Chapter 52
A Sense of Discrepancy
Huh? What’s this? Is she blaming Jax? Sending Brody into enemy territory had been Jax’s unilateral decision, and the princess herself hadn’t agreed to it?
Brody felt puzzled.
Whatever she thought of the novel’s plot, one thing had been certain: Jax and the princess had truly loved each other. Yet here the princess was, speaking ill of him to Brody.
“Are you telling me to resent Lord Jax?”
“No, of course not. I know he did it for me and for the empire. But it really wasn’t my idea.”
Oh? Really? At those words, Brody’s expression softened and she gave the princess a pleasant smile.
Myla’s face lit up, as if thinking, She understands me now.
But the words that followed from Brody’s lips were dry and razor-sharp.
“Then whose idea was it to dominate my will and abduct me in the south?”
That ability was the princess’s own. Was she going to claim that wasn’t her doing either?
Yet despite the cutting question, the princess wore an innocently startled expression, which only surprised Brody more.
“Oh my, I thought you might still be bothered by that. Of course, you won’t believe me, but I truly didn’t know it would turn out that way. Lord Jax said he would only use it as an absolute—absolute—last resort if nothing else worked, so I reluctantly shared my power with him. Did you suffer a lot? Then I’ll apologize. I’m sorry.”
“……”
Brody was at a loss for words.
What is this personality supposed to be? Was this an act?
The princess truly looked innocent.
No… an innocent person doesn’t point a crossbow at someone.
Brody forced her wavering judgment back into line.
The brutal, passionate figure who had chased her before the fortress, and the picture-perfect beautiful young lady… two images as incompatible as ice and fire, yet both present in the same person.
In the novel, she was always just a ray of sunshine.
Was it because Brody’s presence had twisted the story’s events? There was a strange sense of mismatch in so many details.
Brody asked,
“If you’re sorry, then you won’t come after me anymore?”
“Mm… I can’t promise that. I still want you. I really regret letting you slip away through such a foolish mistake.”
The princess smiled brightly, then elegantly extended a hand toward the magic stone that had fallen on Brody’s skirt.
“So this time, I’m trying persuasion. This is a token that the empire will always welcome you, and I ask you to reconsider. If you return this time, I promise you the best treatment. If you’re willing, I’d like you to live in the palace and spend time with me like a friend.”
Brody expressionlessly pulled a handkerchief from her bosom and picked up the stone—
Then tossed it back toward the princess.
“I won’t reconsider. I’m already the duchess of the north.”
But the princess didn’t catch the stone. It passed right through her hologram-like figure, hit the wall of the carriage, and rolled to the floor.
Without even glancing at it, Myla gave her a gentle, smiling gaze.
“Brody. You trust Duke Aidan, don’t you? I know you do.”
“……”
Brody’s expression said, Well, obviously. Myla’s eyes softened with pity as she went on.
“But don’t trust him completely. I doubt he’s told you everything. Absolutely not.”
What nonsense is this? Who is telling who not to trust someone? Brody was incredulous, but she kept her face carefully neutral. For some reason, she didn’t want to appear shaken before the princess.
The princess’s gaze deepened. She lowered her eyes, and with that motion, the crossbow aimed at the carriage’s front lowered as well.
Did this mean she trusted Brody? Or that it was fine if she was discovered?
Brody quickly weighed whether she should shout right now to alert the others.
But the princess, apparently feeling no urgency at all, spoke slowly.
“The truth is often harsher than you think. The north will be more dangerous for you than you realize—much more.”
A brief silence followed.
Just when the quiet felt almost like the sound of falling snow, the princess lifted her gaze again.
Her slightly furrowed brow held both gloom and regret as she looked at Brody.
“The day you realize that, you’ll need this.”
As she spoke, Myla’s image began to flicker and distort.
“If you ever need help, come to me. Don’t forget.”
With that, her image vanished.
Brody stared blankly at the spot where she had disappeared.
That really wasn’t a dream… right?
She looked out the window for a sense of reality.
Through the lace curtain of the right-hand window, she could still see Aidan’s unchanged figure.
Was the princess visible only to her, or had no one else simply noticed?
The outside scenery was utterly ordinary.
Maybe it really was a dream?
She watched Kaiser’s hooves leaving tracks in the snow for a while before turning back—
And there on the carriage floor lay an orange magic stone, proof that what had happened was real.
It was probably some kind of limitation that had made the princess vanish—distance, perhaps, or duration.
No… likely distance.
This had probably been the only time to contact her before Brody got farther north. She must have forced herself to appear, which meant it might not happen again.
Brody glared at the stone, organizing her thoughts.
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped her.
What am I supposed to do with this?
Was it really a teleportation stone?
