My Dream is to Get My Own House - Chapter 105

Episode 105

I looked at Dylan, taking a deep breath. 

The five-year-old me was a prodigy in using magic tools. 

Using portable magical gadgets, I mischievously explored the capital, darting around here and there. 

And one day, I arrived at the outskirts of the desolate capital, particularly in front of a house that seemed like a gloomy place, filled with a dark aura, resembling a ruin.

Being curious, I impulsively opened the door. 

Even though it seemed firmly shut, it effortlessly swung open as soon as I touched it. 

Almost as if dark magic was being purified. 

Inside, stood a boy of about ten with an innocent, fairy-like aura.

“How did you get in…?”

“Wow, you’re the most handsome in the world!”

“Wh-what?”

“An incredibly handsome prince! What’s your name?”

“…. I’m just…”

“Moya? Moji? How can someone’s name be ‘just’?”

“Since I’m cursed, you mustn’t hear my name. Please leave.”

“Hmph. Who cares about curses.”

As a young me, I poked him with a twig in my hand, trying to appear fierce. “So, aren’t you scared of me?”

He gazed at me as if he saw something extraordinary, then slowly put his hand in his pocket. 

“I’m not scared!”

As he tried to take his hand out cautiously, he hurriedly put it back in and said, “Please leave. This house is filled with curses and dark magic. The honorable one here forbids entry.”

After being chased out of his house, a sting of anger awaited me when I returned to my mom, who came looking for me. 

“Diana, don’t go to that house.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The person there is not ordinary.”

“It’s not ordinary! He’s incredibly handsome! He’ll be my prince!”

“…Don’t trouble him. He’s of high status and powerful. Although he’s living like a commoner in that old house for now…”

“Wow! High status? Then can I marry him?”

“No.”

“Then, can I visit for fun?”

“…Only once a month. Promise on your pinky.”

“Hehe! I promise!”

…My mom didn’t say anything more about him. She just whispered to me, “I have a feeling that he might save you someday. It’s just a hunch.”

And then, on the day of the bomb terror at the Million Theater, I was pushed towards his house by my mom. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! I’m brave!”

“Come in quickly.”

I hid tightly in his house. 

While being embraced by him, I cried and cried, then cried even more after eating the grass he gave me. 

It tasted horrible. But the Red Castle was hunting me, who had escaped towards him.

In the outskirts of the capital, the small town was now in ruins due to the bombs. 

Even the small, abandoned house was hit. We were in the corner of the half-demolished house. 

With his face covered in soot, he gently stroked my hair.

“Don’t cry. You’re brave.”

“I’m, I’m very strong. Not crying!”

His childhood was evidently similar to Dylan’s. 

And there, as I wiped my dry face, I realized… that the little boy… he…

“Yeah, you’re the most awesome and brave puppy in the world.”

Upon hearing those words, I blinked. 

Dylan had said the exact same thing to me. 

“You’re incredibly brave.” “You’re like a puppy.”

Could this be a coincidence? 

Two people who seemed to have nothing to do with each other were gradually intertwining.

Joyful, sad, and various complex forms of delight engulfed me.

* * *

Dylan looked at her in astonishment. Ishael’s eyes were clearly filled with happiness and delight.

“…Ma’am?”

Dylan hesitated for a moment, then addressed Ishael as “ma’am.” 

In response, an even brighter smile curved across Ishael’s lips. 

It was a dazzling and beautiful sight, as if one’s breath would be taken away.

“I, I have something to say. To Master Dylan.”

“…Is that so?”

The moment he saw that smile, Dylan found himself unsure of what he had said. 

He had merely maintained a rigid expression and automatically extended his hand to escort Ishael.

Ishael naturally took his outstretched hand and rose to her feet. 

She inclined her head slightly towards Mayon and spoke politely.

“Mayon, thank you.”

A rush of clarity flowed into his stiffened mind as if water was poured over him. 

What kind of conversation had they exchanged that Ishael was now thanking him and smiling so brightly?

“Could it be that Mayon was really the one she was supposed to take the marriage vow with…?”

Just imagining it made an unpleasant jealousy surge within him. 

Instinctively, he emitted a chilling aura, as if he could kill. 

Mayon, who had been alternating his gaze between Dylan and Ishael, seemed to realize something and whispered with a faintly embarrassed expression.

“Oh, I see.”

A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“It seems destiny somehow compels encounters, doesn’t it?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Mayon?”

“Nothing.”

* * *

Nervousness is an undeniable defeat. I decided to approach cautiously and prudently. First, I needed to ask Dylan.

