168 – Not a Blessing, but a Curse
At some point while gathering the Dawning Butterflies.
“… !”
From noble mtl dot com
Yusia approached her party and shouted with a look on her face. The girl killed even her breath and flapped her wings with her hand, then she pointed with her index finger.
The party immediately made every effort. Thanks to Yoo Shia, who did her best to explain, there was no one who couldn’t understand what she meant by discovering the Dawn Butterfly.
And Yoo Shia’s expression was true.
A single flower that has barely bloomed on Lacheln Hill, which is near extinction. On it sat an unusual butterfly.
“….”
Trixie’s eyes widened.
A body that no one can touch. Its wings embraced the dawn light. The powder scattered around sparkles like fragments of jewels.
I quietly spread out my index finger.
The first item of the code of conduct that we have been aware of in advance. ‘When you find the Dawn Butterfly, feel free to try catching it.’
Yusia and Trixie exchanged glances. It seemed that the two of them had their own pre-determined plans.
It was Yusia who raised mana first.
Koo Goo Goo─
Her talent shows exceptional strength in the 「Synthesis」 Series.
The soil around the flower rises without warning. It formed a certain shape and aimed at the dawn butterfly.
“Miss Trixie!”
“I know.”
Trixie starts to link up right away. It was time to check the sum that I had guessed until the final inspection.
The soil forms a cube and traps the butterfly. And in the blink of an eye, it is completely surrounded by a blue film of flame.
I muttered quietly as I watched.
“Is it blocking magic?”
“Right. I’m thinking of stopping the teleportation itself.”
Because it can use teleportation, the Dawn Butterfly is clearly a creature with mana. And Trixie seemed to be planning to block it.
The level of completion was quite good.
“You managed to learn that.”
“Because you taught me.”
Trixie muttered without much thought, then started to make excuses as if she had suddenly realized something.
“Just in case, I just told you the facts. It has no other meaning….”
“All right. Do you think you caught the dawning butterfly?”
“Hmmm.”
Trixie cleared her throat a couple of times before regaining her normal form. She weakly nods her head.
“Yes. It’s because the blocking magic was properly applied.”
However, it didn’t take long for Trixie’s determination to crack.
“What?”
It was Yoo Shia who first expressed the question. As if something was wrong with her, she rotated her clay cube around.
“Strange? The energy inside is gone.”
“Can a butterfly hide its presence?”
However, I soon found out the reason. Because the dawning butterfly was flying outside the cube as if to show off.
“No way, it must be the other one.”
“But….”
Yushia broke the soil of her cube. No dawn butterflies were trapped inside.
“You mean my blocking wasn’t tight enough?”
Trixie muttered incredulously.
I didn’t need an answer. The sight of the dawning butterfly gliding back to her freedom was an answer in itself.
The principle of blocking magic is simple.
After tightly weaving the caster’s mana like a net, it prevents other people’s mana from circulating. That was the only story.
“You shouldn’t just think of it as a butterfly.”
However, the dawn butterfly’s teleportation is of a higher order. You should think of it as more than a well-trained wizard.
“But Sir Plan, the butterfly won’t leave.”
“… What are you taking medicine for?”
The Dawning Butterfly did not leave our vicinity. She danced in the air with flapping wings of unknown meaning.
Yusia and Trixie used their magic a few more times as if to vent their anger, but the butterfly was never caught.
“….”
It was around that time that I narrowed my eyebrows.
At first, I didn’t think anything of it even after seeing the dawn butterfly. But soon my heart started beating. It was because his gliding trajectory was conspicuous.
“That….”
What butterflies draw in the air are ancient runes.
However, a rune word that should not exist in this world.
In other words, it was a character that only existed in the previous world.
◈
At the same time, the inner chamber of the Imperial Palace.
Aurora’s escort knight class was very busy. Even though the sujeopje was going on, essentially, his mission was to escort the second princess.
Black hair that looks like it was cut out and woven into the night sky. Mysterious pupil in the shape of an old moon. Aurora, the second princess of the Empire, asked.
“Is the hand-joining system going well?”
“So far, no group has been successful in collecting.”
“There will be no more.”
Today’s aurora was somehow different from usual.
He wasn’t resting on her chin, and he didn’t even blink her eyes languidly as if asleep. Just staring at the butterfly’s dawn-colored wings on her palm.
Of course, the Dawning Butterfly was only a model.
