Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 22

Jane always paid attention to Ian taking his medicine. She said he had to take it diligently to avoid shortening his lifespan. Ian also disliked the pain that came occasionally, so he took the medicine she prepared without complaint. But now there was no need for that.

A world without her had no meaning at all.

He neither ate nor slept, only staring at the glass container holding Jane’s body until he lost consciousness from exhaustion.

Each time, he dreamed.

His dreams, which had always been ambiguous, were becoming clearer, perhaps because he had stopped taking the medicine. Sometimes he saw the past, sometimes the future.

Some events had already happened, some had not yet occurred. Ian wished to keep wandering in his dreams. It was only in dreams that he could see Jane whole, even if not always.

“But it’s really strange. They say this charcoal lump is Jane, so why are you smiling in my dreams?”

The dream he had during his brief loss of consciousness today was clearer than ever. It was definitely something that had not happened yet.

In the dream, Ian was in the imperial banquet hall. It was an event attended by many people, and he was staring blankly ahead.

Jane was there. For some reason, Jane was kneeling at the Emperor’s feet.

Ian was surprised because Jane had never met the Emperor before. If it wasn’t something that happened in the past, then that dream must be speaking of the future.

But how could she, who had died, be at the Emperor’s feet? Why her?

Soon the Emperor left, and she who had been kneeling stood up. Their eyes met. Jane faced him with a surprised expression.

She looked different from how Ian knew her. Her face was still full of life as he remembered, but her attire was unlike her usual self.

Unlike her usual tight ponytail, her long hair was let down in curls, with pearl and velvet-decorated hairpins on both sides.

In contrast to her usual rough, dark-colored clothes, she was wearing a dress made of shiny and soft material.

‘Could she be wearing a shroud?’

Usually, when holding a funeral, people dress the deceased in more precious clothes than when they were alive. But the clothes she wore seemed more like party attire than a shroud. It was strange.

Looking surprised, she gave Ian a bright smile. It was as if she was welcoming him.

“I don’t know if this means I’ll die and see you… or if you’ll really come to find me…”

If the charcoal lump before him was really Jane, she couldn’t appear there, in such a perfect form.

Ian thought the day he would meet her would be the day he died. In his current state, it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment.

“That wouldn’t be so bad either.”

If it was her coming to take his dead soul, he would grasp her hand without hesitation, even gladly. Thinking he might be able to meet Jane made him smile. Even the piercing pain that had been coursing through his body seemed to disappear.

“Your Highness, if this continues, something terrible will happen. So please, at least the soup I brought…”

Ian knocked away the tray that Simons, the head servant, had brought. The dishes rolled on the floor and broke, but Ian paid no attention and buried his face in the glass container.

He knew well that the servants were anxious, wondering if the Crown Prince they served had gone mad.

It was no wonder they thought so, seeing him rummage through the fire scene with bare hands, preserve the burned body found there in a glass container, and stare at it without eating or sleeping.

Let them think he’s gone mad. No, maybe he had already gone mad.

Ian didn’t care what they thought. Their thoughts meant nothing to him anyway.

The only being that had meaning for him had disappeared, and his time had stopped as well.

As I was busy with stricter education than before, time really flew by in an instant, and the day of the banquet arrived.

From early dawn, I had to prepare to attend the banquet hall.

Usually, I changed clothes more than twice a day and put effort into grooming, but today was different. As I was participating in the largest imperial banquet among all banquets, there were many things to pay attention to.

To follow the current fashion trends in high society, with the help of a maid, I added curls to my pink hair and inserted pearl and velvet-decorated hairpins on both sides of my head.

I wore a dress made of soft silk velvet material with lots of lace and ruffles, puffed up greatly around the hips, and wore a pearl necklace.

It was excessively splendid. It seemed that the current fashion was to bury oneself in accessories to the point where facial features were barely visible.

The dress was beautiful, but equally uncomfortable to wear. Especially, in contrast to emphasizing the puffed backside, to make the waist look slender, I wore a corset that squeezed my ribs so tightly I almost screamed.

