Fakes Don’t Want To Be Real

FAKES DON’T WANT TO BE REAL~ 102 ~ * * *She heard of his abilities, but she still didn’t want him to die. There were casualties and a sane person wouldn’t normally aim at someone without reason.So, Psychke kept her distance from him. But Verndia said nonchalantly, “You can sleep with me for a while.“Don’t say anything strange.” Psychke’s eyes glazed over him. She could lose her mind at any time, run to kill him, but he would sleep with her. Does that make sense?Verndia spoke up naturally. “Your dream about walking down that hallway is suspicious. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t sleepwalking.” The hallway she had dreamed of walking down was similar in appearance to a certain hallway in Lestir Castle, though the interior was slightly different. “Are you afraid I’m going to do something weird, you know, like take your brooch off when you go to sleep?”“No, it’s not that, it’s that I’ll pounce on you.”“Do you like me enough to jump on me?”“I didn’t mean that-”“I know. You’re afraid I’d get killed by a small Princess like you.” Verndia smirked, as if he’d heard the most ridiculous thing. “I’ll move the princess’s bedding to my room for the time being, since I can’t move mine.” No matter what she said, it’d all be in vain. He didn’t even think twice when he proclaimed if she wouldn’t agree to his offer, he’d kidnap her while she was asleep. “It’d be perfect if you were the size of a bean so I’d be able to put you in my pocket.”“I’ll just go on my own feet.” Psychke made a grunting sound, and he relented. Later that night, she had another strange dream, inside it, she descended on a moonlit hallway.At the end of it, she pulled back a light blue curtain and came face to face with the same opaque figure, the Emperor. “Hello, Shia.” He greeted her as if he’d been waiting for her. Using what little reason, he had left, the Emperor pushed the struggling Psychke to the railing, forcing her to look out into the snow, unable to resist. “You still haven’t gotten the marker back.”“Yes ….”“And you didn’t kill him either?”“…. Yes.”“Tsk.” The Emperor clicked his tongue in annoyance. Maybe it was because of the curse that had been hundreds of years since he walked onto such snow, but it still felt cold.If he had used the mark in front of everyone, Silkisia would have been his for using forbidden magic.  He even sent the Templars to act as witnesses, but that d*mned Lestir screwed it up again.Her eyes were pale ash and lifeless. “I miss Lestir.” Psychke muttered, unaware of his irritation. The Emperor laughed in disbelief. “You’re the one who screwed it up. You should have killed that man, then you dare say you missed Lestir.”“….” A few tears formed in the corners of Psychke’s eyes as she looked out at the snowy landscape. When the emperor saw that, he felt worse than he did earlier. It was not that he craved for her love, which he did a hundred years ago, and it seemed he still did now.He whispered his affection to her every time, he gave her gold more than one could count, he even promised her an absolute power that she could wield. And despite his efforts, however, she never once looked at him.So, he took Lestir away and forced her to stand beside him. He forced her to look at him, not to someone else only to witness such a thing. “I am your owner,” he whispered, furious. “Whether it be in your last life, in your current life, you’re always in my possession.”“…….”“Do you understand?” The Emperor twisted her body to face him. He tightened his grip on her, coercing her to lock eyes with him, making her say a response.Psychke, who had been crying expressionlessly, nodded slowly. “Good.” The Emperor’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.He turned Psychke’s body once more so that he could look into her pure white eyes. “Now, return to your master.”“… Yes.” It was the slowest answer he’d ever gotten. But it was an affirmation nonetheless, so the Emperor made no comment. “Good girl.” He stroked Psychke’s head and cheeks affectionately. This wasn’t bad, even if it meant going back a bit.After all, sending her to the north had been worth it. Now all she had to do was find the mark from Lestir, give it to Shia to activate, and it was all over.…… Or so he thought.He heard urgent footsteps coming down the hallway.The Emperor turned reflexively, his brow furrowed, and he was gone as quickly as a candle in the wind.He ran away.In a flash, Psychke was left standing on the balcony. Standing still, the curtains were ripped open after a moment. “Princess!” It was Verndia. ***Verndia’s eyes shook staring at Psychke, heaving sharp breath. Her back was turned away from him. At last, he finally found where she was.It took him a long time to be able to find her in this maze-like castle. Earlier, a strange sensation woke him up from his slumber then he proceeded to wake Psychke which was all in vain no matter how he attempted to do so.For a moment, he was so frightened that her heart sank.But then he remembered the dream she told him. ‘She said she was walking through the halls of this castle.’ He wandered around the castle, in the hopes he would see her, just in case.And finally, he found her. “Princess.” The word mingled with his breath as he called her. He called her twice, but she didn’t look at him, rather at the snow outside; seemingly couldn’t avert her eyes from it.Her body was as opaque as a ghost. Only her mind or soul had escaped, and it was scarred like glass rolling across a stone floor.This was the reason why Suin said she smelled like winter. ‘It looked like she was talking with someone.’ He swept his gaze around but it was only her in the balcony. Possibly, the person she was talking to hear his footsteps and fled. Whatever the case was, it was time to return.He reached out for Psychke.He helplessly watched as she stared at the snow. This…. “Princess. Princess?” No matter how many times he called, she didn’t move. Does he need to wait until daylight? Moreover, was it okay for her to watch snow fall like that? He doesn’t think this was right, but anyhow, the problem was how to get her attention when she looked like she was in a daze.Since he couldn’t touch her, he was left with words.Verndia spits out the first words that come to mind. “Princess, rat bean? Psychke. Rielle? Glorielle. Silkisia.” At the word ‘Silkisia,’ she moved with the tiniest of tremors, barely noticeable to the untrained eye. ‘Is she reacting to this word?’ Verndia tried again. “Silkisia?” This time there was a definite response. Psychke turned her head and saw him. Her eyes unfocused, she pursed her lips. “… Who?”“This is crazy.” He was not certain if she’d return to her normal self by daylight.  Frustrated, Verndia dried his face. “Don’t you know who I am, Verndia? Verndia Lestir. Princess… No, Silkisia’s fiancé. The one who loves Silkisia.”“Lestir?” Her dazed eyes widened, a reaction far more intense than the one she’d had when she’d heard ‘Silkisia’.But then, as if on cue, she stuttered. “No, Lestir wouldn’t say that, he hates me.”“Why would I hate a princess, Silkisia?” Psychke looked up at him wordlessly, her eyes watering. Then she closed her eyes and disappeared without warning.There was so much wistfulness in her eyes as she gazed at him, that Verndia could not for a moment look away from the spot where she had disappeared. * * * “Do you know who I am?” Psychke had just awakened and was sitting up in her doll’s bed.A pale faced Verkdia spoke up. She wondered why she hadn’t gotten any sleep.More importantly, why is he asking her that question? “Don’t you know who I am?”“The Duke of Lestir.”“So, you know.” She looked relaxed thus he heaved a relieved breath. When he returned from the balcony, she was sleeping soundly, and he even debated whether or not to wake her up. “Do you remember what you did last night?”“No. I had another weird dream, but did I attack the Duke?”“No. When you left your body, you cheated with someone else.” The muffled voice that had been talking to Psychke belonged to a man, and he joked lightly.Flustered, Psychke couldn’t find the words.Seeing the look on his face, Verndia burst out laughing. “The cheating is a joke, and leaving your body experience was real.”“Then.”“It was not a dream.” He added that there were no light blue curtains on the balcony, which seemed to have been distorted by her perception of it as a dream. “I’m still checking into it, but I think we should keep sharing the same bedroom for now.” He said he wanted her to stay with him until things were sorted out so that he could check in on her whenever she had a strange feeling. She felt sorry for disrupting his sleep, which he told her not to bother. She couldn’t do much anything about it, so she reluctantly complied and slid off the bed. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave you to it, you look tired and I think you should get some sleep.“No, I’ve put off everything I had scheduled for this morning. I’m just going to catch a few hours of sleep, and don’t think of leaving, I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth.”“I won’t.” The terse answer didn’t reassure him.After assuring him that she wouldn’t think of anything strange while he was asleep, Verndia went to bed.But less than an hour later, he was up again. “Psychke-!” It was Lillian Silkisia, who had come to Lestir in a frenzy of excitement.