It was now late March and Spring had quickly arrived. Little Geens, who had finished his tea attendant role, was standing in the hallway of the Empress Palace.
“Heheheng.”
He was supposed to play all day with the handsome Uncle François today. The child held his uncle’s hand and looked all around while the chatty uncle chatted away with other nobles.
François was very busy these days but he never left Gerrit alone in the Marquis Estate. Even though the family he had there were kind and it wouldn’t be an issue, he never did so. The young Marquis increased the number of attendants following him by two in case the little boy following him would get tired and, instead of the dangerous magic stones he usually carried in his pockets, he had toys he had personally made. He added five more comfy cushions in his carriage as well.
“Yes, a lot of the snow has melted. I think we can start the excavation next week.”
“That is a relief! I will inform Her Majesty about it. The experiments have already started in the other areas so if we schedule the North for the end of it……” François’s eyes sparkled as he continued.
Gerrit liked him. Of course, his dad was his favorite person in the world and second was Prince Jesse, but he really really liked this uncle as well. He was a great polo player and a skilled chef. To Gerrit, he was even more dazzling than the star of a musical.
Once they left the palace later, he would eat some delicious food with his uncle and then learn how to ride a pony. They would then go name the geese in the Marquis Estate before adventuring through the attic. His heart was already beating quickly. He would have a lot of things to show off to his auntie Christelle.
– Neeeeeeeeeigh!
“Woah, woah!”
“Knight-nim, you are riding a horse inside the Imperial Palace?!”
“I have an urgent message!”
The outside became rowdy at that moment. Gerrit’s eyes opened wide and he got on his tippy toes. The child’s hearing was especially good.
François and the noble stopped talking and looked beyond the window as well. The two adult’s expressions looked full of shock. The child didn’t understand what that meant and tilted his head.
The chaos outside soon moved inside. The entire world seemed to move especially quickly all of a sudden.
– Clink, Clink, clink!
“It is an obit for Her Majesty!”
“Everybody out of the way!”
Armored knights suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway and were running toward his direction. Gerrit got scared and hid behind François. Auntie Élisabeth had said something to him before.
‘She said that no matter what happens, you should never run in the Imperial Palace……’
She said that running was only okay if her Majesty, her Eminence, his Royal Highness, or his highness were with him. But these people were running at full speed right now. They had a black flag on their back and they all looked pale.
It was weird. ‘I wonder what an obit is?’
“It’s okay.”
The Marquis patted Gerrit’s head and whispered. The child looked up at him. The man’s side view looked more serious than ever.
– Clunk, clunk, clunk!
“Urgent news! This is urgent news for her Majesty!”
“I wonder who it is about.”
He calmly stopped the knight running at the back of the group. The woman immediately stopped after seeing him. François Duhem was her Majesty’s favorite vassal and a noble Pair de Riester with the blood of the Imperial family flowing through him. He was also someone who should know about this kind of urgent situation.
The knight breathed heavily as she opened her mouth. The scowl on her face and her shaking voice was full of pain.
“Prince, Prince Jesse Venetiaan……!”
Rustle! François immediately covered both of Gerrit’s ears. The child raised his head in shock, but the uncle did not let Gerrit see his face. His eyes were half covered as he looked at the face of the attendant of the Empress Palace.
Everybody passing by turned pale. Some covered their mouths, some plopped down on the ground, while others dropped their jaws and said something.
The child slowly started to read their lips.
‘Unbelievable…… No way!’
‘The Prince? What happened to his highness?’
‘Oh Almighty God! How could something like this happen?!’
“Little young master-nim.”
Lift! François lifted the child up. The hallway instantly filled with ominous mumblings. Gerrit looked at his uncle with a dizzy gaze.
His uncle did his best to smile before kissing the little forehead. The patting was warm but the child felt urgency in the adult’s hand.
“I’m sorry. I think it would be best if you headed back to the Marquis Estate first today.”
“Ah……”
“You take the young master-nim and return immediately. Will you tell Maria to stay with him? Tell them not to wait for me.”
“Yes, master.” The attendant bowed deeply and received Gerrit from him. The old man quietly left the hallway as soon as Gerrit hugged his neck. He covered the child’s ears with clothes and towels so that the boy could not hear anything.
But the hallway was already a sea of tears. Piercing cries dug into Gerrit’s ears every so often. Some of the adults were slumped over on the ground. The child urgently buried his face.
The grandpa holding him was breathing heavily as well. His hands were shaking. He was really scared now.
“Oo……”
The child already had a memory like this in his mind. It was only one time, but it was clear in his mind. The villagers who were crying while standing in front of a rolled up stretcher… His father hugging him and urgently leaving the area… His father’s cheeks getting wet…
Gerrit never saw his mom after that moment.
– Clang!
“……No!”
“Aurélie!”
