‘How did the first lyrics of the song start?’

After humming softly to match the opening note, she soon began to sing out loud.

[Lance. That summer we carved a secret.

Under the maple tree in the forest, where no one knows.

The day that the afternoon sun was so dazzling.

The promise that started as a joke was engraved there.

Lance. You ride a black horse like always

I will run forward through that wide field.

This small town can’t hold your big dreams.

So you won’t come back here someday.

Lance. Oh my Lance. Remember the day I first met you

You are like me, nothing can stop you

Lance. Oh my Lance. Remember the day I let you go.

You are different from me. Like flowing water, you will go too.]

After singing the final verse of the song, Herietta sighed slowly. Was it because too many things have happened these days? It felt like tears were forming in her eyes.

‘I like it.’

Under the bright sunlight, a man who was dazzlingly beautiful heard that song and said.

‘But even if it wasn’t the song Miss Herietta sang, I would’ve probably have liked it.’

With a charming smile that makes her heart tremble just by looking at it.

She believed then, that Edwin and she would be together forever. She by his side. He by her side. Like that, she firmly believed that no matter what kind of relationship they formed, they would eventually be together until the end.

She did not anticipate the impending catastrophe.

“?”

Herietta, who recalled her past and memories, suddenly felt strange. It was like someone was staring at her. Captivated by the strange feeling, she turned her head and surveyed her surroundings, as if possessed by something. Even though she looked closely, she couldn’t find any eyes watching her.

‘Is it because of my feelings?’

Herietta tilted her head. A lot has happened these days, so it could be that she overreacted to just insignificant things.

Herietta, who tried to ignore it, caught something in her view.

A man stood at the door of the store. It was the same man, with a voice very similar to Edwin’s. Perhaps he was about to go out, he held on to the doorknob with one hand. But for some reason he did not move as if he was frozen.

‘I thought he had already left this store a long time ago.’

Herietta’s eyes followed his broad back. The scene inside the lively and bustling store and the man standing motionless were alien. As if the two spaces were completely separated from the beginning, as if they were in completely different spaces.

The flow of time seemed to have stopped only around him.

It seemed that everything around him had lost its color.

Herietta held her breath. Why? Her heart started pounding again.

* * *

There was no great reason. He looked for a shop that seemed suitable to quench their hunger and thirst, and only entered the first place that caught his eye. He was annoyed by the chatter of the people filling the store, but he ignored it anyway because he wasn’t planning to stay long anyway.

It seemed that he was quite tired without realizing it because he rushed his schedule. Everything bothered him, and he was not interested in anything.

It feels like he was the only one isolated from the lively interior. Even when Siodor and Lionelli were privately discussing the future, Edwin took a step back, not willing to participate.

“It was very damp and dark inside the cave. She can’t see an inch ahead without a torch. But Lynn didn’t give in. She…….”

Amidst the chaotic noise that gave him a headache, he heard a calm female voice.

“The wizard came after her! His obsession with the magic flower was beyond what she could have imagined! Lynn and her friends, who did not expect that he would follow them there…….”

It was a quiet, monotonous voice that could be drowned out by the surrounding noise if he wasn’t paying close attention. The voice could have sounded harsh because of her nasal voice, but it didn’t feel that way at all.

Edwin turned his head slightly to check the direction the voice was coming from. A woman and a young boy were sitting at a table not far from where he was sitting.

Unlike the red-haired boy, who showed his face, the woman was wearing a hood attached to her cloak, just like him, so her face was not visible. However, judging by the youthful voice, she seemed quite young.

Are they brother-and-sister? Edwin quietly observed the two of them. The figure of a childish woman with red hair like the boy’s was automatically pictured in his mind.

‘Looks like she’s telling her younger brother old stories.’

Having overheard part of the story, he roughly guessed the situation.

The tone of the woman speaking to the boy changed from time to time, as if to arouse the boy’s interest. And as he listened to her story, the boy’s eyes twinkled like stars. As if there is no more exciting and fun story in the world.

‘In a way, it’s a pretty obvious story.’

Edwin rested his elbow on the table and rested his chin.

He wasn’t the type to pay attention to other people, but strangely, those two kept taking his attention. Their space, which seemed small and peaceful, did not match at all with the rough and rugged atmosphere of this shop.

Edwin looked away from them. But his ears still subconsciously followed the woman’s voice.

The story goes on. Then, when a funny part came up, he would smile without knowing it. Especially when she used her voice to play a dark, evil wizard.

“Lord?”

Noticing that Edwin was smiling, Lionelli called out to him with a puzzled face.

“Are you okay?”

Usually, far from smiling, he didn’t even show his emotions. Now he was smiling like a madman, it was only natural that he looked strange.

“Ah. No big deal. Don’t mind me.”

Edwin knew what his subordinates were thinking, but he didn’t bother to explain why. Instead, he took the glass in front of him and leaned back against the chair.

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