Chapter 81

10-day consecutive update project: Final day!

She was sleep-deprived.

Sophie had continued to think about things that wouldn’t change no matter how much she thought about them until morning, and as a result, she was sleep-deprived.

If a lively child asked, “What is sleep deprivation?” a parent could point to Sophie and say, “It’s like this,” and it would be perfectly fine. Sophie was that perfectly, magnificently sleep-deprived.

“Sophie, did you sleep well?”

At breakfast, when she was quietly asked by the person next to her, Sophie, without her brain having a chance to process, immediately put on a business smile and said, “I’m fine,” despite being quite sleep-deprived.

Well, in her life as Sophirelia, she had a despicable fiancé who would throw work at her, saying, “Do it by tomorrow,” so she had experienced staying up all night more than once or twice. There were times when she stood for half a day at a ceremony without even getting into bed, and times when she had to give a speech.

So, just not being able to sleep well didn’t mean she hadn’t slept at all, and she was genuinely fine.

Livio’s observational skills were incredible.

As proof, Eleanor, who shared the same room, hadn’t noticed, and neither had Ray, who came to help Eleanor get ready.

When Sophie saw a man helping, she was surprised by this new norm, but Eleanor was dressing herself. While touching only her hair, they had a rather awkward conversation: “You can do it yourself,” “You didn’t dry your hair and went to bed last night, didn’t you? You’re not reliable,” “That’s harsh.”

Using fragrant oil, he combed her hair carefully and tied it up neatly. It was a professional job.

When asked with an expressionless face if she wanted to help, Sophie politely declined.

She was very interested in the professional technique, but she felt it was too much to ask, so she declined. Sophie couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

“Are we going through the forest today?”

Erich, who was eating soup with such grace that it made her think it was a good idea to have him set as a noble, tilted his head.

Eleanor nodded, saying, “Yes.”

“The path is not well-maintained and easy to get lost, but it’s much faster than the main road.”

Sophie, who couldn’t forget last night’s conversation, wanted to say, “Let’s go slowly,” and considering the curse, she wanted to say, “Let’s leave as soon as possible,” but all she could do was chew the bread in her mouth. It was a sad state of affairs.

“Are you going through the forest?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind, and they turned to see the restaurant owner frowning.

The dandy owner, with his beard, poured coffee into Eleanor’s cup and said sternly, “You should reconsider.”

“You don’t know because you’re from elsewhere… but no one goes near that forest now.”

“Why is that?”

Livio blinked and looked up, and the owner, blushing slightly, began to speak. Livio’s beauty was ageless and genderless. He was a human weapon.

“Children… don’t come back.”

“What?”

Erich reacted.

His long bangs hid his expression, but a small, prickling pressure emanated from him.

Seeing a glimpse of the king, Eleanor patted his shoulder.

When Erich looked up, Eleanor smiled. The ominous aura around Erich dissipated, and Sophie felt like shouting. They were the perfect couple! It was so frustrating.

“Is it… that they were attacked by monsters or something?”

Eleanor, taking Erich’s place, asked, and the owner shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”

“That forest is full of herbs and mushrooms. Children have always gone into the forest to help with household chores, always carrying monster-repelling powder. Until now, no child had ever been attacked by a monster.”

But, the owner poured coffee into Sophie’s cup. The black liquid dripped down.

“Suddenly, they stopped coming back. At first, we thought they were lost or attacked by monsters, so we searched the forest with everyone in town. …But we found no remains, not even a body. They just disappeared. Vanished.”

“…Kidnapping, perhaps?”

It was a truly unpleasant story, but such incidents were not unheard of.

Sophie, who had been involved in the knights’ affairs, said without hiding her discomfort, and the owner nodded, saying, “We considered that too.”

“But the gendarmerie says it’s not the case.”

“Gendarmerie?”

Ah, the owner stroked his beard.

“There are no commonalities among the missing children, and no hideout has been found. They say it’s impossible, so it must be true.”

Is that so? But if it’s not getting lost or a monster attack, what other reason could there be for children to disappear? It’s unsettling, and that’s why everyone is afraid. Sophie wasn’t the only one feeling suspicious, as Eleanor asked, “More than one or two children have disappeared, right?”

“Yes. No one thought it would happen again. Plus, some families rely on herbs and mushrooms for their livelihood, and it was a place where children played. We thought it was safe as long as they didn’t go too deep.”

Sophie glanced at a very small voice from the side, and Livio looked displeased.

Livio was a knight who protected the people and the royal family. For someone who was always taught to prepare for the worst, this situation was probably unimaginable.

“Is the gendarmerie unique to this town? Not knights?”

Erich, as if remembering he was in a child’s form, asked politely, and the owner raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t a question a child would ask. The owner, unaware that he was talking to the king, smiled and said, “You’re a smart boy.”

“Yes. The lord created it for the town’s safety.”

“…I see. My father said the current king is stationing knights in various towns, but this town is different?”

Sophie, and surely Eleanor and Livio, could see the anger in the king’s mouth, which suddenly turned into a higher-pitched, husky voice. The cuteness of the higher-pitched voice only added to the inexplicable fear. Sophie instinctively took a sip of coffee. It was warm…

“Knights? Ha! Listen, boy. Knights are just sinister people who abuse their status. The knights in this town were arrogant, and we suffered a lot. The lord’s gendarmerie saved us! Isn’t that great?”

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

Scary! So scary! Why can’t the owner sense anything? How dull is he? Is his brain still asleep?? Ah, poor crisis management? Sophie felt her blood run cold as she watched the two converse, and she could even feel anger from the side. He’s angry. The former knight is angry.

At the worst breakfast, Eleanor, with her furrowed brow, looked like a goddess to Sophie.

If Eleanor weren’t there, she might have run away.

10 days, every day, thank you to everyone who read, evaluated, liked, and commented, and supported me!

I usually let my work rest after writing it, reset my eyes, and then proofread and revise before posting, but despite this, there were more typos and errors than usual these past 10 days...

I’m truly sorry and grateful to everyone...

From next week, I’ll return to weekly updates. I look forward to seeing you again next week.