Time Healer Ceres

“A black egg?”

“Yes. I heard Miss Yuness has been going around asking people about a black egg lately.”

“Hm.”

At Del’s words, Kainel’s lips curved into a faint smile, clearly amused.

Del furrowed his brow in exasperation. This is no time to be smiling so casually!

“She’s asking if anyone has seen one... Don’t you find that a bit strange?”

When Del first saw Yuness, he had doubted his own eyes too. Unlike the others, he had personally seen Lady Grace’s body. He could almost believe that she had really come back to life.

However, his surprise quickly gave way to wariness. More than anyone, Del knew that Lady Grace was Kainel’s only weakness. He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone who looked like her appearing here was no mere coincidence.

And then, there was her strange behavior.

“A black egg? What could she possibly want with it here?”

What made it even stranger was that she wasn’t looking for it in secret. She was openly asking people, as though she had nothing to hide.

“Just leave her be.”

“What?”

But unlike the concerned Del, Kainel looked intrigued.

“But Your Excellency—”

“I said leave her be.”

“.....”

Del could say no more. He knew Kainel hated having to repeat himself, so he swallowed his words and let out a quiet sigh.

What is he thinking?

Lately, Kainel had been spending more and more time with Yuness. He never tried to stop her from coming to see him. In fact, he even instructed the guards outside his office not to announce her arrival and to let her in immediately whenever she came.

So my guess was right after all.

Del had felt uneasy from the moment he first saw Yuness. He had worried that Kainel might mistake her, with her resemblance to Lady Grace, for Grace herself.

He was afraid that Kainel might start developing feelings for her...

If she really is a good person, then I suppose it wouldn’t matter.

Well, she had certainly earned the title of Saintess. She had stopped the epidemic and healed the sick, after all.

Yet, Del still couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. He could only hope that this unease was nothing more than his own unfounded suspicion.

Whoosh.

Just then, a cold wind rushed through the open window.

“A-aren’t you cold?”

Del shivered and pulled his clothes tighter around himself. Kainel, who seemed not to feel the cold at all, often left the windows open even in freezing weather. Apparently, he found the wind more refreshing on days like this.

Del couldn’t understand it at all, but he cautiously watched Kainel as he made his way toward the window to close it.

Flutter.

“Huh?”

Something floated gently toward him. Del caught it instinctively and blinked several times.

“...A flower petal?”

When Del realized that the delicate object in his hand was a pale pink petal, his mouth fell open in surprise.

Flower petals were drifting through the air here, in the Principality of Persia, in this frozen land of the north.

Del hurriedly looked out the window and found himself gaping once again.

“What on earth...?”

The garden behind the main building was suddenly covered in flowers. A path of pink blossoms stretched across the white snow.

Del rubbed his eyes again and again, but the sight remained no matter how many times he did. Was this really happening?

“She’s done it again.”

“Pardon?”

Kainel already stood beside him, gazing out the window with a faint smile. He seemed to have a pretty good idea who was behind it. His smile was warm.

So His Excellency can smile like that.

Knock, knock.

A moment later, someone entered the office with an attendant. It was Yuness.

“Your Excellency.”

Yuness approached him with a cheerful smile.

“Have a seat.”

Kainel finally stepped away from the window and gestured for her to sit.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

When Kainel nodded, Yuness’s smile brightened.

“Actually, I’ve been looking for something lately. I was wondering if you might know anything about it.”

She let out a long sigh, finally voicing what had been troubling her.

“What are you looking for?”

“A black egg. I don’t really know what it is either. I just can’t seem to get it out of my head...”

Her sigh grew heavier.

“It’s a small, black egg...”

Kainel rested his chin on his hand and listened quietly.

“Have you ever seen one, Your Excellency?”

“Why would you think I have?”

“It keeps coming to mind ever since I came here. Could it be because it has something to do with you?”

“Why do you want to find it?”

Kainel answered Yuness’s desperate question with one of his own. As soon as he hinted that he knew something about the black egg, Yuness grew visibly more anxious.

“Oh, you know about it? Have you seen the black egg?”

“Answer me first.”

“It’s...”

Yuness caught herself, then bit her lip and lowered her head.

“I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?”

“It’s just... I keep thinking about it. I have this feeling that I have to find it. Maybe then this foggy, suffocating feeling inside me will finally go away.”

At her words, Kainel smiled faintly. As if encouraged by that smile, Yuness continued, her face full of anticipation.

“Do you know where the black egg is now?”

“It’s gone.”

“...What?”

Yuness’s hopes vanished in an instant. Her eyes widened at Kainel’s offhand reply.

“What do you mean, it’s gone...? You mean the black egg disappeared?”

“That’s right.”

Yuness shot to her feet before she even realized it.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so surprised...”

Realizing what she had done, she quickly sat back down, looking flustered.

“I really wanted to find it... Is there any way to know what happened to it?”

“Who knows.”

His flat answer made Yuness bite her lip. Kainel watched her before rising and walking over to the window.

Pink petals were still drifting outside. A faint smile returned to Kainel’s lips as he watched them.

“I...”

“Now that you have your answer, I’ll have someone show you back to your room.”

Del stepped in front of her with a pleasant smile, blocking her path as she tried to approach Kainel.

“See her back to her room. Be courteous.”

“Yes.”

Kainel didn’t look at her again. With no other choice, Yuness quietly turned and left.

.

.

.

Chapter 46: The Ice Tree Forest

“The egg is gone?”

“Yes. Apparently, it disappeared.”

The room was filled with white flowers. Veilks, who had been tending to them as usual, suddenly stopped. The smile that was always on his face faded as well.

Across from him, Yuness calmly sipped her tea with a faint smile, completely unconcerned with his mood.

“Disappeared? Where did it go?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t heard that part yet. But I know for certain it’s not in the Grand Duke’s residence. I’ve searched just about everywhere.”

“Are you sure you searched everywhere?”

At Veilks’s question, Yuness set down her teacup and pointed to her own face.

“With this face, there isn’t anywhere in the residence I can’t go. You know very well whose face this is.”

Because you’re the one who gave it to me. Yuness’s smile deepened.

When Veilks first made the offer, she had refused immediately. He wanted her to enter the Persia’s residence of all places.

He was basically sending me to my death.

She might have been a death-row inmate, but there was no way she could follow Veilks’s order, even though he was the one who had saved her.

How many people had sneaked into the Grand Duke’s residence only to die there? Not one had ever made it back out in one piece.

Not only that, he also wanted her to retrieve something. Who would be crazy enough to agree to that?

I’d be better off going back to prison.

Being executed in prison was a hundred times better than being caught and killed by Grand Duke Persia.

But then...

Veilks had given her a special ability and a new face, telling her they belonged to someone Grand Duke Persia could never turn away.

And he was right. The first time Yuness stood before Grand Duke Persia, trembling with nerves, she knew he would open his heart to her.

It was that look in his eyes.

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