Never Saved You - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Translator: Yonnee

—

Yennit recalled how she met Ophelia in the forest.

It was the memory of how the head of the sirens, the one she had been waiting for, and that woman appeared.

“One of the individuals who arrived then wasn’t human, and the other person was Lord Alejandro, so it’s not all that clear but I definitely felt it. I felt a different kind of mana inside her—she definitely doesn’t feel like an ordinary human being.”

“So Yeni, what you mean is that Ophelia—”

“Might be trying to use Lord Alejandro.”

With this resolute statement, Yennit continued to speak.

“Even if Lord Alejandro didn’t touch any black magic, that woman’s suspicious. It’s strange that she has such strange magical power when it doesn’t seem like she has exceptional abilities.”

“That’s definitely weird.”

“Right! And Lord Alejandro hasn’t recovered his memories properly. Of course, the head of the sirens is here and I think nothing major’s going to happen, but I don’t know what kind of words would be enough to deceive him. I heard he has a weak spot.”

“I don’t know about this, Yeni…”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m not a little baby chick like you who hasn’t even graduated from the senior class.”

Yennit shrugged and smiled as she gave a sidelong glance at him, but she soon returned to being serious again.

There was another reason why she was so wary of Ophelia.

‘I can’t even tell Cornelli about it.’

This was before they came to Alei’s room.

When Yennit and Cornelli went to the dining hall first so that Cornelli could calm down, Yennit sat down the sniffling Cornelli in a chair and hurriedly returned to get Alei. She felt anxious.

And what Cornelli saw there was her idol, Alei, leaning his cheek against Ophelia’s hand.

It was obvious which side had the upper hand between them. Ophelia was calm, and yet while Alei was leaning against her hand with his eyes closed, his face was a little red.

‘How could she treat Lord Alejandro like a mere servant at her beck and call.’

Of course, it was true that Alei was Ophelia’s subordinate right now, but she should know Alei’s true identity. Wasn’t it that treating him like that was no different than looking down on him?

If they were at the magic tower, this was something unimaginable.

Yennit was certain—Ophelia’s trying to have him wrapped around her finger for her own self-interests.

“I just don’t like her. She doesn’t have the abilities for it, but does it make sense that she has these suspicious attributes? I don’t know how she got Lord Alejandro all twisted up, but I—”

Right then.

The door suddenly swung open. And it wasn’t the person who left the room just a while ago, but the very person who she was casting suspicion upon just now.

Yennit’s heart plummeted to the ground.

‘Did she hear?’

If that person was right outside the door, then her voice would have been heard. Yennit was exceedingly nervous, but Ophelia only smiled at Yennit and Cornelli. With a light nod of the head as a greeting, Ophelia then bit down.

“Look, Alei. Doesn’t it seem like they’re both doing well? You don’t have to worry.”

“What do you mean, worry. I didn’t say I was.”

Alei, who somehow had a slight blush to his cheeks, followed inside. Cornelli suddenly spoke up again.

“Were you worried about us, Lord Alejandro?”

“I never was.”

“You came all the way here from a faraway place, so he kept saying that he was worried about leaving you both behind.”

Ophelia’s idle chatter made Alei’s features even more crumbled. On the other hand, Cornelli’s expression blossomed.

“For you to care about me, it’s such an honor!”

“N-No…”

“I’ll graduate from my senior class soon, then after that I wish to become your assistant, Lord Alejandro! While I’m by your side, I’ll definitely pay you back for your grace!”

“What the? Nelly, that position is mine.”

As Yennit retorted angrily, Cornelli made a counterattack. They would have continued bickering, but they were cut short.

This was because the chief attendant, who Ophelia called over, caught the attention of the two mages as he asked about the matter of being guided through the place where demonic beasts dwelled.

“Pardon me, Your Highness. Are these the people you mentioned?”

“Yes. They both came a long way here, so please assign them to good rooms.”

“They are Your Highnesses guests, so I shall do as you say.”

After answering politely, the chief attendant soon left to prepare the rooms. Yennit didn’t miss the opening and asked.