Flinch! He heard a piercing screech in the distance before they turned the corner. He heard a plate break as well. He was certain what he heard after that was her Majesty’s voice. The staff all moved toward that room as if that was the signal.
Gerrit did his best to push the bad thoughts out of his mind. But it was too hard. He had never learned how to do this.
“Hurry!”
The attendant grandpa moved quickly to get on the Marquis’ carriage.
‘Woaaah! Hut!’ The large wheels started to roll.
Gerrit looked out the window full of fear. Shaaaaaaaaaa-! A storm-like breeze shook the trees. The spring shoots that were growing well were weakly ripped apart. Dark clouds were coming from the distance.
The child clenched his eyes shut. He could see the Prince’s face in the black and red emptiness with his eyes closed. Tears started to drop.
“Sob, waaaa, waaaaaaah……”
“Oh no, young master-nim.”
– Ruuuumble!
Thunder roared across the sky of the Imperial Capital. Plop, plop, raindrops as sharp as blades started to scratch at the windows.
*
“……That’s the end?”
I put my phone down with a complicated look on my face. Black text was crawling through the white screen. Even I could not tell what emotion I was feeling right now. I could only sigh.
「……He could not finish his sentence. It was a day without the moon.」
The newest chapter of < I quit my job and ended up as a noble young lady in another world >. Prince Jesse Venetiaan died.
But this had no relationship with the things I experienced. He had jumped into the war between the Riester Empire and the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom and gave his life to protect crown prince Cédric in a battle. He thought of Christelle and his younger sibling in his final moments. That’s all she wrote. The original had not changed at all.
I looked over at chapter 1 just in case, but it showed Miss Ga-in, who had just transmigrated over, being forced into an engagement because of the ‘Blessing of the Blue Sea.’ Duke Sarnez and his wife had prayed desperately to the ‘Paten of Wishes’ to have their daughter wake up. This meant that the water attribute divine item in the original was still present. Even the starting point was different from the world I had been inside. It was as if my experience was just just a fleeting dream. ‘Are they messing with me or something?’
“Why…… No, is nothing changing how it is supposed to be? Is it only normal for nothing to change…… Is it?”
I felt chaotic. ‘Then what about the year that I spent?’ This was not an issue of having my merits be accepted (I hadn’t made any achievements), or just an issue of ‘feeling’ like I needed some sort of closure. It was a question that came from a sense of disbelief. What the hell was that time? Why did I end up in that place and spend a year there? It was hard enough saying goodbye to my friends unexpectedly like that, but if it wasn’t going to have any effect on the original, then I-
“Ha……”
‘What was all of that for?’ I could only ask that question to myself over and over. I pushed my eyes with my palms.
This despondent feeling made me have no strength to keep reading. Maybe it was because I wasn’t planning on it, but I was concerned more for the crown prince than the prince. I felt sorry toward Eunseo for feeling that way, but that was my honest feeling. ‘It looked like the crown prince had developed some affection for the prince…… What must have gone through his mind while watching the prince take his final breath in his arms? How sad and painful must it have been?’
The punk was still a child whose scar from losing his father was still bleeding. There was no need for him to lose a friend in this cruel way.
‘Whether it is this bastard in the story or the bastard I dealt with.’
– Ding!
Flinch. My phone dinged. It was my phone but it felt awkward after having not heard it for such a long time. I looked at the pop up on the screen. It had come from a different app.
‘Sword Dance of the Falling Flower – Taking a break today. My deepest apologies.’
“Huh……?”
I opened my eyes wide. I was so flustered I didn’t even grab my phone as I ran out of the room. I saw my brother heading toward the door.
“Bro! You’re taking the day off? Are you hurting somewhere?”
My brother was currently writing a wuxia novel called < Sword Dance of the Falling Flower > under the pen name, ‘Baek Gun.’ It seemed like it was him and not me who needed to rest. I thought it was weird from when he shouted earlier, but seeing him looking so frail after less than an hour made my heart sink. My brother had never taken a day off other than for Eunseo’s graduation, opening ceremony, or big things like that.
‘What is going on?’
“I’m not sick or anything, but I can’t focus so nothing is coming out.”
“So where are you going? To work out?”
“No, to meet with my PD. He came out for a meeting and it happens to be around here. I’m going to grab some tea with him and chat for a bit.”
“Okay. Let me know if you’re going to eat lunch too.”
“Okay.”
My brother put on a thick fleece and grabbed the doorknob. He then stared at me for a while before sighing. My neck subconsciously tilted to one side.
‘I don’t think he’s blaming me for it? He’s not the type to do that. What is going on?’
“Get some rest.”
“Okay.”
– Click!
……Then the door closed. It felt odd as I turned around. I wondered if I was feeling this way because I was so frustrated on the inside. ‘Maybe I’ll feel better if I wash the mugs we used for tea.’
*
Then it was the next day.
