I Became the Villain of a Romance Fantasy

Chapter 34

34 – Unexpected guests (7)

When she opened her eyes, what greeted Elena was not the dead world, but the ceiling of her bedroom.

It was only then that I remembered that it was all a dream.

Could it be that I met Richard last night? Even though he knew that such tragedies would no longer exist in the future that lay ahead of him, his unconscious mind arbitrarily brought up memories from previous lives.

It was because I had a nightmare, so I felt tight inside.

It seems to be poisonous every time I have a dream containing memories of my previous life after returning.

That would be the case, because the dreams that illuminated his previous life had never shown a single moment of his happiness. Dreams always showed me moments full of sadness and regret.

If you are dreaming, it would be nice to have a happy dream, why the hell are you showing only such scenes? Still, if there was an advantage that wasn’t an advantage, it was that it made me promise that I would never make this time given to me like that.

Elena stood up and looked at the papers on the desk.

There, the things she had created at the flower garden with him last night, and the things she wanted to do with him that she had been thinking about before, were written.

When I recall the fact that I wrote it down in front of him belatedly, I feel ashamed. Of course, her desire not to be seen by him was still kept deep in her heart, but even so, writing down her wish, especially in front of him, made her face hot for some reason.

Touching his blushing face, he carefully looked at the back of the paper he had written on.

Just as he watched him write it down, Elena already knew what was behind it, because she watched him write her wishes on paper. But even so, my heart trembled strangely, as if I was secretly looking into his secret.

“lol…”

The number of wishes he had written was incomparably smaller than those of Elena, but the small wishes written there were enough to make Elena smile.

As she recalled the memories of writing down wishes with him at the flower garden last night, the thoughts of the past no longer existed in Elena’s head.

The past is just a page that has already passed.

If you keep dwelling on the past, isn’t there a reason to turn back time by regressing? So let’s think only good things. For her own future, who erased her destiny, there was only one thing left to fill with him, as written here.

“I’m looking forward to it today.”

Outside the window, today’s sun was slowly rising.

Elena folded the paper in her hand and put it in the drawer.

Then, like yesterday, I started to prepare to go out, drawing in my head the days I would spend with him.

***

I spent quite a bit longer than I thought at the gymnasium, but fortunately I didn’t happen to be late for breakfast.

Entering the breakfast room, I bowed lightly to Joachim, who was sitting at the head of the table, and sat next to Elena, which was naturally assigned to me while staying here.

“Good morning, Damian.”

“Good morning.”

As I approached my seat, she greeted me with a small smile. Being greeted by her every morning was a new source of energy for me while staying with her. I also gave her a small answer and accepted it with a smile.

I glanced over the breakfast table for a moment before sitting down.

There were only three people present here, Elena and Yohaim, but since I met the twilight tower owner at the banquet yesterday, I thought he might appear in the breakfast room.

Unlike a banquet, this place was only for families, so no matter how close they were, they couldn’t suddenly intervene, but there was still a “what if.”

As expected, I couldn’t feel the presence of anyone other than us in this place, as if it was a needless worry. Relieved by that fact, I raised the tableware.

I didn’t have any ill feelings toward the twilight tower owner, but I wanted to refrain from intruding like yesterday.

The menu for today’s breakfast was very simple.

Warm meat stew and fluffy bread for a simple mouthfeel were all.

Someone might see a menu like this and think that Edelweiss is poor, but how could the only three dukes in the empire not have money? The selection of the menu must be because of the banquet held yesterday. Above all, this amount was appropriate in the morning when there was no appetite.

I picked up a spoon and poured the stew into my mouth. Then the aroma of the warm soup slowly began to fill my mouth. Since there is no appetite, it is better to savor the taste slowly in this way and awaken the taste buds that have not yet woken up from sleep.

‘The taste is good…but something is lacking.’

It was clear that the skill of the chef in charge of Edelweiss’ meals was a skill that could be called first-class. Like the meat stew I’m tasting right now, I’ve never thought that the food here was distasteful during my time in Winter Castle.

Still, home-cooked food is the best.

Apparently, over the past five years, I have become accustomed to the taste of the chef at my house. When you eat the same food you ate at Krause, you repeatedly take the side of our chef, who is in the sarham. Then, the image of the family in Yeongju Castle comes to mind.

Damn it. Isn’t this an early sign of homesickness?

I’m not a kid who cries because he misses his mother at a retreat.

Anyway, this is because our chef made the meat stew so well. Otherwise, does it make sense for the castle to suddenly come to mind like this? I erased the thoughts that popped into my head as I watched Elena scooping up the stew while blowing on it.

