181 Eighty-eighty words: "Help the emperor."




 My vision is blurry and shaky. I can't seem to focus. I just felt a strange warmth in my body. Alueno blinked his golden eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling, like his vision, was also shifting. How strange.

 As he slowly raised himself up, he saw that he had a very good blanket over his body. So it must be warm. Not only that, but the place where he was lying was soft enough to hold a person's body like a bed.

 I don't know, it's just so perfect. The softness that enveloped my body made me want to put my weight on it.

 After all, my eyelids are still heavy. I feel as if all the strength in my body has been taken away.

 The intermittent shaking of the carriage thudded and roared louder than ever.

 Well, this is a carriage. And if you look closely, this is the carriage that was prepared for you.

 The golden eyes flicker and question. So, why am I swaying in a carriage at all? I feel like I should have been doing something else, at least, but my consciousness is strangely vague.

 Yes, I did ride in the carriage. I have that scene in my mind. But the process that led up to it has completely disappeared. Wasn't there any particular reason for me to take the carriage?

 In combination with the fact that I am being rocked by the carriage, it becomes even more difficult to tell whether this is a dream or reality. My eyelids are heavy.

 Alueno squinted, following the gravity of his eyelids, and glanced around for a moment. There is no one by his side. Only Alueno is rocking in the privacy of the carriage. I can only guess that there is a personal attendant pulling the carriage, but there is no one else.

 It was a dream, after all.

 With this conclusion in his mind, Alueno closed his eyes and lay down again on the seat of the carriage. The touch on his back was soft and comfortable.

 --It was a dream.

 I wonder if it was a dream. It's true that even if I search my memory, the scene is vague, as if a haze had settled in my skull. All that remains are the edges of my eyes and a faint feeling behind my ears.

 What I see is Lugis standing beside me, almost embracing me. And the voice still echoing in my ears is one.

 --The woman I fell in love with was...

 The moment the words echoed in his ears and stimulated his thoughts, Alueno's eyelids, which were almost closed, opened. His golden hair swayed, and his throat gulped.

 No, it wasn't a dream.

 As soon as he was sure of this, his cheeks heated up unconsciously. Her eyes moistened as she searched for a place to put her gaze. Yes, I'm sure Lugis was exchanging words with someone at that time. His memory would not allow him to trace who it really was. His brain is foggy, and his memory is torn apart like a cloud. It was as if someone had taken away my body and consciousness.

 The only thing I remember is... The only thing I remember is that the look in Lugis's eyes when he said those words was unmistakably through me.

 I cover my face with the blanket. Hot, hot, hot. I repeatedly pull the thread of memory in my skull, wondering if it was real or not, if it was a dream.

 I'm sure I'm making a face I can't show to anyone right now. Tension covers my whole body, and my face is strangely hot and unresponsive. And yet, my lips are trembling and waving with joy. It was not a face to be shown to others.

 He remembered, he remembered, he remembered.

 I thought that he had given himself over to heraldry and forgotten about himself, that he had sought salvation in something else. But no. No. Lugis is waiting for you. You are the one she wants.

 That fact alone made Alueno's chest shake with joy. His fingertips gripped the blanket more tightly. The joy ran down his spine and sent shivers through his body.

 --Ah, after all, what Lugis is looking for, so it must be me who can give him salvation.

 This is a great way to make sure that you are getting the most out of your time with your family. I'm not sure what to say, but I'm glad to hear it.

 At the same time. At the same time, a revelation like a new light was about to emerge in the depths of Alueno's brain, at the root of his thoughts, as if pointing out his path.

 It was a revelation from God. A written pathway to sainthood. It would appear in my mind just as it had when I was in the cathedral.

 Well, I can't remember the process, but the revelation is why I'm in the chariot. The memories in my skull are being arranged as if guided by a revelation. As if to assert that there is nothing wrong, that this is the right path.

 The revelation points to a journey away from Belle Fane.

 Her golden eyes narrow. The fever in her eyes was threatening to spill out. To leave Belfain means to leave Lugis. That's why I want to take his hand as soon as possible.



 But while blinking his eyes for a moment, Alueno let out a few deep breaths. The inside of his skull regained a slight sense of calmness.

 I'm sure, if I could, I would turn my heel to Belfain right now and take Lugis' hand. But that's not possible. That would be too hasty.

 Lugis is now reaching for the wrong salvation. A twisted salvation in the name of heraldry. Of course, that can't be helped. While he waits for me, his heart may still turn to other things at times. He's human. It's natural.

 So what's important is to make sure he never falls for anything else again. You have to separate him from everything else. To do that, we have to go a little bit farther. And if I go to Belle Fain now, I'm just a little girl. There's nothing you can do.

 Then let's follow the revelation for now. Believing that my approaching the saint will bring me closer to Lugis' salvation.

 With that in mind, Alueno muttered another word deep in his heart. It was not a conscious thought. It must have been a word that came to him unconsciously, and then sank back into his heart.

 --Yeah, yeah. Only I can give him salvation. Not even God has this right.