– Clunk, clunk, clunk
It was truly chaotic on the second day back. I was worried about my friends, just thinking about them made my eyes get teary, I randomly ended up feeling depressed and worried, but other than that……
– The next station is Yeogsam, Yeogsam Station. The doors will be opening on your right.
I had to go to work.
– Chhhhhhh!
“Ah.”
I stopped looking at my phone and raised my head. The door opened and it was so weird experiencing this feeling of being pushed again. I couldn’t even stand up straight, so I had to move with my arm holding the phone awkwardly up in the air.
The number of people on the Seoul subway during the morning rush made me feel like we were all beansprouts. This was especially true about Line 2. You lose focus for a moment and you might end up missing your exit or being about ten minutes late.
I mentally recited the things I needed to do as I walked.
‘First check the memo I put on the monitor, then go through new emails, look through the contracts I need to review, confirm any internal memos……’
It was hard to remember my routine, as it had been one year ago. I had been going through my emails until now but, being completely honest, some of them felt like I had never seen them before.
This was bad. I needed to live my life here too.
‘No. This was my only life.’
“Ha……”
I didn’t want to be sad from the morning but I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. Slap! I gently slapped my cheeks and walked up the stairs.
‘Let’s work hard, Jung Yeseo. You said you would do that no matter where you are. If you aren’t good at anything, you should at least work continuously and hard.’
“Oh dear, even this feels new.”
I made it up the dirty stairs only to face the Yeogsam Station streets that were full of cars and the sea of white-collar workers. It was my first time feeling excited about my morning commute. The cold air of March mornings, the large blue buildings, the street lights that extended their arms like seagulls… The quickly flashing traffic lights and the random honking…
I chuckled as I walked toward my work building. It had been a while since I saw any other modes of transportation than carriages or wagons. The subway was fast but, expectedly, portals were faster. ‘Although it did take me to a random place once.’
“……”
My lips relaxed. I quickly changed topics. I had a thought while eating with my brother and Eunseo in the morning.
‘What if it really was just an extremely vivid dream? Because of everything Eunseo had told me until now, I…… Put things together as I pleased, made up the whole thing and had a grandiose illusion of a dream overnight?
‘Then how do I justify all these feelings inside of me right now? Maybe I need to go get checked out at a hospital.’
“Huuuuuu.”
I silently clutched my backpack straps and continued to walk. I walked past one block as my body remembered and saw the familiar building. There were large letters writing out ‘SeumBaek’ on top of the tall building.
This was where I worked. It was a mid-sized business known for household appliances and I worked in the legal team.
– Step, step, step……
As I walked past the flower bed in the front-
– Meow.
“Huh?”
I heard a meow in the grass. I flinched and stopped moving. A memory I had pushed to the back of my mind flashed like a lightbulb.
‘How did I forget?’ The cat family that roamed around the flower bed of my workplace.
‘The little ladies!’
“Larmy?”
– Meow.
Larmy. I gave her that name because she meowed like an alarm whenever someone she liked passed by. I cautiously approached her with emotions filling my heart and the three-colored spotted cat saw me and walked out. Her jade-colored eyes and tiger-like stripes were still the same.
Larmy had four kittens who looked just like her. That was why I called them the little ladies. She must have hid them in the back today because I didn’t see any of them.
I smiled brightly as I was happy to see her, and Larmy stuck her tongue out.
“Just wait. Uncle……”
‘I always carried snacks in my front pocket, so, wait, hold on.’
“Larmy, what happened to your front paw?”
I gasped. The cat was holding up one leg.
“That’s blood isn’t it? You got hurt. Did it get stuck somewhere?”
– Meow.
She meowed as if to respond. I took a closer look to see that blood was on her paw and there were signs of her fur being squished. It must hurt a lot as she wasn’t stepping on it at all. This was bad.
I wanted to ask my team leader for his understanding to take her to the hospital. He was someone who had a cat who was like his soulmate and a good person, so I knew he would understand.
But based on what I knew, it had not been very long since she gave birth.
‘It’s probably not good for the mom to suddenly leave the area……’
“What should I do? Should I call a center somewhere? Or maybe I should call the team leader?”
I slowly reached my hand out. Larmy just blinked and did not avoid me. I felt so bad because it looked like it hurt a lot.
“It’s okay. There’s a lot of people who help stray cats these days. The team leader also picked up his cat on the stree-”
It was at that moment.
– Shaaaaaaa……
I immediately froze. Something that should not happen, something that was impossible and unexplainable was going on.
At my fingertips.
“This. This, what, why is this……”
All of the hair on my body stiffened and I had chills down my back.
‘Unbelievable. This makes no sense at all!’
– Sssss……!
There were blue pebbles of healing ether.
“Meow.”
Larmy was the only one who was not surprised.
—
Translator’s Comments
Larmy… are you a divine beast too?!