Chapter 125: The Flower Field Encounter

Chapter 125 continues after Athanasia's 14th or 15th birthday party ended. I'm not sure which one it was.

The next day I stared out the window in solitude from my balcony and snapped my fingers.

Whoosh, the wind blew softly.

As I slowly opened my eyes, the blooming white flowers filled my vision. Seeing them flutter across my vision made me feel a little sad, but I didn't turn away.

In fact, I couldn't figure out the reason why I was still staring outside. Was it a momentary impulse? Or was it because of my decision that was accompanied by my countless hesitations?

Perhaps neither, or maybe both.

Either way, it didn't matter, I walked around the flower garden, thinking that it would be nice if I could meet the person that was at the ball again, but if I couldn't that would be fine.

Yeah, this is making me tired... I'm confused, what should I do? As soon as I turned around, a person appeared right in front of me, like an illusion.

Ahhh.

His silver hair was slightly ruffled by the low breeze. His golden eyes, gleaming as if they had stored pure sunlight in them, opened widely and captured me from far away.

"... Am I dreaming right now?"

Ijekiel acted as if he couldn't believe that he was seeing me here. I had seen him already when I went to see Jennette at the Duke Alpheus' mansion, but it's been a while since Daddy's last birthday party.

Anyway, he must have heard the news that I had disappeared and returned to the Imperial Palace, so it was understandable that Ijekiel was glaring at me suspiciously.

"Or is this an illusion created in my mind?"

The location that Ijekiel and I were currently standing in was the white flower field. The same field that he had taken me to hide away from the gaze of others when I had suddenly appeared because of Lucas's prank.

I caught a glimpse of the white bandage that was exposed under the folded sleeves of his shirt. For some reason, the bandage was tightly wrapped around his left arm, starting from his elbow and ending at his wrist.

TL/c: nooo why's he hurt?!!!

I uncertainly guessed that it was the reason why Ijekiel and Jennette were unable to attend my birthday party yesterday.

"Is this another dream, or an illusion?"

Looking at the person I was facing, I opened my mouth slowly.

"Or maybe..."

Ijekiel's expression softened as a quiet voice escaped my lips.

"Is this real?"

Is this how Pygmalion's face looked like when he saw Galatea, who was born with the blessing of the goddess.

In response, Ijekiel walked up to me when he heard the affirmation that I was neither dreaming nor fantasizing about things.

"I..."

My fingertips flinched at the voice that was a few steps away.

"I want to reach you."

He seemed somewhat in pain, so I couldn't talk back.

"But I don't know how I should do that."

"......"

"Even now, I'm afraid that you might disappear in a blink of an eye..."

That helpless voice was swept away by the wind and disappeared while ringing in my head.

"I never thought I could have such a sorrowful heart."

Ijekiel Alpheus. What was that emotional and passionate whispered voice I heard a moment ago? Was it his confession?

"Please just think of this as your midday dream."

After gazing at him for a moment, I slowly opened my mouth. As my voice came out, his expression changed as if he had been pierced by a dagger.

"As you just said, this is reality."

"From now on it won't be."

"Are you going to disappear in front of me again?"

Ijekiel shut his mouth tightly, as if he is suppressing something unbearable, then uttered in a subdued voice.

"Today, why did you come here to see me?"

I didn't answer.

"Or is your reason the same as mine?"

The snowflake-like petals gently landed on his body. I looked at him quietly.

"If so, please allow me to reach out to you this time."

Ijekiel strode towards me after whispering in a low voice. White petals and light green blades of grass brushed across his legs, giving off a faint scent. A shadow slowly approached me.

Instead of using the bandaged left arm, his right hand reached out to me. Ijekiel's fingers touched me.

Aaaah!

"Am I interrupting?"

Suddenly, a cold voice pierced my eardrums. I was no longer standing in the flower garden, but back in my room.

"It was unpleasant. I couldn't stand it anymore."

Lucas spoke sharply at me. His cold ruby red eyes were gazing down on me as I laid down on the sofa.

"Even if I did interrupt, I shouldn't have let him go so easily."

I laid my hair out on the sofa for a bit before getting up and answering.

"No, you did great."

Frankly, I could say that Lucas, who brought me here at the right time, did a good job since I honestly wasn't sure how I would have gotten out of there.

"Did I?"

"Yeah."

For some reason, Lucas kept his mouth shut. He looked displeased but had nothing more to say.

I sat up on the sofa and brushed my messy hair with my hands. Then I looked at the clock and noticed that it was already 3 p.m.

"Did Lilian go yet?"

"Yeah, she did."

"She knew I wasn't here."

