“Did you… just turn back time?”

Although Joseph Kyung said nothing, the smile spreading from his eyes was enough of an answer without needing to hear it.

Sigh, I let out a breath. Indeed, I should have died.

“… First, I should express my gratitude. For saving my life.”

I felt the strength draining from my body. It wasn’t because I was afraid.

Rather, it was closer to the tension dissipating as my predictions, the hypotheses I had formed, all fell into place as if they were the correct answers.

“But separate from that, Joseph Kyung. I think it’s time for us to be a bit more honest with each other.”

As I stared at him piercingly, Joseph Kyung also gazed at me.

The usual smile played around his eyes, his cheeks, his lips, but he didn’t look like he was smiling at all.

And it was the same for me.

“… What was your purpose in approaching me?”

I no longer had any intention of letting him off the hook for all the actions he took to conceal the truth.

“You’d better stop using excuses like trade routes or business. If those things were truly important, there’s no way you wouldn’t have mentioned them even once with your own mouth in all this time.”

First, I blocked off those absurd pretexts.

At that, Joseph Kyung made an amused “Hmm” sound.

“And don’t tell me it’s because it wasn’t urgent. No matter how pressing my and my children’s issues are, no one can prioritize them over their own affairs. Especially you, Joseph Kyung, even knowing that Saul Rogier was staying at my house, you never asked him anything about business matters.”

There’s no expert in this field like Mr. Rogier.

Even my grandfather, the former Margrave of Landgritz, folded and groveled before Mr. Rogier.

“It seems…”

Only then did Joseph Kyung become serious. His voice lowered as he interlaced his fingers and placed them on his knees.

“Duchess, you seem prepared to refute whatever justification I attach.”

“That’s right.”

“I get the feeling it’s not to question the truth, but merely a process of confirmation.”

“You heard correctly. So stop with the flimsy excuses and tell me now what you really want to gain from me.”

“…”

Once again, my gaze and Joseph Kyung’s intersected in midair.

His eyes staring at me were so eerily red. They looked dyed black to the point of being red.

It was a persistent, obsessive gaze. Often what I felt from him…

‘Eyes that seemed to want to devour me.’

To hide my trembling fingertips, I clasped my hands together.

Doing so made it seem like I was in a posture similar to Joseph Kyung’s.

“I’ve given it some thought.”

I spoke first.

“Among the things I possess, what would be of value to someone would be the duchy of Daiern or the Daiern family’s assets. Is that what you want?”

This time, I deliberately put on a bright smile.

“I say this because it doesn’t seem like Joseph Kyung has developed feelings for me.”

“Ahaha.”

And finally, Joseph Kyung burst out laughing.

With tears forming in the corners of his eyes, Joseph Kyung asked,

“That’s a joke, right?”

“If you truly consider it a joke, that would be a relief.”

“Of course. I have no interest in either of the things you just mentioned, Duchess.”

Well then.

“So what are you interested in? Ah, perhaps…”

I asked with a wide grin, the corners of my mouth curled up.

“Are you interested in curing your chronic illness, Joseph Kyung?”

In that moment, all traces of laughter completely vanished from Joseph Kyung’s face.

Ah, now that I think about it, I get it.

This man’s red eyes.

The discomfort I sensed intermittently was indeed not mistaken after all.

Because in his pupils, concealed by a smile, a deep madness was eerily situated.

“… You anticipated that much?”

That beautiful voice now felt like a dark, sticky swamp. Low, frightening, spine-chilling.

“Seeing your reaction, Joseph Kyung, it seems my prediction was correct after all.”

“Not exactly, but roughly similar. Sigh. To think I’d be found out this quickly…”

Along with the sigh that escaped, the elegant posture of Joseph Kyung instantly crumbled.

He no longer straightened his back, nor did he wear the mask-like smile on his face anymore.

He took off his gloves, tossed them on the table, and even loosened the cravat constricting his neck.

He no longer looked like an aristocrat. Rather…

He looked like a devil.

