Fakes Don’t Want To Be Real Chapter 100

FAKES DON’T WANT TO BE REAL

~ 100 ~

 

It indeed was the boar’s blood, however, he bet with his keen eyes that she swung her sword towards him- aimed only at him.

But, its trajectory changed abruptly halfway through.

 

‘Why the hell would she want me?’

 

Psychke called out to him in confusion as she resumed fighting the onrushing demons.

 

“Duke.”

“…..”

“Duke!”

“U, uh.”

 

He hastily joined the battle and worked with Psychke to dispose of the demons. The fighting went on for who-known-how-long.

Psychke’s sword was slipping from her hand as she complained of a headache.

Verdia, who had had enough of witnessing her in that state, spoke up.

 

“If you don’t feel well, you shouldn’t go in.”

 

Psychke grimaced. Because the more she heard his voice, the worse her headache got.

She wanted to obey the Duke, but she couldn’t.

 

• Nyahh!

 

She was so close to Asum that she could hear him crying.

 

“I’ll just grab that and go in.”

 

If she don’t grab that, the black aura covering the demons’ bodies won’t disappear.

Their unusual resilience will keep them fighting. And with their abnormal resilience, the slaughtering teams along with them will continue to struggle.

 

“I can help.”

 

Sighing softly, Verndia slashed at the creatures in his path.

After a long time, Psychke was able to face Asum one-on-one.

 

• Nyaah!

 

Its cries were shrill with rage. Since she couldn’t see it with her own eyes, at least she had an idea as she had seen it from the Book of Demons.

Asum was said to be about the size of a human and resembled a bipedal lizard.

They always carry a staff with them and support them by providing healing and resilience from behind.

But if they get too close to a human, they use dangerous magic-

 

Boom!

 

Her hair stood on end as the magic pierced her skin. That magic pierced her with an indescribable heat as if the monster Meteora.

(TN: I don’t know of Meteora as it was only used in this chapter but when I tried to have an idea, google said it was a place- a mountain.)

Her decision to dodge must have been the best decision she had ever made, otherwise, she would have become ashes.

 

• Nyak! Nyak!

 

Asum cackled something unintelligible. Its cries entranced her for a moment and being near it had her see visions in her eyes. Just being near her makes him forget reality and see visions. Because of the same ability must had been why no one could catch it.

But to Psyche, it was only a strange cry.

Her throbbing head ached even more, and she growled at it at the top of her lungs.

 

“Shut up!”

 

She swung her sword frantically, thinking that if she could just get it, she’d be done.

Bang!

As expected of a mage-type demon, its defense was poor.

After only a few moves, Asum’s breath was cut off.

It was an unfortunate ending to a battle that had been plaguing the North for over a year.

 

“Haa….”

 

As soon as she reached her goal, her legs gave out, Psychke fell to her knees.

 

“Princess!”

 

Verndia, who had been a few feet away, called out. He hastily dropped his sword and rushed to her, pulling her into his arms as she collapsed.

Psychke shivered sweetly in his arms as he cradled her head. Her headache was excruciating her sanity.

 

“It is polite manner to return a borrowed object before the owner asked for it.”

“You can say nice things, but he won’t listen.”

 

She kept hearing these strange voices, and the more negative she felt about them, the worse my headache became.

 

“I’ll be back soon, just hold on to your head.”

 

Verndia tried to pick her up and hug her.

At that moment, an irresistible voice assaulted Psychke’s mind.

 

“Kill him.”

 

Against her will, Psychke’s closed eyes fluttered open.

Her blue eyes flashed with horror at the sight of the demon’s blood, but then they lost their light and faded.

The hand that gripped the sword tensed, and the last shred of sanity whispered, “No!”

No!

With that, Psychke shoved the defenseless Verndia, who was holding her.

The last thing she saw was him losing grip on her in shock. Anything after that was oblivious to her.

 

* * *

Creak, creak, creak.

There was a strange sound, like old wood moving in unison. A musty smell of dusty, blood, sweat, and the world rattled as if she was in a carriage.

Coming to her senses, Psychke cautiously opened her eyes.

Her brows furrowed as she was dazzled by the light streaming in through the cracks in the haphazardly constructed wooden ceiling.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

Verndia said, leaning against the creaking wall at an angle.

