No Matter What You Look Like (4)

“In addition, there is actually a way to deal with it even if it does break one day.”

“How do you deal with it then?”

“I didn’t bring it along for now, but there is an ancient magic tool that can defend against the power of the Werewolves……”

Kergel looked at Roelin while blurring the end of his words. She stared at him with great concentration before throwing a questionable glance when he didn’t really finish speaking up. He soon continued while facing her gaze directly.

“Of course, using the magic tool is not a perfect way. Instead, it’s just a means that you can use to temporarily suppress the force. To completely stop the wolves’ power…… we need the power of the ‘companion’.”

“……the power of the companion?”

Roelin listened to him quietly and narrowed her brows to the word ‘companion’ that could be heard in his words.

A companion.

It was such a familiar word. All because it had been a word that he often used to refer to herself.

In addition, on the day of the wedding itself, there was a separate ceremony that was called the companion ceremony as well……

‘The cry of the wolves which I heard back then……’

Wolves. Companion.

It all seemed to finally come together. Kergel, who was looking at Roelin’s blue eyes that were growing bigger, opened his mouth again in order to tell about the rest of the story.

“Only a companion can prevent the breakdown if the seal were to be unexpectedly broken. And that can only be you, Roelin.”

“………why is it so?”

Roelin looked at him with her confused eyes. Then, the color of her face soon began to fade out slowly.

“Then…… the real reason you had to send the proposal to Rakain…”

“Yes.”

Kergel replied with a nod to the question that Roelin had not yet finished. Then, he added another thing too.

“Plus, the descendants of the Werewolves can only see their future lineage with their own companions.”

“……!”

“Is it that terrible? The fact that you’re already married to someone who is not completely human?”

Kergel looked at Roelin’s pale face and calmly asked while he was actually trying to suppress the pain that had been jabbing in his heart.

Now, he had already told her of everything.

He had revealed every single thing that he actually wanted to hide in front of her.

Now what was left had been her own choice. He felt that his mouth was dry, but he pretended to be calm as he waited for her answer. However, there were only other thoughts lingering in Roelin’s head.

A companion.

The only thing that could stop a seal when it was broken.

And to this man…… the only woman who could bear his children.

That fact suddenly weighed heavily on her shoulder. Roelin bit her trembling lips once before she began to ask him slowly.

“……what if I’m not actually that ‘companion’?”

She recalled the day when she had gone back to Cainbert’s tomb. Over there, he declared that he would be choosing his own partner. So, she didn’t have to worry about anything at all, he said.

He was leaning against the horse before he turned away. There was the possibility that the figure of the painting on the stone wall in Cainbert’s tomb might have been her twin sister—and not herself.

She had forgotten so as she relied on the fact that he had chosen herself……

But the problem had now appeared again right in front of her.

Moreover, it was with a greater weight that she had never even imagined before.

With the lingering truth that if she was not truly the ‘companion’, they would then be taking away not only the well-being of the Empire itself, but the opportunity of having to see a child from this man as well.

“What if it’s actually my sister—and not me—who is the real ‘companion’…”

“I’ve already told you about this. I had fully confirmed it through the companion ceremony.”

“But…”

“Even if that’s not the case still, I’ve told you that my partner will only be you, the one whom I chose. Have you forgotten about that already?”

“That’s true, but……”

Roelin answered while shaking her head slowly. Then, Kergel went on once again.

“Or do I, right now, seem that terrible?”

“……!”

Roelin couldn’t take control of her confused mind, but she instantly woke up to Kergel’s words and eventually looked at him. She could see that he was smiling ever so bitterly at that moment.

Perhaps he thought that she hated the fact that he was a descendant of the Wolves.

“No, I…… I didn’t mean it like that……”

“It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings. It’d be hard to accept that I’m no longer the same person. Moreover… I have also seen it myself, the me who has changed, with my own eyes.”

Kergel opened his mouth at Roelin while feeling utterly embarrassed. Roelin wanted to answer with something, but her mouth wouldn’t easily fall apart from that feeling still.

She couldn’t even figure out what she truly wanted to say too.

As she only stared at him with such confused eyes, Kergel smiled vaguely as if he had understood the silence and turned away.

His back appeared so lonely. Roelin unwittingly reached for him. Nevertheless, her hand simply grabbed a hold of the air as it was and slowly dangled down.

She couldn’t catch him without properly organizing her own mind. She just couldn’t do anything rashly until she was able to answer him in some way or another.

Roelin put her hands neatly on her knees and hung down her head.