When my consciousness began to sink into the dark abyss,

I thought I heard His Grace’s voice desperately calling my name.

– Yuriella! Yuriella!

Somehow, I felt a little sad.

Now, my name is Yuriella Grande. The contract wife of Grand Duke Frost Ielheim.

My job is to cure His Grace, whose life I made limited when I was Solas, to serve him loyally, and to cleanly pave the path he walks on. That is the reason and meaning of my living again.

I thought I had accepted it all.

I thought I was adapting quite well.

But for some reason, His Grace’s voice desperately calling Yuriella’s name made me sad.

As if he wasn’t calling for me. As if there would no longer be anyone to call me by my original name…

When I was Solas Moretti,

I quite liked it when Grand Duke Frost Ielheim called my name.

He was second in line to the imperial throne after the Emperor, the lord of the North, and the owner of the holy sword Iello, whose translucent blade was so beautiful.

Even the Emperor was jealous and envious of his prestige and abilities, and there were quite a few who disliked him, calling him arrogant and dogmatic, but…

I… really liked him, who only frowned when he saw me.

There were so many who praised me as the Knight of Flames in front of me, but behind my back, they despised my origins and sneered that a lowly person was wielding a holy sword unfit for their status.

The owner of Iello, although gruff with me, acknowledged me as an equal knight and the owner of a holy sword. I was really… grateful for that.

[Solas! Behind you! Solas! I told you to watch your back, why are you guarding me, you fool!]

Whenever he protected my back and called out “Solas!”, I felt reassured.

It was a pity that the only way I could express my gratitude to him was to quickly disappear without being noticed after the battle was over.

How would he react if he knew his contract wife was Solas?

Would he immediately cut off my head and hang it on the castle walls? Or would he, even once, lend an ear to my words?

But as Solas, there is only one thing I can say to him. That I’m sorry. Even though I’m too ashamed to even say I’m sorry…

But why do I feel all the strength draining from my body?

Ah… I need to open my eyes. I haven’t even finished giving acupuncture to His Grace…

‘Oh! There’s light!’

In the deep darkness where the surroundings were pitch black, and I couldn’t even tell if I was sinking or floating,

Through a small dot, as if punctured by a needle, a pulsating, flickering green light shot in.

I flailed my arms and legs as if swimming through water, tearing through the abyss-like darkness and moving towards the light.

*

– Call the High Priest Daycola! Tell Grand Mage Sagredo to fly here at once too!

His Grace’s flustered voice rode the wind and flowed to the top of the tall garden tree where I was sitting.

– Are the doctors at the Grand Duke’s residence a bunch of fools gathered in one place? Why can’t a single one of them wake up the Grand Duchess?

The servants of the Grand Duke’s residence were scurrying about in a panic, their faces pale as ghosts.

The guests who were enjoying the banquet while waiting for the newlyweds to return after their wedding night had to leave the Grand Duke’s residence, pushed out without knowing what was going on.

Even Duke Grande, who held out until the end, asking what had happened, finally met His Grace’s icy gaze and fled with his tail between his legs.

“…His Grace must have been very startled, Airy.”

[Airy was more shocked! Airy almost had a heart attack when Solas was ejected from Yuriella’s body!]

Airy fluttered down onto my shoulder, shedding tears and shouting sharply.

“Sorry.”

[It’s the Grand Duke who should apologize! How badly did he torment you for your soul to be ejected? That bad guy! Pervert! Beast!]

“He didn’t torment me. I’m the one who tormented His Grace. But it was something I had to do.”

[What?]

An earthquake occurred in Airy’s beady eyes. His small mouth also hung open.

[Are you saying Yuriella was the beast?]

“No. I just gave him acupuncture. He’s been busy lately and had no time to get it done. I thought the sound of him being in pain while getting acupuncture would have an auditory effect. It seemed perfect for driving away the shrine maidens who came to observe the wedding night.”

[Hmm. You’re saying Yuriella’s soul was ejected just from getting acupuncture? No way.]

Airy crossed his arms and tilted his head at an angle. His narrowed eyes were just like an imperial inspector.

[The bond between the original body and soul is strong. But settling a new soul into an empty body is very difficult. Even if successful, the bond can never be as complete as the original. Large shocks often cause cracks to form.]

He even spoke quite logically.

[But it wasn’t just some crack, Solas, your soul popped right out! That means it wasn’t an ordinary shock, right?]

His form of raising his index finger and then touching his temple was quite plausible too.

[Confess everything that happened with the Grand Duke!]

“It’s all my fault. Things went wrong because of me.”

I boasted that I would take on all the embarrassment, but His Grace kissed me because I was being frustrating. I’m sorry to say.

Thinking back to that moment, I remembered His Grace’s breath, more refreshing than the scent of mint.

