The second door opened and the inside was a place familiar to Lilian.
“The western palace…”
But it wasn’t as empty as Lilian had seen before. Nor was it destroyed like the last time she saw it.
No, rather…
“Find it! It couldn’t have gone far!”
“In any case, it’s a child! Don’t be afraid!”
“It should be around here, so search all over the place! If you don’t find it, you’re dead!”
Many people were looking for someone, turning the whole palace upside down.
What was even more surprising was that so many people were just passing by without finding Lilian standing in the middle.
It was as if they could not see Lilian.
-Right. They can’t see you right now. I did that.
Zagreb replied as if he had read her mind.
‘Why?’
-You’d better find your husband before they do and convince him before he gets caught.
Are these people looking for Damian?
Lilian looked around her once more. The people rummaging through the curtains, under the chairs, and in the drawers were very ferocious and desperate.
They didn’t look like people looking for the prince who had been hiding while playing.
It’s like trying to get a fugitive offender before they get reprimanded.
At that moment, a guess flashed through Lilian’s mind.
If people were looking for Damian, a young child in the western palace…
‘Maybe this is the darkest memory of His Highness.’
-Yes, that’s right.
Zagreb responded as if he was paying attention.
-…actually, in chronological order, this is the last one, but I think you won’t leave me alone if I don’t send you here.
‘You really…’
-No, this time I feel unfair too, I didn’t put him here, what else could I do?
Zagreb protested.
-And now you don’t have to say anything to me, you’d better find your husband first. If the situation goes further, he might not be persuaded.
‘What if he’s not convinced?’
-The moment the memory ends, this situation will repeat once again.
Damian, whom Lilian knew, would just sneer at his remarried eldest sister-in-law and second brother.
This was the darkest memory of such a person, a scar engraved with fear. It won’t be a normal thing.
She didn’t know exactly what Damian’s childhood was like, but she already guessed that it must have been quite difficult.
Lily’s task became clear.
‘I have to save this memory before it repeats once again.’
Fortunately, she had one place in mind.
She left the people searching in the wrong place, and headed upstairs, past the people who couldn’t see her.
‘I have to go to that attic back then.’
What was curious was that there were people on each floor.
They muttered a few words in fright.
“His Majesty ordered…”
“His Majesty was furious with the death of the Empress…”
The Emperor and Empress they’re talking about would be young Damian’s parents.
Instead of speculating about this or that, Lilian simply memorized the information she had obtained. Now is the time to move more quickly than to think.
‘It’s here!’
She’s sure that if she go up these stairs and turn the corner, she’d find a set of stairs leading up to the attic, where she met the young Damian before.
Lilian turned the corner confidently. But…
‘Huh?’
Suddenly the ground trembled and the road in front of her twisted.
A dark and twisted path like walking into a monster’s mouth.
Lilian was taken aback when she saw a bizarre passageway that could never exist in the real world.
‘Why…’
-It’s not what I did.
Zagreb explained that the space in the memory is thoroughly moved by the will of the owner, Damian.
The older you get, the higher the accuracy of memory and the exclusion of unrealistic elements.
But Damian here was a child. A helpless, frightened child who was going through traumatic situations over and over again.
-Perhaps your husband’s soul has sensed with his superhuman senses that someone is approaching in search of him.
Lilian stared at the purple corridor, which swayed like a monster trying to devour its prey.
-It’s the last line of defense built by a child. If you refuse to approach…
“…no.”
Lilian unconsciously replied.
-What?
“No. This…he’s not rejecting me.”
Lilian would have believed Zagreb if she hadn’t known Damian.
Damian is never a sweet and nice person. He was cynical and at times frighteningly wicked.
A man who behaves like he doesn’t care about the world. He has a lot of good people around him, but he doesn’t open his heart properly.
There was something that such a person gave only to Lilian.
Damian Rupenwein loves Lilian Islar.
Zagreb said that each split soul is essentially Damian. Lilian confirmed that fact in Damian’s first memory.
She had the confidence that Damian gave her.
Damian can never reject Lilian.
“…this is His Highness testing me.”
In order to convince the cowardly Lily, Damian knocked on the iron wall of distrust with his whole body. He didn’t stop even as he ate his own heart and became bloodied.
He wasn’t trying to force Lily. He was just trying to convince her that he loved her.
Now Damian is asking Lily.
Will you come and see me even if you pass by here?
Will you never leave me?
Zagreb was in a hurry to stop her.
-You better quit! Your husband’s soul is strong even if it’s split. If you’re trapped in the maze of memories, you too may lose yourself and become a split soul…
Lilian stepped foot into the corridor without hesitation.
***
It wasn’t a maze like Lilian said.
The passage twisted and tested Lilian. It shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and hallucinations that were difficult to distinguish were heard all at once.
It was cold, then it was hot, and there was a long beeping like a warning sound.
However, Lilian did not give up and walked forward.
And finally, the end appeared.
It was a black door that was too dark and scary to touch. It seemed tightly closed, and the sharp shape was enough to tell that it wasn’t allowing anyone else to touch it.
But, ironically, at that moment, Lilian remembered Zagreb’s words.
Advice that she didn’t need to do anything else, just reach out to Damian.
Lilian quietly placed her hand on the door. She didn’t knock or try to force it open.
After her hand, she put her forehead on it, then kissed it.
“Your Highness.”
She just quietly made her presence known.
I’m here.
Your dear Lily is here.
Her wait wasn’t long. Damian, as always, did not keep Lilian waiting.
Light began to shine through the cracks in the door. The door that Lily was leaning on and the dark passageway that looked scary as if it were devouring people, began to disappear as if erased with an eraser.
It looked like there was a hole in the intense sunlight.
Lilian reflexively closed her eyes at the intense light. After a while, she opened her eyes again and was standing in front of the stairs leading up to the attic.
As Lily guessed, that road was the fastest way to Damian.
When Lilian hurried up the stairs, she found young Damian.
Hair tangled and grown, thin and skinny. Lips swollen as if salt were on them…
“Your Highness Damian…”
The purple eyes that always sparkled blankly looked at Lilian.
That poor appearance was etched into Lilian’s mind like knife marks.
This was the delicate skin that Damian had to build a solid barrier to protect. It was the most vulnerable innermost part.
“…you…who are you?”
It was a raspy voice that was hard to understand unless you listened closely.
She wanted to run right away and hug him. But when Lilian tried to step forward, Damian instinctively took a vigilant pose. Lilian saw that and changed her mind.
If she can’t control her emotions, Damian might be shocked or run away.
Lilian carefully knelt in front of Damian.
She did her best to melt Damian’s vigilance, and with a grateful heart for her own good-natured appearance, she smiled docilely.
“The introduction is late, Your Highness. My name is Lily Islar, Lilian of Turin.”
“..”
“I have come to see Your Highness. Am I too late?”
If they had been able to meet before he became like this, not in this memory, how nice would it be if she could save him as a child in reality?
She knew very well that she couldn’t. So, at least in this memory, she wanted to save Damian.
“If you permit me, I would like to serve Your Highness. Would you like to come with me?”
Please, please hold my hand.
Even if it’s just an illusion, even if it’s just a piece of you that’s not you, allow me to save it.
Lilian calmly waited in front of Damian, who did not answer. Finally, the hesitant Damian pursed his lips.
The moment when the dazed purple eyes were about to come back to life.
“You’re here, Your Highness.”
“…!”
Damian flinched back.
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