A devil that enchants people with a beautiful face and voice to steal their souls.

“Shall I explain?”

“And then you’ll turn back time to make what happened now as if it never occurred, right?”

“Indeed, you predict it accurately.”

Sincere admiration tinged his voice.

And instead of the mask-like smile, his real smile began to bloom on his face.

If the smile he had drawn until now felt like pure lilies of the valley or lilies…

‘It’s quite heart-wrenching.’

His unadorned smile was like a gaudy poisonous flower emitting an extremely pungent fragrance.

A fragrance that was dangerous and frightening, yet unknowingly enticing…

“Yes. Actually, there’s something I don’t quite understand. Joseph Kyung, every time you turned back time, you complained of headaches. Then you should have stopped using that ability.”

Wouldn’t that at least prevent his condition from worsening?

But he scoffed at my words, exhaling a breath.

“You’re misunderstanding that part. The curse afflicting me… in other words, my chronic illness, has nothing to do with how many times I rewind time. It’s just a momentary pain that comes in that instant. A light price to pay, with no lingering after-effects.”

“But if you went so far as to call it a curse, there must be something else.”

“Hmm. I never thought I’d end up revealing even this…”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“My chronic illness, or should I say curse. It means an accursed, terrible pain that limits my lifespan.”

…?

What does this mean?

“Limits your… lifespan?”

“Yes.”

His radiant smile deepened further.

“I’ve never… passed thirty.”

Oh my god.

“The closer I get to that age, the more the pain worsens. And finally, unable to endure the pain, I go mad with agony and even end up harming myself. If I were to die, I suppose the cause would be shock. By the way, I’ve never actually died before. Because I turned back time before that…”

I couldn’t help but be horrified.

Pain?

Pain that drives a person insane and leads them to death.

‘How much suffering does it take to die?’

It was a realm I couldn’t possibly fathom. I can’t even imagine it.

Moreover, he’s twenty-seven years old. There are 3 years left until thirty.

If the pain worsens as time passes…

“Joseph Kyung. Are you feeling that pain right now?”

“I’m fine now. After coming into contact with your bare skin earlier, Duchess.”

“Wh-what?”

“I’m being sincere, Duchess.”

“Hah.”

Yes, I know he’s sincere.

It sounded like a tease, but I could instinctively tell he wasn’t talking nonsense.

Come to think of it, that was the case.

Whenever Joseph Kyung complained of a headache, I had touched him in some form.

And each time, he would become perfectly fine as if his pain had been a lie.

It was the same this morning too.

Joseph Kyung, who collapsed on my bed sweating cold sweat, however, returned to his usual self after contact with me, as if he had been faking illness.

“Normally, that is to say, without contact with the Duchess…”

A languid voice spat out words like a sigh in a bland tone.

“It’s a pain akin to shards of glass grinding the inside of my head. Bearable, I suppose.”

For now, that is.

He smiled with his red eyes, not even closing them.

“…”

I no longer knew what to say.

Clumsy consolation? Offering a solution?

Whatever it was, I felt I lacked information.

Indeed, it seemed my priority for now was to understand his condition.

“But the pain disappears when you come into contact with me?”

“That’s right.”

Truly, there are so many things I can’t understand with my common sense when it comes to this man.

If I had heard this a month ago, I surely would have thought this beautiful man was committing fraud by relying on his looks.

But what can I do?

I can’t turn a blind eye to the facts that unfolded and I experienced before my eyes.

I have to accept what I must.

For a while, I questioned him about the extent and effects of contact.

Through that, I was able to find out for certain that the more direct the contact, the better the effect on alleviating his pain.

Why Joseph Kyung had approached me, why he had gone to great lengths to protect my children.

I finally understood now.

“In the end, you needed me to prolong your own life.”

“That’s correct.”

It was then that he raised his body from the relaxed position he had been leaning in.

“Everything was merely a wretched excuse for me to stay by your side, Duchess.”