Future chapters will be posted there

"......Kylan. You must leave for the Lepallon Empire."

His father said, his voice choked with phlegm, barely able to breathe. Kylan stared at his father on the bed in disbelief.

"What do you mean, father?"

At the question, the Count of Hebron struggled to speak again, choking back a raging cough.

"......ha, ha, ha............. Your mother was a spy, a fugitive from the Lepallon Empire."

Kylan's face went blank at Count Hebron's words.

‘My mother, the one with the black hair and red eyes, whose face is now a blur. The one who looked so much like me............ the one who loved me endlessly as a child was a spy?'

She was gone before Kylan could speak.

He was dumbfounded that his father, who had never spoken of her before, was suddenly talking about her. And a spy?

"What the hell are you talking about, father?"

"I'm sorry I'm just now telling you.......... But Kylan. You need to go back to Lepallon, or else, ha. Sooner or later, not only you, but the rest of your family could be............... killed."

"..."

"It was ......... your mother's will. We don’t know what's going to happen to you when you grow up. They're coming for you, at any moment................."

"If my mother died, then..."

 "Yes. She was taken back to her home country."

"..."

"Your mother begged them to her last breath, to let you live a normal life in this country. She left you here and traveled to Lepallon instead, where I believe she died."

"..."

"And I thought that was the end of it. But recently, spies from that country came to me............"

Count Hebron paused, unable to continue as his breathing became ragged. Kylan sat still as if his thoughts had stopped, unable to process the enormity of what had come out of his father's mouth.

"When you come of age, you must return to Lepallon. This, too, was given to me by your mother."

"..."

Kylan took the necklace from his father's hand. It was a necklace with an oddly patterned gemstone, with half of the pendant broken off.

"Son, I'm sorry I hid it from you all these years. I was a father who loved you, but I guess I was never good enough for you............"

After his father finished speaking,Kylan walked out of his father's bedroom, where he slept soundly.

Kylan did not sleep that night. Until the first light of dawn, he held the necklace he'd received from his father up to the light.

After thinking over his father's words several times, he understood his predicament and his situation.

And only then did the meaningful words Yuris had spoken to him begin to make sense.

"Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Give me a reason, Yuris."

"You'll find out for yourself soon enough."

"Yuris................ Did you know all along?

"Yuris, what's wrong with you, you've suddenly changed so much lately............ I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do anything, Kylan. You'll get busy with your life soon enough, and I'll leave you to it."

‘Is this why you pushed me away so suddenly?’

Kylan sat on the window sill, looking out in a daze. The dawn was beginning to turn purple. The capital city was a far cry from the manor he'd left behind.

From the first rays of dawn, the capital was bustling with activity. Factories were already spewing smoke from their chimneys.

Merchants pulling carts bustled through the streets. The waves of the beautiful Rhine River, which ran through the capital, reflected a pale reddish glow.

"For the sake of your brother Eisen and your stepmother, you should leave. Your presence here will endanger not only you, but the rest of your family."

Kylan closed his eyes. His stepmother, the grateful woman who had raised him, not as her stepson, but as her own.

‘Yuris, did you know------?’

All this time, he'd never been able to figure out why she did what she did, and now the puzzle seemed to be coming together.

No, he couldn't come up with any reason other than that, because he couldn't see any other reason for her to separate herself from him after such a deep connection.

 

But how did she know?

Kylan opened his eyes again. Pale beams of light filtered through the clear glass and fell on his face like raindrops.

'If I'd known I had to leave for Lepallon, Yuris, even if you hadn't pushed me away, I would have left you alone.'

It was better for her to be hurt than for her life to be in danger, he thought, and she deserved a happy life. He wanted to see Yuris again.

There were many things he wanted to ask her, so he began writing to her that day.

***

The engagement ceremony took place at the Marquis of Eridov’s mansion. As it was an engagement and not a wedding, it wasn't a very big affair, but people from many families showed up.

Being the centerpiece of an event with so many people's blessings was still a challenge for the timid Yuris. She barely managed to keep a smile on her face until the ceremony was over.

An engagement ring with a neat diamond was placed on her finger, and the touch of the cold metal on her left ring finger brought back memories of the wedding band she had worn in her last life.

By late afternoon, when all the events had concluded, the crowds had disappeared. Yuris strolled through the greenhouse with Chaint into the long sunset.

The light seemed a little clearer under the clear glass ceiling. They were dressed in fancy gowns and tuxedos. They were about to have a moment alone while the adults talked.

 "Are you tired?”

 "I’m okay."

She replied briefly, her voice sweet. Chaint squeezed her hand gently.

 "We're engaged."

 There was an understated joy in his voice. Yuris was happy for him, but she couldn't believe it.

‘I still don’t know why you asked me to marry you.’

Yuris still couldn't understand why Chaint had approached her, and it remained a kind of unease.

In the greenhouse of Glamis Manor, here in this already familiar place, flowers that did not bloom in the fall were smiling. Roses, freesias, tulips...... and the sight of them inexorably brought back memories.

In her last life, they had been the flowers that Chaint had given to her every morning. She stopped walking.

Back then, she had taken for granted the flowers she'd been given, which had changed from day to day. But she realized, too late, that it was a sign of his great affection.

You, who must have agonized every day over the choice of flowers. And I never said thank you.

You are my good fortune.

Yuris's mind flashed back to the last flower he'd given her, the one that resembled a trumpet.

Chaint stopped walking as well. Yuris looked up at him. Their gazes tangled, the watery eyes asking what was wrong.

She gazed longingly into his eyes, which knew nothing of her past life.

How selfish of her, she thought, vaguely wishing that he, who knew nothing of the future, would understand. She suddenly longed for the sight of him, looking down at her from the top of her head, with the same face as in her last life.

I'm going to be married to him again.

I'm going to be married to him again...

She felt a burst of emotion she'd been holding back.

"I love you."

Yuris whispered, her voice wet. Something trickled down her cheek. It was tears.

Looking down at her, Chaint's eyes flashed with surprise and bewilderment. He stroked her shoulder, unnerved by her sudden weeping.

"What's wrong, Yuris?"

Yuris gripped his hand tightly. It was an ice-cold hand.

"...I need you to kiss me."

The words made his lips raise up in a dumbfounded expression, and he could only stare at her, unable to do anything.

***

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After a mild spring, a busy summer with intense sunshine arrived.

Soon, the sky was high and the weather was clear and pleasant. Time flew by, and fall arrived.

Over the course of the next few months, the two families shared a few meals and discussed how to organize the big event.

Preparations for the engagement ceremony, which was welcomed by both families, went smoothly. A date was set for a day in October, a nice season that was neither too cold nor too hot. The news was big in social circles.

The lords and ladies of the various houses were tongue-in-cheek at the prospect of Yuris Aether and Chaint Eridov marrying. Those who had secretly admired Chaint wept for the great loss.

As the news spread, Yuris's name appeared in the daily newspapers a few more times.

[Young lady of the Count of Aether?]

[Shocking Engagement News, Regarding Yuris Aether and Chaint Eridov.]

[Kylan Hebron, The Abandoned Man].

People gleefully consumed the articles bearing the names of the three people.

But in truth, Yuris herself no longer resented the articles. Life was already busy and hectic enough.

There were many sudden engagements to prepare for. Her mother dragged her from place to place, somewhat forcibly, insisting that she must learn to socialize if she was not to become one of the Eridovs.

Autumn was fast approaching, and nearly half a year had already passed since her return to the past, and the events of the past, great and small, which had not been affected by that time, had passed exactly as they had in her previous life.

As Yuris watched, she could be certain that there would be a war this time, too, and that she would be able to stop it if she intervened somehow.

So she spent every spare moment poring over books on the subject. But there was little she could learn about this sudden invasion in the distant future.

Part of her wanted to go to the imperial court and tell them to prepare now, but it wasn't a matter of haste, and she figured she'd have more opportunities to use her position to her advantage if she and Chaint became husband and wife.

In the meantime, Kylan didn't show up. Perhaps it was around this time that his father, the Count of Hebron, began to fall ill.

It was also around this time that Kylan began to push her away. She reminded herself that it was the right thing to do.

Sometimes she wondered if Kylan would be able to cope with his father's time-limited sentence, the last time she'd seen him look so sad, but then she shook her head. It was none of her business.

***

"Count Hebron's health has taken a turn for the worse."

It was the weekend before her engagement. Yuris was spending the afternoon with her parents, having tea and refreshments in the formal dining room.

She was vaguely aware that her parents' expressions were less cheerful than usual, and as her father's voice broke into a wistful tone as he delivered the news, she realized why.

"...hia health is not very good?"

It was the same sequence as in her previous life. She knew the whole story, but she pretended not to.

"They say he's got a terminal illness................ They say he only has a few months to live, which is very sad. Kylan will inherit the earldom soon enough............."

‘No, father, he's leaving for a foreign country, though I don't know why.’

Yuris replied to herself and popped a piece of cookie into her mouth. Her mouth was dry, and the crumbly texture of the cookie was unusually pleasant.

The more she thought about the news, the more she felt a pang in her heart. She felt like a sinner.

She hated that feeling.

"They say the Count of Hebron has traveled to the capital to seek medical attention. Kylan probably followed his father to the capital."

‘Which is why, in my last life, I couldn't easily find him if I wanted to see him.’

The Imperial capital was a four-hour train ride from Aether Manor, making it difficult to visit often.

Kylan's sudden disappearance into the capital remained one of Yuris's most frustrating moments. Her brow furrowed as she recalled the unpleasant memory.

"Don't the cookies taste good?"

Frelona asked, noticing her daughter's expression. Yuris waved her hand in the air, slightly embarrassed.

"No, the cookies are great, I was just worried about Kylan."

"I see. Anyway, we should get ready for the events to come, the engagement is really just around the corner."

"Yes, Mother."

"I must admit, I'm not entirely at ease. If I had known that the Count of Hebron would suddenly become so ill, I would not have rushed the engagement. Kylan was very fond of you."

"...."

"I'm afraid it must be very hard on his heart."

Frelona said with a dark expression.

"Honey, he's strong, he'll get through this, but let's help him where we can."

Count Aether said affectionately, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. But he too had a somber expression on his face.

Yuris could understand her parents' feelings. The Hebron family had been close to them since childhood.

As such, her parents had watched over Kylan since he was young.

