“Well then, let’s leave it here for today.”
Seeing the look on the City Lord of Gillis City’s face, Ileya understood… discussing such things in front of the City Lord, who directly answered to the Kingdom, was indeed inappropriate.
If not for her status, Arthur would probably have been stripped and thrown into the dungeon by now.
“Of course. If Lady has any use for me, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
The City Lord was quite a shrewd man. He immediately stood up, bowed… and took his leave.
Silence…
As the main doors closed, Ileya turned her gaze to Arthur.
“Have you remembered everything?”
She didn’t immediately ask him why he called the so-called “Hero King” a coward.
Instead, she asked this.
“Yeah. After leaving the Circus, I managed to recall a few things.”
For the first time in half a month, Arthur spoke at such length.
His pale blue eyes fell on Ileya.
“But there are some things… I can’t tell you just yet.”
His attitude made Ileya raise an eyebrow.
“Are you tired of living?” She tilted her head, looking at Arthur.
But… Arthur didn’t seem like his usual impetuous self now. Instead, he appeared calmer, even colder.
Even though… right now, a dagger was already protruding from his own shadow, its edge pressed against his neck.
“There are some things I can’t reveal… not unless she permits it.” He shook his head calmly.
“Besides… with her power… she can’t kill me yet.”
Whoosh!!
In the next instant, Arthur’s always half-lidded eyes snapped fully open!
A surge of indescribable aura erupted from him!!
Ancient. Weathered. Overwhelming!
“Eh?!”
Amisa suddenly felt her whole body go rigid!
Then… her form began to crumble inch by inch… as if scorched by flames, half melted… and in the next second, she scattered into fragments…
Disappearing into thin air.
Gulp…
A moment later, from a shadowed corner farther away from Arthur, Amisa tumbled out, dropping to one knee, gasping for breath…
She looked at Arthur still sitting in the distance, her eyes filled with shock!
Although… she had already guessed Lady’s new old servant was unusual, but…
How could it be… to this degree, just from a burst of aura alone…
Who in the world… is this guy?
And seeing Ileya’s faintly furrowed brow, Arthur actually showed no intention to further intimidate, only slowly drawing back his aura.
His pale blue eyes, half-hidden under messy white hair, looked at Ileya.
“Sorry, Ileya… I think you’ll accept this explanation better: Since you don’t have the strength to overwhelm me, you don’t have the right to order me around.”
Here, Arthur changed the subject.
“Although I can’t tell you certain things you wish to know, what you’re seeking… is closely tied to me. In fact, the only reason I was able to recover memories of my ‘self after’ is all thanks to you.”
“So, I’ll help you. Until you find what you want, I’ll stand by your side unconditionally.”
Heh…
Ileya only gave a soft chuckle.
He really does know me well.
If he kept things hidden, she’d absolutely force the issue—but if he showed overwhelming strength…
Ileya didn’t mind changing the master-servant relationship into a partnership.
“Then… can you tell me who you really are?”
She rose slowly and stepped forward.
Arthur also stood up at the same time… and his face broke into a gentle smile.
“Arthur Seriston—a… humble bard of little importance.”
Seriston? Not Seredon?
Yet, it sounded… quite similar in pronunciation.
Ileya had always thought of this Arthur as some elder from her mother’s family, but to think… he wasn’t from the Seredon Family at all?
Then why…
“Ileya Bateos.”
The Lady’s movements didn’t pause at all as she pondered this. She reintroduced herself… and, as a courtesy to a partner, extended her hand.
Whew…
And in the instant their hands clasped… scattered fragments of memory flashed through Ileya’s mind!
As expected!
That’s right, this was exactly what Ileya intended when she stood and offered her hand.
The previous dazed or wild Arthur… only gave her a vague sense of familiarity.
But now… this Arthur, who seemed to have recovered most of his memories, could indeed reveal pieces of his original fate—just like those destined things—right in front of her.
And nearly all those fates were linked to the previous “Ileya.”
A boy with wild, dashing golden hair gradually appeared before her eyes.
He had a dried, yellow stalk between his lips, and lay sprawled on an old donkey cart loaded with straw.
[Master~ You think if we go break off the engagement in person, we won’t get beaten up and thrown out?]
Suddenly, the boy turned his head, looking beside him—from Ileya’s own, first-person view.
Clearly, this was Arthur… Arthur from another timeline, whose fate was already set.
At this point, Arthur also seemed to have regained some memories—though clearly, not as many as now.
When Ileya stood in his place, saw through his eyes at this ‘disciple,’ she could feel it.
On this timeline, Arthur… was a lot livelier than the present, mostly-recovered Arthur she knew.
Almost like a watered-down version of the Arthur she’d just been dealing with.
[This was your own decision, and now you come whining to me?] Arthur grumbled, shooting a glare at the youth beside him.
[Uh… ahaha~ Without my master’s support… how could I dare go break off an engagement alone~]
The two chatted half-heartedly about breaking off the engagement.
At this moment, Ileya’s eyes narrowed a little.
Break off the engagement… that was a word Ileya was all too familiar with.
Her own destined fate was to have her engagement broken by a Transmigrator one year from now—and then, because of a certain event, to die miserably… or wish for death instead.
So that means… if not for her intervention, Arthur would’ve been the master of this wild, carefree golden-haired boy.
And this boy… was the Fiancé her father had chosen for her?
Veil once said, her Fiancé was that fated ‘Reincarnated One.’
Ileya nodded slightly.
She and Holly were both anomalies, variables outside fate. She had been punished and sent to this world; Holly had most likely come here voluntarily for revenge…
But this guy—he would have come to this world no matter what, the world’s Destined One.
To put it simply: the Male Lead.
“Male Lead…” Ileya slowly released Arthur’s hand.
A dark, inscrutable light flashed in her crimson eyes.
And that gaze was clearly caught by Arthur.
Ileya’s eyes… why did they seem so much like hers back then?
He stood there, coldly, not moving until Ileya left the reception room—only then did he suddenly return to himself.
Heh… hehehe…
What am I even thinking? Wasn’t she always…
Arthur subconsciously shook his head, glanced down at his own hands, and reached up to feel his beard.
Indeed…
It’s been so, so long…