“Ban, this is just a model.”
Suddenly Aurora murmured. Her pupils were shining with a rather serious light, unlike usual.
“Yes. Princess.”
“Everyone has at least one thing that cannot be conceded. Half, you probably have it too.”
Ban raised her head to examine Aurora’s face. The princess had an uncharacteristically serious look in her eyes, so Ban also answered seriously in her own way.
“It is the life of the princess.”
The escort knight continued with a determined expression.
“As befits the title of an escort knight, I will protect the safety of the princess no matter what.”
“Whew.”
Aurora only frowned at her remarks that would have moved others. She replied in a blunt manner.
“Again, you only give boring answers. What if I choose to die myself?”
“I will block that too. If we cannot stop it, we will commit suicide.”
“All right. It’s okay. That’s enough of a boring story.”
Aurora held her butterfly model up to her eye level. The princess’s face looking at it was unusual.
“… I love being a Dawning.”
New Year, Choseung, Sanghyeon, Fulleum, Hahyeon, New Year.
There is only one thing that Aurora, who embraces everything, does not have.
She’s the one she doesn’t want to give up because she’s never had one.
Something I really want to embrace someday.
It was dawn.
◈
Being able to see the future is a curse.
Aurora realized it when she was only 8 years old.
She was delighted with one heart, saying that everyone was excited for the appearance of a girl with noble beauty. Her girl occasionally stared at people, and the imperial family used to call it a blessing whenever they received that gaze.
However, that happiness did not last long.
“Dying?”
A short and puzzled question was the fuse.
Aurora asked a bureaucrat that question, and the bureaucrat naturally tilted her head.
“Yes?”
“I think you are going to die.”
Anyone would feel that way when suddenly hearing evil words about death, but it wasn’t just the content of the remarks that made the official feel chills.
Eyes of Aurora.
Mysterious pupils that repeat tilting and filling seemed to pierce the bureaucrat’s soul. The official asked, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.
“What do you mean….”
“Please don’t die.”
Then someone burst into laughter around.
“Isn’t it because we’re older? In the eyes of the young princess, it must be no different from a living corpse.”
“Ahahahaha, did you mean that?”
The official was relieved then and smiled at Aurora.
“It’s okay, Princess. Even though it looks so old, it still has a long way to go. I will be by her side and assist the princess for a long time.”
The official died only three days later.
“Dying?”
“Please don’t die.”
“Should I go?”
The same thing happened several times after that.
The seemingly arbitrary scenes sometimes showed the girl too cruel, so they just confessed it, but the faces of the bureaucrats who faced Aurora began to darken day by day.
People struggle to know the future, but there are also people whose medicine is not knowing.
Eventually, rumors began to spread that if she got involved with Aurora, she would die.
“….”
It didn’t take much time for the bright girl to become a disabled person.
The young Aurora did not leave her boudoir.
No, she couldn’t escape.
“No, I’m scared…. Why why why….”
Tears like dew ran down her cheeks countless times.
Everyone he met had only a future in which he resents and shuns himself. Aurora was in full view of her scenes, and soon she began to avoid facing other people.
It was because meeting others was accompanied by her hatred.
Of course, her relatives stood by her side of Aurora.
One day, her uncle and aunt visited the boudoir. They said, patting her Aurora on the shoulder.
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“Aurora. Strange rumors are bothering you these days.”
“Strange Rumors….”
Aurora murmured weakly. Fortunately, her uncle and aunt seemed to think it was a ‘rumor’.
“Thank you.”
She had no choice but to answer that way. The girl had already been hated so much, and she didn’t want to be hated from now on.
Her uncle and aunt’s expression seemed sincere now, when everyone turned pale as soon as they faced Aurora.
My aunt stole a tear.
“I am in tears…. What sins did you commit at a young age? It’s because you’re so good It’s because I’m too good…. Everyone is envious and jealous….”
But then.
“By the way, Aurora.”
The aunt who wiped away the tears asked Aurora.
“Can you really see the future?”
Silence fell for a moment. Aurora caught a fleeting glimpse of something subtle on her aunt’s face.
“… If so, can you see our future?”
Aurora quietly swallowed her dry saliva.
What is the visible scene?
The uncle was beheading himself and his parents.
I dislike that they sort of redeemed Aurora. I just want a character I can hate and then they went and gave her a sad backstory. Like let me hate someone.