I thought my breath had stopped.
No, it’s possible that Acella’s heart actually paused for a few seconds.
My hazy mind was fortunate enough to secure a whoosh, the spell, before letting go of the clairvoyance.
“What did Lars just say?”
It was a familiar moment. There was no doubt about my field of vision. The evidence was in my quickened breaths and racing heartbeat.
I opened my mouth.
“Lars, what?”
“He said he wants to resign from his position as attending physician.”
“Why?”
Acella’s pleading voice was not a question seeking an answer.
I hoped that statement was a mistake or a misunderstanding.
That was a wishful statement.
However, that expectation crumbled in less than a second due to Lars’s firm reply.
“I must leave the Imperial Palace.”
Crash!
Acella’s consciousness bounced back.
Before I knew it, I was standing once more before the tree of time.
“Haah, haah.”
Perhaps I thought I did not want to see that scene, my mind stopped observing in self-defense.
Gasping for breath while clutching my excited heart.
…Why Lars?
He wants to quit as my attending physician and leave the palace.
And that in the near future.
“…No way. It can’t be true.”
No, no.
I repeated that several times as if reassuring myself.
What I saw with clairvoyance was just one of the countless branched timelines in front of me.
It was not a definitive future.
“Still… Something felt different.”
Until now, I hadn’t been able to specify the timeline accurately, and most scenes appeared randomly.
This was clearly different.
The Acella I had seen until now would typically be seated on the emperor’s throne.
But in the scene I just witnessed, Lars was dressed as a doctor.
Not a mere pubescent heir of a marquis or a healer from the hero party.
It was undoubtedly the future linked to the present.
“Ha, that can’t be right.”
Acella had never imagined a life without Lars.
I would meet him tonight, and upon waking tomorrow, I would meet him again.
He was woven into my life like a natural routine.
For him to announce suddenly and without warning that he would leave me.
Especially nowadays… I felt an odd connection with Lars, almost without realizing.
I was brimming with confidence that I could have him all to myself soon.
Why suddenly?
The causality didn’t make sense.
“…Ugh.”
I tried once more to observe that moment, but mana sparked like lightning.
It was proof that I did not want to see that scene.
Because it was painful.
My instincts rejected it; I could only force the circuit to activate to break the spell.
“I have to find the cause.”
At the very least, I needed to find out why Lars was trying to leave the palace.
It certainly couldn’t be because of me. It couldn’t be Lars of all people. He wouldn’t simply turn his back on my side and leave the palace overnight.
I was sure he must have gotten wrapped up in some troublesome matter again, Acella concluded.
Just below the time I had just seen.
I noticed a large fork in the road.
A place where the thick strand of time branched.
I was convinced there would be clues there, so I plunged my finger into the split without hesitation.
Boom!
My field of vision shifted once again.
‘…Where is this?’
Acella couldn’t be certain of where she was standing.
Sparks flew everywhere, buildings crumbled into debris, and the floor was soaked with the blood of what might have been a demon.
A city that resembled a battlefield.
In the center of it all stood Lars.
‘How did it come to this…?’
Acella hid herself, watching Lars from a distance.
For some reason, I was unable to take a step toward him, just watching.
In front of Lars stood another woman, not Acella.
She stood confidently, clad in armor.
A hero.
It was Lishe.
“Teacher Gothberg.”
Having apparently just been in the midst of a fierce battle, Lishe, with soot smeared across her face, spoke to Lars.
“Come with me.”
Lishe extended her hand toward Lars.
What thoughts crossed Acella’s mind upon seeing her confident smile, I wonder?
Without waiting for Lars’s answer, Acella turned and began to run.
‘Wait, hold on.’
I was dying to know what Lars said.
It’s important. You must listen, why are you running away?
But with that thought, refusing to respond, Acella had already covered her ears.
…A headache was starting.
Thump!
Acella felt as if a giant weight fell from the sky, and she collapsed onto the grass.
“Ugh, haah…”
Could it be the side effects of synchronization magic? Her limbs felt numb. She couldn’t get up for a while.
But the shaking shoulders were probably not because of pain.
“…Hero.”
Cold fury filled her golden eyes.
Acella understood the reason.
“You seduced him.”
No matter how ludicrously Lars was coaxed, it was evident the hero had recruited him as a healer in her party.
If it wasn’t visible, no conflict would arise.
Acella had been holding back her anger toward the hero until now.
In that instant, the claws of jealousy that had barely closed their eyes awoke, baring their fangs once more.
What a foolish woman to be so oblivious.
She couldn’t even imagine what Lars’s physical state must be like.
With activity in a hero party like that, he couldn’t possibly survive in his current precarious condition.
Lars as well. Whether it was a lifelong ambition or a dying wish of his master, whatever it was, the thought of following that woman for the greater good was ridiculous.
