CH 32

What should she say?

It was difficult for Livia to answer thoughtlessly.

A faint glimmer of hope was appearing in his eyes as he looked at her. 

He was probably hoping for something – hope that she would save him, hope that she might pull him out of here.

It felt like her lips were drying up. Like her soul was being engulfed in flames.

A terrible sense of helplessness enveloped her entire body. Unbeknownst to Livia, tears were streaming down her face.

His eyes widened.

‘Why am I crying?’

Not even she understood why she was crying.

Was it because of her own helplessness? Or some kind of sympathy for him? Or perhaps it was the guilt of not being able to save him?

Livia really had no idea, but for now, all she could say was–

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry I can’t help you, I’m sorry I can’t save you…….”

Livia wondered if the dream was an illusion, or if it was real.

Was this a simple nightmare he made up, or are these his memories?

Whatever it was, it was real to her now, and she sincerely apologized for not being able to save him.

Perhaps she had become somewhat overconfident in her ability to manipulate dreams.

She thought she could always save him from his nightmares. But his nightmares were beyond her control.

In this hellish place, Livia was totally helpless.

She felt so sorry for him. She felt so guilty that she couldn’t help but burst into tears.

It was that moment.

“……It’s okay.”

Livia looked up in surprise at the voice.

It was him, young Cardien, smiling at her. 

Groaning in pain, but still managing to smile.

“Don’t cry.”

He was soothing her?

“Don’t cry. I’m…….”

And just as he was about to say something–

–Poof.

A quick silver glow began to spread between the both of them. Just like the moment Livia had touched Cardien and entered the dream.

The rapidly expanding silver took over the space in an instant and–

“Ugh.”

Livia opened her eyes, groaning against a pounding headache, and was greeted by a familiar space.

‘This is……..’

A room, stacked with piles of papers. The setting sun, streaming through the large windows.

It was Cardien’s office.

‘I’m back?’

As the realization hit her, Livia glanced around.

Soon, she spotted Cardien passed out not far away.

“……!”

She quickly rushed over to him and examined his condition.

His breathing was steady and the raging magical power also subsided.

‘Thank God.’

He breathed out quietly, and she couldn’t help but notice how relaxed he looked.

Livia sighed deeply and placed her hand on his forehead.

‘You shouldn’t remember that I was here, just in case…….’

After the storm they’d just weathered together, Livia was hesitant to use her powers again, but if she did it wrong, he might remember her in his dreams and feel suspicious.

‘It’s not time yet.’

Livia planned to reveal her powers someday, but not now.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

She gathered her energy in her palms.

Poof–

There was a burst of silver, and fortunately, it was the same silvery glow as usual.

“Your Grace, you dreamt…I mean, um…….”

Livia decided on his dream after much deliberation.

“You dreamt of being a rabbit and having frosting-covered carrots!”

Livia couldn’t believe the dream she’d conjured up. 

‘I don’t know, it’s all I can think of right now!’ She thought, defending herself. 

Although the thought of him being a rabbit gave her goosebumps all over her body.

“So forget the bad dream.”

Those horrible, painful dreams are…….

Whispering quietly, Livia changed his dream.

As soon as the light faded and she had put his head down on her lap as she prepared to call for Winston–

Tak.

She couldn’t move anymore.

Livia stared in shock at the large, bare hand that grabbed her wrist.

The gloves he used to wear were long gone.

Her gaze traveled past the hand, gradually moving upward.

And soon.

“…….”

Her eyes met a pair of heavy, sunken purple eyes.

For a moment, Livia was frozen in place.

“Uh, so…….”

She stuttered, not expecting him to wake up so quickly.

His head was still on her lap, a situation that could be misunderstood by anyone.

And the “anyone” in question happened to be Cardien Mercedes, the world’s final villain.

Livia quickly held up her hand in case he misunderstood the situation.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand!”

“…… What misunderstanding?”

His voice was quite sharp as he sat up and scratched his neck.

