Side Story 1: Unaccustomed
Chapter 13
I got ready to go to the parade, without having a proper conversation with Woo. We still hadn’t reconciled, so it was decided that I would go with Pel.
But I wasn’t anxious at all, I was actually quite calm.
I was planning to go find Woo after the parade. With the tea bag I had left in the corner of my room.
But first, I had to keep my promise to Pel. I finished my makeup, put on the light green dress he had bought for me, let my hair down, and combed it. And then, I put on a pair of pearl earrings, my favorite among the ones I had brought from the townhouse.
I felt like a young lady going to a party after getting all dressed up. Just a year ago, I really had been dressing up for parties.
It was a distant memory now.
‘Who am I even dressing up for?’
I mocked myself inwardly, but I knew the answer. I knew who I was dressing up for. I was just sad that he wouldn’t see me like this.
I left the inn after sunset. Pel was waiting for me in front.
“Let’s go, Pel.”
But he just stared at me, frozen. I tilted my head, wondering what was wrong, and he snapped out of his daze and chuckled awkwardly.
“Sorry, I’m in love with you again.”
“…That’s disgusting.”
I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Haha, shall we go then, my lady?”
I chuckled at his gesture, offering me his arm. He had learned something, at least.
I took his arm without refusing. I was a young lady of the empire, after all, I was well-versed in noble etiquette.
The parade route was already crowded. There was one person waiting for us among the crowd, Narau.
“Sue! Mr. Pel!”
Narau, still wearing his pointed hat, waved at us. I had heard from Pel yesterday that Narau would be joining us. And the reason I hadn’t broken my promise with Pel was because of Narau.
After greeting him, I got straight to the point,
“Narau, I’m joining Karina.”
“W-what?! Really?!”
Narau’s jaw dropped, and he asked again, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, but I don’t know much about magic. So I’ll just be filling a spot. Is that okay?”
Narau nodded excitedly.
“Of course! Anyone can do formula research, even if they don’t have talent! I was really untalented back in the day…”
I tuned out the rest of his excited rambling. Pel seemed to be doing the same, he nudged my arm with his elbow.
“So you came out to tell Narau that?”
I smiled faintly at his words.
“You could have just joined earlier. It would have saved me the trouble.”
Pel grumbled, pouting.
But I hadn’t intended to join Karina when Pel had taken me there. Back then, my priority had been finding a way to make a living.
But my thoughts had changed. I didn’t want to neglect the connections I had made.
I wanted to see what kind of guild Jean Emilia had created. Because I wanted to see him again someday. And I had a sliver of hope that he might come back to the guild he had created.
“…Huh?”
I felt a strange presence behind me, and it wasn’t my imagination. I turned around, feeling someone’s gaze on me, and fate was playing a cruel joke on me. Woo really had come to watch the parade with Celine.
“Hmm… I didn’t invite him this time…”
“…?”
“Ah, never mind.”
Pel quickly waved his hands dismissively.
It was the first time I had seen Woo since I had treated his hand that morning. I hadn’t seen him in the restaurant, nor in the hallway of the inn.
He was far away, but I was relieved to see the white bandage on his hand. I was relieved not because his hand was okay, but because the bandage I had wrapped was still there.
‘…I must be trash.’
Well, she had done a lot of trashy things, so she was trash.
But Woo’s figure in the distance was getting closer. I had thought it was just a hallucination, but I realized it wasn’t when his face came into view.
“Ah… Master Woo.”
I bit my lip. It had been a long time since I had seen him up close in his uniform.
His platinum hair, tucked behind one ear, his pale skin, his white uniform, his black cape. It was the same Woo she had always seen in Lohn.
“Sue.”
Even his voice, as he called out my name, was still gentle, and the past and the present intertwined within me.
“Excuse me, Your Highness.”
He stepped closer and put his arm around my shoulders. My body stiffened, and I just fidgeted with his sleeve.
Woo was smiling, trying to look relaxed. But anyone could tell that he wasn’t.
The mask he had been wearing all his life had cracked, and his bandaged hand took mine, leading me away.
I followed him, without any resistance.
Neither Pel, nor Celine, nor Narau tried to stop us. As if we were actors on a stage, we ran away from them.
***
We walked hand in hand for a long time. As if we were running, but slowly, so our feet wouldn’t hurt, until we reached a clearing.
The same clearing where we had shared orange juice before.
Woo stood there for a long time, still holding my hand.
“…Are you okay?”
I was worried, seeing him catching his breath.
I tried to pull my hand away to fix his messy hair, but he tightened his grip.
His wound would hurt if he held on too tight. But I didn’t feel like scolding him.
I used my other hand to fix his hair. He seemed to have calmed down, his face relaxing as I touched him.
“….”
“….”
The clearing was quiet. The chirping of insects was the only sound, a comfort in the deep silence.
“…I’m sorry, Sue.”
The first thing he said was an apology.