Such dangerous tasks should be given to subordinates.
Find the right person and place them in the proper position.
That is the role of a ruler.
Lars couldn’t distinguish that.
“So simple.”
Acella took a deep breath and stood up.
“It’s not a confirmed future. I just need to make sure Lars doesn’t go.”
Power surged through Acella’s hands.
“No matter what happens.”
I will stop him.
Lars will not be going anywhere.
Lars must remain my attending physician for life.
And…
…As my husband.
“Lucy, summon the attending physician.”
With that, Acella headed off to find Lars.
*
“Royal Princess, you called for me.”
Acella met Lars in the evening as the sun was setting.
Now that he was right in front of her, Acella felt her startled heart beginning to settle.
However, the white coat that was stained red by the sunset oddly resembled the scene she had just seen, stirring a quiet sense of dread.
Wanting to wipe away that red right before her eyes, Acella grabbed his wrist without greeting and dragged him into a nearby room, shutting the door with a bang.
“What is it?”
Lars was hardly flustered by Acella’s sudden demeanor.
It wasn’t the first time she had acted strangely; he thought it was just her being herself and even felt a little relaxed.
“Lars, can I ask you something?”
Thinking about whether he intended to quit as attending physician, Acella paused.
She was far too excited.
The mere fact that such a future could unfold was known only to her.
She feared that bringing it up might make it become a reality, and terror engulfed her.
“Yes, what question do you have?”
“Um… what were you doing?”
“I was briefly treating the hero’s injury.”
The word ‘hero’ made Acella’s eyes widen.
Mana filled with rage rippled through her irises.
“I told you not to do that.”
“I only looked at the battlefield injury briefly. Don’t worry, I won’t have any negative influence on the hero, as you said.”
“He’s a danger because he could hurt you!”
“Oh, as if a hero would harm me…”
Lars realized that Acella was not expressing light jealousy but deep anger.
“Is something wrong?”
“Huh? No…”
Acella bit her lip. As Lars took a step closer, she instinctively stepped back, searching for an escape.
Only then did Acella notice what surrounded her due to her narrowed view. They had entered a small storage room, and there was hardly any space to move.
Lars, now close to her, reached over without giving Acella a chance to prepare her heart, rubbing her back gently.
“…Huh.”
Acella couldn’t help but suppress a strange sound that escaped her lips and lowered her head.
Tap, her forehead touched his chest.
“Rubbing your back activates the central nervous system and has a calming effect.”
“…Haah.”
Being with Lars made her feel surprisingly at ease.
It was only natural.
He was the one who knew her body inside and out, even better than herself.
“I had a nightmare.”
Acella said, turning it around like that.
“A nightmare, huh? It’s rare for you to take a nap.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Acella gently took his arm.
Swish, their clothes brushed against each other.
“Lars, what would you do? If that nightmare was so vivid it felt real. If it seemed prophetic and you couldn’t remain idle. Could you dismiss it as just a dream and move on?”
Acella’s question, which might have sounded like a whimsical fantasy, seemed to resonate with Lars as he assumed a serious demeanor.
For some reason, feeling understood calmed Acella even more.
“Of course not. I’d do anything to avoid a similar situation.”
“Right?”
It’s not that I’m being unreasonable.
Having gained confidence, Acella wanted to confirm an important fact with Lars.
“Lars, this is a later topic.”
“Yes.”
“If you were to retire from the Inner Palace, what would you want to do?”
Lars chuckled lightly at Acella’s roundabout question.
“Haha, you must have had a pretty bad nightmare. With such an uncharacteristic inquiry, it seems like your mind might not be entirely intact.”
Lars shrugged and responded lightly.
“I don’t plan to quit being a doctor. I intend to return to the marquis family and open a personal clinic.”
“You had thoughts like that?”
“Yes. Quite a while ago.”
“Don’t you have any other dreams?”
“Not really.”
Seeing his expression that was almost innocent gave Acella a sense of relief.
At the very least, he had no thoughts of directly fighting in the hero’s party.
“Do you feel better after my answer?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah… I’m fine.”
Acella nodded.
However, there was one thing from their conversation she was still unaware of.
She didn’t know about the significant difference in perception between them.
When she mentioned the ‘later’ she was referring to, it meant a story at least a few decades into the future.
For Lars, it was a near future that could come to fruition next year or so if Lishe’s bad ending disappeared.
‘…Then it’s definitely that woman who’s the problem.’
Acella bit her fingernails.
Thinking of the hero who reached out to Lars made her blood boil again.
‘…Lars is not going to be given to anyone else.’
The instinctive sentence resonated directly with her spine.
“Royal Princess?”
Before she knew it, Acella had wrapped her arms tightly around Lars’s waist, drawing close as if wanting to absorb his scent without leaving a trace.
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