Please join our discord to get fast update and assistance for purrpoins
As soon as Van opened his eyes, he kicked off the blanket to the side of the bed and sprang out of bed. He seemed perplexed as he looked around his surroundings before finally realizing where he was at.
It was a guest room in the imperial palace.
For it to be called a “guest room,” he had to use it at least once a month. Although he had strong power, he was being guided by the empress because he had no guide.
The empress, Luria, was the B-class guide, and she was the emperor’s guide, so she spent little time guiding Van.
Since he has been doing this since he was a child, it is safe to say that this is the place he misses the most in his memories.
His bereaved mother had long passed away and he was raised as a child by the childless imperial couple.
He left the bedroom barefoot. And he was desperate to find someone. The passing imperial servant seemed surprised by the Duke of East’s disgraceful behavior.
“Your Excellency the Duke! What are you doing?”
“I-I……”
He was seriously injured in a fight with Carlisle. But there was no pain or blood stains. He even noticed that the pain caused by not having enough guidance was a lot less.
It was a really long time ago when the pain he felt was this intense.
Of course, it was better when he was engaged to Charlotte and guided by her. It wasn’t perfect, though, and he was brought back to this period of his life without even realizing it.
Since he didn’t have a guide yet, he was occasionally guided by Her Majesty the Empress.
Her Majesty’s grade was B, which was not high, but their matching rate was satisfactory. So simply holding her hand was enough to guide him.
The way he felt was the same as it was back then. Also, when he rolled up his sleeves, the scars from being tortured disappeared.
He asked the servant with a voice that was shaking.
“Your Highness….Di-Did you cough?”
“His Majesty the Emperor is still sleeping.”
He thought for a moment that Carlisle, who was a traitor and couldn’t even be killed, was also called the Emperor. He wondered, though, if anyone would dare to address Carlisle as Emperor in front of him.
‘It won’t be a dream.’
Please don’t let this be a dream. Van asked the servant once more.
“Please tell me His Majesty’s name.”
The maid seemed to want to get away from Van, as if she had just realized that he was weird. But she slowly opened her mouth quietly.
“It’s Dael Astrada. Why are you asking me to tell you the name of His Majesty?”
Van’s face returned to normal when he got the answer he was expecting, but his expression was distorted as if another fear had been poured in. He knew it wasn’t the right time.
He wanted to meet his uncle and his wife right away, but there was something more important than that.
‘Eleanor!’
Because of his interaction with the maid that had just appeared before him, he was convinced that he had traveled back in time. The evidence will become more clear once he has a meeting with the adjutant at the detached palace that he used as a lodging whenever he stayed at the imperial palace.
Van had not yet figured out how much time he had traveled back in time. He suddenly recalled that he was not the only person to have touched the light.
Carlisle Javés also dipped his hand in the light.
After Eleanor stabbed herself in the chest, Van was the one who was supposed to save her, but he had no idea what Carlisle was up to at the time.
Carlisle would have held a grudge against Eleanor if all of his treason had gone back in time. He didn’t know if taking her hostage and trying to kill her was enough.
‘When did she return? If Eleanor is in Carlisle’s hands again….’
Eleanor was in danger.
Van ran around in his pajamas, which were not even properly dressed. He was too busy to hear the maid call out in surprise.
He didn’t know anything about Eleanor as Carlisle did. He only remembered that she became Armoure’s first princess and rose to social prominence.
He tried to find out as much as possible about Eleanor by attaching a spy, but……
‘He lost interest after hearing reports that she was a C-level guide.’
Charlotte, an A-class guide, was in front of him at the time. Van was sure that Charlotte was the guide who would save him, and he couldn’t afford to look for someone else.
The escort knight, who had rushed after Van, draped the coat over his shoulders. It was an action that was brought about because he, the Duke of the East, was trying to mount a horse in his pajamas.
Van thanked him briefly before slipping his arms through his coat and mounting the horse.
“… Please tell His Majesty that I will explain myself later.”
“I understand. Have a safe trip, Your Excellency the Duke.”
