Chapter 14
The warmth of Gideon’s hand settled on her palm.
He only let go of Yeorae’s hand after the second hand of the clock completed its third circle.
“I’ve seen enough. So that’s what happened.”
“That annoying jerk. He couldn’t have less sense even if he tried.”
“M-Miss Yeorae…”
“What? You’ve already read all my thoughts anyway.”
Yeorae hugged her arms around herself and let out a sigh.
The sky was filled with clouds glowing red.
Another day was coming to an end.
Today marked the seventeenth day.
“Gideon, why do you think I can’t return to my world?”
“Well… I’ve lived for a very long time and witnessed all kinds of strange events, but this is a first even for me.”
He closed the library window.
Outside, a cuckoo bird began calling as if announcing the start of the night.
“Ten years ago, you said that Leandros stayed in your world for about one week, correct?”
“Yes.”
“During that time, he was considered missing in this world for fifteen days. After a search, he was found at the exact place where his carriage had overturned during the landslide.”
“And he wasn’t injured at all.”
“Then that means time flows differently between this world and mine. Ten more years passed here, but I didn’t age at all…”
“That’s correct.”
Since time did not pass at the same rate, there was no way to calculate how many days had passed in her own world.
Yeorae pressed a hand against her aching forehead.
The past few days had been difficult, and she had not been feeling well.
Gideon lit a candle and placed it beside her.
Yeorae smiled slightly to thank him.
By now, she had mostly gotten used to living without electricity.
“Miss Yeorae, why are you so certain that you’ll eventually return to your original world? This is only a possibility, but what if you can never go back?”
“Leandros returned to this world after one week. I don’t think my situation will be any different.”
“But the way you and Leandros crossed worlds was different. You said you fell from a high place before waking up here, right? This is only a theory, but if you died—”
“No way.”
Yeorae immediately shook her hands and firmly denied it.
She stood up from the ladder and tapped a nearby bookshelf.
“The height I fell from wasn’t even higher than this bookshelf. It’s rare for someone to die from a fall like that.”
“Besides, I landed on my backpack first.”
Gideon nodded, accepting her explanation.
“Then I think the theory you mentioned before is more likely. The body in your world is unconscious, and that’s why you can’t return.”
“Then is there any way to find out when I wake up? I’m worried about my parents, and I still need to apply for graduation. Maybe with your ability, you could somehow—”
“That’s impossible. I can only read thoughts.”
Gideon firmly drew the line.
However, only a few seconds later, he frowned and took back his statement.
“Ah, wait a moment. There may be a way after all.”
At once, Yeorae’s face brightened.
“Really?”
“Yes. Among beings like me, there is one who reads the stars.”
“He can see far more than ordinary humans.”
“I think he may be able to tell us about your situation. However, there is one problem.”
“…A problem?”
Gideon let out an awkward groan.
“To meet him, you’ll need money.”
Money?
Yeorae thought about the wealth she currently had.
Or rather, not her wealth.
Hazel’s wealth.
How much money did Hazel even have?
But Gideon shook his head as if it would not be nearly enough, even though he had not touched her hand.
“You’ll need much more than you’re imagining. Kings, rulers, and famous wealthy people line up to learn their fate from him.”
“I’ll send a letter first, but I don’t know whether he’ll agree.”
“Ah…”
I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
The shoulders that had just lifted with hope drooped once again.
Instead of comforting her, Gideon quietly organized the pile of books beside her.
Still, people said that those who held no hope could not even feel despair.
Yeorae suddenly stood up and held out her hand toward Gideon.
Even if that prophet refused, there had to be another way.
There had to be.
* * *
Yeorae often invented little games to pass the time while sitting beside Silas.
For example, she would try to guess which direction a soldier ant at her feet would walk.
The soldier ants here were especially large, so they were easy to see moving through the thick grass.
Maybe it would have been easier if I had brought candy…
Yeorae had already guessed wrong five times and was pouting when a familiar figure entered her sight.
Lilianshus, dressed in pure white clothes like an angel, was taking a mule for a walk.
The heroine…
The bell hanging around the mule’s neck rang softly with each step.
When Silas noticed that Yeorae could not take her eyes off her, he tugged on the edge of the palette she was holding, as if telling her to focus.
Then he explained,
“She is the daughter of the head of the Blancmir Merchant Company. Her name is Lilianshus Eden, and she’s twenty-four years old.”
“I heard she’ll be spending the summer here.”
“Just looking at her, she seems cheerful and innocent, doesn’t she?”
Yeorae nodded and secretly smiled to herself.
I know who Lilianshus is better than you do.
Just wait.
Soon enough, you’ll fall hopelessly in love with her and end up fighting Leandros over that woman.
“She really is a beautiful lady. His Grace must think so too, right?”
“What?”
“Did you just say His Grace? My brother?”
Silas wrinkled his nose and looked at Yeorae as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
Then he suddenly burst into laughter.
“He’s not interested in women! There’s a reason he’s broken off three engagements!”
I know.
One happened when he was eighteen, and he told me about it himself.
The other two happened before he went to war, sometime in his early and mid-twenties.
According to the novel, one engagement was canceled because the two families’ interests did not match.
The other was canceled because the woman already had another lover.
But what came out of Silas’s mouth next was completely unexpected.
“It’s ridiculous. He says he can’t marry another woman because he still can’t forget the woman he met in a dream ten years ago!”
Ah.
It felt as if Yeorae’s heart had stopped.
The woman he met in a dream…
Had Gideon lied to her?
Her throat tightened, and her vision blurred.
The ground beneath her feet seemed to tilt.
So it was possible to be in pain because of happiness.
A trembling sound escaped from between her parted lips.
I thought you had forgotten me…
Ten years have passed, and yet you remembered everything.
“How… romantic.”
“He’s crazy!”
Silas immediately shouted in disagreement.
A bitter laugh escaped him as he remembered the past.
“My brother being lovesick for years was famous around here. You only don’t know because you’re new.”
“That was the first time I learned that someone could become lovesick because of a dream.”
“People said he had gone crazy after injuring his head—”
Silas continued speaking.
But Yeorae could no longer hear him.
