Don't Concern Yourself With That Book
Chapter Side Story 2-4

Side Story 2-4

Translator: yun

The sound of Ray closing the door rang across the quiet room. Silence momentarily befell the room. I could hear the rustling of fabric. 

But as I stared at the ceiling, silver threads of hair soon entered my vision. And eyes as green as forests then appeared. Staring at me, Amor suddenly said.

“You really do look alike.”

Of course I would. Because I was me. Of course I would look like myself, who else would I look like?

As I babbled, Amor smirked. He must have found this very funny. 

‘But can Amor really undo this transformation?’

If even Amor could not help me, would I have no choice but to continue living as a baby? My concerns began piling to form a mountain. It felt like I was doing homework I had been putting off my entire break to do. 

Actually, the thought that I would never turn back did occasionally strike me during the time Dane brought me to a cleric but I suppressed it. I believed that if I were to push it to the back of mind temporarily, it would stop bothering me forever.

This was a problem. Neither had I decided on my partner for the Founding Festival yet nor had I even finished practising for my dance. 

What about the diary I had placed somewhere in my room? And Ahasia, if I fail to prevent her future misfortune, I would die. 

This could not continue. 

There was a mountain of things I had to do and clear. But I was now merely a helpless baby. What if Amor were to tell me that he had no way to help me too? 

As though he had read my thoughts, I felt something cool touch my forehead.

“What are you thinking about?”

His cold yet relaxed voice cut into my ears. 

“… I can’t read your expressions.”

His grey-green eyes that reminded me of a forest of fir trees looked frozen in place by a cold winter frost. 

“Do you think I wouldn’t be able to return you to your original body?”

His eyes that were as glazed as glass beads turned to me. 

“I remember hearing a story like this before in fairytales that my mother used to read me.”

My eyes followed the movements of his slowly-shifting gaze. 

“Once upon a time, a princess of some kingdom was cursed, turning into a hideous monster before falling into an eternal slumber. The king tried everything he could to wake the princess but ultimately failed. Eventually, the princess was abandoned by the king and was left alone in a forest. A hundred years passed before a prince on a white horse discovered her, woke her up and released her from the curse.”

The fairytales spread here did not sound too unfamiliar to the ones I knew. 

But so what? 

My life had no white horses or princes coming to save me. After living a life filled with thorny bushes, dragons and fire, death had always lurked underfoot as though I had been dancing atop a snake’s tongue. Holding onto such a hope was merely a luxury in a life like mine.

“Ashley.”

Amor smiled coldly. 

“I think I can read your expression now. The way your eyes curl is the same.”

As though he found this situation amusing, he tilted head.

“How do you think the passing prince woke the princess up and released her from the curse?”

… The answer would be a kiss. Obviously.

Hold on, a kiss?

In the midst of chewing on my lips, I blinked my widened eyes.

“That’s right. Isn’t the method they found in that fairytale similar to a templar’s blessing?”

Amor patted my head. Goosebumps dotted my skin upon his uncharacteristically soft touches. He felt a little less temperamental today. Or was it just me?”

“I won’t tell you to close your eyes.”

His face slowly approached mine. Despite his words, I closed my eyes tightly nonetheless.

I could feel something tingling in my chest. It felt like I was about to drain my bathtub after pulling out the drain plug. A pleasant feeling settled all over my body. Just then, I felt something soft touch my lips. 

My eyes opened with a start. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes were the grey-green eyes staring back at me.

“W-what the!”

“Ah. You’ve returned.”

“Now that you mention it…?”

Instead of exclaiming any further, I checked my hand. They were bigger. The hands that could barely wrap around an adult’s finger were no longer there.

“W-what happened?”

Amor smiled gently. He returned to his cold and feisty expression–the one reminiscent of the northern winds–as though he hadn’t been kind earlier. 

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to turn back?”

“How can that be? You were just temporarily unable to release your divinity. Like a bowl without any openings.”

“I have divinity? Impossible.”

“You don’t have any now. I don’t know why but the divinity in your body had surged for a while which caused you to turn into a baby. I was only able to break through by using a templar’s blessing.”

Amor’s explanation made little sense but I understood one thing. 

My body had returned to normal. Without any repercussions. 

As soon as I realised it, I felt a warm breath on my face. 

“Ah…”

He was barely a step away from me. 

“Thank… you. Brother.”

“Is that all you’re going to say to say hello?”

“Huh?”

I took a step away from him unknowingly. 

“This is not my first time cleaning up after you.”

Grabbing my arms, Amor leaned into me languidly. As the distance between us narrowed again, my shoulders trembled. 

“What’s wrong? Are you scared I might eat you?”

“N-no. That’s not it… Can templars only give blessings using their lips?”

“Haven’t I told you before? It’s different from god to god.”

That was why I had been wondering why would a blessing from the God of the Earth and Plants give blessings through lips? 

Staring at me, Amor spoke cheekily. 

“What’s wrong? Do you want another blessing?”

Instinctively, I covered Amor’s face. To be exact, I covered his lips. Soon, Amor grabbed my hand before smirking. 

“Shouldn’t this hand of hers be punished for stopping a blessing?”

“Ah! Uhm, I suddenly remembered something I have to do.”

I shook off his hand before quickly backing away.

“I still… I still have to decide on a partner for the Founding Festival.”

