Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Unconditional Trust
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Serdian caught me in a whirl…?!
‘…’
A little surprised, Lucillea stared blankly at Serdian and spoke.
“Uh… Hey, um, thanks for sav—.”
But before she could finish her thanks, Serdian’s words cut her off.
“What in the world are you wearing? You can’t even control yourself.”
“Huh?”
Only then did Lucillea realize Serdian’s gaze was fixed on her necklace.
“You saw it?”
“It would be stranger not to, with all the commotion you were making.”
Lucillea carefully lifted the necklace by its chain with her fingertips and showed it to Serdian.
“Then, do you know anything about this necklace? Why is it doing this? I was told I needed it to live in the grand duchy, so I picked it out. Why is it suddenly acting up?”
“…”
Serdian narrowed his eyes, staring at the necklace.
“How would I know? I’ve never seen it before.”
“Ah… really?”
Lucillea’s face fell. She pouted and let the necklace drop.
“I guess being a genius heir doesn’t mean you know everything…”
“…What?”
Serdian started to retort, but then closed his mouth with a sigh.
“In any case, you should get rid of that necklace. If you don’t want to be slammed into a wall again.”
“Mm-hmm, I should…”
She couldn’t just go charging at the wooden door every time she came to the library.
Lucillea turned her head toward where she had seen the door just moments ago.
However.
“Huh?”
The wooden door that should have been there was gone.
‘Where did it go?’
Lucillea looked around, bewildered.
Was she in the wrong spot?
But no matter how much she scanned her surroundings, the enormous wooden door was nowhere to be seen.
In its place were only cold, hard walls covered in dark blue wallpaper.
Startled, Lucillea ran to the wall where the door had vanished.
‘What on earth is going on?’
As Lucillea traced the wall in disbelief, Serdian asked.
“What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you see the wooden door that was here?”
“A wooden door?”
Lucillea gestured at the empty wall and began to explain.
“There was a reddish-brown door right here! It was so tall it nearly touched the ceiling, and it had two golden handles side by side! You didn’t see it?!”
At Lucillea’s vivid description, Serdian’s expression turned serious.
“Did you hit your head?”
“…Of course not.”
Lucillea shot Serdian a glare before examining the wall again.
There was truly nothing there.
‘What in the world is happening? Did I see a hallucination?’
As her mind reeled in confusion, Cookie’s voice suddenly cut in.
[No! I saw it too!]
Lucillea whipped her head around to look at Cookie, who had taken refuge on top of a bookshelf.
‘That’s right! Cookie saw it with me!’
Then it definitely wasn't a hallucination.
Lucillea swept her hand over the wall’s surface again.
‘There really was a wooden door here.’
But for some reason, it was gone now.
Lucillea looked down at the now-quiet necklace.
As if its earlier frenzy had been a lie, the necklace was still and had lost its light.
‘You’re no ordinary trinket, are you?’
[Lucy! Throw it away right now! That thing is dangerous! You almost got smashed against the wall because of it!]
A dangerous object…
While she somewhat agreed with Cookie, her curiosity about the necklace surged.
‘It’s true I almost crashed into the wall because of this necklace.’
But the power the necklace had displayed and the vision of the reddish-brown door felt like more than a simple threat she could just dismiss.
‘Mei seemed to know a lot about this necklace.’
I’ll have to go back and ask her.
Lucillea tucked the necklace under her clothes and turned to face Serdian.
He flinched and took a step back.
Lucillea walked over to Serdian, took both of his hands in hers, and said.
“You saved my life today. I won’t forget this favor. No, if you ever need my help, just tell me. I’ll repay you no matter what.”
“Got it?” she asked. Serdian frowned.
“…Don’t tell me you’re planning to keep that necklace.”
“Hm?”
Lucillea grinned.
“Are you… worried about me?”
Worried I might get hurt because of this necklace? Hm?
At Lucillea’s playful expression, Serdian let out a hollow laugh and pulled his hands away from her grasp.
“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about the grand duchy. I’m worried you’ll destroy it along with that strange necklace.”
Lucillea let out a little laugh, amused by his words.