Unlike the usual cold air that greeted anyone who faced him, the Cardien who had just woken up was a bit disheveled.

If any other woman had been present, she would have been mesmerized by his beauty.

Unfortunately, Livia was too aware of the danger she was facing to be mesmerized.

Cardien leapt to his feet, and she followed suit.

“I came by to post a report on the class, and when you didn’t answer, I checked on you and found you passed out. I just stayed with you until you regained your senses; it’s not like I had any ulterior motives or anything.”

‘So I’m saying that I didn’t mean to hurt you, or seduce you, or anything like that!’

But instead of answering, Cardien only looked at her with a strange gaze.

His gaze seemed to pierce through her somehow, and Livia flinched but didn’t look away. Avoiding eye contact here would make her look even more suspicious.

‘No, and why am I even acting like a sinner? I haven’t done anything wrong!’

‘The only thing I have done is turn his nightmare into a rabbit dream.’

Of course, being a rabbit and nibbling carrots wouldn’t have been too pleasant for him either, but whatever.

Then he squinted slightly and asked, “Did nothing really happen?”

Livia was stunned by his question.

The image of him wailing on the altar suddenly flashed through my mind.

But she forced herself to nod shamelessly.

“Yes, Your Grace. Absolutely nothing happened.”

“Hmm.”

“……!”

“You saw me, collapsed, and instead of calling for help, you left me on your lap, looking down at me, and nothing happened?”

Flinching momentarily at the stinging words, Livia retorted loudly, “Well, that’s because I wanted to check your condition……! Because if you’re having trouble breathing or having a seizure, something irreversible could have happened in the time it took to get help.”

“…….”

Cardien’s lips closed tightly, seemingly speechless.

For a hastily concocted excuse, it was pretty good.

Livia snuck a glance at him.

‘You seem to not remember, right?’

That his magic went out of control, or that she had peeked into his dreams.

By the way…….

‘I wonder what the dream was about.’

The owner of the dream was unmistakably young Cardien. And Livia needed to double-check, but if her memory was not mistaken, it was definitely an ancient temple emblem.

‘What the heck had happened to him, exactly?’

She wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to risk raising his suspicions.

‘Besides, that wasn’t even in the original story.’

In other words, the character in the original had buried it. His will would be no different now.

Therefore, if she made a big deal about the dream, he’d have her thrown out of the duchy.

‘I’ll be grateful if he just does that.’

It was possible that he would torture her to death instead so that he could find out how she knew about his secret.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

‘Anyway…….’

Livia glanced over to check on him.

Even if the magic overloading his body had subsided and he’d forgotten the nightmare, he didn’t look well.

No wonder. In the original, he was always exhausted after a magic rampage.

Even the headaches…….

“Ah!” Livia exclaimed as a sudden thought occurred to her. She quickly searched her pockets. 

‘I must have put it here somewhere.’

Soon enough, she felt the cold metal against her fingertips and grasped it with a smile.

Cardien watched her sudden action in silence.

Then she raised her fist toward him. His brow narrowed slightly.

“What?”

“A present.”

“Present?”

He let out a short chuckle.

No wonder. What kind of relationship did Livia have with him to exchange a present?

‘More like a bribe, actually.’

Anyway, when Cardien didn’t seem inclined to take it, Livia boldly grabbed his hand.

Not his bare hand, of course, but his gloved hand.

Cardien watched her do so, seemingly bewildered, but still compliant.

Honestly, she was a little surprised. She was expecting him to immediately slap her hand away, or even throw it away…….

What Livia placed on his hand was an old, rusty ring.

Cardien gave her a dumbfounded look, and then glanced back at the object so out of place with his fine black leather gloves.

“By present, you mean this ring that even a beggar wouldn’t pick up?”

“It’s not just any ring.”

“Exactly. Not any ring, but a piece of garbage.”

Livia felt sorry for the ring, having to put up with someone saying it’s garbage.

‘If this ring is trash, then everything in the world is trash!’