10 CH 10 ~ Story

As Cathain pulled Eleanora out from his bedroom, all the knights and the maids looked at them weirdly.

He was only wearing a thin white shirt and a black trouser; this was the very first time that everyone had seen the crown prince in such a casual look.

Where, Eleanora kept staring at his back view with astonished face as she becomes lost in thoughts.

'Out of everything… I just had to reincarnate in a story which I haven't even read and heard from him?'

'That too, where the female lead gets killed, instead of the villainess?'

'Maybe I was too lazy in my life that the god thought my life need some spice in it…'

Eleanora was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realized when Cathain had pulled her in a corner.

Cathain observes her facial expression quietly; her brows were furrowed as she was thinking something really hard.

Her lips parted slightly in some moments, before she would press them into a thin line and bite them in the process.

Seeing her expression, Cathain lets out a heavy sigh before crosses his arms over his chest and speaks.

"It's you right? Millie?"

His questions caught her off guard and she blinks her round blue eyes as she stares into his red eyes.

'There is no doubt that she doesn't remember this life yet…'

'She is Milenka Montogamy…'

'Also, my empress at the same time;'

His heart skips a beat as he feels himself losing in her jewel blue eyes, those same eyes which he missed for so long.

How many times had he kept praying for wanting to see those eyes again?

But there was no way that a dead person would open their eyes just because he wished so.

Now seeing those eyes staring at him again, Cathain felt such a peace that he has never felt before.

And unconsciously, he finds himself hugging her again; smelling the fresh scent of her hair which he has missed for so long.

He had everything in his modern life, but none of these felt real to him.

He still felt like an outsider in that world.

But now he can say that he is back to where he belonged, where his empress is.

Just breathing here makes him feel like home.

"Eleanora…"

Cathain's heart clenched with pain as he finally uttered her name again.

And unlike before, she can hear him now.

She can now response to his touches and hold him back.

"Cain? Is-Is it you?"

Eleanora calls him with a dumbfounded look, who was once again hugged by this boy.

But unlike before, she isn't that much scared.

For a moment, her own name felt unfamiliar to her; where she felt extremely familiar with that unknown name.

[A/N: She meant Milenka name felt unfamiliar to her and the name Eleanora which she has never heard before felt more familiar.]

But she becomes even more surprised as Cathain suddenly cups her face and kisses her forehead, before placing his own forehead against her.

"Finally… good to see you again…"

Eleanora stares at his face with astonishment as she saw a genuine smile on his face.

Till now, she always found his smile full of pain and sadness.

It's the first time that she saw him smiling so happily.

'Is he happy because I am here with him?'

Eleanora thought but didn't know why she still found it weird.

This unfamiliar place and this changed appearances wasn't making her feel afraid anymore, but her heart seem to be relaxed.

Like it has finally found its missing piece and became complete.

But it was Cathain who was making her feel weird and somehow afraid.

'Why am I feeling a little afraid of him?'

'Is it because of his eyes?'

Eleanora thought as she looks into his red eyes and he suddenly kisses the corner of her eyes too.

As the weird feeling rises in her heart, she awkwardly steps back from Cathain and her cheeks turn red.

"S-So… where are we?"

She asks as she averted her gaze away from him and a painful smile appears on his face again.

"Valentino Empire,"

Cathain replies directly and Eleanora looks at him with surprise.

"How do you know it for sure?"

"I-"

He pauses on his sentence as he finally recalls that this Eleanora only remembers her modern life.

He can't just tell her that they are back in the empire again after he killed her and they got reborn in the modern life after that.

"So you remember that story too?!"

Eleanora asks with her widened blue eyes with surprise and Cathain becomes silent as he didn't understand her words.

What story is she talking about?

"I realized it too that we are in a book after that silver haired handsome mister called me Eleanora La Alexander Dalton!"

"Only then I recalled the story you had told me once, no wonder this name sounded so familiar to me…"

She keeps blabbering and where Cathain just stood still with a frozen mind.

Yes, he had told her about their past life after he meets her again.

He wanted to make sure if she had any impression of their past life or not.

But Cathain felt afraid again as he recalled her answer to his question back then too.

Flashback~

"So that guy killed the woman he loved??!"

Milenka asks with disbelief and Cathain nods his head.

"And that girl was also pregnant?"

Cathain nods again.

"What a shitty love story. The author must be a masochist to write this kind of novel."

Milenka exclaims with disdain and Cathain just smiles at her, which makes her frown.

'Again this painful smile!'

'He makes me feel like he is the loneliest person in this world!'

"She should have run away right after discovering that he had a mistress."

Milenka says and Cathain sighs.

"And where would she go?"

His words make her look up at him and he continues.

"From the moment she was born, she was trained to be the next empress. All her life, she was told that she is born to be the empress and support the emperor."

"She had no friend; her father was away at the borders."

"At least she could be busy in handling the palace affairs and train the knights or make war tactics, but what would she do outside of the palace?"

Cathain asks and Milenka furrows her brows as she thinks of a suitable answer.

"Become the duke? She was also a knight commander…"

She replies and he again smiles at her.

"The empress can't become a duke, and she could maintain her position as a knight commander because of the emperor."

"The Dalton Duchy was running well, there would be nothing much for her to do and she would become lonelier there…"

"Also, as a divorced empress, she would face the nobles endless criticism all her life and how could she go back to the palace from where she ran away to train the knights?"

Milenka nods her head as his words had points.

But isn't it just a book?

Why are there so many rules like real society then?

"So, she was only holding onto the last bit of hope to survive in that imperial palace, even if it gave her nothing but pain."

Milenka replies as she somehow understands that girl's situation and then she becomes astonished to find him stare at her like he was searching for something.

"Yeah… she was strong, but the emperor wasn't."

"He wanted to love but couldn't, and when he did… she wasn't there anymore."

Her heart suddenly ached as she found his voice really painful and it felt like her heart was getting torn into pieces.

His eyes looked sad and painful, just like his smile.

Both of them kept staring at each other and then Cathain finally breaks the silence.

"Elle, what would you do if you were at her place?"

"Do what?"

She asks back with confusion.

"Would you… would you give the emperor another chance?"

Cathain shutters as he asks with a lot of hesitation and courage and Milenka blankly stares at his eyes for a few moments before she parts her lip to give a reply.

"No, I won't…"