The Impact of the Author's Intervention on a Blank Page - Chapter 23
“…Therefore, I would like to request my brother’s permission.”
Ja-hyun was in a private audience with his brother. When he’d expressed his desire to meet and tried to drag his worn-out body to the study, the servants had been quite troubled before finally calling for the Grand Duke.
Thinking that conversing from bed wasn’t the best idea, he’d moved to the sofa in the corner of his spacious room with the servants’ support. Buried deep in the sofa with a large outer coat covering him, he earnestly explained to his brother why he needed to leave.
“I plan to visit Silveron’s capital for a few days to investigate the source of those rumors. If the rumors are true, that would be beneficial, and if not, at least we’ll know about potential threats in advance.”
‘Dawn’s Night Prayer’ was a world that had rushed toward destruction before time was turned back. Of course, the world’s blueprint being torn in half was probably the main reason for its destruction.
‘So you’re saying the webtoon artist vanished after only releasing 30 chapters?’
Well, it was something like that, he thought.
Though he wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, from what the operator had said, it seemed the readers had gone into chaos afterward, and this world, which had been progressing based on that story, had lost its way.
But that couldn’t be everything. If incomplete blueprints automatically led to a world’s destruction, no world in this universe would survive. They say there are even rare worlds created from messy daydreams.
While there were many reasons for the world ending up like this, there were several notable problems. For example, the war-obsessed emperor who ended up ascending to the throne, or the militant heretic faction that was no different from an armed criminal organization.
No, first things first – he needed to find Planche, feed her something delicious, dress her in fine clothes, and send her to the capital of either the Empire or Izatrix. Making her completely uninterested in graduate school was the top priority. This was something that needed to be done even without the quest demanding it.
In the original story, Planche and Lucas were in Silveron’s capital, the kingdom of magic, at the beginning. It was where Planche, who had been wandering and searching for survival after her family’s downfall, discovered her magical talents that she’d hidden since childhood due to her family’s mistreatment. It was also where she met Lucas, who was a soldier.
Ja-hyun spoke earnestly, trying to convince his brother who had been listening silently with an expressionless face.
‘While I thought the rumors of a cure-all medicine were absurd, my mage friend there says there’s some truth to it. I need to go there to hear the detailed story from them.’
The story Ja-hyun used to convince his brother was half-truth, half-lie. The tale of a cure-all medicine possessed by some strange emerging religion was indeed from the original story. But of course, the mage friend was a lie. It was a story fabricated to meet Planche.
Though the story was flimsy, being constructed from injected settings and read stories rather than his own memories, Ja-hyun wasn’t worried. His brother was in the same situation as him anyway. If he spoke naturally, it would work.
‘Ah, my head hurts. If my brother were completely fine without any penalties, he would have taken me there without all this trouble…’
‘……’
Ja-hyun shifted his gaze from some arbitrary point to look at his silent brother. It felt awkward seeing his brother not smiling at him – it had been so long.
His brother, who had narrowed and then opened his eyes as if in thought, stood up and approached. The marble floor and the ceiling, higher than that of a normal house, made his footsteps echo loudly.
“You’ve been so well-behaved all this time.”
His brother’s expression hadn’t changed much, but his voice was a bit softer. Perhaps because they were alone, his noble-like way of speaking had become more casual.
“…Why, I wonder, did you suddenly want to go out….”
His brother bent down in front of him and reached out to cup his cheek. Ja-hyun leaned into his brother’s palm. It was unconscious, reflexive. Because it had always been that way.
He started to raise his hand to place it over his brother’s, but belatedly came to his senses and hesitantly lowered it again. His brother’s hand felt warmer than his own body temperature, making him feel strange.
He thought he hadn’t been paying attention while trying to adapt to this situation, but it seems he had been a bit lonely. In the past, he wouldn’t have even had such thoughts. His brother had definitely spoiled him completely. His brother should take responsibility for making him this way, but since his brother was under the penalty’s influence, there was nothing to say.
