Don't Concern Yourself With That Book

Chapter 257

Translator: yun

“… I know how my daughter loathes you.”

Auresia muttered as she stared at the spot where Castor once sat.

“How could I not?”

It would actually be shocking if she didn’t hate him. As she stared at the empty seat for a long time, Auresia vented her pent-up emotions. But her emotions arose from a place so deep, they came to her rather calmly and serenely.

“The emperor had killed the man you loved and my older sister. And you’re still going back?”

The day her beloved husband died, her close friend, the 1st Princess, had died too. Eris, the 2nd Princess and the Templar of the Winds had questioned her. She wondered why Auresia was returning to the side of the man who ruined everything. She wanted Auresia to escape someplace far away with her.

But her wishes never came true as she was taken away by a duke and stripped of all her authority. Only her brother, the 3rd Prince, Abel Cloud, managed to escape the Empire. The situation Auresia found herself in as the only one who remained was no different from before.

“However, I will not involve my child in my revenge.”

Auresia would smile as she stood beside the emperor who had taken everything from her. She would tuck her arms behind her as he kissed and hugged her. As she whispered sweet nothings to him, she would welcome his tongue into her mouth. Before she knew it, she received some names.

“The heartless fairy who had abandoned her daughter.”

“A snake-like wench.”

There was something she didn’t manage to mention to Ashley Rosé a long time ago.

“So, you don’t want me to end up unhappy?”

‘I’m just another monster like Castor, one that’s blinded by revenge.’

She loathed the emperor. She had been completely consumed by the Empire that had stolen everything from her. But she pitied Ashley Rosé . Her emotions were in conflict inside her. But the hatred she felt was so deep she couldn’t bring herself to fully support Ashley Rosé. That was why she never regretted partnering with Castor. After decades passed, she was still praying for the downfall of the Empire.

‘Child, would you come to hate me when you find out?’

With a smile on her face, Auresia soon whispered quietly. To her lovely daughter who was never loved.

“Revenge must be something carried out with your own hands, Your Highness.”

‘If you were truly my daughter, he would end up hellishly punished.’

As she imagined the end, Auresia smiled giddily.

‘If you really manage to change everything, I’ll stop my plans.’

 

To You Who Never Loved You

 

There was a saying that went along the lines of if you were smart, you should visit the Kingdom of Leaf. (1) For the longest time, The Kingdom of Leaf had been diligently working on their quality of education creating a nation that owned the largest educational institutions in the continent.

As a result, various talents gathered in the kingdom. There also existed many bookworms amongst the talented. One such example would be the strolling Kizash.

As someone majoring in archaeology, he was a bookworm who knew who to read ancient ideograms. He was a talent who had just finished a course as a scholar.

Kizash, who had just started to speak the ancient language in Kaltanias, opened the door in front of him and paused before he entered. The room was filled with dust and sheets of white paper were strewn everywhere. Kizash strolled in.

“Abel!”

He stopped before piles of paper.

“Wake up. Come on!”

When he picked up a stack of papers, Kizash was surprised to find a man behind it.

“Uh… Who is it… Kizash?”

The laying man who seemed to be using the papers as a makeshift quilt slowly opened his eyes. The drowsy man’s eyes were dark green.

“I was up all night…”

“That’s not the point. You’re a temporary lecturer now. Have you forgotten that you were chosen to replace the 2nd Class Scholar, Richard, while he’s on his sabbatical?”

Abel widened his eyes. Soon after, he hurriedly rubbed his face.

“Ah–”

“You remember now, right? Now hurry.”

But he could tell that Abel was still drowsy. After forcing him to stand up, Kizash collected all the papers that were covering Abel before handing them to him.

“This is your namelist.”

 

It was the list of names of the students Abel would be in charge of teaching. Abel glanced at it and set the papers down before he could finish reading. Kizash then clicked his tongue before chasing Abel out.

“Come to think of it…”

Kizash seemed to suddenly recall something.

“I think there’s someone from your home country in your class. Kaltanias.”

“Kaltanias?”

Abel repeated after him. Kizash nodded.

“Yes. There. I think that person’s from there.”

“They managed to get a field trip out of that closed up country? So, who’s here?”

“Damn, you really don’t know anything about the rumours do you? They say their princess came as a student. She’ll probably be in your class for a few days, I think?”

Abel blinked his eyes slowly. For the first time in a long while, he was hearing his country’s name from the lips of others. He lowered his head.

‘Princess?’

What did they mean by a princess? To him, it would just be firewood amping up his flames. Abel scratched his back for a moment before he picked the namelist up again. The name he was searching for appeared at the end of the list. ‘Ashley Rosé’ had been kindly accompanied with a portrait so that he would not miss her.

“She will be here for about a week. They say she’s here on a field trip.”

Abel scratched his cheek. Ashley Rosé. That name was unfamiliar to him but he recognised her face. Auresia and his biological sister, Eris. They had been close friends.

‘That child had grown so much.’

