Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

The woman was like water.

After accepting the fact that they could not immediately be free of the chain, she took up a corner of his room like a quiet creek.

However, Castor found that the woman also had an explosive personality much like that of boiling water and waterfalls.

She wasn’t as cold as she was the first day they met but even now, days after, the woman’s eyes remained as frigid as ice whenever she looked at him.

No, or would it be more accurate to say that they were burning? He didn’t know if cold flames were possible but the woman’s eyes always burned coldly.

She looked listless. Her gaze was always lowered and her voice always soft. That was the way she would talk to the maids who brought her meals. However, though she looked like she had abandoned her will to live, her extinguished wick would reignite the moment she saw him.

“We still can’t take this off, can we?”

Rather than asking out of curiosity, he merely asked because their gazes met.

“… I’m still looking for a way.”

“How?”

“Don’t talk to me.”

Castor had gotten used to her hostility. He didn’t know why but some of the queens had hated him to death too. It would take a long time for him to discover that he could not hurt the emperor and that the emperor was hard at work to destroy him too. But he had no way of knowing this now.

“Because I’m the one who wants to take this off more.”

But the way the woman looked at him was unlike how the queens did. Her bejewelled eyes that held a beautiful glint within them were looking at him and not something behind him like the queens’.

‘In any case, we need to get this off.’

Still, the identity of this chain was unknown. Castor brought high-ranked templars and showed them his arm but how could they be privy of its identity when they could not see it?

If that was the case, he could only leave it to the woman who seemed to know something. But the idea of having a friendly conversation with the woman who would glower at him whenever their gazes met seemed far fetched.

Still, he didn’t want to kick her out.

There were empty rooms in his palace anyway. The emperor would not come to visit his palace just because an unknown woman was now residing in it.

Though he would not know if this would change if this woman were to stab him.

Soon, his nanny returned. His nanny had been a woman of discretion. In other words, she was a good person. He thought he could find out more about the unknown woman through his nanny.

Looking at her, he was reminded of a little bird. A hurt, wounded bird that didn’t want anyone approaching itself.

If he were to examine the pulsating energy the woman was emitting, that didn’t seem to be the case so why? The boy could not erase the sight of a broken wing behind the woman.

Castor merely thought the woman must not have wanted anyone near her.

***

Shit. Shit.

I had never been this angry before. No, it would be strange for me not to be mad and furious in this situation.

What the hell was going on?

Castor had appeared in front of me in his child form and now I was chained to him.

I bit my lip while staring at my wrist.

I found out by staying in his room for a while that the chain could lengthen. In other words, there were no limits on how long it could stretch. But there were times it would tighten.

‘Whenever I think of running away.’

As soon as I thought about running away from this timeline, the chain would tighten and restrict my movements.

As though it was telling me I had nowhere to run.

No matter how much I shouted, how hard I struck my chest, the diary did not appear. The diary that was helping me escape would not be turning a blind eye to me now. That meant that it could not materialise here.

‘Castor must be blocking her.’

I gradually got the gist of the situation. Was this his plan from the beginning? It was highly probable that his plan was for me to fall into the timeline which held young Castor.

If I could communicate with the diary, I would have asked about the situation I was thrown into. I understood what was happening but my resentful heart had yet to come to terms with it.

The young Castor was, of course, not the man I knew. How could a man remain the same after killing so many people?

“Have you eaten anything yet?”

“Mind your own business.”

He had asked this unfamiliar stranger, this unknown intruder that suddenly appeared in his palace whether she had her meals.

It had been a few days since I arrived.

Castor, who had been watching me, looked to be an ordinary boy with nothing that seemed amiss.

“Is there anything wrong?”

Of course, even for a boy, his voice was still soft and delightful to hear. His black hair and elegantly golden eyes.

However, instead of the madness and primal energy I was used to feeling from him, he looked like a dignified prince reminiscent of a crane.

Staring at his young self, I couldn’t help but to laugh.

What did he want me to do? Was he trying to elicit some sort of sympathy by showing me his unfortunate past?

Whatever he planned on showing me, the emotions I held for him whenever I looked at him would never change. It was foolish of him to try. And it was unpleasant to know that he was even trying.

Rather, it had pained me more to see Fleon and Dane unable to remember me.

“I had informed the palace that you are my guest. They would treat you as such in the future. At least until we solve this problem.”

The people surrounding Castor had appeared out of nowhere but I did not show much reaction.

No, it was because there weren’t enough people here for me to react to.

‘Is it because he hasn’t gone mad yet?’

He was interestingly still. It felt like he was trying to use the minimum number of people needed for the palace and wanted to remain hidden from view.

But the Crown Prince’s Palace from my present felt similar. A space eroded by fear and emptiness.

Clang. When I looked up at the sound of chains, I realised young Castor was shaking the chain. Gazing upon his expressionless face, there was no sign of discontent.

“This, I have no idea how to deal with this. Shouldn’t we try to find a way? I have things to do outside the palace as well.”

“The chain can lengthen as much as you need, you know? Stop giving excuses.”

“You have one nasty temper.”

Even as he said that, there was no sign of displeasure in his voice. As though he was used to receiving this kind of hostility from other people.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like that. Do you only say stuff like that?”

“It depends on who I’m talking to.”

I replied with a sneer.

“Seeing you treat someone who has done you multiple favours, you do seem to have a terrible personality.”

I found his blunt words funny. Every time I talked to him, there was a strange mix of pleasure and displeasure swirling within me.

“Really? I never expected to hear that from you. Or maybe it’s because I just don’t want to hear anything from you.”

“… You keep talking as though you know me, have we met?”

“Who knows?”

Knowing the current Castor posed no threat, I maintained my attitude. I didn’t want to talk to him or even look at him.

Castor. who had first pointed out my brash attitude. said nothing when I got up and slammed his desk with my purple divinity.

It didn’t try to stop me from leaving this time.

The chain seemed to limit the use of my divinity to a certain extent. It seemed like it was trying to stop me from escaping using my divinity.

‘If I pour all my divinity into it, I should be able to take it off.’

But my wrists would become collateral damage. I could force it off my body, tear it or blow it apart.

But it would take a lot of my energy to heal my wrist. I had to avoid facing Castor in an exhausted state.

During the past few days of my hard work, I managed to catch a glimpse of someone I was happy to see. Granius who came to teach Castor. His eyes, that looked much more youthful than the present, were filled with affection for Castor.

“My Prince, have you gotten a new maid?”

Everyone who visited the palace or worked here had mistaken me to be either the Crown Prince’s lady-in-waiting or his guest. It was nice to have them come to their own conclusions without the need to explain myself.

And today, I met someone else.

“My prince.”

As soon as a middle-aged woman holding a cane entered the room, Castor raised his head.

His face that had been stony just a moment ago, burst into lively expressions. I furrowed my brows.

After throwing his pen and parchment down, the boy ran towards the middle-aged woman and jumped into a hug.

“Nanny!”

“Yes. The visit back home went well.”

As I watched, Castor’s bright smile reminded me of flowers in full-bloom and an indescribable feeling welled up within me.