He looked like he was about to cry, his head bowed. His eyes were filled with anxiety, as if the smile he had shown earlier had been just an act.
“I’m sorry for dragging you here.”
“….”
“…I’m sorry for doing things my way. I just… I didn’t like it. Seeing you with him. I really… didn’t like it.”
“…Him?”
I asked gently, trying not to provoke him any further.
Come to think of it, I had been too flustered to think straight earlier, but I thought I had heard Woo call someone “Your Highness.”
Woo, his eyes darting around, mumbled,
“…His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What?”
I tilted my head, his voice barely audible.
What was he talking about? Had I heard him correctly?
But Woo, cruelly, repeated himself, confirming that I hadn’t been mistaken.
“The man you know as Pel… is Crown Prince Pheilik of Lokor.”
“Pheilik…? Crown Prince…? …Pel?”
I stared at him blankly as he nodded silently. I felt a chill run down my spine.
Pel was Crown Prince Pheilik?
“…Wait, then Celine is…”
“Her Highness Princess Selena.”
Woo finished my sentence, his voice defeated.
“…What?”
Woo sat me down on the bench and slowly told me everything about Crown Prince Pheilik.
How he had been threatened by Pheilik on the first night they had arrived in Gemin, how he had been ordered to spend time with Selena, how he had been pressured not to interfere if Pheilik approached me…
I felt dizzy, listening to his story.
“Why… didn’t you tell me…?”
Woo, seeing me cover my face with my hand and sigh, licked his dry lips and said in a regretful voice,
“Crown Prince Pheilik… is like my brother.”
“Ah…”
His words had never hit me this hard before.
In other words, Pheilik Lokor was a very difficult person to deal with.
“I don’t care if I have to go back to Lohn. But he said he was going to make you his concubine… I didn’t like that.”
Woo gently stroked my hair.
“He’s the type of person who would push even harder if you refused him. So I thought I just had to endure it for a while. At first.”
“….”
“But it was too hard. It was too hard to see you getting along with him.”
He chuckled bitterly, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.
“I abandoned you because I couldn’t protect you. And then I would get angry seeing you with Crown Prince Pheilik.”
“….”
“…It’s pathetic. I decided to go back to Lohn because it was so pathetic. I thought if I wasn’t there, people like Crown Prince Pheilik wouldn’t appear. And Sue would be able to travel more freely… That’s what I thought.”
“….”
“Even if this hadn’t happened, my brother… might come looking for me someday. And you could get hurt… No, you will get hurt. Just like everyone in Lohn thought it was only natural for you to get hurt. It’ll be the same. Look at me, I thought the same way. I thought it would be fine if Sue just endured it… I… hate that.”
The droplets forming in his large eyes were tears. The liquid streaming down his cheeks was tears. And the drops falling on the back of my hand were also tears.
“So… I’ll go back to Lohn. I don’t deserve to be by your side. I’m just… a fool.”
Had he always been this inarticulate?
He was crying pathetically. He was sobbing so hard that it made all his “Woo Acrea Ire” moments seem awkward. He was a fool, as he had said.
“Even if you didn’t like me, I was happy just… being by your side…”
He was crying, and I was watching him, baffled, but one thing was certain.
Woo liked me. No, he loved me.
And to be honest, I liked him too. Maybe I even loved him. But why did we have to hate, be sad, and apologize?
“Woo.”
I called out his name softly. I gently cupped his cheeks, making him look at me, as he wiped his tears like a child.
Tears were still welling up in his eyes. I chuckled, finding it funny.
He said he couldn’t protect me?
It was okay, she didn’t need protection. She had lived her whole life without any power.
“I like you.”
So, even if it was just his usual, meaningless smile, I wanted him to smile.
But I didn’t know how to comfort people, and I didn’t know what would make him smile. So I just said what I wanted to say.
“I like you.”
“…Why?”
Woo’s eyes widened.
“Why… someone like me…”
I swallowed a chuckle, seeing him lower his head.
It was a problem for Woo Acrea to like Sue Byron, but it wasn’t a problem for Sue Byron to like Woo Acrea. He didn’t seem to understand that.
I took his hand, which was fidgeting in his lap. His other hand twitched.
“I don’t know. I just… realized that I liked you.”
“….”
“You told me you loved me, even though you didn’t tell me anything else. So I can at least tell you that.”
“….”
“Is that… wrong?”
Instead of waiting for an answer, I leaned against him and hugged him. His body stiffened. I inhaled his scent, the scent of sunshine, and said,
“I told you, I’ll run away with you if you can convince me.”
“….”
“You don’t need to be strong. You don’t need to be, so… Don’t say you’re going back to Lohn. I’ll run away with you forever.”
I patted his back as his hand gently stroked my hair.
“Don’t apologize to me. Don’t hurt yourself out of jealousy. And don’t be with other women. Let’s have tea together, with the tea leaves I bought. We promised, remember? And let’s feed Rem together. Oh, right, Woo, please find Jean Emilia. Only you can do that… Ah, I don’t know, just… stay by my side. That’s all I need, Woo.”