“Ophelia, shouldn’t we be considered as Lord Alejandro’s guests?”

“I have the higher status in this place, that’s why. And Alei doesn’t want to reveal his identity.”

As Ophelia explained casually, Alei belatedly spoke as well.

“Just like Ophelia said, I’m not the magic tower’s lord until I return to the tower. I hope you both remain silent about this matter.”

“If that’s what Lord Alejandro wants, then I’ll do as you say!”

“I’ll keep quiet.”

Yennit replied a beat late.

And the conversation ended there—the chief attendant returned and butted in once more.

Until she left the room, Yennit’s disrespectful gaze remained on Ophelia.

* * *

Of course, Ophelia was also aware that Yennit looked at her with a gaze full of skepticism.

And truthfully, she knew that because she managed to hear what Yennit had said.

The wind blew out and the door was slightly ajar.

Ophelia overheard the conversation, and because she was one step ahead of Alei, she quickly took action.

She asked Alei to go on an errand so that he wouldn’t hear this.

—Alei, can you go and ask the chief attendant to come here? We have to assign the two their rooms. You can go there faster, so please do this.

Not hearing anything from inside the room, Alei followed Ophelia’s request without a shadow of a doubt.

It was a relief. Ophelia’s plan would have gone quite awry had Alei heard what Yennit was saying, a blade would have been pointed at Yennit.

‘Yennit is the most crucial key to regaining Alei’s memories.’

That’s why it was very important to keep the relationship between them amicable.

Even so, Ophelia was also a little dismayed to hear about someone else being so wary against her.

‘It couldn’t be helped. It’s also something I already expected.’

She was confident that this was something she could solve without any difficulty.

And so, Ophelia had to solve something else before having to deal with Yennit.

It was the problem of settling the identities of the two mages she secretly called in.

Ophelia had quite the influence over Ladeen Castle right now, but she was still only a guest here.

For other guests to be able to stay in the castle, she needed the fief lord’s permission.

She needed Hydar Ladeen’s approval right away.

“That’s why I’m here, Hydar Ladeen. Though, you look better now than I previously thought.”

Ophelia thought he was going to die.

Amid the medical ward’s silence, Ophelia’s quiet voice rang out.

She sat in the chair next to the bed and nonchalantly looked down at Hydar, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages.

Even as this loser she was looking down at was so thoroughly injured, there was no mercy in her gaze towards him.

However, just as she usually spoke, her voice was contemplative and relaxed. It was to the extent that anyone hearing this would first think that her voice was sweet.

“Your castle will soon be the center of quite a lot of attention, but before that, I want to solve the issue with the suspicious employees, that’s why I’m talking to you. If their identities are unclear, it’s going to be difficult.”

This pretense was none other than a deceit. And this deceit was felt by this bedridden patient who was entirely on the receiving end of this gaze.

Right now, she was asking Hydar to cooperate regarding the identification of the people whose backgrounds were unclear. Without having to twist it around, the objective was clear.

With a body covered all over with bandages and with a face that could not be recognized, Hydar fixed his gaze that was full of hostility towards Ophelia.

From the day this damn imperial princess had made him look like this, there was not a single moment that his loathing towards Ophelia had died down.

When it happened that day, Hydar couldn’t remember exactly what had happened.

All he remembered was that, when he tried to put Ophelia in her place, something had hit him from behind.

And the result of that was his entire body becoming an injured mess.

Even though he couldn’t remember the details, the general situation was clear to him. Considering that he heard another man’s voice.

‘This woman must have made a servant do it, that’s why there was a surprise attack on me.’

It was unfathomable that a princess, who held no power at all at the capital, treated a countryside fief lord like him so carelessly. This fact made Hydar’s wrath surge up every time.

And on top of that, Ophelia tried visiting him now while in the middle of such circumstances.

Hydar was sure. He could guess that Ophelia had come here to ask for forgiveness because she was afraid of her mistakes being brought to light.

—Can you speak coherently?

Ophelia, who sought him out, had this as her first question.