“There is probably no other man who looks that pretty. But that’s all I know. She showed up so suddenly, gave me a song, and then disappeared.”

The woman hurriedly walked away as though she expected that I would grab her hand and question her again. I clenched and unclenched my fists trying to make sense of the information I had received. The tune from the harp was clearly the national anthem. It was a song that did not belong in this world. It was possible that a mad writer might have composed the national anthem and the tune must have been played by the bards of the Kalhai Empire, but that sounded far-fetched.

Considering that no literature related to Korea had been published so far in this world, the possibility was close to non-existent.

Then how did the woman play the national anthem so accurately?

My breathing came out ragged. I felt goosebumps on my skin. It felt as though I was standing on cracked glass that would break anytime. One wrong step and I was done for. I felt chills all over my body. I tried to warm my trembling hands in vain.

Someone other than me..

I had never considered it before. Now, I was sure that there were other people beside me in the novel who weren’t from this world, either. And they might already know about my existence. Otherwise, the musician wouldn’t have been playing the national anthem. The other person had made her existence known to me through this. She was probably sending me the message that there were other possessors in this world beside me.

Since when did they know? I had very little information. My opponent was far more superior to me.

She knew of my existence, and she probably would have noticed the point at which I had possessed the body of Dalia. The reason she had made her existence known was probably because we were walking on different paths.

But why?

The main character was Julius. This was a novel. Whatever the woman had intended, this was bad news for me. I felt cold sweat run down my spine. I was trembling. It felt like I would be imprisoned for a hundred years once again without any escape. Why do I feel so scared? It’s supposed to make me feel good knowing that there was another possessor like me.

“Dalia?”

I raised my head at the sudden voice. Contrary to his indifferent expression, his eyes were warmly looking at me with concern. I had used magic to change my appearance but even then, he recognized me at a single glance. He came closer, looked at my pale face, and slowly covered my cheeks with his hands. I was frozen stiff, but I felt warmth spread from my cheeks to my whole body. Maybe I was just scared that the other possessor would ruin my happiness.

Why are you doing this now?

Perhaps she knew something about the ending of the novel that I didn’t. I was afraid that person would take Kaichen away from me. I slowly closed my eyes. I raised my hands and placed it above his hands on my cheek.

“Teacher.” A weary breath escaped my lips. My shoulders were stiff with fear and anxiety. And yet I can’t tell you about it. The only thing I can tell you is how much I love you. But beyond that.. I can’t.

“Where have you been all day?” I asked. Kaichen only looked at me with concern and didn’t answer.

“Today is our commemorative first day as official lovers but I didn’t even get to see you all day! Were you just teasing me yesterday and didn’t mean anything you said?” At my words, Kaichen stroked my cheek. His warm touch pierced through my bleak and depressed heart.

“Something came up.”

Feeling the warmth that embraced my cheeks, I grabbed his hand and clasped it into mine. I remembered that time when I had held his hands and he had run away. Even now, I felt him flinch and shiver, but he didn’t run away. I felt glad that he didn’t. It made all this feel a little bit more real.

“I also had something to do. I was just heading back to see if you were already there. Did you come looking for me?”

“Yes.”

“Did you miss me because you couldn’t see me all day?”

“Yes.”

I was rendered speechless at his honest answer. His hands became hot. The warmth lingered on my skin.

“If you answer that honestly, I will feel shy.”

“Good. You need to be a bit shy.”

“Ah.. but if I was shy, there would be no progress between us.”historical

I raised our clasped hands as evidence. He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “True,” he said reluctantly.

It was so funny to see him hesitantly accept it that I burst out into laughter. Kaichen was all mighty and proud and didn’t express his emotions beyond his research on magic. But, deep down, he was shy and innocent and couldn’t really hide his emotions from me. Kaichen would never know how happy that made me feel.

“Did you go and meet His Highness?”

“Yeah. For a bit. I think I should take a visit to the North.”