“Um, Dylan. I’m talking about the marriage vow.”

Dylan’s shoulders drooped slightly as he whispered to me, seemingly as if he were speaking only to himself.

“…Yes.”

No, I had just mentioned the marriage vow. Why does he seem so gloomy already? For an instant, his shoulders seemed to tremble.

I subtly asked him, “Dylan, have you never received something like a marriage vow when you were young?”

“…I don’t think I ever did.”

“Okay, then… Has anyone been persistently suggesting marriage to you?”

His eyebrows slightly furrowed. Despite his still radiant smile, a faint glimmer of joy shone in his eyes.

“Perhaps, are you feeling jealous?”

It could possibly be directed towards me, but was this feeling really jealousy? When I gave him a puzzled expression, he chuckled softly and spoke.

“There was someone like that. It was probably just a joke.”

“Oh.”

“Why are you asking?”

Could it really be him? But I wasn’t entirely convinced yet. So, I decided to maneuver around the subject for now.

“Well, I think I’m feeling jealous.”

His cheeks turned slightly red.

“Jealousy is just another form of possessiveness. Madam probably wants to possess me right now.”

“…Oh, really?”

“In that sense, I could cast a memory charm to let you know everything about my past.”

I stared with my mouth slightly agape. One thing leads to another, so I needed to calm down first.

“Uh, no, you don’t have to go that far.”

He lightly patted his cheek as if genuinely disappointed. I quickly steered the conversation back to its original course.

“Well, you know. The older brother who wrote the marriage vow with me used to live in a small house cursed with dark magic.”

“I see. He must have been a troublemaker.”

“….”

Seeing him not stopping his teasing, I involuntarily opened my mouth. Dylan, you weren’t like this originally!

Does love change people?

I hurriedly opened my mouth and continued.

“That older brother said he would protect me. That I’m brave. Romantic, right?”

I wondered if Dylan would remember.

At that moment, he slightly furrowed his eyebrows and asked in return.

“Was ‘brave’ the last word?”

“Well, I think so.”

Could it be…? With faint hope, I looked at him. Dylan whispered softly.

“Disqualified for not describing all of Madam’s wonderful and remarkable qualities. I will tear up that man’s marriage vow.”

Oh no.

He just didn’t understand what I was saying.

My face turned completely red…

Before I could even say anything, he said to me, “You’re overworking yourself. Please rest now,” and gave me a sleeping potion.

* * *

Dylan watched over her until Ishael fell asleep.

He thought it would be enough to slip away through the window before Claude and Duke Saboia found out.

The knight who used to follow all the rules was no more.

Now, there was only a knight who destroyed all the rules for his mistress’s sake.

Dylan gazed down at her eyelids as they closed.

“Why do you keep making me jealous?”

Feeling his heartbeats about to explode, he gently pressed his lips against Ishael’s. 

He had been someone under the curse of dark magic, yet he had called Ishael brave. He was even more anxious since they shared so many similarities.

At the same time, a sudden thought crossed his mind. 

Every time he heard Ishael speak, he felt a faint sense of déjà vu. 

Maybe the faint memory of a small girl, too vague to be clearly remembered, was Ishael.

But he shook his head and slowly rose to his feet. He couldn’t be so lucky. Opening the window, he leaped out.

He will come back tomorrow.

Once he knew who the other party was, he would tear up the marriage vow.

* * *

I blinked and spat the sleeping potion from the vial.

“This is crazy, seriously?”

I pretended to swallow the sleeping potion but kept it in my mouth. His words “making me jealous” had felt like being stabbed in the heart. Why would he be jealous of someone else?

“They seem like the same person.”

They were similar in age. 

They even seemed cursed. Above all, they looked alike. 

There are countless people in the world.

… But perhaps the one I’ve been looking for, the person from my memories, could be Dylan? My heart raced at the possibility. I couldn’t take it anymore.

I jolted upright and opened the window. Dylan’s back was visible.

I urgently called out while looking down at the ground below the window.

“D-Dylan! Come back up.”

Dylan slowly turned his head. His warm, red eyes overlapped with the familiar red eyes of that boy I knew. 

At that moment, I couldn’t hold back.

In a desperate tone, I whispered, “As soon as possible.”

In that instant, a tremendous delight appeared in Dylan’s eyes. 

I was bewildered by the overwhelming joy. Could it be that he had remembered, too?

Then, in a trembling voice, Dylan whispered, “Are you inviting me to your bedroom officially?”

… No, it sounds strange when you say it like that!

But I couldn’t help but say it.

Dylan practically leaped through the window in an instant!