They treated him like a son, and he treated them like parents. Their relationship was strong, and it was natural for the Count and Countess to worry about him.

Yuris sipped her tea, unsure of how to respond to her parents.

***

Kylan sat at his desk, hands clasped over his face, unmoving. The room, with all the lights out, was eerily silent. Outside the window, the sun was setting.

The desk he leaned against was tinted with the colors of the setting sun. He didn't know how long he'd been in that position, or if darkness had fallen.

Yuris hates me.

That fact alone was enough to drive Kylan crazy. At first, he dismissed the change as nothing.

He figured he was just having a bunch of realistic, unpleasant nightmares. But his dear friend pushed him away with all her heart.

Why?

The hand that had been covering his eyes came down after a long moment. The setting sun touched his red eyes, deepening the color. The circles under his eyes were dark and his complexion was pallid.

He had loved Yuris for a long time. It was hard for him to accept that the woman he loved, the one he could never go without seeing, would suddenly become another man's wife.

But she pushed him away. As if they would never be together again.

He wondered over and over again what was wrong. He thought over and over again, wondering if he'd made some new mistake he didn't know about, the things he'd said to her since her sudden coldness, the conversations they'd had.

A soft, gentle knock on the door made Kylan stiffen. It was the townhouse's butler who opened the door.

"The master calls for you."

"Father?"

"He has something to tell you............."

Kylan nodded to dismiss him, then rose from his chair and straightened his clothes.

His father, the Count of Hebron, had been given a time-limited sentence. His illness was incurable, so there was no point in treating him, but he had been moved to the capital, where he had a good physician.

The Count of Hebron asked his son, Kylan, to accompany him to the capital. Kylan gladly followed his father. He thought he would also make a will regarding the earldom he would inherit when his father died.

Kylan's heart had been hard enough with Yuris, but the news of his father's terminal illness was too much for him to bear.

'I need your comfort so badly, Yuris................ To be patted on the back, to be held in your warm embrace, to hear your soothing voice............ I feel like I can get through anything. But why, why do you push me away?’

With her words as sharp as broken glass, Kylan made his way to his father's bedroom. The air in the room was already heavy and stale.

Count Hebron, lying listless on his bed, barely opened his eyes at the sound of his son entering.

"Father."

At the sound of his son's voice, Count Hebron coughed repeatedly as if to clear his throat. When he finally calmed down, he spoke the first words. Kylan's eyes widened. It was completely unexpected. It was something that would rock his world.

***

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"It's a warehouse for junk."

Yuris could feel his hot breath against her ear, and she nodded. Outside, the adults of both families were talking about the engagement.

"Is your ankle okay?"

There was silence for a moment, then he asked again in a whisper. Yuris moved her ankle and said, "Yes, it doesn't look too bad," in a low voice.

"Were you exploring the greenhouse by yourself?"

He whispered again. Yuris answered yes, in a crawling voice, and then fell silent.

‘To think that you wandered about without the landlord's permission, a rude young lady.’

In the darkness, Yuris couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Suddenly, she realized that her muddy dress was soiling his clothes.

Yuris squirmed and tried to escape his embrace, but Chaint’s grip on her arm stopped her.

"If you move, you might bump into something, and then you might make a loud noise."

"I don't want to get your clothes dirty."

"It's okay."

"..."

"I just need to change after."

He whispered in a soothing voice. She sat quietly, agreeing with him.

They sat like that for a while longer. It was hard not to feel nostalgic as she sat there in silence in Chaint's arms.

When Yuris was slumped on the couch, staring blankly out the window, he would quietly come over and hold her like this.

At first, it was so awkward that she would purposely pull away. She would often do it as long as it wasn't hurtful, and she didn't feel overwhelmed. Over time, Yuris grew to love his embrace.

'I never said I liked it, but............. how much I regretted not expressing it more.'

He had a nice scent to him, and she suddenly realized that he still smelled the same. The scent was enough to make her suddenly feel overwhelmed by memories.

"I miss you......."

Yuris muttered to herself, and then quickly covered her mouth. The man, who was so close, must have heard it, Yuris was sure.

She sat there, mouth agape, but thankfully Chaint didn't say anything.

The two’s names began to come up in the adult conversations outside; they had been gone long enough.

"I don't see the children."

"Yeah. Chaint said he was going to look for the young lady, do you think they met?"

"Maybe they're having some alone time, haha."

But listening to the conversation, they didn't seem too worried about the two of them. Yuris breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that her eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness, she could just barely make out the space they were hiding in.

It was literally a warehouse. It was a small space, crammed full of junk. It was probably dusty.

Yuris was sure her clothes were even dirtier. And his, too.

"It's uncomfortable."

And there it was again, the man's voice whispering in her ear. Her legs felt like they were going numb from all the crouching.

Yuris shook her head, knowing Chaint must be much more uncomfortable than her. Then Chaint added kindly.

"They’ll be moving into the garden soon, and they won't take long to see the greenhouse."

True to his word, they could hear the adults outside chatting for a while before they exited the greenhouse, and it wasn't until they were long gone that they were able to get out of the cramped space.

"Ha......."

After being in the inky darkness, even the yellow lights of the greenhouse seemed as bright as the sun.

After sitting for so long, his legs didn't even go numb, so he stood up first, then helped Yuris up.

One of her ankles was a little sore, but it was bearable. The bigger problem was her clothing.

Her ivory dress was embarrassingly smeared with dirt.

"Since the adults don't seem to be worried about us yet, do you mind if I help you a little more, young lady?"

Chaint asked politely, and Yuris, realizing he was referring to her clothes, nodded.

"If you'll excuse me," he added, scooping her up again.

"I, I can walk!"

"Well, that would take too long."

Yuris had to admit that he was right. Even with support, it would take a long time with her limp. Even if the adults weren't worried, it would be rude to be too late, so she was persuaded by his words and held on for dear life.

The feel of his arm around her waist reminded her of the last time she had felt it before he went off to war. It was hard from keeping the memories coming back, but there was nothing she could do about it.

After leaving the greenhouse, he took her to his room. He sat her down on the sofa, removed the shoe from her injured foot, and examined it carefully.

He was careful not to hurt the swollen area.

"I don't think it's anything serious, but I'll need to give you first aid."

With that, he pulled a string and called for a servant. He instructed her to do what was necessary from a position where the servant could not see Yuris inside.

It wasn't long before a bag of ice and bandages appeared.

He knelt down on one knee in front of Yuris on the sofa and applied the treatment to her ankle himself. Yuris looked down at the top of his head.

Pale brown hair with a hint of curl cascaded down his head in a downward slant.

His touch on her ankle felt unusually gentle.

'Honey..............'

She almost stroked his head, intoxicated by the thought. If she didn't look at his face, she could have sworn she was living in her last life.

"Who do you miss?"

And then, with his gaze fixed on the woman's ankle, he blurted out. Yuris hastily snapped her outstretched hand back into place, and paused, wondering what he meant.

Then she realized it was a question about what she had said to herself earlier in the warehouse.

His voice sounded strangely lonely. She didn't say anything back. She didn't know what to say, so she decided silence was better.

He didn't ask any more questions, either, and  continued to bandage her foot in silence. An awkward silence ensued.

"Thank you for your help."

Yuris barely opened her mouth to break the silence, and then Chaint looked up and smiled.

"The dress.... I can't help it, I'll have to call a maid with tight lips and ask for a new one."

He pulled the string again and sent the maid a list of demands. Soon enough, the maid came back with a dress that Yuris could wear.

Chaint led her to a dressing room attached to the room, where Yuris changed.

He was quick on his feet. In an instant, all of Yuris’ crises were resolved.

He held out his hand affectionately to her as she emerged from the dressing room.

"Now, let's go back to the dining room, shall we?"

Chaint deliberately tried not to squeeze the woman's thin hand in his own.

He could tell that Yuris was definitely not the same woman she had been.

'For some reason, it was almost like she was telling me that she missed me................'

He knew it was a delusion, but it worried him that he kept getting his hopes up.

He knew he was delusional, but he was worried about his expectations, because he wasn't sure he would be able to handle them if they hurt him later.

The sound of scuffling shoes echoed down the hall.

***

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❋ ❋ ❋

Chaint inhaled.

Why the hell already?

Even though he'd been the one to propose, he couldn't help but feel perplexed.

Yuris, his wife in his last life, had spent much of her life tied to Kylan.

"I thought I said don’t come to see me anymore.”

 

He remembered Yuris's sharp words to Kylan at the party the other day. He'd watched her for years, and he knew that when she'd spoken those harsh words to Kylan, she'd meant them.

Still, he thought he must have seen something wrong. Yuris's feelings for Kylan were not something that could be broken so easily.

Her heart, the one he'd watched over in his last life, had been.............

'Something solid and strong that I dare not............ interfere with.’

He tapped the desk in the office where he was sitting.

'Is there a past I don't know about, or has something changed?’

Either way, it was clear there was a mess he didn't know about. And he sensed a small gap. He decided to step through it.

The man squinted and reread the telegram from the Aether house.

'I must have dinner with the Aether soon.’

He needed to see Yuris one more time, to see her up close, the woman he was sure he knew better than anyone else.

'Kylan Hebron.’

Chaint thought of the name.

Poor, unfortunate man.

But a man who made him endlessly unsettling............... 

He was silent for a moment, remembering his last life.

"It's a good thing."

But soon, Chaint murmured with joy. He could marry Yuris again.

But his eyes wavered weakly with a certain anxiety.

***

House of Aether and the Eridov family sat down to dinner to celebrate their children’s engagement.

Yuris remembered that she had been at this table in her previous life, and that the atmosphere was very different, as she was expecting to die.

"Welcome, Count Aether, your ladyship, and young lady."

Chaint father, the Marquis of Eridov, greeted the guests with a formal bow.

The meal was a convivial affair. The Marquis entertained his guests exceptionally well, and both Count and Countess Aether ate to their satisfaction.

Yuris hadn't felt well earlier. Not surprising, given her reclusive nature.

Moreover, she had to be extremely careful about what she said, lest she slip up because of what she knew about her past.

Even though there weren't many occasions to talk, she kept almost pretending not to know the familiar servants of the house.

And having to deal with Chaint was enough to break Yuris’s heart.