At the same time, I turned my back around and ran away. Without realising that Amor was trying to catch me with a strange expression on his face. 

As I sprinted out of his palace like a surprised gazelle, my surroundings changed drastically. Strangely enough, the more I ran, the more my head spun. 

‘I have to get back. I have to hurry and get back.’

However, I did not notice the burning purple flame bursting out of my chest the entire time. 

For some reason, it felt as though everything that happened today was being erased one by one by an eraser. As though I had drank water running through the River of Oblivion, my memories vanished one by one. 

When I finally reached my own palace after travelling through the Forbidden Forest, I looked with a pant. 

“… Why was I running?”

For some reason, this day felt abnormally distant.

***

“Your Highness. Have you heard of a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’?”

At the sound of a woman’s soft voice, the man tilted his head and turned around. His black hair cascaded down. 

The man, Castor, slowly placed his chin on his hand as though he had no intentions of fixing his cascading hair. 

“You look pleased for some reason.”

The woman who occupied one of the harem’s chambers gave a small smile. Her beautiful silverish-purple hair that was one of its kind in the Empire made it easy to recognise Auresia. 

“Something interesting happened.”

Still, the purple eyes that shone like amethyst remained cold and dry. 

“So interesting, I don’t feel a shred of displeasure spending time with you while I wait for His Majesty’s return.”

“You’re as honest as ever.”

Castor replied without much thought. In fact, both of them had been waiting for the emperor who had been away for a while. They would normally never be found together. 

“So, what’s that interesting thing that happened?”

Auresia slowly opened her eyes to stare at Castor before saying.

“Do you know what a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is?”

She repeated the strange question she had asked earlier. 

“Is that not a line from a poem?”

“Yes. It is.”

As she replied, Auresia lifted the teacup in front of her. However, after acting as though she was about to explain why she asked, she stopped talking. 

Losing interest in their conversation as Auresia remained silent, Castor turned to stare out the window. It was only after 10 minutes passed did Auresia continue. 

“But it also has another meaning. For the kin of death.”

Instead of facing the unresponsive Castor, Auresia stared out the window into the distance.

“The kin of death receives a curse that prevents them from ever ageing.”

Castor did not reply yet Auresia continued. 

“When they are children, they are cursed to never grow.”

“…..”

“I still occasionally experience its side effects. Whenever I undergo a relapse.”

“A relapse?”

“Yes. It happens when the body regresses in age to protect the power that it is struggling to keep within.”

Castor slowly shifted his gaze.

“This means that they will become a baby regardless of their will.”

“That’s interesting.”

This had been mentioned repeatedly before but Castor remained unimpressed. 

“There’s more.”

This was this man’s attitude to everything. With the exception of the very few things he actually was interested in.

“This phenomenon can last for about one to three days and subsequently, the energy built up within will dissipate before disappearing from their memories. They wouldn’t be able to remember themselves turning into a baby.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Kin that witnessed the transformation will also have their memories erased. The energy that had accumulated within the cursed body would be released to erase the memories of those who had come across the cursed one–whether they had just grazed past each other or made eye contact.”

“Really?”

“The River of Oblivion had originally belonged to death so such a phenomenon is not all that strange.”

Not caring whether or not anyone could see her, Auresia smiled. 

“We refer to this as a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’.’

A phenomenon that occurred like a dream on the hottest summer night that would pass in a flash. 

‘And this is something that sometimes occurs to the Heir to Death.’

As the Head Templar of Death, Auresia was able to sense any changes that had occurred to the body of her daughter, the princess, who was also a Templar of Death.

‘This also means that she’s about to awaken. And it also means that she’s ready to receive the truth.’

She naturally ended the conversation without mentioning that this was a phenomenon that only occurred to the most powerful of Heirs to Death. 

In any case, this man was only half-listening to her in the first place. Because he seemed to have been distracted from a while ago. 

‘What’s that?’

Auresia narrowed her eyes. She had thought that he had just been passing his time listlessly as usual but she was mistaken.

‘That’s parchment only the Imperial Family is allowed to use.’

Before she noticed it, Castor had been holding a small piece of parchment–which, upon first glance,  clearly looked high-quality–stamped with a golden seal. 

“What are you reading?”

Auresia soon noticed. As soon as she asked about the parchment, his expression lit up like a withered flower. 

Would it be more accurate to say like he looked like a corpse that came back alive? His face brightened almost artificially but there was no denying that his glowing expression made him look ecstatic albeit ironically. 

“Something that lifts me to heaven.”

Castor shook the paper. His voice was as thick as a reverie. 

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It is a very tempting invitation.”

Slowly, Auresia’s eyes were pulled towards the parchment as she read its contents.

To Castor Dje Kaltanias. 

“I see.”

Auresia could not take her eyes off the parchment.

[To my most beloved brother.]

Knowing who sent the letter, Auresia lowered her eyes. On the surface, she looked very calm.

“Ah. You’ve been looking forward to this.”

Auresia forced herself to say to the man who had gone insane for god knows how long. 

[Please be my partner for the Founding Festival.]

As a gust of wind shook the parchment, the letter was soon lowered. 

Flutter. Leaves fell like the letter but the moment they fell on Castor’s palm, they burned into crisp. 

“Ashley.”

If she discovered the truth, what face would she make?

And if she were to see this…

“… I might go insane from joy.”

Accompanied by Castor’s laughter.