She didn’t want to keep it, and it felt uncomfortable to have it, but she also couldn’t just leave it there. If she didn’t know how it activated, what if someone else picked it up and triggered it?
Ridiculous. No matter how hard life in the north gets, like I’d go there! I came to the north for a reason.
Brody shuddered.
Her experience had been too horrifying and vivid to ever reconsider. How could the princess have the audacity to show up before her like this?
If she’d tried persuasion from the start, maybe it would have been different.
The Myla in the novel was really like an angel.
If she’d met the princess right when she arrived in this world, maybe she would have been swayed.
Brody recalled the Myla who had just appeared before her.
So this is what “protagonist buff” feels like.
Not a single flaw in that perfect face. And that dazzling golden hair—no wonder the novel was titled As Golden as the Sun.
Hadn’t there been research saying beautiful appearances made people seem more sincere?
She remembered reading something like that on social media in her previous life—
About “a handsome man getting into a 15th-floor office without an ID card” because people just swiped him in.
“……”
Realizing where her thoughts had gone, Brody shook her head to clear them.
What was the point of dwelling on that face?
The fact she kept replaying the princess’s appearance in her mind felt pathetic.
Am I really that weak to looks? My involvement with His Grace started like that too…
If Aidan hadn’t been her type, then on the very first day here, she wouldn’t have done… that.
If she hadn’t kissed him, his headaches wouldn’t have changed, and he wouldn’t have come for her the next day.
No, wait. In my previous life, I didn’t do that. But that’s because there weren’t celebrity-level faces around me. So maybe it is about looks… And she really is beautiful. Criminally so!
Anyway… it had been close. If she had possessed the body a little earlier or later, she might have been drawn in by the princess.
Either way, without Aidan, Brody would have been in danger. Ironically enough.
“Brody.”
Ack! That startled me!
With a knock, knock, a young man’s face appeared in the window, making Brody flinch in surprise.
At least she hadn’t screamed aloud.
The face belonged to none other than the man she had just been thinking about—Aidan.
After a one- or two-second pause, Brody replied, “Yes?”
But her gaze didn’t go to Aidan. Or rather, it couldn’t.
In glancing around from surprise, she’d spotted the amber-colored stone lying on the carriage floor.
Oh right! The stone!
She deliberately moved her gaze in the opposite direction, making it look like she was avoiding his eyes.
“……”
Aidan silently studied her turned face.
He must still be really angry about last night.
Regret churned inside him like a storm.
If he could have a moment alone, somewhere private, he would probably bang his head against a wall.
I was insane. Completely insane.
When he thought about yesterday, he didn’t have a shred of excuse.
Brody, meanwhile, had her own tangled thoughts.
Why isn’t he saying anything? Did he notice something? Is he here to interrogate me?
Her fluster was for a completely different reason than his.
There was no need to hide what had happened with the princess from Aidan—but now wasn’t the right time to tell him.
If the princess’s sudden appearance had unsettled her, she should have shouted for help right away. Why had she calmly talked with her and accepted a magic stone? The princess was the greatest threat to her, after all.
She had her reasons for reacting slowly, but explaining them now would sound weak. And if she said she’d thought it was a dream, who would believe her?
Given her origins, suspicion could sprout in an instant.
Though… Aidan would probably believe me.
But now wasn’t the time to share something with only him.
Brody glanced at him to gauge his intentions. Fortunately, his cold, impassive face gave nothing away.
When she met his gaze, Aidan finally spoke.
“The sun will set soon. Because of the snow blocking the road, we’ll be camping outdoors tonight.”
“Oh, I see. Wait—camping outdoors?”
Relieved that it wasn’t about the princess, Brody’s eyes had relaxed—only to widen again.
Camping? In this snow? Sleeping outside?
Aidan nodded heavily, as if displeased.
If he was reacting like that, there must be no other option.
“Yes, I understand. Thanks for letting me know.”
If there was no choice, then she’d just have to endure it.
Her eyes relaxed again, and she nodded.
After a moment’s hesitation, Aidan nodded back and stepped away from the carriage to maintain some distance.
Once he was far enough, Brody quickly extended her foot, sliding it toward the amber stone in the corner of the carriage. She hooked it toward herself—
Then, after a furtive glance around, leaned over slightly.
Through the handkerchief, she felt the stone’s surface. Fortunately, touching it alone didn’t seem to activate it.
It wasn’t like catching a pocket monster—mere contact wouldn’t trigger it. Otherwise, when the princess had tossed it to her, she would have teleported straight to the imperial palace.
Keeping the stone wrapped in the handkerchief, she shoved it into the pouch at her belt.
Phew.
The carriage was quiet, inside and out. Relieved that she hadn’t been caught, Brody let out a short sigh.
She would keep the stone with her until she found a private moment to tell Aidan about it.
