[IFITAOAMV] Chapter 56

“You like flowers, don’t you?” Edwin asked out of the blue, trying to distract me from my misery.  

Of course, I liked flowers. Their fragrance was lovely, and just looking at them was healing.  

When I nodded, Edwin furrowed his brow as if he were pondering something.  

“Is something troubling you?”  

“I received an invitation to the Rubyrn Garden Exhibition.”  

“...!”  

The Rubyrn Exhibition, held in the Imperial Capital? Wasn’t that the key event where the characters in the original story would start getting intertwined?  

However, since I had claimed to have lost my memory, I couldn’t act like I knew what it was.  

“What’s that?”  

“It’s a place where you can see lots of flowers. It’s like a festival held in the capital. I’ve never been, so I’m not sure.”  

The garden exhibition was a festival hosted by the Royal Horticultural Society. It was a showcase where garden designers presented their works. Visitors could see various gardens and discover new breeds of flowers and fruit trees.  

“Do you want to go?”  

I gazed at Edwin quietly. Did he want me to say yes, or was he hoping I would refuse?  

No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t read his intention.  

‘If I go to the garden exhibition, I’ll probably meet the original male and female leads, won’t I?’  

The thought of encountering the Crown Prince was terrifying. What if he recognised me as Jueri? Now that I had awakened my gem magic, he might sense something unusual about me. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go.  

‘But I have to go to find Sephiro’s Sword.’  

The memory of the fear I felt on the night of the Blood Moon resurfaced as I recalled Sephiro’s Sword.  

How terrified I had been, thinking the Crown Prince had brought it.  

‘Being afraid of the Crown Prince doesn’t mean I can miss the chance to get Sephiro’s Sword.’  

Edwin’s final moments, as described in the original story, resembled the scene from the night of the Blood Moon when he was dying. Unable to use his powers or approach the Crown Prince because of Sephiro’s Sword, Edwin had gone berserk, drawing on all his remaining strength, his flesh tearing and blood streaming out.  

‘I never want to see that again.’  

All Edwin wanted, like me, was to survive. The realisation weighed heavily on my heart. I had assumed that, unlike me, someone as powerful as Edwin wouldn’t need to struggle for his life.  

‘I was wrong.’  

The fear Edwin had shown on the night of the Blood Moon was still fresh in my mind. Knowing the burden of the curse he carried, I now understood that his erratic actions in the original story were desperate attempts to survive.  

‘If I want Edwin and myself to live, I must go to the exhibition.’  

To steady my trembling heart, I clenched my fists tightly.  

“Don’t want to go? Then say so. Your fists are all tense,” Edwin chuckled softly as he gently unfolded my clenched hands.  

“I do want to go, but it’s the capital…”  

I pretended to hesitate, not wanting to seem too eager about visiting the capital.  

“It’s a bit much for my delicate little rabbit, huh?” Edwin smiled softly, tapping my head lightly with his large hand.  

“Don’t think about anything else. Just decide whether you want to see it or not.”  

In the original story, Edwin had never visited the capital, even at the Emperor’s request. Part of it was to defend his territory from Raven and the monsters, but mostly because he hated the royal family.  

Yet, there had been one time when he went to the capital—when he kidnapped Lilian.  

And now he was telling me to only think of myself? The man who did everything according to his own will?  

“Is it hard to decide?” Edwin pressed gently.  

‘Let’s focus on going to the exhibition for now.’  

I made a show of pondering, my face tense with thought, and Edwin, amused, used his hand to smooth out my expression.  

“My bride has so many talents. I’ve never found anyone else so entertaining to watch.”  

The idea that just my face could keep Edwin from getting bored was oddly reassuring for my safety, but I still couldn’t understand what fascinated him. It seemed I still had a long way to go before I could fully grasp the world of someone as eccentric as him.  

“So, what’s your conclusion?”  

“I… I want to go. With you, Edwin.”  

“With me?”  

As I nodded, his crescent-shaped eyes curved even more, his smile deepening.  

“I never planned to send you alone anyway, but hearing you say you want to go with me makes me happy.”  

“Then, you’ll go with me?”  

Edwin nodded as if the question was absurd.  

“Are you sure it’s okay? You might run into the royal family.”  

“I hate the idea. I’m already sick of them, especially Raven.”  

His face quickly turned cold, and I tensed up, but Edwin’s expression soon softened again, and he flashed me a sweet smile.  

“But my bride wants to go, so I have to, right?”  

He said it as if that was the most important thing in the world, and for some reason, my heart fluttered. I awkwardly touched my chest, trying to calm the odd feeling.  

“...Thank you.”  

Surprised by my words, Edwin’s eyes widened, then softened again with a gentle smile. His radiant grin was so captivating that I could not look away momentarily.  

“Just a thank you? I dislike people who try to get something for nothing.”  

His next words shattered the beautiful moment completely.