool yet kind—brought tears she hadn't noticed falling.