It was hard to see him in the dark, but the crack in his voice told her he was exhausted.

 

“Yes.”

 

She had just woken up, and her head felt somewhat dizzy.

 

‘Where am I?’

 

She tried to recall the last thing she was doing. From her memories, she caught her breath, collapsed with a headache, and pushed the Duke away for some reason.

 

“Do you recognize me?”

 

She looked up at him, unable to comprehend the question.

Even in the darkness of the room, in the light from the ceiling, Psychke could see his face.

He was uneasy. Why?

When he didn’t answer, he asked again, his voice trembling.

 

“Do you not know who I am?”

“The Duke…?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

He let out a long, relieved breath and cupped her cheeks.

 

“How’s your headache?”

“I am fine, but where are we?”

“This is the wagon they use to transport wounded soldiers. We’re on our way back to the castle.”

“What?”

 

Stunned, she abruptly sat up. The battle wasn’t over yet but they were already returning that fast?

 

“Lie down.”

 

He explained that he and she were the only ones going back first, and the others would return after they cleaned up.

 

“Is that okay?”

 

She carefully asked, wondering if it was okay for her to leave correspondingly with him as they were alternately the commander-in-chief and second-in-command.

 

“They’ve got the big one, they’ll figure it out.”

 

They had taken care of themselves when he was in the capital.

With Asum captured, the battle is over, so don’t bother, Verndia waved his hand.

Psychke’s pupils widened at the casual touch.

 

“Are you hurt?”

 

She grabbed Verndia’s hand.

The bandages, which should have been white, were red with the depth of the wound that ran from his hand up his arm.

 

“Not hurt, just a little banged up.”

“You were fine when I was out of breath earlier.”

“Didn’t the princess push me?”

 

Verdia rolled his eyes and laughed.

 

“You fell and….”

“All I did was fell.”

“Do you remember what you did next?”

“.. What did I do?”

“… You slept.”

 

He paused, his eyes dropping to the carriage floor.

 

“You slept well, you must have been very tired.”

 

Then he pulled Psychke tightly into his arms so she couldn’t see anything.

 

“Get some more sleep, we have a long way to go before we get there.”

“No, wait, are you hurt anywhere other than your hand?”

“No, and it doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Don’t lie to me and quickly- ugh, let go of me. I’m choking.”

“Don’t pretend to be tough.”

 

Even as he said that he loosened his grip. He completely didn’t let go of her, just enough to create a gap so she could breathe.

 

“Go to sleep, I’ll sleep too.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“You don’t have to be sleepy, just sleep.”

 

She doesn’t know what the insistence was, but her voice is strangely subdued.

Psychke made no further retort, and drifted off to sleep in his arms, the irregular creaking of the carriage as her lullaby.

 

* * *

As soon as she returned to Lestir, Verndia entrusted her to a wizard who knew the signs.

He examined Psychke thoroughly, checking for brainwashing spells.

 

“Nothing.”

 

The result was neither good or bad. The wizard who examined her said he couldn’t find any traces of magic. So why was she acting the way she was?

 

‘If not brainwashing, then what?’

 

He scrambled to figure out why Psychke was acting uncannily. The lights in Verndia’s office hadn’t gone out since he’d returned from the battlefield.

 

“Princess, can you see now?”

“No.”

 

Psychke shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to see through the pure white snow on the floor of the rehearsal hall. Verndia stroked the back of her hand across his fiancée’s cheeks, which were chilled from being outside, and thought.

 

‘Her fear of snow hasn’t faded.’

 

Then how had the princess managed to keep her eyes open? He prospected endless possibilities, and finally settled on a theory.

 

‘It could have something to do with Silkisia breaking the taboo and coming to the North.’

 

Other than that, he couldn’t explain the princess’s strange behavior.

He tapped his fingers on the desk in his office like a piano, then rose abruptly and made his way to the library, a place only Lestir’s vassals had access to.

 

‘I hope we can find the reason before she realizes there was something wrong in her body.’

 

‘If she learns the truth, she will surely be overcome with guilt.’

 

And she will try to leave his side. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, unraveling the truth of this occurrence.