Show Your Face, Prince! Chapter 78

“…So, it’s been quite a while since the woman who lived here disappeared.”

The elderly man, who claimed to have lived in Shutrakium for a long time, slowly spoke as he looked at Dante, who stood with his arms crossed.

While Dante listened silently to the man’s explanation, Letier was walking around the old garden, searching for something.

“See anything unusual?”

As soon as the man finished, Dante quickly turned and asked.

Letier, still studying the ground closely, slowly shook her head.

“There are Ritupis flowers blooming all over the garden, but… they’re a different variety.”

“A different variety?”

“The ones growing here aren’t the poisonous Ritupis flowers—they’re the ornamental kind. If you look closely, you can tell the difference by the shape of the petal tips.”

She knelt down and gently stroked the large orange petals.

“Ornamental Ritupis have rounded tips like these, while the poisonous ones have small spines at the end. You can feel it when you touch the base here.”

Dante stepped closer.

He glanced at the orange petals she was touching and spoke.

“Still, they might’ve grown the poisonous kind before.”

“That would be difficult.”

Letier answered firmly.

“Both types of Ritupis flowers have the trait of stealing nutrients from other species, so they can’t grow together.”

“…Then chances are this isn’t the place.”

Dante murmured.

He felt a touch of disappointment, even though he hadn’t expected much.

This village had shown the highest concentration of toxic plants—Ritupis included—but…

“You must not have found what you were looking for.”

The old man, who had been watching them, spoke gently.

“Still, this was very helpful. Thank you for guiding us.”

Letier stood, straightening from her crouch, and bowed.

The man, his face weathered and spotted with age, smiled as he raised a rusty key.

“Would you like to see the inside of the house? I brought the key.”

“They’ve probably cleared everything out inside anyway.”

Dante replied curtly.

Instead of entering, he walked slowly around the crumbling structure, carefully inspecting the bricks.

As soon as he was out of sight, Letier quickly stepped toward the old man.

“Actually… do you happen to know how to get to this place?”

She pulled a wrinkled map from her bag.

“Let’s see…”

“It’s this spot, the one circled here.”

The man took the paper and squinted, stretching his arm out to examine the map.

“…I’m not sure what’s what…”

“That’s because you’re holding it upside down!”

“Eh…?”

Letier rotated the map in his hands.

Even then, he still seemed unsure, tilting his head as he turned it around a few more times.

Growing impatient, Letier reached out and pointed at both their current location and Shion’s hometown on the map.

“This is where we are—Shutrakium. And this is where we want to go.”

“Hmm…”

“There’s no one living there now, but until about twenty years ago, it was a small village.”

“A vanished village…”

The man muttered quietly, as if searching his memory.

Then he closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

“….”

“….”

Wait—is he asleep standing up?

Letier glanced at him skeptically.

Please, at least say something, sir…

“Letier, let’s go.”

Dante’s voice cut through the silence as he returned from his inspection.

“The materials used to build this house aren’t that old. These gray stones—they’re imported from the Santrica region. Eustian only began trading with Santrica less than ten years ago.”

“So the timeline doesn’t match with when she left Eustian.”

“Exactly.”

Dante turned to leave without hesitation.

Letier glanced once more at the old man, still standing motionless in the center of the garden, before following him.

“…Well, we’ll be off now. Thank you for your help!”

“I remember…!”

“Huh?”

Letier froze mid-step as they carefully exited the overgrown garden.

“I remember! That vanished village!”

The old man suddenly opened his eyes wide, raising his cane and staring at Letier.

That was fast…

“If you mean the vanished village, it’s not far from here! Less than an hour on foot, I’d say!”

He tapped the ground with his cane and pushed forward energetically, overtaking Letier.

“If you head east from Shutrakium, you’ll come to a dense forest. Follow the narrow path through it, and you’ll reach a fork—take the far right. Keep going straight, and you’ll see the village ruins!”

Letier turned to Dante with wide, hopeful eyes.

Dante, who had been considering moving on to Dodrona, licked his bottom lip with a short sigh.

Letier looked up at him with bright violet eyes, filled with anticipation.

“It’s not far from here…!”

“A dense forest? Is it safe?”

“Completely safe! There aren’t even any big animals around.”

“He says it’s safe…!”

Dante frowned.

“Is the path even walkable?”

“Of course! Even someone like me can make the trip.”

“He says it’s easy…!”

Dante tilted his head slightly.

Dodrona had even less evidence than Shutrakium anyway…

After a short pause, he spoke.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

“I’m going to have a word with that old man when we get back to the village.”

Dante muttered, his voice low and annoyed.

He swung his dagger hard, cutting through the waist-high sharp grass, his jaw clenched.

Letier followed close behind, blinking silently.
She had insisted they come here, but she hadn’t expected the path to be this brutal.

“…Maybe we should just go back?”

“We’ve come too far to turn around now.”

Dante replied, slashing another clump of weeds with a dramatic swing.

“But we don’t even know for sure if we’re going the right way.”

Letier glanced nervously over her shoulder.

Behind them lay the wreckage of chopped plants—slashed and crushed by Dante’s blade.

“We followed the old man’s directions exactly—took the right fork at the three-way split. The village ruins should be nearby.”

Letier looked at him with concern—and noticed his scratched-up hand.

She quickly reached out toward the arm holding the dagger.

“You’re hurt! Did those sharp grasses cut you?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It is not nothing!”

She pulled his hand closer, frowning at the red marks and shallow cuts.

Dante, staring quietly at her worried expression, finally spoke.

“Letier… you’re hurt too.”

He raised a hand and gently brushed the area beneath her eye.

It was a thin, red scratch—likely from the long grasses brushing her face while walking.

“Oh…”

Letier touched the wound herself, wincing slightly.

“I thought it stung a little.”

She gave a sheepish smile.

Dante frowned deeply as he looked down at her.

“With how fair your skin is, even a small scratch stands out.”

“It’s okay! I’m sure it’ll fade quickly. What matters is—your hand looks really—”

Letier stopped mid-sentence.

Dante had lowered his fingers and was now lightly brushing the corner of her mouth.

“You don’t seem to care about your own face. There’s a small cut here too.”

“…”

“Can’t believe that old man called this an ‘easy’ path…”

“…”

Ugh…

Letier didn’t reply. Her thoughts were too consumed by the strange sensation of his fingers near her lips.

She blinked, unsure where to look.

Dante, still brushing her lip, was suddenly aware of how close he was—how soft her lips looked.

He swallowed hard, trying to pull his attention away.

“…Let’s get moving.”

He forced the words out, withdrawing his hand.
But not before poking her cheek once with a teasing finger.

Letier trailed behind him, feeling her face burn with heat.

So awkward…

“Hmm?”

That’s when Letier noticed something—patches of grass ahead were neatly pressed down in one direction.

She tugged on Dante’s sleeve.

“Your Highness, let’s go this way. The grass isn’t as dense over here.”

Dante allowed her to lead him, but his brows furrowed when he saw the unnatural way the grass had been flattened.

“This looks manmade… It might be safer to just make a new path—”

“Kyah!”

Letier screamed as soon as her foot touched the flattened area.

Something tightened suddenly around her ankle—and before either of them could react, their bodies were yanked sharply upward.