I had brought you all the way here to be by my side. How could I let you give up so easily, just because of a crown prince’s petty schemes?
You had been mine ever since you had left the sewers of Lohn with me, carrying only a book.
***
We went back to the inn. We didn’t let go of each other’s hands until we reached my room, and even then, we continued to hold hands as we entered.
We lay on the creaky, old mattress, embracing each other, for minutes, for hours.
And then, in voices only we could hear, we started to tell each other our stories.
This was my childhood, this was my relationship with my family, this was my position in the capital, and this was my life at the academy. I wasn’t happy, but I met you, and now I’m here, and I’m happy.
We talked and talked, our stories never ending.
We talked about the past, and then the present, and then the future, and then the distant future.
The places we would go, the people we wanted to meet, the house we would share when our journey was over…
The stories we had started telling, one by one, gradually became “ours,” not “mine” or “his,” and when our bodies were filled with each other, Woo kissed me.
I couldn’t help but chuckle as he kissed me.
He even had soft lips.
***
We were awakened by a loud banging on the door past lunchtime. I was still lying in bed, my eyes closed. But the frivolous voice from beyond the door made me open my eyes.
“Sue! I have something to tell you!”
I’m the one who has something to tell you. I stopped Woo, who was about to go out, and hurriedly got dressed, then opened the door.
“Hmm, you were asleep. Thanks for coming out, though.”
His mocking smile was still there.
“It’s just that the… Ouch!”
I kicked him hard in the shin. I had kicked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the shin.
“You’re threatening me? You scammer.”
I mocked him, giggling like a madwoman, as he knelt before me in pain. Of course, I was scared, but the source of all my fear was Enzhe Lopetrefer, not a king or an emperor, so he was at least less scary than Enzhe.
“Hahahahahaha!”
A woman’s hearty laughter suddenly erupted from behind the groaning Pel.
“Your Highness Selena…”
As expected, she hadn’t changed. Woo, who had regained his composure overnight, sighed.
Selena stood in front of me, taking her foolish brother’s place.
“I apologize for my rudeness these past few days, Lady Sue. Woo.”
“….”
“Don’t worry, I have a fiancé.”
Selena smiled, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. I awkwardly scratched my cheek, my thoughts exposed.
“Come visit the palace if you have time. My brother and I will welcome you.”
“Y-yes… Come visit the palace, Sue.”
I looked down at his strained voice.
“Come under my wing instead of that boring man. I’ll give you a good territory and a title… Ouch!”
It wasn’t me this time. Selena punched Pel in the head and dragged him away by the back of his neck.
“…Oh, right, Woo.”
She turned to Woo before leaving, a gentle smile on her face.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten why you met Brother Pheilik that first night. I’m sorry for making you worry these past few days.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
Woo bowed his head to Selena.
Pheilik and Selena disappeared from our sight. As if they had never been there.
His threats to Woo, his confession to me, his awkward attempts to comfort me… It had all become “nothing.”
It was as if we had never even suffered.
***
Two days after Pheilik and Selena left, we decided to leave Gemin as well.
We had submitted our membership application to Narau’s guild, Karina, yesterday, and the three of us, me, Woo, and Narau, had watched the parade that was held at night. The fireworks were spectacular, filling the sky and the ground with colorful explosions, thanks to the collaboration of several magic guilds.
And today, the next day, Woo called me over as we were preparing to leave, Rem fully recovered.
“What is it?”
I waited for him to speak, but he wouldn’t open his mouth. Instead, he held out his hand behind his back.
“It’s a gift.”
A small leather case was resting on his palm. And no one would misunderstand the meaning of a leather case in this situation.
“I was going to make it that first morning. But then I met Crown Prince Pheilik… That was my ‘personal matter.’”
He opened the case, and a ring with a clear diamond was nestled inside.
I took it, speechless. Come to think of it, he had said he would tell me what his “personal matter” was when we left Gemin. I had completely forgotten about it.
“I was originally going to keep it to myself.”
“What…?”
I tilted my head at his absurd words.
“What kind of ring is kept to oneself?”
“…You’re right.”
Woo smiled brightly. He looked happy. He was smiling just because I had accepted the ring. The thought made my heart swell.
“Here.”
I held out my hand.
“….”
No one in the world would misunderstand the meaning of that gesture. He carefully took my hand and was silent for a moment. And then, he took the ring out of the case and slowly slipped it onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly.
I stared at my ring finger, the ring sparkling on it. I felt a surge of happiness, a feeling that had been building up since yesterday.
“…As a thank you, I’ll run away with you forever.”
I leaned against him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me. His embrace was warmer and more comforting than ever.
And so, we ran away again, and we started to love again.
I really enjoy their healing journey. Thanks for translating 💕