Never Saved You - Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Translator: Yonnee
—
Alei and Ophelia already had a set meeting time that day, but because something had gone wrong, he went back to the castle early. That’s how he came to hear their conversation.
As a result, Ophelia was right when she said that the siren’s head knew Alei.
Sante called him Dian, and Alei heard the sense of familiarity in the siren’s tone.
Listening to Sante call him Dian made him feel strange, and so Alei ruminated over his name.
Sante.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth because he wasn’t used to the name.
However, even as Alei was about to go in the room, he didn’t stop himself from going in only because he wasn’t given permission.
“I’m going to the magic tower.”
Ophelia’s inner thoughts resounded throughout the room. It was her goal that he couldn’t dare to ask.
“Does Dian know about this?”
“No.”
“Why haven’t you told him?”
“I can’t trust him yet.”
He stopped breathing without him even realizing it. But what was the big deal about not being trusted by someone?
However, those words suddenly made him angry.
It felt like his tongue was being pressed down.
The surface of the water, which had been tranquil all this time, was blue.
Even when he found out that the reason Ophelia was so willing to help him regain his memories was only because she would use him to go to the tower—
Even when he realized that she withheld his real name, his old status, and only said that she would help him find his memories—
However, Alei had no time to immerse himself in that pool of sentimentality.
Sante’s voice brought him back to his senses.
“If I were Dian, I’d be quite upset to hear that.”
It was a louder, clearer voice than before.
Sante knew that Alei was right there.
After a moment of silence, there was a sound of a chair scraping across the floor.
He could tell whose chair it was without even having to think about it.
Alei fled immediately.
He didn’t know where to go, so he just teleported to the first place that came to mind.
And when he opened his eyes, he saw an expanse of blue water.
It was the beach he visited with Ophelia last night.
It felt like he ran away from her, only to turn up in front of her yet again.
‘Just what am I doing.’
Right now, it’s still like that.
It’s been hours. Alei watched the blue water turn black as if ink had been spilled into it.
Alei ran away from Ophelia and avoided her the whole time.
This morning, he had woken up confused by his own dreams from last night, but he was supposed to be in a better condition now.
‘What the hell am I doing.’
Alei sat on the reef and watched the waves crash loudly into the coastline.
He avoided Ophelia well into the evening. He came out here to the beach, yet his frustration still would not ease even as it was already time for lights-off at the castle.
Truthfully, after listening to that conversation, he regained his rationality.
All his questions had been resolved.
Why Ophelia wanted to help him regain his memories.
What she was trying to get from him from doing so.
‘If she knew me as Alejandro while I was the magic tower’s lord, she should have mentioned that much more information.’
But perhaps that was why.
He wasn’t angry about it even after learning that Ophelia was using his name for her own benefit.
She was just making the best choice for herself.
That wasn’t enough reason for him to be angry.
However, that was the question he couldn’t answer—the fact that she didn’t trust him, was it something that was enough to turn his stomach upside down?
No, the question was wrong. Alei reassessed the point again.
Why did the fact that Ophelia didn’t trust him make his anger flare up so much?
She might have known him for a long time, but Alei had just met her.
That short period had no meaning to him.
He hadn’t even become a loyal dog to her, so how was it possible that it made him so enraged?
‘That’s not it.’
Alei reassessed the facts once more.
From the moment he couldn’t go into that room and until now that he was on the beach, he thought that it wasn’t because he found her pitiful.
If he had learned about her not trusting him in a different situation, perhaps he wouldn’t be this affected.
For example, if Ophelia told him directly ‘I don’t trust you,’ then it could stop there. He would only feel the distance between them.
But as he turned over these thoughts, Alei realized that he was trying to bury it under many rationalizations.
The reason why he was so upset.
That’s because Ophelia wasn’t talking to Alei.
He didn’t like that Ophelia trusted Sante, but not him.
The fact that she would look at Sante with a gaze of trust but would never show this to Alei.
That she would look at Sante favorably yet would frown easily when it came to him…
“Alei, here you are.”
He turned around. Ophelia was walking towards him.
How cruel it was for the daytime to be so blinding.
There was no way for him to excuse why there was a scowl on his lips.
He received a wound after scaling the sand wall. And he was upset because he couldn’t even blame the wall.
* * *
How did Ophelia find him?
That’s the first thought he had.