The sight of him, alive and well, kept juxtaposing with the last time she'd seen him, dead, and it made her stomach turn.

He smiled at Yuris from time to time, and she had to smile embarrassedly whenever she caught herself squinting at Chaint out of the corner of her eye.

'I'm sure I’ll get used to it in time. It's only my second meeting with Chaint, after all.'

After the long meal, Yuris was desperate for some fresh air, so she made a dash for the lady room, promising to relieve herself before the maids brought out the tea.

"Is this a good idea?”

Yuris asked the nervous woman in the mirror quietly. Her white skin had grown even whiter.

"Should I break off the engagement?”

It was only natural for Yuris to wonder, since she had no idea why Chaint had asked her to marry him.

Confused as she was, the thought of attending the tea party that followed made her sick. Stepping out of the lady room, she made her way to the opposite side of the room from the formal dining room, hoping to walk in without being rude.

‘I'm familiar with the layout of this mansion anyway, so I shouldn't get lost.’

Yurisu walked straight through the great hall and down the corridor. At the end of this corridor was her favorite room in the Eridov mansion. The glasshouse. Or, more precisely, the passageway leading to the glasshouse.

The only sound in the marble-floored hallway was the clicking of her heels.

She finally arrived and opened the door to the greenhouse, which was every bit as beautiful as Yuris remembered.

"Wow..............."

The darkened greenhouse was decorated with subtle lights, and it had a dreamy feel to it, as if fireflies were fluttering around. Yuris wandered through it, feeling like she was dreaming.

It had been so long. This was.............

'Perhaps the Marquis and Marquess of Eridov will show us around after they finish their tea.’

The glasshouse was a point of pride for the Marquis of Eridov, so it was a favorite spot for guests.

Suddenly, Yuris wondered if the flowerbeds with the pretty flowers she had loved in her last life had been there since then, and she remembered its location.

"Ah......!"

And that was when something caught in her foot, her vision narrowed by her dark surroundings. Yuris immediately lost her balance and fell.

Instinctively worried that her knees would give out if she fell on the hard stone floor, she turned and fell to the dirt.

With a dull thud, she literally hit the dirt. To make matters worse, it had been watered not long ago, and the soil was soaked through. She didn't have to look to know that her ivory dress was soiled.

'Ha.......'

Yuris let out a small sigh as she sat down on the damp earth. Her ankle was throbbing. She could feel it burning and swelling in real time where she'd sprained it when she'd fallen.

"What the hell.”

She had to pull herself up to avoid soaking more dirt into her dress, but it was hard to move, even when she tried. She looked around for something to hold onto, and suddenly she heard a shout.

Yuris instinctively ducked low. No one would say anything good about her if she was seen falling alone in a greenhouse in a manor that wasn't hers, and that she hadn't been shown around.

"Yuris?"

Yuris’s name was called and her efforts to conceal herself were in vain. Fortunately or unfortunately, the owner of the presence was Chaint, and he looked down at Yuris on the ground in bewilderment.

"Ah, Master Chaint."

Yuris looked up at him with a shy smile on her face, still trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Did you fall?"

"...."

"Let me see."

"It's not a big cut, I can get up if you give me a hand."

Just then, she heard voices from the outside. They were still too far away to hear the conversation clearly, but they could recognize the voices of the Marquis of Eridov and the Count of Aether.

‘Have they finished their tea already?’

Yuris was even more flustered. Something akin to shame washed over her at the thought of facing the adults like this. Even in the dim light, Chaint could make out the flush on Yuris's face. He leaned down and whispered to her.

"I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me."

Without waiting for her to respond, he slipped his arm between her small of the back and her knees and lifted her up in a swift motion. Yuris nearly screamed at the sensation of being lifted into the air.

"If we go out like this, we'll be seen!”

Yuris watched the situation from the corner of her eye. Chaint moved with great agility while carrying her.

Instead of going out through the main door, he opened a wooden door in the nearby wall. It was a low-level, narrow room that looked like it could be used as a warehouse, and he could barely fit through it without stooping to his waist.

He held her and together they squeezed into it, curled up in a ball. It smelled stale, like it had been left unattended for a long time. He closed the door soundlessly.

Then it was dark, completely cut off from the outside world and light. Yuris seemed to be sitting on his lap. She wanted to move out of the way, but the space was too small.

They could hear every sound of the conversation outside, as if it were a makeshift room made of false walls. Chaint whispered in her ear, very low.

****

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'Ah, Yuris......'

Collapsing, he struggled to turn over and lay facing the sky. Every time he moved, the shards embedded in his body created a terrible pain.

Through the thick smoke, the blue sky glimpsed like a puzzle piece, and he knew death was coming.

'At last,' he thought, 'you can laugh at something as insignificant as a feather in your eyelash.’

The sound of a building crashing and something exploding rang in his ears. Concrete rubble rained down next to him, but his world was silent.

‘Every now and then she would stare at the sky with a blank expression, and then she would finally smile at me.’

Life drained from his blue eyes. The pain was so intense that he felt numb.

'I thought you might finally love me.’

Even in his dying moments, he thought only of his wife; he wanted to live, for he knew that if she heard of his death, the slender, lovely woman would crash and burn again.

"I'm sorry, honey.”

But his eyes closed in silence.

When he finally opened them, he couldn't believe he was alive.

What surprised him even more, however, was that the time of his awakening was eight years ago, and the place of his awakening was Glamis House, the main residence of the Marquis of Eridov.

"No way."

For the first few days, he denied reality.

"How does it make sense to go back in time?”

But all signs and circumstances pointed to the fact that he had returned to eight years ago. His battered body was healthy and without a single scar.

From the moment he regained consciousness, he thought of Yuris. And as soon as he accepted the reality that he was back in the past, he made a promise to himself.

"I will get her back.”

But Chaint was well aware that before she married him, Yuris had been half-crazy about a young man named Kylan Hebron, and how devastated she had been by him.

Chaint sat still in his chair, trying to organize his thoughts. On his desk lay a small, polished stone he had once received from a young girl.

He couldn't help but chuckle. It was the first gift Yuris had ever given him, when they met at a childhood event. The man stroked the stone still.

"I know the meaning of love now."

It was important that they were back to where they were before all the tragedy.

"Just a little longer, honey."

***

It was a sunny weekend. Yuris strolled through the garden of the mansion with her mother and father.

They hadn't gone out on the weekend, but stayed home to discuss their daughter's affair with the Marquis of Eridov.

"I would like to go ahead with my engagement to the son of Marquis Eridov."

But Yuris had already made up her mind, and she boldly told her parents her thoughts.

"Are you sure? You can take a few more weeks to think about it, you just celebrated your adulthood."

"Yes, Yuris, there's no rush."

The Count and Countess were amazed at their daughter's quick and sure decision. It even put them off.

But Yuris had already made up her mind to be engaged to Chaint, so she shook her head at them.

"I mean it, I like it."

"So, Yuris, what about Kylan..."

Her father said the name, earned a glare from his wife, and shut up. Yuris smiled weakly.

"Kylan and I are just friends, I guess."

"Right. Don't worry about her relationship with the master of Hebron. Who are adults to interfere in what's between children?"

The shrewd Count gave his daughter a reassuring look. Yuris looked up at her father, a man with wheat-colored hair much like her own, and smiled.

She kept her expression soft, her mind replaying the conversation she'd had with Kylan yesterday.

In the late afternoon hours of her visit to the Marquis of Eridov, Kylan had come to her room.

She took her friend's hand as he crouched guiltily before her, and announced her engagement to Chaint. Cruelly, she delivered her decision while holding his hand.

"I'm getting engaged to Master Chaint."

Her words stunned Kylan. Their hands had been intertwined word for word. When she'd finished speaking, she gently released his hand, feeling a tingling sensation of warmth linger, but her heart was silent, unlike before. 

"We'll be getting engaged in the near future, Kylan, so we can't see each other in private anymore. It would be fatal for an engaged woman to be rumored to have an affair.”

"Yuris, what's wrong with you, you've changed so much lately that............... I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do anything, Kylan. You'll get busy with your life soon enough, and I'll leave you to it."

Kylan gave her a frustrated look.

"Yuris......."

She looked up at him. He'd always insisted on looking well-groomed, but now he stood there with his hair all messy and his shirt torn, and she could feel how desperate he was.

Kylan's handsome, white face grew redder and redder, until his ears were the same color. He looked like he was holding back tears with all his might.

Those red eyes, which she thought were so beautiful because they resembled rubies, were lost, staring somewhere in space.

‘I'll never see your smiling face again.’

Yuris took a small breath.

"Goodbye, Kylan."

Goodbye. She said farewell to the man who had held and shaken her life. As she watched him sink into grief, she felt a pang of regret.

At the end of her last life, she had often wondered, "If I saw you again, would I be shaken?" And for the sake of her last life, and for the sake of her husband, she wanted to answer that question with a heartfelt no.

She loved Kylan that much. It was hard to forget, and even when she thought she had, her memories would pop up and multiply her guilt about her husband.

And even when she thought she was finally over it, there was no way to be sure she was truly over it.

Yuris was relieved to finally feel like she could put a stop to it.

It didn't hurt to see him standing in front of her, looking like he was on the verge of tears, but instead, she was glad that she could push him away like a ray of sunshine.

"I'm sorry."

She apologized, sincerely.

‘You're innocent now.’

The man cried. It was the first time she had ever seen him cry. Yuris gently took the hand she had let go, and he sobbed until he could hardly breathe.

Yuris held his hand for a moment, waiting for him to finish crying. It was the last thing she could do for Kylan, the last thing she could do for the warm comfort he had always given her.

"Yuris, let me ask you one….question."

It was a long time before he spoke again. His voice was hushed, his grip tight, but he didn't let go.

Yuris lifted her head and looked at him.

"You didn't feel the same way as I do..........?"

She was slightly surprised by the question, but quickly hid her expression and shook her head from side to side. Then Kylan lowered his eyes in defeat. He gently released his grip. Taking a step back, he added, as if for the last time.

"...... Take care, Yuris."

With those words, Kylan stopped coming.

***

As he processed papers in his office as he would any other day, Chaint accepted a telegram hand-delivered by his butler.

The white envelope was covered in red sealing wax, showing off the seal of House Aether, and as soon as he saw the embossed symbol, his eyes lit up with anticipation and anxiety.