“You think that would really happen?”
Just then, her eyes fell on the books that had tumbled from the shelves when the necklace went wild.
“Gah…! What a mess!”
Lucillea hurried back along the path she’d been dragged and quickly began picking up the books from the floor.
Things would get complicated if a librarian were to come back and see this scene.
As she gathered the books into her arms, Lucillea spoke to Serdian.
“I wasn’t joking when I said I’d repay the favor.”
“…”
After picking up most of the fallen books, Lucillea straightened up and continued.
“Well, I doubt you need my help right now.”
Then, she spun around to face Serdian.
“How about this? From now on, no matter what you do, I’ll unconditionally be on your side and believe every word you say!”
“What?”
“How’s that? A pretty sweet deal, right?” Lucillea said triumphantly. Serdian swept his bangs back and sighed.
Then, he looked at Lucillea with a cool gaze and asked.
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“How long have we known each other? What do you even know about me?”
Wow, this kid.
‘Why is he so cynical?’
The original novel often mentioned Serdian’s unhappy childhood.
‘Listen, kid. You think you’ve had it rough? You’ve got nothing on me.’
Were you beaten until you were nineteen? Did you get hit by a car and die while trying to escape?
‘And most importantly, have you ever been reincarnated as the villain in a novel?’
Have you ever had to stand face-to-face with the person who’s going to cut off your head, trying to get on their good side?
‘The point is, I’m someone who’s lived through her own personal hell.’
Though I have no idea how much longer this hell will last.
‘Which is to say, I’m not weak enough to be hurt by your sharp words.’
Lucillea forced a small smile, hiding her true thoughts.
“I haven’t known Mei for very long either, you know? But I just get a feeling. A feeling that this is someone I can trust. It’s instinct.”
At her words, Serdian scoffed as if it were ridiculous.
“Isn’t that just the kind of flimsy sentiment that gets you stabbed in the back?”
Lucillea shrugged.
“Well, yeah. Maybe so. But if you’re always hesitating and testing the waters, afraid of being betrayed, you’ll never make a single friend in your life.”
Like you.
Serdian’s eyes darkened as he stared at her.
“I don’t need friends.”
“That’s what you think ‘now.’ But will the you of the distant ‘future’ still think the same?”
In the distant future, you’re going to have a hard time gathering allies and talented people.
But Serdian was resolute.
“I don’t even know what will happen to me tomorrow. Why should I worry about my fate in the distant future?”
“I don’t think so. I thought you’d be the type to plan everything meticulously. I bet you’ve already made plans for after your coming-of-age ceremony, haven’t you?”
“…”
At that, a perfect frown marred Serdian’s smooth brow.
Lucillea looked at the elegant boy’s scowling face and smiled in satisfaction.
“Why? Am I wrong?”
“What you—”
“Are you going to ask me again what I know about you?”
“…”
“Are you that curious?”
“…”
“If you’re curious,”
“…”
Hehe, Lucillea smiled sweetly and walked toward Serdian.
“let’s be friends! Friends, friends!”
But Serdian scrambled backward as if dodging a splash of filth.
“…”
“…”
Lucillea glanced between Serdian’s rapidly retreating feet and his face.
“That’s so mean. What am I, a monster?! Why are you backing away?”
“I have no intention of being friends with you, so don’t come any closer.”
“You’ll regret it. I’m super useful, you know.”
“I don’t keep people around based on their usefulness.”
Oh? What’s with that line? This kid… a real main character, huh?
Lucillea’s eyes sparkled as she took another step forward.
“Wow. That was so cool!”
A line worthy of a male lead!
“That settles it. I have to be your friend!”
“What?!”
If you don’t care about usefulness, then it’s even better! Keep me by your side!
‘If we get close, you might think twice—or even three times—before you have to chop off my head.’
Lucillea beamed and held out her hand.
“Here, let’s shake on it to commemorate our new friendship!”
Serdian’s reply was swift.
“Get lost.”
Get lost, get lost… get lost…
“…”
His cold voice, spoken through gritted teeth, echoed through the quiet library.