# 4
"H, really! I'll just hold your hand! Just the hand, I promise!"
Angelica's voice, a trembling supplicant, shook endlessly.
Hugo glanced at her. Even though she couldn't see anything, she was moving her head with obvious tension, as if she was watching her surroundings very carefully.
“If I refuse, you'll stay like this all night, right?”
Not sleeping one night wouldn't pose much risk to her. She had already spent four days without sleep.
But Hugo couldn't refuse her request just because it was inconvenient for him.
Her hands clenched tightly onto him, as if it were her last means of escape, and the panic on her face was not something he could easily ignore. She was the first person ever to cling to him like that for safety, rather than tremble in fear of him.
“Do whatever you want.”
Finally, Hugo Bernstein gave an answer that would make him uncomfortable all night.
"Thank you!"
Angelica did not realize anything of what was on his mind, as her face lit up with undisguised joy.
For the first time, Hugo saw her smile.
'So, she can smile like that? '
After spending the past days seeing her pale face full of worry or tears, this smile seemed like something foreign to him.
Unconsciously, he began to look at her features closely.
Her cheeks, glowing under the moonlight, looked completely different than ever. Her eyes, which curved gently with her smile, gave her a special charm.
But what caught his attention most—
“…….”
The color of her eyes was crimson, which, although identical to his own, seemed to have a completely different feel to it.
Then remember the emperor's words about “the eye of the sage.”
“The sage’s eye is easy to recognize, as it loses its original color and becomes transparent when it wakes up.”
It reflects all the colors of the world, just like the all-knowing sage…but there was someone who wasn't….Winter Krenfel. It is said that he preserved the color of the eyes of the woman he loved, as if he had engraved her in his own eyes. Strange, isn't it?
He remembered how the Emperor spoke with uncharacteristic enthusiasm about him, then his features turned into a sly smile.
“I heard an interesting theory—if a sage’s eyes were dyed with someone else’s color, he would never be able to escape from them.”
“It won't just be an inscription, it will be a shackle.”
“If that were true, then the sage was probably the happiest person in the world.”
“Hugo, can’t we restrain the Duke’s daughter in the same way?”
Chain, huh...
Hugo muttered unconsciously.
He didn't believe in those myths. How can a simple eye color be a limitation?
To him, shackle was something entirely different—cold chains piercing skin, or the cursed seal of slavery.
He grew up in the harsh winters of the North, learned to fight before he learned to read, and spent his life killing monsters and savage humans.
“So, Cain, you’d better find another way before I get to the empire.”
A realistic method, not a meaningless myth.
“Anyway, I'm sure you will.”
Hugo pushed those thoughts out of his head and closed his eyes. He still had a full month to protect her before he got there.
But as soon as he closed his eyes—
“Um… are you awake?”
Angelica's voice came hesitantly, as she fiddled with the hand she was holding.
As usual, he silently ignored her.
But, contrary to his expectations—
“No.”
The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
He had a look of astonishment on his features, annoyed with himself, while Angelica… her features shone as if she had obtained a treasure.
"Great! I wasn't sleepy anyway, and now I have someone to talk to!"
As the howls of distant wolves echoed in her ears, sleep had long since escaped her.
❈❈❈
Just before, while Hugo was lost in thoughts of the Eye of the Sage—
Angelica was struggling to push the fear out of her mind, desperately trying to count the sheep to sleep.
But, as expected, her fertile imagination spoiled it.
Whenever I imagine sheep, I remember the story of the shepherd. And from the shepherd, I thought of wolves... What a terrible idea in this situation!
After thirty minutes of unsuccessfully trying to sleep, she started thinking about something else—
The man who kidnapped her.
“He is a very strange person.”
How many times had she felt shocked when his body touched hers? Everything about him was majestic...his size, his strength, his voice.
However, his attendance was surprisingly small.
No breath, no sound of footsteps, even when he picked her up and walked, she wasn't sure whether she touched the ground or not.
“He's more like a professional killer...”
Sometimes she felt in awe of it, but she couldn't deny a strange sense of relief as well.
Even if he decided to hurt her, she felt like she wouldn't realize it until it was too late.
Although this thought should have terrified her—
“……If this man is with me, I think I will be safe even after a hundred years.”