He hastily tore the envelope open. Then he pulled out the contents and unfolded them.

[The House of Aether is pleased to accept the marriage proposal of Chaint Eridov, eldest son of the Marquis of Eridov.

We look forward to sharing this joy with you in the near future............]

Having read that far, he lowered the letter. There 

was a bewilderment in his eyes.

"We're getting engaged............so soon?”

***

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❋ ❋ ❋

   Marquis Garnan’s first son, Chaint, was a model child: he grew up in an environment where he never lacked for anything and could have anything he wanted.

But he didn't want much. He always seemed bored, and sometimes even emotionless.

Other than that, he was the perfect son. His parents were excited about his future. Even the engagement was a sign of his resourcefulness. Garnan would gladly entrust Eridov’s future to his firstborn son.

But there was one thing that bothered him. Chaint had volunteered for an imperial position. At first, he allowed it, thinking it would be a good experience.

But he became strangely obsessed with his work.

He was basically a hard-working, quick-thinking young man who had risen through the ranks, but the fact that he had taken on a job that had nothing to do with the family was something that Marquis Garnan Eridov didn't like.

"You'll be engaged and married before you know it," he said, "and you'd better start focusing on your succession lessons, and get your imperial scribe job sorted out as soon as possible."

"...."

"You have done well so far. You have demonstrated your ability to excel in my likeness, and you have done so publicly. But enough is enough. No more."

The Marquis didn't understand why his son was so eager to tie himself to imperial duties. He wondered why his son, the eldest son of a marquis, who was to be married in the not-too-distant future, would insist on a useless government job.

The family had plenty of money. There was plenty of honor, too, and Marquis Eridov wanted his son to focus solely on the family.

The son didn't answer, but the Marquis didn't care.

"Did you mention Yuris, the young lady who will be your wife?"

Chaint’s hand flipping through the papers stopped at the sound of his father's voice.

"...Yes."

"Men grow tired of women at some point. A man may want to be with a new beauty at any time, and in order to do that, you need to keep your family strong, not go out and do imperial duties that won't help you."

He curled his fist in a way that didn't show his reactions to his father's words.

"A man can love at any age if his family is strong. Even when they are old. Power, honor, and riches are just as important."

Love. Chaint almost burst out laughing at the word. It was so ridiculous, and the sound of his father's voice was hilarious, as if he were giving valuable advice.

‘How did I grow up with that disgusting love of yours?’

His blue eyes burned as he studied the papers. His father had always left his mother for a new woman.

Some of his children were the result of that lousy love. Chaint’s younger brother was an illegitimate child, who was 5 years younger than him.

"How many people have you made unhappy because of your lousy love?"

"Heed your father's advice."

"......Ah, how is Chersi doing?"

He asked calmly, suppressing his rising emotions. Chersi was the name of his illegitimate younger brother.

Born to his father and a young maid when he was a child, the illegitimate child was not even allowed to stay in the manor.

The maid had been raising Chersi in a remote mansion that Garnan had hired out. She had never been seen or spoken to him face to face.

"Tsk. I’m not even curious."

Chersi was Garnan's shame; he had gotten a lot of flashbacks since the child was born, and no matter how secretive he'd been about the birth, word had always gotten out faster.

Chersi had made him even more careful about birth control, and it had made him even more obsessed with his first son, Chaint.

As a result of these events, Chaint’s childhood memories were dominated by his mother's unhappiness, and he was very much influenced by it as he grew up.

As a result, he hated his father and never believed in "love," which he considered an unnecessary and consuming emotion, a highly inefficient form of human evolution.

Naturally, he came to value only what he could verify. This was one of the reasons why he volunteered for the imperial service. He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to step out of his father's shadow.

And he did a great job with everything he was given. Rising to such a high position at such a young age was not difficult for Chaint Eridov.

Some have called him a genius, others have described him as an efficiency machine.

But Chaint saw himself as just an ordinary person. A very ordinary person who wanted to move on from a traumatic experience.

"Your mind is elsewhere, but take this father's words to heart. You don't need to bring your abilities to the imperial court."

"I'll think about it."

At his son's reply, Garnan rose from the seat, slapped him on the shoulder a couple of times, and left the room. Once his father's shadow was out of sight in the doorway, Chaint took a deep breath.

"......ha."

Unable to focus on what he was seeing any longer, he put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

As he tilted his head, the sun was shining through the window behind him. The color of the sky resembled the color of water.

His vision stung, so he closed his eyes. Then he heard the voice he had always missed.

"Chaint."

The love he'd seen through his father's eyes was disgusting, dirty, and unspiritual-that was the "love" he'd known.

But it was wrong.

The Yuris that had appeared in his life, the feelings he had for her, the world she had shown him....

 ...was certainly different from his father's.

He had learned to love by giving her his heart.

"Honey."

If only he could hear that voice again.

The woman who always looked at him with guilt in her eyes, who always looked empty and sad. A woman who looked so much like himself that he never thought to give or receive love in the first place.

Sometimes she'd look like she could die right now, and other times she'd make a cute little dimpled smile when she was playing a prank. All the memories came flooding back.

'In my last life, thanks to you, I fully realized the meaning of love.'

His marriage to that lovely woman was happy, and it became his own little greenhouse that he didn't want to lose.

The love that he had neither received nor given since childhood had become a great thirst, and he turned to Yuris with all his heart.

It drenched him.

It made him treasure her so much that he would trade his life for her.

.....But tragedy lurked in sudden places.

"The war?"

"Do you have to go right away?"

"Chaint......."

He remembered his wife's face, those beautiful green eyes, colored with anxiety, as clearly as if he had seen them just a few days before.

‘I knew you were worried, but I had to leave.’

He cupped her face with his hands. The sun shone through his knuckles.

‘I thought I could go back, but I never could.’

Despite what he thought would be a quick end to the war, it only got worse as time went on. The actual conditions of war were far worse than he had imagined.

The sky rumbled with every bombing run. It was not uncommon for people you talked to yesterday to come back dead today, and crucially, the soldiers of the Lepallon Empire raided your stronghold.

"Danger! This is no longer..............."

"Commander, we need to get out, enemy artillery is closing in, it's dangerous!"

He had to live. He couldn't leave Yuris to die there, so he ran. Bombs fell all around him.

The world was gray, and only the sound of explosions and acrid smoke filled the sky. When he breathed in, the smell of dust and gunpowder mingled and filled his lungs.

As he ran, something flew at him and stuck in his thigh. He wasn't surprised; sharp things were raining down like rain.

With intense pain, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. The ones that flew next also inflicted fatal wounds on his abdomen and side.

****

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❋ ❋ ❋

"I'm not in a relationship with Kylan, I don't know about anything else, but I can tell you that for sure, but................ Master Chaint?"

He looked up at her call. His hands were clasped under his chin as if he were concentrating on what she was saying, and his smiling face looked so much like the one she'd once gazed upon with love. With a rush of memories, Yuris pressed her lips together, wanting to say, "Honey," and pulled away again.

"When did you start liking me........ that... Okay.............. We didn’t really know each other.”

She trailed off, embarrassed to hear the word "liked" come out of her mouth. As if he'd been waiting for the question, Chaint lowered hand and straightened his posture.

"My feelings for you are quite old."

His words caused the two ladies in the room to gasp.

Yuris felt dizzy. This didn't seem like the same old Chaint she knew. He hadn't been this aggressive when they were newly married.

It wasn't that she didn't like him now, of course, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

'I wonder if he's been in love with me since this age in his last life, and that's why we got married, but why the hell......?'

He was staring at her as if he were truly in love, and Yuris sipped her tea, trying to ignore his gaze.

Then he leaned his head closer to hers, as if he had something to say. He whispered in a low voice.

"Is it true that you're leaving ....?"

His voice trembled slightly, as if he'd been thinking about this for a long time. Yuri smirked.

"It's false."

"What do you mean you told Kylan not to come to you again?"

Frelona asked on the return carriage ride. It was a voice she'd been holding for a long time. Yuris answered casually, as if it were no big deal.

"Literally, I don't want to be friends with Kylan anymore."

"Oh. What happened?"

"Uh, no. It's just a change of heart, and now that we've come of age, if we stay together like we did as children, you never know what kind of scandalous rumors will be in the papers today. But I want to get along with the young master of Hebron (Kylan), so don't worry."

"I see."

Frelona nodded, and said no more about it. She respected her daughter's wishes not to talk about it.

The carriage sped gently toward home. Frelona was in good spirits. For whatever reason, she was proud of her daughter for accepting a marriage proposal from the Marquis' eldest son.

The mother and daughter did not arrive home until late afternoon. Marquess Eridov and Chaint had not yet known about her decision, and Frelona said they would have to think about the engagement before they could give an answer. The smile on Chaint's face was an added bonus.

Yuri said she had a lot on her mind and needed to rest, then returned to her room and closed the door. She felt strange. She sat down on her bed to think about it.

Even though Chaint had changed somehow, going through with the engagement wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was something to look forward to.

Yuris still wanted him. Her love for him hadn't changed.

She wondered if the gods had given her one more chance, to make amends for her foolishness in the last life. When he asked her to marry him, she felt a surge in her heart.

‘But why do I keep feeling like I'm missing something?’

As she pondered this, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Rune?"

Yuris feigned interest, and the door opened. There stood Rune and ............ Kylan, looking contrite.

Seeing him, Yuris's expression automatically darkened. She had told Rune that she wanted to rest and that she didn't want anyone to come in, so Kylan must have insisted on seeing her.

"Miss......."

Rune stuttered, and Yuris gave her an acknowledging wave, and then Rune gave a quick bow and disappeared.

Left behind, Kylan's expression was uneasy, probably because he'd been reading today's newspaper. He approached the bedside.

"Yuris. First of all, I'm sorry for barging in on you."

He apologized, all too familiar with her harshness by now.

‘Ah, I used to be like that, just like you, but now that you’ve been in my shoes, what do you think?’

She wanted to ask, but he was still innocent at this point of time. She stared at him without answering, hiding the sting of having been the bad guy.

Then, with a small sigh, Kylan spoke.

"The papers, I've read them, and the reporters were so hasty in their writing. I'm sure it made you feel bad, are you okay?"

"Is that what you're worried about, Kylan?"

"Something like that, and......"

He trailed off for a moment, took a breath, then continued.

