Chapter 2
Yeorae quickly brought her laptop over and typed “Duke Etsina Family” into the search bar.
But nothing related to it appeared.
Hmm. So he’s not from the past.
Leandros looked at the laptop with curiosity. He finally took a sip of the vitamin drink he had been holding and immediately frowned at the taste.
“Tell me more,” Yeorae said. “Something I can search for. Names of people or places.”
“S-search? Names of people or places…”
Yeorae turned the laptop so Leandros could see the screen.
He blinked like a fool as he stared at the bright monitor and the letters displayed on it.
“First of all, I am from the Levatein Empire. One side of our country faces the sea, and the land is very fertile. We have four seasons, but summer is much longer than winter. The name of our current emperor is Veros. He is also my cousin.”
“Hmm…”
Yeorae searched for Levatein and Veros, but the results were the same.
Nothing.
Leandros did not understand how a search engine worked, so he simply stared at the screen.
Then suddenly, he turned his head.
Both of them had been leaning toward the laptop, making the distance between their faces very small.
Looking into his jewel-like eyes, Yeorae felt as if she might be pulled into them.
“But aren’t you going to tell me about yourself?” he asked. “I don’t even know your name yet.”
She could feel his breath near the tip of her nose.
Yeorae slowly leaned back against her chair.
“My name is Lee Yeorae. It means ‘beautiful mountain.’ And I also have a family name from an old royal dynasty.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. About seven million people in this country have it.”
The expression on Leandros’s face was priceless.
Yeorae couldn’t help laughing.
At that moment, perhaps because the tension had finally eased, her stomach suddenly hurt.
The nation of Levatein.
Emperor Veros.
The Duke Etsina family.
She searched for several more pieces of information, but found nothing useful.
“They call the internet an ocean of information, but I don’t think we’ll find out where you came from this way.”
“Hmm.”
Leandros lightly tapped the monitor with his fingertips, as if something might appear if he did.
While he continued examining the keyboard with fascination, Yeorae let out a long sigh.
It was already close to midnight.
She had class tomorrow morning and needed to sleep soon.
Yeorae stood up, feeling especially tired.
But as she walked past Leandros’s blue cape, she suddenly realized a huge problem she had completely overlooked.
Seeing her suddenly stop beside him, Leandros looked away from the laptop.
“What is it? Do you have another question?”
Oh no… How are we supposed to sleep?
Her studio apartment was only about ten pyeong.
There was no extra mattress.
After thinking for a while, Yeorae brought out as many blankets as she could find from the closet and spread them across the floor.
“This isn’t exactly a house that can treat guests luxuriously.”
She placed a pillow on top of the blankets.
“I’ll take the bed. You sleep down here.”
Leandros looked back and forth between Yeorae, who was wearing cat-patterned pajamas, and the pile of blankets on the floor.
Before getting up, he carefully looked at the corner of the laptop screen.
So he figured out where the clock was. He’s very observant.
He took off his cape and folded it neatly.
Then, still wearing his uncomfortable formal clothes, he lay down on the blankets with only his face sticking out.
He was so tall that his feet extended past the edge of the blanket.
“I’m sorry,” Yeorae said. “But I have school. Even if a strange man suddenly falls from the sky, I can’t stay awake all night. Let’s figure out the rest tomorrow.”
“No. Thank you for taking care of me.”
Yeorae closed the laptop and walked past him before lying down on her bed.
For a long time, she stared at the white ceiling.
Then she curled up and rolled onto her side.
“What’s wrong?”
Leandros, who had been observing the ceiling light with narrowed eyes, noticed her looking at him.
“Nothing. It’s just… you seem like someone from a noble family, but you’re sleeping on the floor without complaining.”
“I slept on stone floors during war. Things like this don’t bother me.”
Right.
He had said he had gone to war.
Twice.
Yeorae found it hard to believe that someone who looked so young had experienced war.
Thinking that she should watch a war movie tomorrow, she carefully studied his face under the bright light.
Maybe there would be some sign of hardship she had missed.
But she couldn’t find a single wrinkle.
“Hmm…”
Feeling her intense stare, Leandros awkwardly cleared his throat and looked elsewhere.
When he spoke again, his voice was slightly softer.
“Do people in this world normally sleep in such bright places? It seems they can sleep deeply even with the lights on.”
“No. People here usually turn off the lights too. But today you’re here.”
A look of confusion appeared in his mysterious eyes.
Yeorae smiled slightly.
“This apartment normally doesn’t allow men.”
“Ah.”
His ears turned slightly red.
“I have caused trouble.”
His voice became so quiet it sounded as if he wanted to disappear.
Yeorae shook her head to show it was okay.
Then she turned the other way and pulled the blanket over her head.
Maybe when I wake up tomorrow morning, he’ll be gone.
Honestly, everything still felt like a dream to her.
* * *
“Wake up!”
Yeorae frowned.
Someone was tapping her shoulder.
Somewhere in the distance, she could hear a familiar melody.
The hand tapping her shoulder became bolder and started shaking her.
“You have to wake up! Hurry!”
A man’s voice?
Did I come to some kind of group camp…?
“Just let me sleep a little longer…”
She mumbled and curled up tighter.
Then, only a few seconds later, her eyes flew open as if she had been struck by lightning.
Right. Leandros.
The memories of yesterday came rushing back, making her head ache.
Still curled up, she turned her head toward the source of the noise.
There stood an unbelievably handsome man, pale with fear, holding her phone.
“T-this thing doesn’t even have a mouth, but it suddenly started shouting by itself!”
“Ah…”
Yeorae groaned.
“It’s just telling its owner to wake up.”
She struggled to sit up and swiped the screen with her finger.
The phone immediately became quiet.
Leandros let out a shocked gasp.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t this phone broken yesterday?”
Exactly 7:00 AM.
The glowing numbers on the screen were surprisingly clear.
