I Was Told to Drink Poison, So I Drank It - 18 - Just Teased
In the library, even though we found many books that seemed relevant, there was no important information at all.
Only in one book that seemed useful, we found this:
“Forest of Utis – Also called the Forbidden Forest. The Forest of Twilight.”
…That’s what it said.
Twilight…?
Is it connected to evening?
I opened the hardcover book on the desk and thought quietly.
The sun was already starting to set.
Twilight… must be referring to this exact time of day.
Trying not to look strange, I turned around to the window where Louis was standing guard and asked:
“Louis. Is it evening now?”
He seemed a little surprised at the sudden question but nodded calmly right away.
“Yes.”
“It’s also called twilight, right?”
“Twilight…”
Then, as if remembering something, he whispered:
“Louis?”
“…Ah, I’m sorry. I just remembered something my older brother told me when I was little…”
Louis’s brother, James Ziler, used to be my knight.
But Henry took him, and now he serves as Stella’s knight, or so I heard.
When Louis talked about his childhood, I was reminded again that I had made him abandon his home.
Louis can’t go back to the Ziler family anymore. He can’t talk with his brother like he used to.
He left the royal knights without permission.
Even though he had sworn his sword to the royal family, Louis betrayed the king.
It was me who put him in such a painful position.
I am responsible for his life.
My life from now on is not just my own.
I have a responsibility to Louis, who gave up everything for me—
I am not in a position to live freely.
I have to take responsibility for making him give up everything.
At the very least, I want to give something back to him.
I don’t yet know what that might be, but—
As I watched Louis, urging him to go on, he quietly began to speak:
“Twilight comes from the phrase ‘Who are you?’—because it’s a time when you can’t tell who someone is by their face.”
“Who are you…”
“Forest that confuses people”
“Forest of no one”
“Forbidden forest”
And then—Forest of Twilight.
“…In the Forest of Utis, you can’t tell who someone is…?”
I suddenly remembered what Prince Lawrence said.
‘According to the report, Victoire’s side… was going to attack.’
‘The forest of illusions… is a forest that hides the truth from others.’
In the Forest of Utis… could allies end up attacking allies by mistake?
Or, could people go into confusion and forget who’s friend or enemy?
If that’s the effect of the magical energy filling the Forest of Utis—
As I stayed silent, a loud voice came from nearby.
“You two! Are you researching the Forest of Utis?!”
I looked, and across from me, on the other side of the desk, an old woman sat in a chair.
She pointed at the book I had opened.
“Let me tell you something. Don’t go near that forest.”
“…Why do you say that?”
I asked cautiously and quietly.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at me, then at Louis standing behind me—
“You two, are you lovers?”
“HUH!?”
“No. We are not.”
Louis shouted in shock, and I answered calmly.
Even I was surprised to hear such a loud voice from usually quiet Louis.
When both of us responded, the old woman nodded to herself like she understood something.
“Ah, how nice. So young.”
“We’re siblings.”
When I said that, the old woman looked disappointed.
“Oh really? That’s boring.”
“So… can you tell us more about what you said earlier? Is the Forest of Utis dangerous?”
“Dangerous doesn’t even begin to describe it! That forest confuses people!!”
Suddenly, she shouted.
While I blinked in surprise, the old woman stared closely at both me and Louis, then said:
“Listen. Whether you’re siblings, lovers, or even married… you’ll forget everything. There are fairies living in that forest.”
“F-Fairies? That’s just a superstition…”
I couldn’t help but twitch at the strange word, but the old woman held her hand out as if to say, I know what you’re thinking.
“Yes, yes. Fairies don’t exist. But when people go into that forest, they all lose it somehow. That’s true. If you care about your life, stay away from that forest.”
—With that, she left.
Louis and I looked at each other.
Then, at the same time, we spoke:
“Do we really look like lovers, even when we’re standing this far apart…?”
“What could really be in that forest…?”
We both said totally different things—and ended up staring at each other.
Then, realizing what he had just said, Louis quickly spoke to explain:
“N-No! I’m sorry. I was just genuinely curious. I mean, we’re standing this far apart, and she thought we were lovers? Wouldn’t we just look like friends or acquaintances?”
He spoke so fast and strongly that I was a little overwhelmed.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought much of his words, but maybe Louis, who served as a royal knight for a long time, thought he had made a mistake.
If I were still queen, maybe what he said would be a problem—
But right now, I’m just Chalize. A commoner with no title.
That’s why I thought, there’s no need for him to panic so much…
“S-So yeah. She said we were boring, which must mean it would’ve been more interesting if we were lovers, right? She was just teasing us for fun.”
When I said that gently, Louis opened his eyes wide.
“Th-That’s…”
Then Louis froze again.
A few seconds later, he finally moved.
He covered his mouth with his hand and looked away.
“…Yes. You’re right. I’m sorry… I overreacted.”
It looked like he had calmed down.
Finally, he seemed to be back to his usual self.
His eyes and ears were still a little red—but I pretended not to notice.
“It’s fine. More importantly, we got a useful clue about the forest. Louis. There’s definitely something in that forest.”