"In fact, I came looking for you this morning as soon as I saw that article................ But then I heard that you were visiting the Marquis of Eridov with your mother."

"That's right, I went with my mother to see Master Chaint and the Marquess."

At her dry reply, he shrank like a puppy in the rain.

"You'll excuse me if I ask what you talked about...?"

Kylan mumbled helplessly. He was acting like he'd lost the world after just a few days of cold treatment.

‘Soon your father, the Count of Hebron, will be in failing health, and I don't know what I'm going to do if he's already in this much pain.’

Yuris hated him, but he was dimly aware of it.

Kylan had pushed her away in the past, perhaps for reasons beyond his control. Their friendship, if not their love, was clearly a two-way street, and it was like a certainty in her heart that he wasn't the kind of friend who would abandon for no reason.

It was just that the hurt was too great.

Yuris stared at Kylan, who stood before her as if punished. His hair was disheveled, as if he'd been running in a hurry, and his shirt was untucked.

It was heartbreaking to see him take the brunt of her anger and still come to see her again.

'The man I once loved so much, I would have given my heart for him.’

She should have gotten used to seeing him every day, but every time she looked into those eyes, cold as Kylan's winter, but springlike to her, she'd gotten a new thrill.

Whenever she touched him, she struggled to hide her blush.

Yuris absentmindedly tugged at Kylan's hand as he stood in front of her, intertwining their fingers together.

He crouched, startled by the touch, and looked up at her.

Now she felt no emotion in his large, warm hand, and she felt a sense of release from whatever was holding her back.

She held on to his hand, determined.

To go through with her engagement to Chaint.

***

"Imperial service is an honorary position. The succession of the family comes first."

It was as quiet as ever in the manor's executive chambers where Chaint sat. As he flipped through papers, he stared emotionlessly at his father's unexpected arrival.

It was a look of unsurprised recognition. Marquis Garnan Eridov sat down on the sofa across from his son.

"Is that what you came to tell me?"

Chaint's voice was flat, as he heard it every time.

"Yes. I was surprised to hear you were suddenly engaged."

"You have every right to be surprised."

Chaint replied dryly, shifting his gaze back to the papers.

"Not bad for House Aether, I suppose. Your business is promising, and your social standing is impressive."

"I knew you'd approve of the engagement with that in mind.”

Chant replied, his eyes still on the desk. He flipped through the papers with a gentle gesture.

It was rude to do so in front of the man who was his father, but it had been a long time since he had done so.

The Marquis did not criticize his son's demeanor. In fact, he was glad that his son, who was so much like him in so many ways, was so much like him in this.

He was the kind of person who didn't mind a little rudeness in private as long as it met his expectations.

Garnan eyed him warily. Thinking that his son had changed in some subtle way in recent weeks.

****

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[Eridov or Hebron? Who will the lady of Aether choose?

Lady of Aether's hidden two men?!

At a banquet at the Duke's residence in Ales, she was publicly proposed to by Master Chaint Eridov.

The two were not in a relationship, and............but....... The two families are not far apart, but unlike Lady of Aether, who rarely participated in social events, Master Chaint is an up-and-coming number one groom............

Kylan Hebron, on the other hand, walked away with a very hurt expression............]

She crumpled the newspaper after reading about half of it.

"Are they crazy?”

She knew that low-quality journalists wrote most of the stories, and she felt sorry for the people she'd seen fall victim to them.

But she didn't expect it to be her this time, a socially invisible person, who was being judged. It was not a pleasant feeling to be judged.

Yuris grimaced and left the room. When she went down to the formal dining room, she found Madam Aether alsso reading the same newspaper.

"Yuris!"

When she spotted her daughter, she called her name with a squeal. Yuris mumbled a quick good morning and took a seat nearby.

"So, you made it to the paper after all. I was going to ask you anyway, but why on earth did the eldest son of the Eridov family propose to you?"

Frelona asked, shedding the dignified, graceful demeanor she had displayed at the ducal residence yesterday.

"That's what I want to know too, Mother.”

Yuris shrugged her shoulders and looked away. Frelona looked at her daughter with a serious expression on her face, then called for a maid. To the maid who came to the call, she said.

"Yuris and I will be going out together, so get her ready."

When the maid left, Yuris looked puzzled.

"Where are you going, mother?"

“I’m planning to go to Marquis of Eridov. There’s even been an article about it. Shouldn’t we at least talk about it? A telegram has already arrived.”

Ready to go, the mother and daughter sat in the carriage all morning and arrived at the Marquis of Eridov. As they approached the magnificent mansion, Yuris was suddenly overwhelmed by memories of the past.

Though she had spent most of her time in the capital's mansion once Chaint began to take on more imperial duties, she had spent the early years of their marriage in this country house.

The mansion was also nicknamed Glamis House. In the past, when she was suffering from depression, she had not realized how bright and beautiful it was.

It was her first visit in this lifetime, and it felt strange because everything was so familiar.

"Isn't the mansion beautiful?"

Frelona said in a clear voice, gazing at the fresh flowers in the flowerbeds.

"It makes me feel a little calmer to see these beautiful spring flowers."

A man came out and introduced himself as the butler. The mother and daughter were led by him across the garden.

Yuris knew the butler from her previous life and almost pretended to recognize him.

They were ushered into the parlor. There they were met by the Marquess of Eridov and Master Chaint, who were waiting for their guests.

"Welcome, you've come a long way."

The two ladies exchanged gracious greetings, and Yuris awkwardly joined in. Chaint Eridov returned the favor with a friendly smile and a polite bow. His handsome face bore no memory or trace of yesterday's tumult.

Seeing him indoors was like seeing a different man. Yuri had spent most of her time indoors in her last life, even after their marriage, and she and Chaint usually saw each other in the bedroom or the dining room.

His face brought back so many memories that she had to look away, afraid she might get emotional.

It was an awkward time to eat, so sumptuous sweets and tea were being served. Everyone was seated, and the mess was finally cleaned up. Then Marquess of Eridov spoke in earnest.

"I must apologize for yesterday's affair. I am sorry that the beautiful Aether family should have had their name mentioned in such a vulgar newspaper. Please apologize, Chaint."

"I apologize for my indiscretion."

Accepting the apologies, Yuris looked at her mother. Frelona was looking at them both, maintaining her elegant smile. But her face was just as curious as Yuris'. Just waiting for the right time to ask.

Then Chaint looked at Yuris intently and parted his lips.

"But, Yuris. I mean it."

... He added.

There was a light clink from the side. Frelona had dropped the silver spoon while stirring sugar into her tea.

Marquess of Eridov made a face as if she had been defeated by her son's remark.

"I'm surprised too, as his mother I don't really know what he’s thinking, but now that I've talked to him since yesterday, I think he is really sincere.” 

Yuris sipped the herbal tea in front of her. She couldn't quite put her finger on the situation.

‘What was it like in my last life?’

Back then, she hadn't been directly involved in the marriage arrangement, as the news had been relayed through her mother and father. She had only been lying in the room like a dead man.

Yuris schooled her expression, as the memory of her pathetic past almost made her frown.

In reality, as far as family transactions go, it wasn't a bad exchange. It shouldn't be difficult for a Count to provide a decent dowry for his only daughter.

It would also be a good thing for the mother and father to marry off their daughter to the eldest son of a well-to-do Marquis.

‘It's just... I'm so quiet and uninterested in socializing that I might seem weird or even pathetic.’

The fact that she had been abandoned by Kylan in her last life was no secret in social circles, but the fact that the marriage was consummated suggested that the Marquis and Marquess of Eridov thought nothing of it.

'That didn't happen this time, so that's a plus. Oh, and I'm younger now.’

Yuris thought about it, and realized that this marriage proposal would happen if she agreed.

However, it didn't solve the question: Why her?

‘Should I rush into accepting his proposal? What if he's unhappy because of me in this life?’

"Yuris?"

Yuris, who had been deep in thought for some time, was startled out of her blurred focus by the voice calling out to her.

"Yes?"

It was Chaint. He was staring at Yuris with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, what did you say?"

At those words, the corners of his mouth curled softly.

"We were talking about Kylan Hebron."

Clank. Yuris stopped sipping her tea and looked up. He kindly handed her a handkerchief.

Smiling awkwardly, she took it and wiped her lips.

It was only natural that Kylan's name would come up. It was all over the papers.

[Eridov or Hebron? Who will the lady of Aether choose?]

She clenched her teeth to keep from gritting them, remembering the headline in the damned newspaper. From the Marquis Eridov’s perspective, the presence of the other man in that headline, Kylan Hebron, was probably the most disturbing aspect of the whole affair.

Marquess of Eridov smiled at Yuris, looking at her kindly with blue eyes that looked exactly like her son's.

"I am well aware of your friendship with Lord Kylan."

Her voice was soft, but the question sounded like an accusation. Yuris could understand her.

Who would want to have a daughter-in-law who was rumored to be with another man? While she was trying to think of the right words to reply, Chaint interrupted her.

"But, Mother, I heard clearly Yuris telling Lord Kylan not to come to see her again."

He looked as if he was going to take care of Yuris's embarrassment with his whole body. But the words made Yuris's mother, Frelona, flinch silently.

For her daughter's pushing away of Kylan was something she had never been aware of.

Yuris scratched her forehead in thought. Things seemed to be getting complicated.

And now everyone around the table was waiting for her answer. Yuris took a small breath and opened her mouth.

***

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"Hello, Mater Chaint."

Kylan's forehead was slightly sweaty. He looked like he'd been walking in a hurry. He gave Chaint Eridov a dry greeting and turned his attention to Yuris.

"Yuris."

"I thought I told you not to come here."

She said sharply, despite herself. She could feel Chaint's eyes on her, startled by the sound of her voice.

・・・・・・ Ah. One must always watch one's tongue in a place like this.

Yuris looked up at Kylan. Red, pleading eyes turned toward her.

His chest was rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath, but he was biting his lip to keep his ragged breathing from being heard, as if that would be rude. His face was tense.

There was the sound of other people chatting happily, the sound of cricket sticks colliding with balls, the sound of trees swaying in the wind.

Kylan stood there, looking at Yuris like a lost puppy, as if he were being punished. She pushed him away, but as he approached, she was reminded of her last life.

It was a cruel act, to be sure, but not to the Kylan of today..........

