Different Dreams

Having abruptly run into Sylvia while gathering information about the Eyes of Dawn, I quickly returned to the lodgings with her.

After boiling some warm water and making tea, she, who had been sitting on the bare floor without saying a word, carefully accepted the teacup and began to silently drink the tea, saying, ‘Thank you.’

I didn’t press her, but deliberately sat on the bed at a distance, looking out the window and waiting for time to pass.

After some time had passed, Sylvia spoke first.

,I’m sorry, Layard-gongja. I heard the sound of you going out at dawn and unintentionally…’

,No, there’s no need to apologize. It’s my fault for making noise, assuming you were asleep.’

Of course, I had assumed she was fast asleep, so I didn’t expect her to follow me at all. This was my mistake.

The barrier I had set up around the room would only detect intrusions from the outside, not be kind enough to tell me when someone was leaving from the inside, so it’s natural I didn’t notice.

I don’t intend to nitpick about that.

However, what bothers me is how much of the conversation she overheard while following me.

,How much did you hear?’

,…….’

Instead of beating around the bush, I asked directly, and she glanced at me, bit her lip, and lowered her head.

That means she heard everything.

This might be a bad situation.

Of course, being hostile to Sylvia doesn’t really matter. That’s what I planned in the first place.

However, the conversation I had with the informant at the end, that is, the fact that I was going to join the Eyes of Dawn, is not good for her to hear now.

In any case, the Eyes of Dawn are among the worst traitors in the history of the Empire.

How many people would leave a madman alone who says he’s going to join such a place?

To put it bluntly, if she used that conversation as an excuse to report me, it wouldn’t be strange if I were immediately summoned and imprisoned.

So, at least the last conversation shouldn’t have reached her ears, but it was my fault.

,…Layard-gongja, are you interested in the Eyes of Dawn?’

,If so, are you going to report me to the Imperial Army?’

To her question, I deliberately maintained a stiff and cold tone as I asked back.

In a way, it’s such an obvious action that any imperial citizen should take, but for some reason, she shook her head and looked at me.

,No, I won’t.’

I was rather dumbfounded by the different colored eyes that held some sadness but showed a firm will.

I would have understood if she was worried about being harmed by me and was just trying to appease me in front of me.

But she looked at me with eyes that showed no hesitation, as if she couldn’t even find a reason to do so.

,Why? You’re not going to let a rebel of the Empire go, are you?’

,That’s what I mean.’

,Are you really out of your mind?’

,Maybe I am.’

Her actions of smiling bitterly and tilting her teacup again made it difficult to read her inner thoughts.

What on earth is she thinking, not handing me over to the Imperial Army?

,I overheard the old man talking earlier.’

,What do you mean?’

,He said that someone like him, who is dying alone in the back alleys, wouldn’t have any patriotism now. When I thought about it, I realized that I’m not much different from him.’

Saying that, Sylvia pointed to the seat opposite her and gestured to me.

As I am now, I was reluctant to face Sylvia, but she had the upper hand, so I had no choice but to go to the opposite side of her and sit down on the bare floor.

Then, her lips, which had stopped talking for a while, opened again.

,I might be a witch after all. I feel more attached to Layard-gongja, who gave me back my freedom, than to the people of this country, who have never done anything for me and have only been quick to throw stones at me.’

,…Just because of that reason?’

She was saying that she would keep her mouth shut because I was the benefactor who freed her from the cage, to put it simply.

It’s not an incomprehensible reason, but I frowned at the thought that it was a rather shallow reason to let go of a traitor, the most guilty of all criminals, right in front of her eyes.

At this, Sylvia chuckled and nodded, as if she herself found it absurd.

,I know, right? I’m a really narrow-minded and cunning woman, aren’t I?’

,I don’t think so. I was like that too.’

It’s true that it’s a reason that anyone would point fingers at.

But even so, I couldn’t belittle her choice.

The reason I tried to be with them before the regression, and the reason I wanted to gain power and authority, not caring about the family or this country, was similar to hers.