Still, I moved my body this way and that in front of the mirror. It certainly wasn’t a good outfit for activities. Well, the restriction of movement… It wouldn’t matter since I wasn’t going to be jumping around.

The reflection in the mirror was truly beautiful.

I thought my face would be buried and invisible due to the extravagant outfit and accessories, but perhaps because Claire’s small face had large, distinct features – eyes, nose, and mouth – that asserted themselves well, it actually suited me.

If fairies really existed, wouldn’t they look like this?

It was strange to fall for my own reflection in the mirror, but since I wasn’t yet used to Claire’s appearance, I could admire it objectively, as if looking at someone else.

“It really suits you well.”

Ileana also nodded with a satisfied expression upon seeing my adorned appearance.

She, too, had put more effort into her attire today than usual.

With her golden hair, which shone brightly like a wheat field basking in warm sunlight, twisted up, she added to her allure by wearing a pale green dress that complemented her pale skin.

She originally had a light-colored mole near her lips, but today she emphasized it by adding ink. It was captivating, harmonizing with her red-painted lips.

Her appearance reminded one of a succubus said to appear in men’s dreams to seduce them. At this level, I thought even I, a woman, could fall for her.

“It’s already this late. Let’s quickly get in the carriage. We shouldn’t arrive too early, but we can’t be too late either.”

Though we had been preparing since dawn, the sun was already setting. I had wondered why we started preparing so early for an evening banquet, but it seemed unavoidable given how time-consuming the grooming process was.

I boarded the carriage with her.

“Lady Caton says your dancing has become very proficient. She praised Claire a lot, saying your movements have become more natural than before you lost your memory.”

Lady Caton had looked tired even before she started teaching me to dance. It seemed Claire had been quite clumsy and tone-deaf.

When asked to teach dance, she responded with bewilderment, saying, “How about giving up on dancing? I think even if young lady Claire were to become a wallflower, it wouldn’t be a flaw.”

I was puzzled to see the teacher, who had been so diligent in teaching me etiquette, give up so easily before even starting to teach dance. It seemed the original Claire had been extremely uncoordinated.

When I asked her to teach me slowly, as if teaching a child, she taught me each step with a resigned expression.

“I thought it would be awkward, but once I started learning, it was quite fun.”

I had been nervous seeing Lady Caton’s reaction, thinking dance might be quite difficult, but I was able to learn more easily than expected.

Jokingly, I felt as if I had discovered a new talent I hadn’t noticed before. It was fun to move my body and step in time with the music.

Lady Caton joked that I must have sold my soul to the devil as she watched me dance.

It seems Claire’s dancing skills had truly been atrocious. I was secretly hoping someone might ask me to dance today. I had practiced hard, so I wanted to use it at least once.

“You’ve practiced the investiture ceremony a lot too, so you’ll do well.”

While preparing for the banquet, we put more emphasis on the investiture ceremony than on dancing. Since I would be directly receiving the title from the Emperor, we put extra effort into learning the proper etiquette.

This was the first time a woman would receive a title in the Kalovanian Empire. Therefore, there were differing opinions on what etiquette should be followed.

While titles are now given for various reasons, in the past, the investiture ceremony was a formal event that only took place between the king and knights. Therefore, it followed the etiquette of knights.

The essence was that when a knight knelt on one knee before the king, the master would draw his sword, touch it once on both shoulders and the head, and then hand that sword to the knight.

Even as time passed and those who weren’t knights began to receive titles for their achievements, this procedure remained unchanged.

However, it was unreasonable to follow those movements exactly while wearing a dress that restricted movement. So it was decided to reference the empress’s coronation ceremony.

The empress’s coronation involved kneeling before the emperor, bowing one’s head, and having a small crown placed on top.

There was talk of placing a small tiara instead of a crown, but this part was modified due to insufficient time to create a tiara.

Even for a small tiara, it couldn’t be made carelessly if it was to be produced by the imperial family, and there were also issues of fairness.