Weakened, she softened her face.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Kylan's lips curled at her question. He looked like he might cry at any moment, and she was taken aback by that.

She'd never seen him cry before, not even once in her last life.

She was also surprised to see Chaint standing next to her and watching the scene with a bewildered expression on his face. Kylan answered shortly afterward.

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise not to come over. But, Yuris, I can't believe you're in a place like this................ Are you okay now?"

Sensing his concern, Yuris nodded her head with a stony expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. I don't really want to talk about it."

With that, Kylan’s worried face turned to a cheerful one as he continued.

"You've been acting different lately, and I'm worried. You don't mean to leave all of a sudden…?"

"Yes."

She replied, somewhat impulsively. She didn't mean it, of course, but Kylan's eyes narrowed.

"You're leaving?"

But the voice didn't belong to Kylan, it belonged to the man standing next to her.

Yuris turned her head to look at him. There was impatience on Chaint's face.

"Yuris, tell me, where are you going?"

His blue eyes were wavering. Flustered by his unexpected reaction, she didn't answer easily, and as she stammered, Kylan called out in confusion.

"Yuris・・・・・・!"

The two men stood possessively by her side. A woman sandwiched between two men who looked like they were courting.

As if on cue, other Young Lords and Young Ladies gathered around them, glaring at the three.

Of course, it was natural for people to be interested in the movements of two men who were the envy of many women.

The situation was ripe for misunderstanding. But the two men didn't seem to mind the stares.

Kylan, she understood, but Chaint---what was with him? Yuris couldn't figure it out.

Chaint leapt to his feet and stalked over to her. He looked like a man who had lost his world.

"Wait a minute."

She was overwhelmed by this situation, and the crowd was growing around her.

She should probably get out of the room now to save herself some gossip.

But Yuris couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Chaint, so instead of fleeing the scene, she turned her back on Kylan and looked at Chaint.

"Is it important to you that I leave............? We just met for the first time today."

Their eyes met. At her question, Chaint's brow narrowed slightly. As if he'd made a mistake by not being able to control his emotions.

"It's......"

He trailed off.

And with that, everyone in the room gasped.

"I've been admiring you, ......, and I want to ask you to marry me."

Yuris’ jaw dropped. Behind her, Kylan was equally stunned.

A murmur of surprise rose from the crowd that surrounded them.

"Did I hear that right?"

"Didn't she say it was the first time they met?"

There was silence. Even the chattering stopped, as if waiting for her answer.

A soft spring breeze blew across the room, her hair fluttering across her face. But she didn't even think to remove it.

"Yes, I've been thinking about it, but............... I should have said it a long time ago."

Chaint muttered quietly, almost inaudibly, his expression relaxed as if he had regained his composure. More than relaxed, he smiled and gently brushed a stray strand of hair away from Yuris's face.

The look on his face reminded her of when they were married, and the tip of her nose twitched unexpectedly. But this was no time for sentimentality. She had to make some sort of response. First, she needed to get out of the situation before she could make a judgment, so Yuris opened her mouth to say something vague.

But it was a voice other than hers that broke the silence.

"What does that mean?"

A woman stepped out of the crowd with a graceful gesture. It was Yuris's mother, Frelona Aether.

All eyes were on her now.

"Master Chaint Eridov. Have you proposed to my daughter?"

Frelona asked, her tone sharp and commanding, but still dripping with dignity. People swallowed hard and waited for the next response.

"Yes, madam. Long time no see. Countess Aether."

Chaint replied with a polite curtsy.

"Have you been seeing Yuris?"

The mother asked in a kindly tone, and the daughter instinctively shook her head from side to side. The crowd grew even more alarmed.

Yuris’ eyes met Kylan's as she turned again at her mother's entrance. He looked just as puzzled as she did.

The crowd was getting bigger. At this rate, it would never end. Moreover, being surrounded by people made her stomach churn.

Yuris realized she needed to get away. She needed time alone to think.

"I, uh, I need to use the lady's room."

With those words, Yuris turned and walked away. The people gathered around her parted ways as she approached.

The tea party was a mess. For the rest of the day, she was careful to avoid running into Kylan and Chaint.

She didn't want to draw attention to herself by talking to them again. Of course, she also tried to keep a low profile with the others, avoiding talking to them as much as possible.

Feeling overwhelmingly tired, Yuris skipped dinner and fell asleep as soon as she got home, not even bothering to think about the day's events.

The next day, after waking up, she absentmindedly searched the table. There was always the daily newspaper there, and she used to read it mindlessly in the morning to wake up.

It was a newspaper, but it contained junk news, such as gossip and scandals of the nobility.

But today, there was nothing where the newspaper should have been. Suddenly, Yuris felt a tug at her heartstrings as she remembered yesterday's events. Rune appeared, looking somewhat nervous.

"Miss, you've been called."

"Rune, where's today's paper?"

At her question, Rune gave her a look that told her it was coming. Yuris saw it and was sure. She had put it away on purpose. There was sure to be an article about yesterday's events.

She urged Rune to fetch the paper, and Rune fumbled for it.

Flipping through the paper, Yuris rubbed her eyes at the big headline and looked again.

****

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Ah….as I told you on my coming-of-age day, I'm looking for the son of the Marquis of Eridov."

Then Frelona's expression turned puzzled, wondering why she was looking for him.

"Because he helped me with something."

Yuris blurted out. Frelona still wondered what kind of help her housebound daughter could have gotten, but she didn't say anything and gave her his location.

"Go out to the garden. The young men are gathered there playing cricket."

Yuris followed her mother’s words and came out to the mansion garden. The spring sun shone on the green garden. The Duke's mansion was spacious and beautiful.

A man-made blue lake shone brightly among the lush greens. Next to the lake was a grassy clearing where men and women were playing cricket.

Cricket was a sport similar to golf where you hit a small ball with a long stick and put it in a goal, and since you only need a garden to play it, it caught on and became a favorite pastime of the aristocracy.

Since it was a relatively easy sport that could be played in a skirt, there were quite a few young ladies in the crowd.

Alongside the beautiful trees were rows and rows of pure white awnings. There were a few people sitting and relaxing on the loungers under the awnings, and Kylan was among them.

He sat idly by, not bothering to hit a ball, his pale skin standing out against the black procoat he wore.

He had a dark look on his face, and Yuri's heart felt a little heavy, as if it was her own fault.

As the younger girls stared at him and whispered, she was reminded of how popular Kylan had been in the past.

Yuris deliberately turned away from him and approached the gathering of people.

She could feel Kylan's eyes on her, as if he'd spotted her from afar, but she deliberately avoided eye contact.

He was probably surprised to see her introverted self at the party.

Yuris averted her gaze with effort, then looked around widely, remembering her purpose for coming here.

‘Where's Chaint?’

On the cricket field, men swung their sticks with glee. A spring breeze blew under a clear sky. People were enjoying the sunshine and the warm spring breeze.

In the center of the crowd was an unusually tall, handsome man. Dressed casually in a white shirt and black pants, he swung his stick with a smooth motion.

With a cheerful pop, the ball left the starting line.

With a bright smile on his face that seemed more appropriate for summer, he watched the ball arrive at its destination.

Chaint Eridov.

Yuris couldn't take her eyes off the figure, frozen in place like a person struck by lightning.

The twenty-two-year-old Chaint was glowing. As the ball sailed into the goal, other young men around him high-fived him.

He grinned, showing his gap-toothed smile, and clapped back. Then he swept a hand through his thick, light brown hair.

The youngsters around him stared enviously. He was dressed in a white shirt and a handsome smile, and he blended into the garden landscape like a picture.

At the sight of his face, Yuris’ legs shook as if they would give way. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she had seen him, lying in his coffin.

But if she fell here, she would attract attention.

Barely balancing herself, Yuris sank into a nearby armchair. Her gaze remained fixed on Chaint.

He handed his stick to the servant who was attending to him, took his coat from him, and walked over to Yuris, not because he was conscious of her, but because the seat was empty.

"Chaint, are you resting for your next turn?"

"Uh, yeah. One turn."

Another young master called out to him from a short distance away, and Chaint answered lightly. He turned his gaze toward them.

He plopped down beside Yuris and filled a goblet on the kitchenette table with water.

Yuris held her breath.

After quenching his thirst, he noticed the shadowy figure of a woman sitting in the chair next to him.

He greeted her simply. It was a common courtesy for someone he didn't know very well.

"It's a good time of year for exercise."

Chaint's voice was younger and clearer than she remembered. Yuris nodded. He didn't see the nod because his gaze wasn't directed her way.

She took a breath, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Chaint was watching the others intently. He hadn't yet clearly recognized the woman next to him.

"Chaint."

Yuris called his name somewhat impulsively, and the man sitting next to her turned around with a formal smile. She added with a smile, hiding her recalled emotions.

"How are you doing with the stones?"

Surprise flashed across the man's face as he recognized her.

"......Yuris?"

‘You really do remember my name.’

The sound of her own name from his lips sent a storm of memories whirling through her mind.

When she looked into his blue, life-filled eyes again, she felt as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

She felt the corners of her eyes heat up and she covered them with her hands.

"Are you okay?"

A worried voice followed, and how she missed hearing it in her ear. Yuris gritted her teeth and fought back tears.

She couldn't cry. How embarrassing it would be for her to suddenly cry in front of him. Besides, this was a social setting, and a single tear could create a scandal.

"I must have something in my eyes."

She lowered her hand again, barely able to contain her emotions. Then she came face to face with a wall that still held a worrisome glow.

Yuris hadn't come to make him her husband again.

In her last life, she had been a bad wife who had never given him any love, who had only expected to receive it............

She thought it would be unscrupulous to covet his place by her side in this life. Besides, he would have no feelings for her now.

'He’s alive and well, that's enough.’

The need to be with him screamed at her, but she pushed it away.

‘I've seen him alive, and that's enough. Let's not meddle in his life this time, because there are plenty of things I could do to make him happier.’

What she would do in this life was.......

‘Just stop the war, so the people I love don't die.’

It was the most important thing. The war had started all the tragedies in her last life. All the people she owed had died in the war. So in this life, she was going to repay that debt.

But she didn't know where to start in order to stop the war. It was something she would have to think about seriously from now on.

"Let's see."

But this man was too kind. When she said she had a foreign object in her eye, he leaned in close. With a look of concern on his face, he scrutinized her eyes. His familiar scent wandered to the tip of her nose.

