Ch. 285
“…What. You think just looking at your face at a time like this will make me feel better? It’ll make me feel better instantly.”
[Of course.]
“S-should I take it off?”
“Yes. I want to see.”
Normally, he wouldn’t even pretend to listen if I begged him all day to take off his necklace just once. But since I look depressed, he’s taking it off on his own. ‘I should pretend to be depressed more often.’
Ash sat closer in front of me and took off the necklace.
We were sitting face-to-face on the bed, and though the room was dark with all the curtains drawn, it felt like my vision sharpened the moment I saw Ash’s real face—startling every time.
In his tranquil, golden eyes, there was only me.
“Mm, you’re handsome.”
I was more used to his ordinary-looking face, but it couldn’t compare to the pleasant, comfortable feeling I got when I saw his real one.
Ash was the type who took no pride in being handsome, and he was rather ashamed of his conspicuous looks.
“…Um…”
“Yes?”
“Compared to… Zekarda… which one is more… your type?”
“I think they’re both good. They have different vibes.”
“Rovenin is also famous for being a handsome man. What about him?”
“Ugh.”
As much as I go crazy for handsome faces, I’m not insane enough to drool over Rovenin’s face.
I admit he’s handsome, but looking at him doesn’t make me feel good, so he was on a completely different level from Ash or Zekarda.
“My dear Ash, are you jealous right now?”
“If I were, you would find it bothersome.”
“True. But it’s also quite cute.”
I smiled pleasantly and whispered softly.
“Come closer.”
Ash moved his large body with extreme gentleness, and soon our knees were touching.
I looked up at his pale face and caressed his cheek once.
It was only natural that fiddling with it felt better than just looking.
“To think something like this actually makes you feel better… You really are something.”
“Something?”
“…I like you.”
“Can I kiss you?”
I asked so suddenly because his face was too close. It was also because Ash had said something cute. I felt like doing it.
“S-suddenly?”
“Should I make a reservation then?”
Placing both hands on Ash’s knees, I met his golden eyes.
His lips parted as he hesitated, not knowing what to do, before he finally closed his eyes in silent affirmation.
With my lips still curved in a wide smile, I lightly pressed them against his.
“Hehe. I feel better now.”
“I’m… glad to hear that.”
Hearing his voice—unlike usual, flustered and faintly trembling—was one of my simple pleasures.
“I’m fine now, so what’s your problem?”
I asked, our knees still touching.
Ash’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected me to notice.
Even without using the ring’s power, I could tell this much.
“I think I need to go to Elan for a bit.”
“Huh? To the Imperial Palace?”
“Yes.”
“For how long? Is something wrong with Lox?”
“A day or two should be enough. Everyone will worry if I’m suddenly gone, so please help me come up with a story. It’s more my problem than Lox’s.”
It would be complicated to explain why he had to go to the Imperial Palace, and someone might even insist on tagging along, so it seemed safer to make up a plausible excuse.
Besides, Chad had been worrying himself sick lately, saying Ash was acting suspicious.
It was true Ash had become more secretive since Rovenin appeared.
To hide Ash’s identity, we also had to hide Rovenin’s existence.
That useless bastard.
“We’re still on the Path of Trials, aren’t we? Weren’t you not supposed to stop in the middle of the journey?”
“Those are the original rules. Returning to the palace is also strictly forbidden because my identity could be revealed.”
“But?”
“His Majesty the Emperor… wants me to explain myself in person.”
“Explain what?”
The more Ash spoke, the more questions I had.
“He has doubts about how my companions and I found the Goblet of the Golden Star.”
“Hah?”
“He wants me to properly explain to the elders how it was possible for such a meager party with no mages to accomplish such a great feat, and by what means.”
“That’s disappointing. I don’t think they’d sell the Goblet of the Golden Star even in the Black Market.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
I knew from the information I bought from the Information Guild that the second prince, Ash, had a much less solid power base compared to his rival, the first prince.
The factions supporting Ash were mostly young nobles, military officials, and provincial nobles—far removed from the powerful central aristocrats or old-fashioned forces like the senate.
Most of them were on the first prince’s side.
In short, Ash had almost no allies within the Imperial Palace.
“I thought everything would work out once we found the goblet… And from the sound of it, it seems you left my existence out of the report, right?”
“He confessed that he didn’t know how to write about you, so he wrote it as vaguely as possible. Lox had no other choice.”
“Isn’t that why they’re saying all this?”
If they left me out of it, the report would naturally be suspicious.
Even I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me they found an underwater Dungeon without a single mage and escaped alive after it collapsed.
“It’s been more or less confirmed that the Goblet of the Golden Star is real… so they seem to be pushing the narrative that I obtained the goblet through illegal means. That I’m hiding my dishonest deeds with the lie that the Dungeon has disappeared.”