He might have been caught avoiding her. Or he might have been caught even before this when he was outside the guest room.
Not knowing what to say, Alei just stared as Ophelia approached him.
Without even realizing what expression he had on as he looked at her.
“Am I that late?”
And because of that expression, Ophelia had to ask this way.
She didn’t particularly need to come to the coast again ever since her meeting with the young sirens last night.
Since she already met Sante, she was going to act as though nothing had happened, but Ophelia had a reason why she came here.
At first, she tried to look for Alei to talk to him.
She had to talk to Sante first, and after they had parted, she had been looking for Alei since late afternoon, but she couldn’t find him.
If this wasn’t a different place, she could have asked someone where he went, but because the servants here didn’t know both Ophelia or Alei well, she couldn’t ask them.
She couldn’t even reach out to the people passing by her.
He was never a difficult person to find before.
She had a lingering thought that Alei might have really been outside the door while she was talking to Sante, but just contemplating alone with her own doubts would prove nothing.
Eventually, Ophelia gave up looking for him and just waited until it was their promised meeting time, then she decided to go out to the coast towards Alei.
‘I don’t think I was that late.’
On her way here, she had to come secretly because something came up. Ophelia had a leach-like watchdog on her tail, and her name was Lilith.
—I can’t believe the Fief Lord had an accident in Your Highness’ room. What happened? Why did he come to your room?
—It was my office, not my room. And he came only to talk about the welcoming ceremony.
—Is that the only reason?
Lily had looked at Ophelia with a scandalized look, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
—His Majesty is trusting Your Highness not to tarnish the dignity of the Imperial Family. If I see something amiss, I’ll make a report right away.
Even if Lilith didn’t say it directly, it was clear that she was accusing Ophelia of seducing a man.
Ophelia was an illegitimate child of the Imperial Family, so she was familiar with that gaze.
Obviously, Ophelia still received the right education according to the standards of the Imperial Family.
But whenever something happened, true enough, only Ophelia would receive insinuations of immorality.
This wasn’t enough to hurt Ophelia.
—If that happens, be sure to tell my father, His Majesty. He was the first one to tarnish and degrade the dignity of the Imperial Family.
If it’s immoral for the Princess to seduce a man to her bedroom, what of the Emperor who took a maid to his chambers?
After that conversation, time passed by.
Apart from that, if one was in a hurry, they wouldn’t be able to properly do the things they usually do.
Ophelia faltered several times on the paths she usually passed well, and the more she did, the more time she wasted.
So when she came here, that’s why she said that as she saw Alei looking at her with such an expression.
At first, she thought he was just frowning.
But as she looked closer, it looked like he was really upset.
A puppy being soaked in the rain would look like it’s in a better condition than him.
“Am I that late?”
Ophelia hurried towards Alei’s side.
“I’m sorry. I was doing something else and forgot to mind the time. I have something to tell you.”
But Alei’s expression continued to bother her.
It was like she had already missed their meeting.
This time, it was Ophelia who frowned.
“You didn’t forget, did you? We agreed yesterday to see each other here to meet the sirens.”
“…No, I remember.”
Of course, this was a blatant lie.
Frowning at Alei’s answer, Ophelia tilted her head to the side.
“I see. But you look upset. I thought I was too late.”
“It’s alright. I didn’t wait that long.”
“Really? I’m an hour late though.”
“I had a lot to think about… I didn’t even notice that much time had passed.”
When Alei answered clearly, Ophelia’s eyes turned noticeably cold.
“Then do you know? Our meeting time was just thirty minutes ago.”
And at this, Alei’s frown deepened in defeat.
In the first place, he wasn’t that good at lying.
From the very moment he said that he remembered, Ophelia had turned the conversation over to catch him in his lie.
“Even if you forgot the meeting, I won’t ask why you’re here at the coast with me now.”
“Ophelia, I—”
Alei tried to protest, but Ophelia brushed his attempt aside and continued.
“I met Sante earlier today. I was going to meet him at night, but because there was an urgent situation, I had to break a siren feather.”
But then Sante came out of the blue and even found her interesting.
As he listened to her explanation, Alei opened his lips, feeling as though they had been tightly glued.
“Is it related to the chandelier falling?”
“Ah, it wasn’t a chandelier. Actually, Sante caused it.”
“…What?”