"It's spring, so there must be a lot of pollen flying around."

The touch under her eyes was tender. It was almost as if the old Chaint had come back to life. If she ignored the fact that he was dead, she felt like she was back in the days when they were a couple.

"You remember me."

Yuris's voice echoed in Chaint’s ears.

"Of course."

His tone was light, as if he wasn't surprised.

Yuris thought of her parents' status. Especially her mother, a socialite. It occurred to her that it was not particularly surprising that the children of noble families knew her daughter.

Come to think of it, she'd been greeted by a lot of strangers today. She was reading too much into it.

Yurisu, whose chest was swelled with unnecessary anticipation, stood up from her seat, thinking, ‘That's right, it would be weird if I talk more.’

"It's hot out, so I'm going to go inside. It was a pleasure to meet you. Master Chaint."

She said with a polite smile and was about to turn away when someone stepped in front of her. It was Kylan.

***

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At Kylan's touch, Yuris rose from her chair, and though she hadn't realized it when she was sitting, her body swayed slightly as she stood up, as if the floor were about to give way. Then Kylan put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Once in the room, she meekly sat down on the bed. She couldn't help but feel woozy. Drinking this much wasn't unusual for her when she was 27, but perhaps her body wasn't used to alcohol at 20.

"Yuris."

Kylan called her name with a hint of concern in his voice. At the sound of his voice, Yuris opened her slightly closed eyes and looked up at him. Kylan stood in front of the bed and locked eyes with her.

"Why?"

"You're strange today..."

"I know."

He looked speechless.

By now, the waning afternoon sun was casting long shadows. The sunlight through the window was weaker than it had been in the morning, bathed the unlit room in a low orange glow that added to the dreary atmosphere.

Kylan must have sensed it, because he smiled awkwardly. The smile seemed so far away.

‘You're going to push me away anyway.’

Her instinct to not want to be hurt screamed at her that if this was indeed a return to the past, this relationship with Kylan should have ended here and now.

"...What's going on?"

"Nothing."

Yuris paused to catch her breath.

"I don't want to be friends with you anymore, Kylan."

It was something she needed to say sometime, before Kylan pushed her away. The sooner she did, the less she'd feel sorry for herself.

So she drunkenly blurted it out. Kylan looked greatly shocked at her words.

"...."

"Please don't come to see me personally for the last time today."

Kylan bit his lip hard, and it made Yuris feel bad. But she couldn't help it. She looked away and closed her eyes. Then a memory flashed through her mind.

Kylan's father, the Count of Hebron, was dying. Some time in the future, he would be diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a time limit.

And as the disease worsened, his health declined rapidly.

As she remembered, she wondered for a moment if she should tell him now. But she shook her head. It was already an old problem, and it would only prolong her anxiety.

It was around the same time that Kylan had started pushing her away, and she wondered if there was a reason he couldn't tell her.

But no matter how many times she asked, he never gave her a reason, just abandoned her.

Her past self was willing to give everything for him. She would stand by his side no matter what happened in the world.

And no matter how hard she tried to convey her feelings to him, Kylan wouldn't listen and kept pushing her away.

‘I’ve seen how broken I am, how much pain I'm in because of him.’

As I let my mind wander to that point, a new wave of hatred for him washed over me.

"Didn't you hear me?"

Kylan's head snapped back at the sharpness of her voice.

"......Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

"...."

"Give me a reason, Yuris."

He added in a wistful voice. The words reminded Yuris of the man she once clung to, and her heart hardened.

She replied in a dry voice.

"You'll find out for yourself soon enough."

With that, Yuris turned her head away, indicating that she had no intention of continuing the conversation.

After standing there for a moment, she heard Kylan quietly leave the room.

She felt her heart crush with an unknown guilt, but she clasped her hands together and forced the emotion out. If she was kind to Kylan, her good feelings for him would return.

'He'll push me away again, like he did before.’

She had no intention of repeating the hurt of her last life.

Suddenly, she remembered Chaint. She remembered her mother's words about a party in a week, and she jumped out of bed.

She was still dizzy, but it was an event she couldn't afford to forget, and she had to take notes somewhere. She staggered over to the bookshelf and pulled out her journal.

‘It's been a long time, this journal.’

When Kylan had left her and moved out of the country, Yuris had burned the journal she had kept for ten years. She'd been writing in it since she was about 10 years old, so in hindsight it was a waste. But at the time, she couldn't bear to let go of it because it contained her feelings and thoughts about him.

She flipped through the pages of the most recent section of the diary, which was still half-finished.

[March 7, 1972

Kylan gave me a beautiful potted plant.

He said it contained seeds, but it looks empty so far.

I put it in a sunny spot.

What do you think will sprout?

[January 18, 73.

Winter is cold, but this time it's okay.

After this winter, when spring comes, I'll finally have my coming-of-age ceremony. Will I be able to confess my feelings after the ceremony?]

She closed the diary as she couldn't bear to look at it anymore after only a few pages. It was all about Kylan.

Probably more so the more recent it was. It was only a few years ago that she had truly realized how much she liked him.

Shaking her head, she flipped to the front page of her old diary, which contained a relatively long entry. It was written in a child's jagged handwriting.

As she read, Yuris doubted her eyes. There was a name she didn't recognize.

[July 31, 61

There was a party at my house today. Many people came.

Their names were so long that I can't remember any of them now.

But I do remember one person. Older than me.

He was called Chaint, I forget the rest of his name.

He was alone.

I gave him a cherished stone as a gift.

People are usually surprised when they receive a rock as a gift, but he liked it.

I think he's kind.]

‘Have I ever met him?’

I felt a dull thud, like I'd been hit in the head. I looked at the year and realized I was eight years old. It must have been one of those gatherings where my wide-footed parents mingled with people from various families.

Now that I think about it, I might have had a hobby of collecting stones at that age.

‘I'm sure I fit in well with my friends up until that point.’

The thought made her mouth a bit bitter, and she quickly scanned the diary forward and backward through the days.

There were no more pages with his name on them, but there were plenty of stories about her giving rocks to her peers who came to her house to play.

‘Did he remember me in his last life?’

She couldn't wait to meet him.

***

It had been a week since Yuris regressed, and she had been trying to adjust to the repetition of her life, counting down the days until she saw Chaint again.

And finally, that day came. She arrived with her mother at the Ales Duchy, where the party was being held.

It was the first time in her adult life that she had attended such an event. The thought of having to see Kylan here again made her uncomfortable, but it was inevitable.

‘I'm about to meet a lot of people.’

Yuris had a history of trauma, and it was a long period of childhood bullying by her peers that had left her with a reclusive personality that didn't want to meet people.

'It's been about 20 years, I don't care anymore.'

Counting her years, Yuris reminded herself, taking a shallow breath and following the graceful Frelona.

After passing through the magnificent gardens, the manor was decorated for the season, smelling of spring. As they entered the ballroom, they were greeted by several lords and ladies.

The lords and ladies drinking tea in the large parlor looked at her in surprise.

Embarrassed, Yuris looked down, but the reason they were looking at her was because she was so beautiful.

It was a moment when Frelona's efforts on behalf of her daughter, who was attending the event for the first time in many years, paid off.

The youngsters who had bullied her had all been expelled from society, and she would never see them again, but she couldn't help but feel nervous.

Her heart began to beat a little faster.

'I'm only here to find Chaint.'

Yuris struggled to wrap her mind around the thought.

She responded politely to those who greeted her, searching anxiously for Chaint out of the corner of her eye. Frelona, beside her, noticed the look.

"Yuris, are you looking for someone?"

****

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In the first-floor dining room, Yuris's parents, Count and Countess Aether, and Kylan's parents, Count and Countess Hebron, were chatting amiably.

She looked at her parents' faces and froze in place like a statue.

She'd been told that they'd been killed in the bombing not long after she'd lost Chaint, and she'd been heartbroken by the news.

"Oh, Yuris. You look so pretty. Your dress looks so good on you."

Her mother, Frelona, stroked her daughter's hair with a loving touch. The tip of Yuris's tearful nose turned red again. Everyone in the room was stunned.

"Yuris, are you okay?"

"My daughter's anxious at the thought of her coming of age, aren’t you?"

Frelona patted her back warmly. Count Earlston Aether’s eyes filled with tears at the sight of his daughter crying.

"I can't believe my daughter is coming of age................"

"Why are you crying!"

With a playful slap, laughter filled the room.

"Is everyone in a good mood?"

"Oh my, Kylan. You look great today."

Kylan, who had gone to wake Yuris, entered the dining room afterward. He stood still beside his childhood friend with a straight posture. The parents of both families looked at the well-dressed couple with pride.

Coming of age was a special event in the Empire. Although debutantes usually made their debut at the age of eighteen, it was considered that twenty was the age at which they could officially become adults and consume alcohol.

It wasn't as big a deal as the debutante, so it was celebrated by a small group of close-knit families.

This was why the Counts of Hebron and Aether, who had known each other since childhood, decided to celebrate the event together.

Yuris looked indifferently at Kylan's face, which was smiling sweetly in front of her.

1873.

She remembered the year well.

It was then that Kylan, who had been so sweet to her, had pushed her away for no reason. The old her would have wanted to find out why he'd pushed her away, but now..................

She didn't even want to know his reasons.

She didn't want to waste her emotions on him anymore.

Kylan's smile that had been directed at the adults, turned to Yuris.

She turned away resolutely.

After the simple coming-of-age ceremony, Yuris sat in a garden chair and stared blankly at the sky. It was a peaceful scene, with puffy white clouds drifting across the blue sky.

It was a peace that she felt even more intensely as she was in the midst of the war just before her death.

But her head was noisy, as she didn't fully comprehend what was happening to her. Everyone, including her parents, Kylan, and Rune, were acting as naturally as water, with no odd corners.

Everything was reminding her that she was back eight years ago.

‘I don't know how this is possible, but......’

Instead of worrying about why this happened, Yuri decided to think about what to do next.

In this life, she wanted to protect the happiness of the people who loved her unconditionally. The war would take everything away, and stopping it would be a priority. How to stop it was a question for another time, years from now.

But Yuris put all that aside, she wanted to see Chaint first.

‘I don't even want him to love me again.’