It was a strange feeling. He recalled meeting her when she was just an infant. In the arms of his sister and her friend, she had just been a baby who could barely open her eyes. He recognised his younger sister.

‘She’s not my blood relative though…’

He scratched his eyebrows. It was his habit whenever he found himself lost in thought.

‘But why did she come here?’

Visits from Royal or Imperial Families to the academy were not uncommon. They would come here to widen their perspective and there were also quite a number who actually ended up entering the school. But it was rare for a visit to be this sudden. This wasn’t even admission season.

“You know.”

Moreover, Kaltanias was distinctly different from any other country. It was very closed-off. So, visits from Kaltanias were very rare. Not only was entrance into the country extremely restricted, but even worse, if the person requesting entrance was a woman, entrance was even more strict.

“Does that princess have any strange powers?”

Kizash glanced at Abel.

“Like you.”

Kizash wasn’t able to hide his curiosity. People coming from the Empire always had strange powers. They would call it divinity.

“I don’t know.”

Abel scratched the back of his head in a daze.

‘Is it possible?’

Abel, who had just woken up, was more than twice as large as an average adult. Regarding this, Abel always said that it was because of the gods they served. Abel’s god was the God of Winds and the powers that were characteristic of his had been given by their gods. That was how he explained it to him at first but as a foreigner, Kizash didn’t understand.

He had been born and raised in the Kingdom of Leaf. The Empire had no diplomatic connections to the kingdom. That was why it was more difficult for him to understand. The fact that gods actually exist.

Hoo–

But the moment he witnessed his powers, like the one Abel was showcasing now, Kizash understood. As he stood in the middle of the room, a mysterious golden glow swirled in Abel’s eyes. He let his hair rustle in the wind.

‘Mystical phenomenon like this exists.’

The documents rustled like they were alive as a gust of wind blew through them. Just when Abel casually twisted his neck to look at the door next to Kizash who was staring at him blankly. A little boy stuck his head out.

“Is Abel Cloud here?”

It was a young boy with blue hair. The boy blinked his blue eyes before calling for Abel.

“He must be here.”

Abel frowned at the sight. It was an unwelcome guest.

“You’ll be in our class starting from today, right?”

Abel soon pouted a little before speaking with a thick voice.

 

“Right, Pontus.”

He strode towards the boy.

“How diligent of you.”

“Don’t be so sarcastic. Sir, you’re so simple, you’re being too obvious.”

Strangely enough, the boy had silver strands mixed with his blue hair.

“Hurry on, sir.”

As soon as Abel’s body brushed past the young boy’s, he whispered quietly enough only the boy could hear.

“Well. Don’t go using honorifics with me. The Head Templar of Snow and the Sea.”

As Abel grumbled incessantly, the young boy just smiled. Behind the spot Abel was just in, the remaining gusts of wind scattered the curtains like a reverberation.

***

The Kingdom of Leaf was cold.

The weather in the Empire was kept at a temperature that fluctuated between spring and autumn throughout the year. Every spike or drop in temperature was only temporary. Naturally, the clothes we wore were also light made out of a thin almost translucent fabric.

“Ashley, you will be attending the school as a student.”

“Yes, I’ve heard all about it already.”

The weather here was cool all-year round. It was distinctly different from the Empire. In short, it was basically as cool and chilly as early to late autumn. There were seasons here too but it seemed like it would only get slightly colder or warmer with every season.

“Achoo. So, from today onwards, Dane, you’ll be attending the school, I mean, the academy too?”

From the second day I arrived here, the cold that had hit me the moment I crossed the border had continued till this day. I heard it was already pretty warm now but I was still sneezing continuously.

“Yeah. I’ll be attending another year.”

Dane nodded before showing me the map.

“From this building to there.”

“I’ll just have to search there?”

“Right. You’ll be a 2nd year and I’ll be a 3rd.”

“To find the Templars of Snow and the Sea, right?”

“Yes.”

I glanced at Dane.

“I’m sorry. This had been something His Majesty had assigned to me specifically.”

With a sweet smile on his face as always, Dane said.

“No problem at all.”

‘It was your assignment after all,’ he whispered softly.

“You can just call him the emperor. It’s a waste to refer to him with honorifics.”

“… What?”

“Don’t look at me with that. I don’t like the emperor.”

He approached me before raising his hand. I flinched and retreated as he approached me unexpectedly. He looked at me for a moment before smiling.

“Your hair.”

He said before pulling the hair off my cheek. He then looked at me again.

“Isn’t he just some trash who tried to sacrifice you to the crystal?”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“… Right. Uh… But Dane.”

“Hm.”

He replied languidly. I wondered why though he looked as friendly as ever… I could feel a subtle difference. It felt like Dane had changed a little. However, it wasn’t as if there was any slight change in his personality.

“Well, you know.. I-it’s nothing.”

 

T/N:

(1): omg I think I’ll change ‘Ripe’ -> to ‘Leaf’ because it’s more phonetically similar to its name in korean.