Though it may sound bad, at this moment, I was relieved that Joseph wasn’t riding in the same carriage.

Otherwise, in the carriage that had already become a small library, Joseph’s seat would have been quite uncomfortable.

‘Come to think of it, Lord Joseph…’

As he finished the chapter he was reading, Sergei closed his eyes.

His eyes stung severely.

He had already strained his eyesight greatly over the past 10 years by devoting himself solely to academics, and now he had lost one eye as well…

The court physician of Daiern had long been concerned about the situation where the remaining eye would have to bear all the burden.

So he had said to let the eyes rest at least once every hour when reading books.

But when he finally became aware of reality after being immersed in the book, at least several hours had passed.

And that was because his eyes had become tired.

It’s the same now. When he came to his senses, darkness had already settled outside the carriage.

He knew this couldn’t go on.

But even if it was a bit of a strain, Lieselotte and Joseph needed the knowledge he possessed right now.

So if it was just a little bit of overexertion…

‘I’m worried if you’re still misunderstanding.’

He heard that Joseph was avoiding not only himself but also Lieselotte.

He couldn’t help but be concerned.

Joseph needs constant physical contact with Lieselotte to be properly recognized as a successor.

So by now, without physical contact, he must be suffering from terrible headaches.

‘I was going to suggest that Lord Joseph could be placed next to Lieselotte as her consort…’

It was a rational and practical alternative.

Especially for Sergei, who loved Lieselotte more than anything, it was the biggest decision and concession.

It was heartbreaking, like the feelings of an empress consenting to a concubine…

But it couldn’t be helped. For Sergei, his relationship with Joseph was as important as love.

He absolutely did not want him to die consumed by chronomancy.

But to condemn him as a traitor without even listening to his explanation to the end.

Sergei let out a resentful breath and took a moment of rest.

As he was roughly rubbing his dry eyes, he felt the carriage that had departed in the morning gradually slowing down.

It seemed they had arrived at the place where they would stay tonight.

“Huh…?”

It was while he was organizing the documents around him. An unfamiliar note was gently placed on top of the book Sergei was reading.

Please spare me a moment of your time.

The note with a short sentence written in neat handwriting, however, disappeared into gas as soon as Sergei confirmed the contents.

Ah, it was magic. Only then did he seem to know who had sent the note.

“Lord Joseph!”

Sergei urgently looked around for the sender of the note. Fortunately, he didn’t need to search for long.

“Ah… You startled me. When did you…”

“…”

Sergei, calming his startled heart, looked at the opposite seat and gave a relieved smile.

There sat a man, unrealistically beautiful as always, with his legs crossed, looking somewhat arrogant.

It was the sudden appearance of a person who had been neither sensed nor seen until just now.

However, befitting a scholar studying magic, Sergei calmly continued the conversation.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came to find me first, Lord Joseph. Is your headache any better? I heard you burned the letter I sent without even reading it, so I was worried…”

“I didn’t come here to talk about that.”

However, Joseph, with a strangely cold expression, cut off Sergei’s voice full of gladness.

Sergei, who had been filled with anticipation of finally being able to have a proper conversation, blinked in surprise.

“Then…?”

“That eye.”

The blood-red pupils infused with a strange light were somehow chilling.

“Let me fix it right now.”

“What?”

How?

He had clearly heard there was no way. To begin with, healing power belonged to divine power, so it wasn’t even in the realm of magic.

If there was one way…

“W-wait. Lord Joseph!”

But by the time he grasped the situation, it was already too late.

The air around Sergei vibrated strangely, and a silent ringing shook his mind.

Piiiiing.

“Ugh!”

Simultaneously, a burning pain pierced Sergei’s left eye.

Sergei’s memory cut off there.

“I think we need an explanation of what happened, Lord Joseph.”

It was when they arrived at the hotel where they were to stay that evening that Sergei was found unconscious.

It was a shocking news to me, who had been looking forward to the situation of being able to talk with Lord Joseph after several days.

How surprised I was when the servant who opened the door of Sergei’s carriage shouted!

Lord Joseph, who had gotten out of the carriage in front, quickly picked up Sergei.

At his words that it would be best to move him to a room first, I hurriedly rushed the check-in.

Yes, up to that point was fine.

After all, I had succeeded in facing Lord Joseph after several days as promised.

I realized the problem when we laid Sergei down in the room.

The burn scar that had hideously covered his left eye was completely gone.

I calmed Loretta, who was about to call for a doctor, and first sent all the servants out of the room.

The person who could explain this situation wouldn’t be the doctor anyway.

As I quietly glared at the cause, he answered with his eyes gently closing.

“Yes, I used healing magic.”

Lord Joseph’s voice, flowing with a beautiful smile that could melt one, was too nonchalant.

If I had been a little stupider, I might have just nodded, captivated by that face.

But even if I don’t have the great memory like some people, I’m not so forgetful as to forget what was said just a few days ago.

“No, you used chronomancy, didn’t you?”

“Oh my…”

He laughed softly with a breath, as if he had no intention of hiding it properly.

My heart grew cold. I blinked to focus my vision blurring with anger.

Fortunately, there was a water jug nearby on the table, and after taking a sip, my head cooled down a bit.

“My lady.”

“…”

“Are you angry?”

It’s not a situation where I wouldn’t be.

He broke his promise to me. I had clearly asked Lord Joseph not to use chronomancy.

Lord Joseph had also agreed to this.

But what’s the situation now?

“Let’s hear the reason.”

I first calmed down and offered Lord Joseph a seat.

Yes, it’s already happened. There’s no point in dwelling on what’s past now.

Rather, I was curious about why, for what reason Lord Joseph had broken his promise to me.

I didn’t want to engage in an emotional fight by getting angry without thinking, but above all, he might have another valid reason that I didn’t know about.

“Why did you use chronomancy again?”

Lord Joseph’s red pupils were filled only with my image.

“You know what the price of using chronomancy is now.”

He didn’t sit in the seat I offered.

He approached me with leisurely steps and settled next to me.

Bending down, he casually sat on the armrest of the chair I was sitting on and buried his lips in my palm.

After inhaling slowly for a while, he finally opened his lips.

“That the most precious memory is erased. I know, my lady.”

“Then why?”

“…”

He was still rubbing his cheek against my palm as he smiled with his eyes narrowed thinly.

However, seeing his smile, I suddenly felt uneasy.

“…Perhaps. Because of that eye, will something bad happen to Sergei in the future?”

A fearful imagination cast a shadow.

They called it the butterfly effect.

The saying that a small butterfly’s wing flap could cause a big typhoon.

So an ordinary person like me can’t guess what problems Sergei’s eyesight might cause in the future.

But Lord Joseph, with the ability of chronomancy, is different.

Perhaps he has already seen a future of destruction.

And maybe he pointed to Sergei’s lost left eye as the cause?

“That’s right.”

Lord Joseph gave an affirmative answer to my speculation.

“A big accident will happen in the near future. I judged that if Sergei’s eyesight had been intact, he could have prevented the biggest accident.”

“An accident? What kind?”

“At Daiern Castle. A huge accident that will happen to the children and Sergei… and to you, my lady.”