Her kidnapper was strangely contradictory—tender in places she least expected, and rough in others.
“What's the point of bringing candy and clean water if you're going to treat me like I'm just a bag?”
His touches were incredibly dry, even completely random.
However, there was no ill will in it.
Which made her stop being wary of him completely, and that caution was replaced by feelings of curiosity.
“Why is his hand so huge? He must be taller than 190 cm.”
“And his voice was so deep…”
He spoke in a dry, sharp way, just like any northern duke in romance novels.
“And speaking of the Northern Dukes, I must mention Hugo.”
In fact, I noticed that he looked a lot like Hugo.
“Especially his strange personality.”
He wasn't a warm person, but he was honest.
And that honesty made him seem interesting in a strange way.
“What does his face look like?”
Did he have a stern, imposing appearance? Or was he breathtakingly handsome?
“But from his build and voice, I think he will look imposing.”
While she was thinking, she suddenly realized that she didn't know his name yet.
'Tra...what's his name?' '
Would it be rude to ask him now? Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow.
But I couldn't resist my curiosity on that quiet night, so I finally decided to ask him.
A long time passed, and I thought he had fallen asleep, but...
“No.”
The man answered gently as if he was waiting for my question. I smiled and wanted to say:
“I know it's a surprising question, but what's your name? I can't keep calling you 'you'.”
“…….”
“Is he asleep again?”
The man's silence was so long that I thought he had gone back to sleep.
But at that moment, when I felt a yawn creeping up on me, he finally answered:
“Hugo, princess.”
Only then did he tell me his name.
“Strange name, isn't it?”
I thought to myself, then suddenly laughed.
Was he called Hugo too? I'm not sure, but the name was so similar that I laughed.
It was funny that I started to find a lot of similarities between the kidnapper and Hugo. It was only a fleeting moment, and yet I felt as if I was getting unnaturally close to him.
“Of course, this is not normal.”
I shook my head sarcastically.
Weiguo looked at me intently as I laughed, so I asked:
“Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing, I just felt the name was very appropriate.”
My smile did not contain any sarcasm or joke, it was just a sincere smile.
“…….”
This time, Weiguo couldn't take his eyes off me.
I wasn't sure how he felt, maybe he was confused.
But I felt as if he was encountering a whole new being.
How could someone like that show an innocent smile while holding his hands full of scars?
“Can I ask you another question on the occasion of learning your name?”
She didn't care if her behavior was strange, but she continued talking without hesitation.
It's amazing how a human can adapt so quickly, despite her status as a kidnapped princess, and continues to speak without any barriers.
At that moment,
As if it were an empty glass ball, its gaze appeared glowing red.
“Hugo.”
It was strange.
Her eyes were still blind, yet it felt like she was looking directly at me.
The red color in her eyes hit Hugo's quiet wall, as if a small stone had fallen on it.
They said that “when a sage’s eyes are dyed with color, a person cannot escape its influence.”
Why was this power arousing people like this?
Perhaps the Emperor and Cain's words were wrong.
“Hugo, how tall are you?”
“…I never measured it.”
"But you must be very tall. How did you get these scars on your hand? I'm curious."
“These scars are from the war I participated in when I was nineteen.”
"Were you scared? Were you okay? Does it hurt now? Or, by the way, are you a fencing master? Hugo, you really are an amazing person! And…scars? They're like medals, right? Why do you hate them? Sometimes, people who look scary can be cute. Hugo is like that too. Honestly, you're fun."
Maybe he was the one who couldn't escape.
Because He had revealed everything before Me, He left everything exposed to Me.
Red lights danced in the moonlight, her eyes were like curved crescents, and her mouth smiled with laughter.
Here Hugo discovered for the first time that the color red could be very beautiful.
Her whispers and laughter continued without stopping.
As if she had completely forgotten the moment she was afraid and worried about him.
After a day of waking up, all her hostile feelings had faded away, and she smiled a little.
But Hugo was in such a state that he couldn't smile.
Angelica had completely forgotten where she was deep in the forest, or even that the wolves were howling outside.
Even though he knew this, Hugo could not let go of her hand, as if an invisible force was pulling him towards her.
It remained until the next morning, unchanged.
It was a really strange night.
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