First, she wanted to make sure he was alive, and the sight of his dead face the last time she saw was painfully flashing before her eyes.

Then, Kylan's voice broke the silence.

"What are you doing?"

Kylan walked over and sat down next to her, his mind on the girl who had grown strangely cold earlier.

Yuris had never been cold to Kylan like this before, and while he didn't need to be, it was hard not to worry since this had never happened since they were children.

Yuris turned to look at him, feeling the pressure from his side. Her eyebrows drew together and her mouth curled into a smile. It was a look of apology.

‘Even though I didn't do anything wrong.’

The memory of him being so nice made her mouth turn bitter again. She rose from her seat.

"Yuris, where are you going?"

Kylan asked, trotting behind her like an abandoned puppy.

"I want to rest, don't follow me."

At the hardness in her voice, he didn't follow her any further, but stood in place, staring at her retreating back.

Yuris didn't have to look back to see that he was sad. She felt like a bad person for doing this, since Kylan probably didn't know why she was acting this way.

‘But you're about to push me away.’

Once inside the mansion, Yuri sought out her mother first.

The Marquis of Eridov, House of Chaint in her previous life, was a fairly prestigious family, but there wasn't much she knew about them because she was infatuated with Kylan and had no interest in other men.

She'd grown up in the comfort of her mother's arms, a very capable and wide-footed woman. She didn't have to do much, her mother knew everything.

Yuris was tired of meeting people. She was much more comfortable and happy in her own world.

As she entered the dining room, she saw her mother, father, and the Count and Countess of Hebron chatting together.

The wine had already been drunk, and everyone was in a good mood.

"Mother."

"Ah, my daughter, congratulations again on your coming of age."

Yuris returned the compliment with a bright smile, and sat down next to Frelona. Green eyes, so much like Yuris's own, looked at her tenderly.

Yuris whispered to her mother.

"Mother, do you know anything about the Marquis of Eridov?"

"Huh? I know they are a famous family. What interests you?"

Her daughter was not interested in socializing, so her reaction was natural. Yuris smiled wryly and continued.

"If you're having a tea party with them, please invite me."

Frelona's face flashed with surprise and appreciation, then a look of concern.

"My daughter, you're showing interest in social life now? I love it. But you don't have to push yourself."

Yuris caught the worry in her mother's voice and smiled faintly.

"I mean it, Mother, I can't just stay inside the house forever either."

The words almost made Frelona cry. It drew the attention of everyone in the dining room. They were all staring at her in delight, knowing full well how reclusive Yuris was. They were about to applaud when she waved her hands.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She had been so timid and quiet that even this little attention was hard for her.

Frelona smiled.

"There's a party I've been invited to in a week. It's a big one, and most of the prestigious families will be there, including the Marquis and Marquess of Eridov."

Frelona was too excited to think about why Yuris was so interested in that family.

"Yes, Mother."

"My Yuris. Now that you've come of age, why don't you have a glass of wine with your father?"

Her father looked at her with pride and handed her a glass with a little wine in it. The others raised their glasses and clinked them together with glee. Without hesitation, Yuris raised her glass, clinked it, and drank the wine after listening to good wishes.

‘In my last life, I only drank out of despair, but it's good to drink with people I love.’

After tilting and clinking the glasses a few times, her head felt like it was spinning, but she didn't care.

"Ugh. Honey, don't you think you gave Yuris too much to drink?"

A few toasts later, Frelona looked at Yuris's reddened face and gave her a worried look. Earlston gave her a guilty look and mumbled.

"I'm just glad my daughter can drink with me now..."

Just then, Kylan entered the dining room, and upon seeing him, the Countess of Hebron called her son. The redheaded woman was not Kylan's biological mother. His real mother had died when he was an infant.

She had given birth to Eisen Hebron, Kylan's younger brother, but she was a kind woman who thought of Kylan as her own son, and felt that he deserved a seat at the table.

"Kylan. Could you please take Yuris to her room?”

He nodded. It was time to have a serious talk with her.

***

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"Ugh."

Yuris's consciousness returned with an unexplained headache.

"......I'm alive."

Having fallen from a great height, she instinctively groped for her body. She was clean, unbroken.

She didn't feel any pain. In fact, she felt refreshed.

Contrary to her good physical condition, she felt a sense of regret.

She wanted to die. She didn't think she was worth living. She realized, just before she died, that her pathetic self had blinded her to the true feelings of her beloved until it was too late.

Her cheeks heated and tears streamed down her face.

She remembered Chaint. How he had loved her like a warm spring breeze, like a steady lighthouse, without ever receiving a single spoonful of true love.

It was only afterward that Yuris realized her folly and wanted to stop squeezing her heart.

"Ah...... ah......."

‘I'm sorry, honey. How am I supposed to live in a world without you?’

She clutched her head and sobbed like a child. The tears fell onto the familiar pale blue comforter, deepening its color.

The sun was shining through the window beside the bed. It wasn't until she'd been crying for a while that she realized she was in her room in her childhood home.

'This place was definitely blown up by… war bombs, and my parents died here, so is this a dream or the afterlife?'

But it was an eerily familiar voice that interrupted her thoughts.

"Yuris!"

A familiar voice called her name from outside the door. It felt strangely familiar, but the voice was unmistakably Kylan's. Yuris stared at the door, feeling like she'd been punched in the stomach.

"Yuris, are you still asleep?"

"..."

"I'm coming in!"

And without delay, the door swung open. Kylan stepped out, a fresh smile on his face.

Leaning against the door at an angle, Kylan's face looked oddly familiar, but Yuris, unperturbed, didn't care.

When he saw her sitting up, half out of bed, he smiled benevolently and strode into the room.

“You’re a sleepyhead, Yuris.”

"What?

Yuris looked bewildered, and Kylan assumed it was just a lack of sleep, so he poured himself a glass of water from the one beside him.

She stared at the glass he held out to her. It was a clear glass, half-full of water, transparent to the sun shining in through the window. It took her a moment to realize what was happening.

‘Why am I alive, and why are you coming to me? It's like we were friends once upon a time.’

A flashback flashed through her mind: in the last moments of her life, she had run into Kylan on those narrow stairs. Yuris was sure he must have saved her from the fall somehow.

"Why didn't you just let me die?"

She glared at him, her eyes murderous. Kylan was taken aback by the sharpness of her voice and the look in her eyes.

"Why won't you let me die, and now please stay out of my life............!"

What started out as a sharp voice turned into a half-sob as the emotions of resentment took over.

"Because of you! Because of how broken I've been! If you're going to be gone, you should be gone forever, why come now............!"

She vomited up a torrent of emotions that she wasn't sure whether to blame him or herself.

"Yuris, what are you talking about............. Don’t say things like you’re going to die.”

He replied, not knowing what to say. He looked completely clueless.

"What's wrong with you, or do you think you can just pretend it didn't happen? You've seen it all, you've seen it all............!"

She swallowed hard to keep from crying. She tried to hold it together, but the tears were not worth it.

She glared at Kylan with wide eyes and saw the bewilderment on his face as he met her gaze.

"Did you have a nightmare? I'm sorry."

He lowered himself to a kneeling position on one side of the bed. Yuri could barely see through the tears that were falling against her will, but she could feel Kylan's hand reaching for hers.

It was warm, his large hand stroking the back of hers. It was the way he'd often comforted her when she was sad as a child.

‘What the hell happened?’

His genuine bewilderment made her feel like she was taking out her anger on the wrong person.

Yuris stopped pounding him and reached out with one hand to wipe her cheek. Kylan thought she had calmed down and sat down beside her on the bed.

"Feeling better?"

"...."

Instead of answering, she looked around the room. It looked just as it had when she'd lived with her parents in the mansion.

The vanity chair that had broken one of its legs and been thrown out before she was married was still there, as were the journals that she had torn up and burned one day in a fit of grief.

‘Something's wrong.’

It didn't make sense, she thought, unless she was in a dream, or the afterlife, or............ back in time.

Yuris asked Kylan, her voice slightly calmer.

"...What day is it?"

"Today? May 16th."

"No, what year is it?"

"Huh? It's 1873."

Kylan was gracious enough to answer the sudden questions.

"That can't be right............"

The year she died was 1881.

She asked him again, looking puzzled.

"How old are we, now?"

"Huh? Haha, you must have had a really weird dream. You're twenty years old, Yuris, and today is your coming-of-age ceremony."

It was only then that she realized he was a little more dressed up than usual. His bright smile was reflected in the sunlight coming from behind Yuris.

It was a far cry from the dark face of Kylan the last time she'd seen him. Twenty-year-old Kylan, he was right.

She climbed off the bed, shooing away the way he sat and watched her affectionately.

‘How is this possible?’

She paced the room. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She hadn't eaten or drunk since she'd seen Chaint's corpse, so surely her face was no different from a sick man's.

Her cheeks were haggard and her hair was so matted and tangled she could barely comb it................ It must have been, but now she looked at herself in the mirror and saw a fresh young face.

Beautifully plumped cheeks, beautifully wavy platinum-colored hair, and skin that glowed even without makeup told her that she was the happy Yuris of her twenties.

'Oh my God................’

"Yuris?”

Kylan called her name anxiously, sensing that something was wrong with her.

But Yuris didn't hear him, deep in thought. If it really was true that she was back in the past, with her parents who had died in the war.

‘My husband.’

He must be alive.

Yuris's heart thumped with excitement as her thoughts went that far.

She tugged on the string, and Rune appeared.

"Miss, you called for me?"

"Oh, Rune.”

She burst into tears again at the sight of that familiar face, which she had not seen since her marriage, nor had she heard whether she was dead or alive in the barrels of war.

"Ah, miss?"

Rune asked, puzzled by her lady’s tears. Her eyes were already puffy from crying so much, but Yuris couldn’t help but to let out another steady stream of tears. She grabbed Rune's hand and sobbed like a fool.

Rune was helpless as she held onto her little lady’s hand. Still, she stroked Yuris's back with one hand, gently comforting her.

"It's your coming-of-age ceremony today, my lady. Crying like this will ruin your pretty face."

"Ugh......."

"Master Kylan, please wait outside while I get the young lady ready."

With that, Kylan stiffened and stepped aside.

Feeling Rune's touch for the first time in a long time, Yuris said to herself over and over again.

‘If by some miracle I was given another chance, I would never do anything in this life that I would regret.’

***

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