“As if you’d ever do something like that. You could live without laws. Just go and tell them the truth.”
“Geenie…”
“I lived a good life, and thus received the grace of Geenie Crowell.”
Ta-da. This body is great.
Great enough to give perfect plausibility to that nonsense report just by adding a single name.
When you think of someone who makes the impossible possible, you think of me.
Though I didn’t want to prove it by having survived a Dragon’s grasp.
“Why can’t you say it? My friend is Geenie Crowell. We even kiss sometimes.”
“…Please.”
“The last part was a joke.”
Though it wouldn’t matter if I said it. If rumors spread that I was in that kind of relationship with a prince, no one would ask me to marry them, right?
‘Wait… that’s great, isn’t it? Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’
My gaze toward Ash turned decidedly more sinister after the realization.
“Bringing up your name would make everything easier. It would also explain how we were able to find the goblet. But if I do that, everyone will think you are my Guardian.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“No. It’s not. It can’t be. Geenie, you are someone who knew my identity from the very beginning. Taking someone who knows your identity as a Guardian violates the most basic rule.”
‘It would be perfect if I could just carve out half of Ash’s conscience and put it in Rovenin.’
“If I’m not a Guardian, then what am I?”
“A companion. It’s fine for us to be together during the journey. But to officially make you a Guardian is against the rules…”
“Shut up. Be quiet! What’s more important, the rules or me!”
Listening to him made me want to kill his conscience.
I may not be able to put food on the table, but I shouldn’t ruin his shot at becoming crown prince.
“Depending on which rule it is…”
“Damn it, I helped you find the Goblet of the Golden Star, and now you’re going to ignore my contribution? Are you really going to remove my name from the expedition team because of some stupid rule? Is that how you repay a kindness?”
“Geenie, you know better than anyone that’s not what I mean.”
“If you’re not going to use me and throw me away, then go and say it properly. The truth, just as you like it! That it was purely thanks to me that you found the goblet! And that among your Guardians is none other than Geenie Crowell!”
Though my face was scowling as I shouted, I kept my voice as low as possible. The inn rooms had almost no soundproofing.
“I know you hate dishonest acts, but sometimes you need to be flexible! It’ll be a problem if you don’t reveal that I’m one of your party members! Why are you being so stubborn!”
“Because it feels like I’m only receiving help from you. And it’s not the right thing to do…”
“So the best you can come up with is not making me your Guardian? Is that really how you repay a kindness? Would you mind not taking away the immense fame I could gain just to protect your conscience?”
“…That sounds plausible, but I know you’re only saying it to help me. You don’t even want fame.”
To be honest, I already have more than enough.
I’ve never lived my life wanting fame, and Ash wasn’t someone who wouldn’t know that.
I met Ash’s eyes and smiled, just as he had done to me. Then I grabbed his chin and made him look at me.
The golden eyes turned deeper the more they sank.
“Ash? It’s wonderful that you’re righteous. It’s one of the things I like about you. But… if you want to become emperor, you can’t be an idealist forever. That’s what politics is, isn’t it? Sometimes you have to commit sins to move forward.”
There can be no world without sin, and no one can be completely pure.
As I whispered for Ash to break the rules, a strange excitement welled up inside me.
‘I think I understand the pleasure of staining someone with myself. Is this what demons feel like?’
“…That Geenie Crowell is my companion, they’ll find that even harder to believe than me finding the Goblet of the Golden Star. It’s something that’s unlikely to happen by chance.”
“No one will know if you and I just keep our mouths shut.”
I realized Ash was more shaken when I whispered softly than when I shouted and insisted.
“Don’t you get it? This is the only chance for our names to be recorded side by side in history. Are you going to throw that away?”
“…”
“When you become the crown prince, you just have to not forget this favor, right? Right? We’re friends. Let me help you. It’s my small wish. Huh? It’s a fact that we were reunited by chance.”
Before, he would have refused firmly, but Ash began to hesitate.
As I held his fingertips, intertwined our fingers, and leaned closer to kiss his chin, his wavering grew even worse.
“Epiros… I will bless your future.”
The reason it was so enjoyable to sway Ash’s heart was because he was a stubborn man.
I could feel him struggling to endure me through the ring, and it only made me want to conquer him more.
************************************************************
Premium Access is now available!
If you want to stay ahead, you can now read 25 early chapters in advance through my new Premium Access tier on Ko-fi.
Price: $2.50 per month
Benefits:
– Instant access to 20 chapters ahead
– 5 new early chapters every week
– Full archive access from Chapter 1 to the latest premium release
– Optional Discord notifications for every new chapter drop
If you’d like to support the translation and read ahead, you can join here: https://ko-fi.com/s/f5b484bd89
Thank you for reading and supporting the series!