By Some Unbelievable Twist, I Became the Villainess’s Older Brother - Chapter 30.1
After Enoch Laochenes saved the Crown Prince, fell from his horse, and remained unconscious for some time, the Saint saw the brightest star in the heavens fall toward the Laochenes ducal residence.
Finding this far from ordinary, he asked God about it. As always, God gave him an answer.
The soul now inhabiting Enoch Laochenes’s body was not the true Enoch Laochenes. Moreover, whoever made him theirs would become an unprecedentedly wise and benevolent sovereign.
The Saint told only the First Princess. This meant even the Emperor did not yet know.
It could not have been otherwise. The Saint did not support the Emperor’s choice. The Emperor had long since chosen someone other than the First Princess as Crown Prince.
Of course, the Saint did not particularly desire turmoil. The problem was that an ancestor of House Bechenian, the birth family of the Crown Prince’s mother, the Second Empress, had been the Founding Emperor’s sworn brother and one of the meritorious retainers who helped found the Empire. The power of her family was likewise immense.
In other words, the Crown Prince had formidable backing. Unless something extraordinary happened, the imperial throne would ultimately be his.
But the Saint did not want that. Neither did the First Princess. Droplets of water clung to her fingertips as they brushed a rose.
‘If Enoch Laochenes insists upon seeing proof, there is no reason you cannot show him. Simply tell him this…’
A smile appeared on the First Princess’s lips as she spoke aloud the words the Saint had taught her.
Then it happened. Raindrops suddenly began to fall.
When she raised her head, she saw the clear sky darkening once again.
“Another storm is coming.”
And that was precisely what she desired.
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‘What does he mean?’
Adelio’s radiant smile as he looked at Enoch was almost painfully dazzling. If his eyes hadn’t remained so sharp, Enoch might have believed the man was whispering words of love.
Enoch repeated Adelio’s words in his mind and swallowed dryly. He couldn’t understand what they meant, but Adelio did not seem to have said them lightly.
Enoch considered the matter for a moment. Somewhere in the real Enoch’s memories, there must be something about Adelio.
Something from their childhood, in particular. A memory from before Adelio departed for the west.
Adelio glanced at Enoch, then rose from the bed. But Enoch was lost in thought and did not notice.
Only when Adelio sat beside him did Enoch finally notice him and flinch. Before he could draw away, however, Adelio’s delicate fingers lifted his chin.
Adelio’s eyes slowly traveled over Enoch’s face.
“How truly strange. Your face is plainly the same as it was when you were a child…”
Enoch pressed his lips firmly together. That day they spent together. What in the world had happened between them? It did not seem likely to have been anything simple.
At that moment, Enoch abruptly furrowed his brow. Could what happened that day be part of the reason Adelio had someone watching him?
…But was he not far too close? At the sudden thought, Enoch blinked rapidly.
His heart somehow seemed to be pounding. To hide the turmoil in his emotions, Enoch avoided Adelio’s eyes.
But the instant he did, Adelio smiled mischievously and took firm hold of Enoch’s chin.
“Why don’t you remember me, Enoch? Have you truly forgotten that day?”
“…Your Highness. You said you already knew that I lost some of my memories after the accident.”
“Yes. Though naturally, if I hadn’t figured it out, you would never have told me.”
“That is…”
He was not wrong. This uncannily perceptive man.
“Hm. Hm. It seems you really don’t remember. Shall I give you one hint?”
“……”
“That was the day of the First Empress’s birthday banquet.”
The First Empress was the Emperor’s deceased first wife. The birth mother of the First Princess and the First Prince.
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