After the knight retreated from his horse, Van swiftly mounted his horse and galloped away from the palace. He immediately thought of checking whether there was a princess named ‘Eleanor’ in the dukedom of Armoure and also about Carlisle’s movements.
͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧
Fortunately, Eleanor regressed before a guide examination. Eleanor, who confirmed this through the mouths of her younger siblings, stroked her chest in relief.
It was just happenstance that she had a guide examination.
She needed something, so she went out with her youngest brother to the market, where she saw a low-ranking official calling people with a guide inspection tool.
Most people submitted themselves for testing without hesitating because they said they could make a lot of money and receive good treatment if they were a guide.
The test itself was also simple. It is to place your hand on a round magical tool such as a black crystal ball. According to what I’ve heard, a spark will fly from the inside if they are a guide, but there will be no reaction if they are not.
When Eleanor placed her palm on the magic tool, sparks slowly rose. Since she was a C-level guide, the sparks were the size of a child’s fist.
How surprised and happy she was then.
‘If I had known it would end like this, I wouldn’t have been tested!’
The emperor despatched an official to induce the entire empire to be examined, but he did not force it. Most of them were nonsense, and just saying they were a guide gave them a lot of benefits, so most of them scrambled to get tested.
Eleanor thought she would never be tested this time.
When the official came to check it out, he didn’t tell the Emperor immediately. Instead, he told the Duke of Armoure, who was the highest-ranking nobleman in the area.
The Duke of Armoure sent someone to find Eleanor because he thought she could be useful. He entices her parents by promising to elevate them to the status of nobles.
Eleanor’s parents didn’t give much thought to what their daughter would become. They only talked about how great their lives would be.
Eleanor wasn’t talked about at all. Since she will become the adopted daughter of the Duke, she wonders if she will be able to live well.
At first, all of the letters she got were from her younger brothers and sisters. She didn’t have high hopes for her parents, but she was so upset that her teeth were trembling.
Eleanor tried to think more about how she could become the Duke of Armore’s adopted daughter. She reluctantly accepts it, and it has taken a lot of money from him.
‘Do you think an opportunity like this will come again?’
What if the duke changes his mind? He yelled. Eleanor has never hated her troublemaking father more than she did back then.
Eleanor and her younger brothers would take care of their father if he got into debt or had to work somewhere.
It won’t happen this time. She won’t be tested, and her father won’t know she’s a guide.
After her regression, Eleanor thought so until the moment she woke up at home on the fourth day.
Even though being a commoner was hard, it was better than being a guide. Working was hard, but it wasn’t because no men asked to get married.
Eleanor didn’t have a lot of hope for her life. Meeting someone at work… When they are ready, they get married. She will live her life this way.
It’s hard to work, but it wasn’t because no men asked her to marry them.
Staying away from the imperial family and working as a guide.
That’s what I thought until just a few days ago….
“Eleanor!”
She could tell just by hearing his voice and looking into his eyes when he called her that he remembered everything from before the regression.
͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧
After the regression, Van was very different from how he was before. This was six years ago, before the filth had accumulated to the point where it threatened his life. Furthermore, he was guided by the empress, Luria, once a month to ensure that filth did not accumulate above a certain level.
On the other side, Carlisle had still not found his guide.
With help from the temple, he was given drugs that had effects similar to the state when he was guiding, but they were not very effective for the powerful imperial family.
‘I thought you would know where Eleanor lives!’
It was easy for Van to find Eleanor.
Because he remembered a time before regression, he thought Carlisle was the same. So he attached people to Carlisle and all of his men.
Especially in the case of Carlisle, he remained glued to his seat and just watched. He was afraid that he would take Eleanor at any time or hurt her.
Not surprisingly, Carlisle left the grand duchy secretly after discovering a few things. Van was certain that Carlisle would find Eleanor.
Carlisle knew a lot about the imperial family but didn’t know anything about the forces or people Van had six years ago.
On the other hand, Van was framed and investigated by Carlisle for 6 years, and he actually suffered damage due to knowing he was a spy who Carlisle had bribed.
He couldn’t help but remember each one of them.
The things he did not notice caused as much damage as the ones he did, and the cost of the damage was the lives of the decedents and his men.