While the meal was in progress, Yohaim suddenly spoke to me.

“So, was last night’s banquet all right?”

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t feel like that kind of fit for me. It just felt cramped.”

“Looking at what you’re saying, you’re still young. Banquets are originally such places. Even though everyone is smiling on the outside, it’s a gathering of wildcats who are eager to bite each other. But if you’re Kraus, you shouldn’t be frightened by such wildcats. It will.”

In that sense, you passed yesterday, Joachim suddenly praised me. I nodded, saying thank you for Yoheim’s words, but I felt something ominous about the sudden praise. It feels similar to paying a bribe before asking for something.

It didn’t take long for me to discover the true nature of this sense of incongruity.

“Well, now that the banquet is over, it wouldn’t be bad to take a look at Merohim comfortably. In that sense, hey, I know a place with a nice view. Would you like to visit it?”

The gist of it was this.

Somehow, he suddenly praised me. He was throwing ground rice to drag me somewhere.

To be precise, he probably wants to go out to pick up Elena and me. Actually, this wasn’t the first time Joachim had said such a thing, so I was expecting this to come out today, the day after the banquet.

Because of his father’s personality, he couldn’t have hidden the fact that my family and Elena went out together. There was no way that Joachim, a father with no arms, would just go over it. Perhaps, he also wants to go on an outing with his daughter… What should I do with this?

“Well, I have a prior appointment today.”

“What was your prior promise? How long have you been staying here, does it make sense that you’ve become close enough to make an appointment?”

At my words, Joachim said he didn’t understand and looked at me suspiciously.

First of all, it was not a lie to say that there was a prior agreement. I had promised to spend the day with Elena. Probably the same the next day and the day after that.

While here in Merrohim, I have no decision making. In order to fulfill the things she told me, I would follow her will, so going on an outing with Yoachim was also a decision Elena had to make, not me.

I looked at Elena without hiding my embarrassment. She shook her head and answered me.

“Dad. I’m sorry, but Damian made an appointment with me first today.”

“Uh huh..? Really? If you’re going somewhere, won’t you tell this father?”

“The night market. Tonight is the day the night market is held once a week. Damian has never been out of the winter castle, so I thought there was nothing better to introduce him to this Merohim… “

“Yes! I thought very well!! The night market is the specialty of Merohim. There are many things that are hard to find in the South, so it will be a very good experience.”

When Elena stopped talking, Yohaim immediately lowered his tail. No matter how strong he wanted to go on an outing with his daughter, it was not enough to satisfy her daughter’s wishes.

But still, the sadness in his eyes couldn’t be erased. As a father, he must have felt sad that his daughter had chosen a fiancé over him. Elena knew that too, so she laughed and said to Joachim:

“Thank you for the compliment. Father. Oh, come to think of it, I read a book about Aspect Magic ‘Light of the Stars’ in the Mage Tower’s library, but there are some parts I don’t quite understand… Can I ask for an explanation after the meal?”

“That’s what you mean! Of course not!”

Joachim was very excited by Elena’s words. Elena secretly looked back at me and closed one eye. That made me realize that what Elena said to Joachim was a lie.

Until now, she had never talked about magic in front of me, but I knew better than anyone how much she had knowledge about magic.

What Elena had just said to Joachim was just an excuse to spend time with her father.

Since Elena had been learning everything on her own, Elena seemed to know that Joachim wanted to teach her, even though he didn’t say anything.

After all, Yoachim’s desire to go on an outing with us stemmed from a desire to spend quality time with his daughter, so nothing could satisfy Yoachim more than Elena’s words.

“I’m sorry. Damien. I wanted to show you different aspects of Winter Castle before the night market opens.”

“No. Enlightenment is an important issue even for a knight. Then I can’t stand still.”

Originally, Elena promised to show me the rest of the winter castle that I couldn’t see last night, but I can’t help it. I have to do it after the training I did in the morning.

But to me who was thinking that way, Yohaim told me a really unexpected story.

“Ah, come to think of it, Damien. I have a story I need to tell you.”

“Yeah? What’s that all of a sudden…”

“You know, since we met yesterday, but Twilight. He said he wants to meet you.”

No, why is that man’s story suddenly appearing?

Who was the person who asked you to go out with him just a moment ago?

I looked at Yohaim with that question in mind, but Yoachim pretended not to know anything and smiled warmly at Elena. What is it, is it no longer worth using?

Anyway, our morning ended quickly.

As soon as the meal was over, Joachim hurriedly took Elena and left.

“See you again, kid.”

“Ah, yes. That, hello…”

Leaving me in front of the archmage I chewed.