Chapter 17: After The Request

A cold wind blew.

The sweat that had been flowing down my body slowly began to cool down, letting me know once again that the difficult battle that had been going on until just now was truly over.

“…”

After hearing my answer, Layla remained frozen in place, blankly staring at me.

As if she couldn’t believe it.

As if she couldn’t possibly accept the fact that someone’s goal was to ‘die comfortably.’

She just stared at me with such a blank expression.

It’s a bit burdensome.

Of course, for the person on the receiving end, there was nothing more terrifying than this.

Being alone with the crown princess of the empire.

And the crown princess staring at me because of the words I just said.

What kind of person wouldn’t feel burdened in this situation?

How do you do it?

How do you really do it?

If there really was such a person in the empire, I would pay money to ask her how to do it.

“Your Highness?”

“…”

“Your Highness? Are you alive?”

“Ah, um. I got lost in thought for a moment in front of you.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay. I’m sorry for unintentionally ignoring you.”

Saying that she was fine, Layla apologized for ignoring me instead.

“No. If you think about it, I was the one who made you lose your mind, so you don’t need to apologize, Your Highness.”

“No, that’s wrong, Lian Trice. Didn’t I say that earlier?”

“….”

“It doesn’t matter who caused it, what’s more important is how the person who accepted it dealt with it.”

For example, it was something like this.

The reason Layla became lost in thought was because I rejected Layla’s offer.

Even if it wasn’t her own will after she became lost in thought, in the end, Layla ignored me.

For this reason, Layla was insisting that I was wrong.

“Therefore, this isn’t your fault. You don’t need to feel guilty toward me.”

“…”

“You might think I’m being a jerk for no reason, but remember this.

It’s something that will come to your mind someday as you live.”

The gloomy atmosphere that had been there until just now had disappeared, and Layla had returned to her usual charismatic crown princess.

As I quietly watched her, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘…..She’s Layla after all.’

She’s not Layla for nothing.

She’s not the crown princess of an empire recognized by everyone for nothing.

Her speech was truly outstanding.

Her speech seemed to drive nails directly into the listener’s head, making sure that her story would never escape them easily.

If you let your guard down for even a moment, you would be completely captivated by Layla.

“Okay, then won’t you tell me now?”

“…..?”

“Why is your goal to die comfortably? I want to hear that story now.”

“…”

It didn’t take long for me to realize that even her speech was Layla’s planned speech, targeting my guard down.

***

On the way back to the academy after successfully completing the request.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

“Unfortunately, that’s true.”

I nodded to Layla, who had asked me to go back with her, and before I knew it, I was riding in the royal sedan.

… It really is spacious.

It seems to be the biggest car I’ve ever ridden in.

“I’ll ask one last time. Are you really not going to tell me?”

Even while looking at the car, Layla kept asking me the reason.

The reason why my goal is to die comfortably.

It seemed like she really wanted to know how my goal ended up like that.

“Since the Princess is asking the last question, I will also be the last to answer.”

“…”

“I won’t tell you, so just look at the scenery outside.”

However, the answer to that question never came out of my mouth.

The reason was simple.

Unlike Ellis, who didn’t believe me when I told her that I had a terminal diagnosis, the princess in front of me was someone who would believe the fact that I had a terminal diagnosis.

I knew Ellis wouldn’t believe me.

The reason I told Ellis in the first place was because ‘…….I knew that Ellis wouldn’t believe me.’

Ellis Akstra was a treacherous person.

A treacherous person who would never make the first move unless it was beneficial to her.

Could that treacherous person believe the words, ‘Lian Trice had a terminal diagnosis,’ that she heard out of the blue when there was absolutely no evidence?

No, there was no way that could happen.

I felt sorry for Ellis, but there was absolutely no way that could happen.

In fact, there was no need to feel sorry.

On the contrary, if she had really believed that information, Ellis Akstra wouldn’t have become the queen of the underworld in the original work.

Occupational disease.

That so-called occupational disease made Ellis always live in excessive suspicion.

I was sure that Ellis wouldn’t believe me, so I confessed to her that I had a terminal diagnosis.

“…”

“Even if you look at me so pitifully, I won’t tell you.”

However, the princess sitting next to me was different.

If I had told the truth, she would have believed it completely.

To be exact, she would have thought that doubting it was unnecessary.

There is no reason for Lian Trice to lie to me now.

Therefore, there is no need to doubt that what I just heard is a lie.

This was Layla’s method of obtaining information that appeared briefly in the original work.

Faster than anyone else.

However, more objectively than anyone else.

A method that only Layla von Pelias, who had met countless people while living as the crown princess, could do.

It was a method that would be difficult for an ordinary person to even try to follow.

‘……There is no reason to tell you.’

In other words, as someone who knew this fact, I had absolutely no reason to reveal the truth.

I shouldn’t tell you.

If I told you, you would start causing all sorts of trouble from then on.

-You’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness?

-Don’t worry. I’ll somehow treat you.

I could already picture it.

And there, saying that there is no illness in the world that cannot be cured.

More ways either.

-But I did my best. I just want you to know this.

Incurable disease and ended up being abandoned.

It happened in the original work.

Layla came forward to cure someone’s incurable diseased sibling, but in the end, she gave up after only proving why the incurable disease was incurable.

And when that sibling eventually lost its life, the only blood relative, my older sister, spent the whole day crying

As a reader of the original work at the time, I quietly watched that scene from the protagonist’s perspective.

‘……Tinia.’

That was the incident where my current club senior, Tinia’s younger brother, died.

That was the incident in the original where Tinia and Layla became strangely distant.

If you think about it, it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Layla did the best she could as a princess.

Tinia just prayed while watching Layla and her sibling.

Everyone did their best.

It was an unfortunate incident even though everyone did their best.

And. Knowing this fact, I.

“……Really?”

“Yes. I really won’t tell you.”

How could I, who knew this fact better than anyone else, tell Layla the truth?

Of course, I might be different.

Unlike Tinia’s younger brother who had died, I might miraculously survive with Layla’s help.

You never know.

You never know until you try it yourself.

I clearly knew this fact in my head.

……. Is it really necessary to do that?

However, I was just too cowardly to do that.

A coward.

A coward who can’t even try because he’s afraid of the risk of failure.

A coward who’s already realized how meaningless it is to have hope for a year, and has completely lost the will to challenge.

I’ve already experienced it.

I’ve experienced how meaningless my efforts and challenges are.

If they were really meaningful, they would have changed.

If the efforts I made were truly meaningful, the way people looked at me would have already changed.

‘……But, it wasn’t.’

But, no.

The world as seen from Lian Trice’s perspective was still cold.

Everyone still thought I was a loser.

Everyone still thought I was trash that could not be rehabilitated.

-Clearing up past mistakes does not mean that you will escape from being a person who committed mistakes.

You should know that best, right?

Even Ellis, who knew that I had changed, told me that.

That was enough.

It was more than enough for me to realize that it was already too late.

And, because I was the one who knew this better than anyone else.

“Then I will ask you for the last time, really, really…”

“Then I dare say that I will not tell you for the last time, really, really.”

“……It is quite unpleasant. Being rejected by others.”

“Life is a series of unpleasant feelings. Your Highness.”

I was able to reject Layla’s offer with a slight smile and even a joke.

With a smile that looked like a three-year-old had drawn it herself.

Crooked, crooked.

With a smile that looked like a child had drawn something they didn’t want to draw.