I thought Lucas would go back to the Black Tower. I continued to think about things for a moment and, without realizing it, muttered out loud.

"You know, I think living is such a complicated thing, right?"

Fortunately, Lucas didn't say anything to me.

I shook off the scenery from the flower garden and the warmth that I felt from Ijekiel at that time.

"I'm going to see Daddy. You can stay here a little longer or do whatever you want."

Lucas didn't reply again. It's not like I expected anything from him anyway, so I left the room without hesitation.

It was the early summer of my 15th year when I felt like I had already seen the last page, even though the first page had just begun.

TL/c: I think she is talking about her life? Like how it ended and started so quickly each year.

୨・┈・・┈・୨✿୧・┈・・┈・୧

Time flew by steadily and I turned 17 years old this year.

"Speaking of this formula, isn't this a bit inefficient?"

I placed a thick magic book in the middle of the table which grabbed the others' attention.

"Not only this one, but all of the formulas in the 'Growth' section seem to have a lot of empty rhetoric."

"But it has been a systematic method since the reign of His Majesty Emperor Aeternitas. Many wizards have tried to improve it, but they still could not find a more effective formula than this."

One of the magicians immediately refuted my words.

Here we go again. 'His Majesty Aeternitas is the best! Our ancestors are the best! Aeternitas' formula is the strongest in the universe!' The way he talks like he's shouting, and all the while the other wizards were nodding their heads along with him.

Ugh, every time I have read about the magic book organized by Emperor Aeternitas, I could easily recognize the book by its leather cover. Perhaps if the emperor were still alive, everyone here would have been a devoted fan of his.

"That's right. This is already a perfect formula!"

"Look at this. The elegance and splendor that follows each carefully drawn line!"

"In terms of this formula, the spiral pattern in the middle helps in binding the magic, and the petal-shaped lines here make the circulation of magic spread smoothly... Blah... Blah...."

No, what is the pattern used for drawing magic again?

I gazed at the magicians with a cold expression on my face. I've gotten used to it over the past two years, but when I look at it like this, I feel awake.

I was once again being drowned by the words of the magician who was explaining the beauty of this formula, but I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Yes, so I think we could still make the formula more efficient."

"Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Please look at this."

I was like, 'Can I make this perfect formula even better?' The facial expressions on the magicians seemed to be saying 'No!' so, I showed them the paper where I had written down my proposed changes to the formula.

As expected, the magicians gave off a surprised and suspicious look as they examined the new formula. After a while, one of the magicians opened his eyes widely and gasped 'Whoa!'.

"Th - this?"

"Princess, no way?!"

Their eyes and voices started quivering mercilessly. When I saw the reactions, I felt like something unpleasant faded away.

Huh, yeah, are you surprised? The formula that has been praised as perfect and unchanged for two hundred years has just been made even more perfect. There's no way the magicians won't be excited about this.

The magicians looked at me with faces that pleaded for an explanation for my brand-new formula.

"This helps to bind your mana, but as long as you have concentration, you don't have to use as many patterns. I've already tested it, and I was able to satisfy the condition for triggering the formula by drawing only one circle in the middle. Instead, I changed this part a bit, and then applied a formula to prevent unnecessary leakage of mana."

"Using this line over here won't cause friction with the existing effect... and this pattern over here doesn't work if you inject mana in a short period of time... ..."

The wizards watched my hand as I explained, almost as if they were possessed.

"This shortens the time it takes to trigger the spell while increasing the potency by threefold."

Aaaand explanation done! Phew, this's a piece of work. Still, I'm different from Lucas and I won't explain things as he does. I'm not going to explain it like that! As expected, the magicians looked impressed by my wonderful explanation and immediately shouted with great excitement.

"Oh oh oh! This is a huge event that will mark a milestone in history! For two hundred years, no one has touched Emperor Aeternitas' formula!"

"Oh my god, such a marvelous explanation! What a perfectly beautiful formula! This is absolutely fantastic!"

"Using this formula the mana expression would be 1.5 seconds faster than the original one!"

"WoW! Let's try it out right now!"

I crossed my arms and glanced proudly at the magicians who were handling the crumpled paper as if it were a golden treasure.

Ah, every time I look at that formula, I feel like my nose was stuffed up with a cold, but it seems like my ten years of congestion had died down. I walked out of the Black Tower contentedly as I saw other magicians paying all their attention to the use of the new formula without being aware of their surroundings.

Who Made Me a Princess - Recruitment (no test):

๑‧˚‧₊♡₊꒷︶︶︶꒷꒦‧₊ଓ︶︶꒷꒦⊹๑‧˚₊꒷︶︶︶✦︶꒷꒦⊹୭

[4 Positions Open]

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