I was just a little surprised because if it was Sylvia Eleanor that I knew, if it was her, who was so inherently kind, wouldn’t she love such a world?

So she also had some animosity towards the world that had rejected her.

She belittled it as a witch, but in my opinion, it was just the thing of an ordinary citizen living in this era.

,However, Layard-gongja, please know that.’

,Yes, tell me.’

When her voice, which seemed to be taking a step back, became serious, I reflexively straightened my back and focused on the story.

,Even if I keep this fact to myself, it’s just keeping it to myself. I have no intention of blindly supporting Layard-gongja’s choice. If you try to go down a twisted path, I’ll fix it somehow.’

,Are you going to make me repent?’

,Hehe, I don’t know how. But unfortunately, I’m not a saint, so it might be hard to force repentance.’

She was saying it with a graceful smile as usual, but for me, it was a very ambiguous answer.

It’s okay to show a willingness to be with the rebels, but she’ll stop me from going down a twisted path. What kind of paradoxical statement is this?

So does that mean that being mixed up with rebels might be the right direction?

I just want to know what a twisted path means in her standards.

,…I’ll keep that in mind.’

Anyway, as I am now, I had no choice but to respect her choice, so I nodded and pretended to savor the scent of the tea that I didn’t even know well.

I should be glad that it didn’t go as badly as I had feared.

,Okay. Shall we go to sleep now? I might sleep in tomorrow.’

,I guess so.’

I obediently followed her words and went to the bed, collapsing and lying down.

My head is throbbing so much that I want to close my eyes and rest as is, rather than going out again to gather information.

,Drake family, was it?’

Even in the moment when my consciousness was sinking, I was recalling a scene from the conversation I had with the old man earlier.

Drake family.

I should try to contact them if I get a chance someday.

＊＊＊

Hearing the faint breathing coming from the next bed, Sylvia stopped pretending to sleep and quietly got up.

When she approached the bed on the opposite side, she saw Kyle’s face, who was fast asleep as if she could carry him on her back without him knowing.

Only then did Sylvia’s true expression, which she had been trying to hide until just now, appear, and worry clouded her face.

,Kyle, are you going to take that rough path in this world too?’

She unconsciously reached out to touch Kyle’s face, which looked somewhat emaciated, but she flinched and took her hand away.

When she first returned to the past through regression, she had hoped that maybe Kyle had come with her.

But as expected, God didn’t give two miracles, and unfortunately, she didn’t feel much of that from Kyle.

He seemed a little more gentle and less cold than the Kyle she first met, but she guessed that it was because not enough time had passed for him to become completely twisted.

Moreover, today, she happened to follow him and heard the conversation between Kyle and the informant, and she was able to be sure.

Whether it was because of his resentment towards the family or because of his personal aspirations, Kyle in this world line also had a plan to approach the Eyes of Dawn and join their ranks.

Just thinking about the conversation with the person who drove the two of them to their deaths right before the regression, it was obvious that Kyle belonged there.

,I have to stop that.’

Her right eye glowed as she stroked the sleeping Kyle from top to bottom, as if caressing the most precious thing in the world.

Sylvia’s promise to him was only that she would not report this news to the Imperial Army, not that she would not stop him.

From the moment Sylvia returned to the past, she had made one resolution.

It wasn’t a personal desire to escape from the family and regain freedom, or to escape from the curse of this magic eye and live as an ordinary woman.

It was just a determination to prevent the man she loved from facing a miserable end again.

To this end, she decided to make Kyle fall in love with her.

To make Sylvia Eleanor a more precious and valuable jewel in his eyes than any wealth, power, or authority in the world.

So that he could never abandon her again, could never leave her, and would want to hold her hand first, even before the hands of villains.

,Drake family, was it.’

But she wasn’t a pushover woman who would only make such dreamy plans.

Recalling the conversation Kyle had with the informant earlier, she carefully stored the name of the family in one corner of her mind.

Whether Kyle approaches them first, or they approach Kyle first, she will have to cut off the bud somehow.

To this end, she was determined to stick to Kyle after returning to the castle, no matter what excuse she had to make.