Atha exhaled a sigh, not trying to hide her displeasure, so the ruler offered what looked like an apology with a face that seemed embarrassed.
“Mmm...
I'm sorry, but whatever your goal, you'd better not do anything that provokes the Crown Prince.
That boy is a bit 'crazy' (emergency).”
As he moved his eyes left and right, Atha immediately realized that he was watching her reaction.
To have a being in his place monitor my reaction?
It was a strange feeling.
But what was strangest was her feeling towards him.
Is it normal to feel joyful and comfortable, as if you are meeting an old friend?
She didn't hate him or fear him, even though he spoiled her plan at will.
“Okay, I get it.
Anyway, all I cared about was getting discovered trying to escape.”
Then, he let out a sigh of relief with an exaggerated expression, and muttered that it was time for him to leave.
“So, see you next time.”
After he suddenly disappeared, Atha in turn arrived at Blossom.
The driver's voice came from outside the car: “We have arrived.”
I felt a kind of regret; If there was more time, it would be better.
'Although he did not have an ounce of dignity and was a bit reckless...'
However, talking to him wasn't bad.
In fact, it was great; She felt very comfortable with this frank ruler, and she developed a strange confidence that she could say anything to him without fear.
Thanks to that, for the first time in a long time, she was able to speak out what was on her mind without filtering.
Most importantly, the ruler was the only one who knew the truth that she was “possessed” of this body.
But she couldn't drown in these feelings for long.
Atha exhaled a deep breath as if she was preparing to return to reality, then she got out of the carriage.
And I headed straight towards Alisto.
***
On the other hand, after receiving a report about the saint’s attempt to escape in the maid’s clothes, and then her return for an unknown reason, Alisto was overcome with mixed feelings.
The first was anger.
'Leaving without permission?' I don't think something like this will happen.'
She herself confidently confirmed that leaving without permission was unlikely.
'As I expected, she intended to stab me in the back.'
Even though she ate meat from my hand at the party, and was looking at me with her bright, round eyes.
The image of the saint’s face came to Alisto’s mind as she smiled delicately with her cheeks red.
I thought she had some crush on me.
Was that just an “act”?
Even when she said that her heart beat so hard that she fainted at the marriage proposal, was that just a theatrical performance?
But why?
If she were to run away in the end, I don't understand why she scattered my being and emotions to this extent.
Whatever I think.
I can never understand.
The second feeling was confusion.
'Yes!
Do you realize how kind and lovely a person His Highness is?'
Didn't you say I'm like a little bird?!
Didn't you say I'm adorable?
My teeth are aligned and my tongue is circular.
Was it all a lie?
Who lies like that? huh?
Who would lie in such minute detail in a place where the person in question does not exist?
Were there no listening ears around?
He was sure of her love for him when he saw her gossiping at the Empire's tea party, looking like a fool, flaunting her boyfriend in front of everyone without shame.
He thought his hunch was right.
She even accepted his marriage proposal...
'...Thinking about it'
Although the saint showed a positive reaction to the proposal, she did not give a definitive answer about marriage.
Was she cleverly evading the answer with escape in mind?
truly?
'I can't believe it'
And if so, why did it come back again?
Did she feel on her way that her preparations for escape were insufficient?
Did you forget something?
'I must not let my guard down'
No one knows when she will try to escape again.
When his thoughts arrived here, a question suddenly came to him.
Rather than risk escaping like this, wouldn't it be better to turn back time?
For example, if she had gone back in time to the day they first met, she could have escaped without having to create this annoying relationship with the Crown Prince of the Empire.
This was a question he also had when the saint tried to escape for the first time.
'Why choose the difficult and exhausting path?'
At that moment—
Knock knock— A weak knock was heard at the door.
'...Saint?'
He looked at the door with an expression of astonishment for a moment, then turned towards it, arranging his thoughts.
Previously, he had expected that the Saint didn't know her ability, or perhaps didn't have the means to turn back time, but he couldn't test it directly.
For fear that she will feel in danger, she begins to plan her escape more carefully.
But now, it seems that at least today she has no way to turn back time.
So, today—
He was determined to find out what Saint needed to turn back time, no matter what the cost.
'I'll make sure whatever it is doesn't fall into her hands.'
He had no intention of letting her go, or allowing her to be lost to him.
Not even an iota.
When he opened the door to Akalia's suite, he found exactly as he expected—
A thin, short woman stands hesitantly in front of the door.
He raised the corners of his mouth in a slight smile.
No matter how upset he was at the thought of her running away, his plan to win her heart was far from over.
“Aren't you asleep yet?”
Her eyes widened in astonishment: “Did you know it was me?”
He did not answer her directly, but rather opened the door more to make room for her to enter.
“Would you like to come in for a moment?”
Atha hesitated a little, then nodded and entered Akalia.
Alisto boiled water himself to make tea, and his performance seemed natural, as if he was used to doing it.
Meanwhile, Atha was watching his features warily.
Fortunately, he didn't seem as angry as the governor had warned her
He was smiling as usual, and his voice was very kind.
Alisto began, placing a beautiful cup of rose petal tea in front of her.
“You coming this late is unexpected, but your clothes also look familiar?”
“Ah”
True, she was still wearing her maid's clothes.
According to the Governor's words, Alisto already knows about her escape.
It was also said that he would have arrested her as soon as she crossed the palace gate.
The ruler also stated that the Crown Prince is “crazy.”
The Governor spoke in a tone of extreme concern, but in truth, Atha didn't find the idea of Alisto being "mad" to be a bad thing.
Why?
Because the cliché [he's only warm with his woman] still applies to Alisto!
Okay.
At first, Atha is puzzled by the fact that this world is realistic, but she soon arranges her thoughts rationally again.
And I finally came to one conclusion.
Which is that she still has the “protagonist’s support.”
You might say: What is this nonsense?
The Governor clearly told her that this was the case.
But think about it.
‘If I didn’t have the support of the protagonist, would a being of ruler status have appeared for me?’
Why would he do that?
I have felt an affinity for him since our first meeting, and even behaved rudely towards him even though he is a ruler who should be feared by humans.
However, he did not seem upset, but treated her like a close friend.
Okay, let's get things back in order.
Why must she still be the heroine of the novel?
1.
The body of the saint was possessed.
2.
She received a marriage proposal from the Crown Prince, who is a “promising tyrant” but is only nice to her.
3.
The ruler was the one who approached her and spoke to her as a close friend!
'This can only be explained as support for the heroine of the novel.'
That is, contrary to the ruler’s claim, the possibility was very high that this world was still within the novel “The Life of the Saint in Captivity.”
She apologizes to the person who is believed to be the ruler, but it is certain that he is also just a character in the novel.
If he were someone who didn't know romance and fantasy novels, he might have been fooled, but me?
'I will not be deceived'
Anyway, this is a good thing.
It didn’t matter to her if this place was inside a book or even inside a dream.
As long as she could enjoy a quiet and comfortable confinement life while she was here, that was enough.
She opened her mouth cautiously and said: “I, actually, was trying to escape a while ago.”
“……”
He watched her silently for a while, making her feel uncomfortable.
If he had shown any reaction, it would have been easier for her to make excuses.
While she was watching him warily and mustering her courage to speak—
“Why did you come back?”
His question came in response to her.
But Atha could not find a suitable answer.
Because what she thought was the reason she ran away, not the reason she came back.
Of course, an answer came to her mind.
'Because the governor asked me to come back'
'According to him, you were waiting for me to escape and locked me up, is that true?'
'Ah, right.
He also added that your personality is very 'cool'.
'Specifically, he said you were 'crazy'?'