I felt my cheeks flush hotly. But it must just be a feeling. I’m a soul right now.

[Ah! Wait. That hand just now!]

Airy’s eyes blazed as he pointed to my hand that was unknowingly moving towards my lips.

[Why are you touching your lips? What were you just thinking about?]

“Oh, I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

[You’re thinking about something right now? Your face is full of thoughts?]

“Really. I told you I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

[Liar!]

He’s right, it was a lie. I kept thinking about it.

The moment His Grace’s lips descended on my lips, I couldn’t move a finger, just like when a demon’s venomous fang was stuck in my shoulder.

My body froze solid, but my heart pounded harder than running fifty laps around the training ground.

My head felt more dizzy and hazy than when I drained dozens of casks of alcohol with my subordinates after a battle was over.

The touch gently caressing my cheek…

Ugh. I ended up hitting my head on my knees with a thud, shuddering.

‘Such disloyalty…!’

Although I am a temporary contract vassal, my loyalty should not be lacking or impure compared to His Grace’s regular knights.

“To make His Grace initiate a kiss… Is there a more disloyal subject than me?”

[What?]

Airy flared up and flapped his transparent wings fiercely.

[Frost Ielheim! That beast! Bad guy! A pervert even an ice dragon would spit out!]

“His Grace sacrificed his pride because I was lacking. And yet I… I made him worry by having my soul ejected like this…”

Seeing the Grand Duke’s residence engulfed in chaos, a sigh escaped me with an apologetic heart.

[You’re only sorry to the Grand Duke? Do you know how much effort I put into connecting your soul with Yuriella’s body? Do you know how difficult and complicated that process was?]

He even scolded quite rationally.

[The one who should apologize is the Grand Duke! Beast! Bad guy!]

“I told you it’s my fault.”

[Can’t you, as my master, agree with what I’m saying for once?]

“Airy.”

When I reached my hand up and called, Airy made a sullen face and landed on my palm.

“If you’re sorry, you can just say you’re sorry. Then I’ll reply, ‘It’s okay.'”

[…Wh-why should I be sorry?]

“You feel really bad for me right now. You think the bond between my soul and Yuriella’s body broke because you were weak.”

[….]

Airy fell silent, indicating that I was right.

“If it were your original self, you could have put me back into Yuriella’s body right away. But now your energy is weak, so you can’t, and it’s frustrating. I know you’re anxious that if we miss the timing to return, my soul will keep fading and eventually vanish.”

Teardrops fell onto my translucent palm with a plop.

[Uwaaah!]

The wind spirit who had existed since the beginning of time burst into tears like a child.

[What if you die? Uwaaah!]

“Mm. Airy. I’m already dead. You know that.”

The spirit who had briefly stopped crying started wailing again.

[What if you die again? Aaaaah!]

“This isn’t your fault. And of course, it’s not His Grace’s fault either.”

[….]

“Sorry for making you anxious. Thank you for worrying about me.”

Airy’s tears pooled and rippled on my palm.

“Stop crying. I love you.”

[Sniff. Sniff. I love you too.]

Even though I might vanish forever,

Even though I might not be able to keep a single promise I made to His Grace,

The tiny piece of wind worrying about me and crying for me was so warm that I was able to smile for the first time since being ejected from Yuriella’s body.

*

The Grand Duchess has collapsed!

On the first night of marriage. While consummating the marriage at that!

The Grand Duke shut himself in the bedchamber, keeping watch over his bride who had fallen unconscious and would not wake up.

The more the Grand Duke’s residence fell into deep silence, the more the rumors surrounding the Grand Duchess who collapsed during the wedding night snowballed.

[I heard Lady Yuriella pounced on him! She was as passionate as the active volcano of Anderinas!] [They say His Grace the Grand Duke wouldn’t let go and gave her a hard time?]

The shrine maidens who had left the bridal chamber early could not bring themselves to admit they had been bribed, so they could not say nothing had happened between the bride and groom. The passionate wedding night of the Grand Ducal couple became an established fact.

The Grand Duke, who gained the nickname of “Mana King” from a light kiss where only the lips touched, was driven to the point of going crazy and jumping up and down from the unfairness of it all.

But the one most driven to insanity was probably his bride who showed no signs of waking up after collapsing.

“Yuriella…”

The setting sun warmly illuminated the face of Yuriella, who was in a deep slumber.

Frost had been holding Yuriella’s hand tightly, unable to let go for a week now since she lost consciousness. He refused to eat, as if letting go would mean losing her.

Why did she lose consciousness like this?

Why can’t she wake up?

Yuriella fainted after he kissed her. Could it be because of that?

Even though he knew it was an absurd thought, Frost kept dwelling on that moment.

[Frost.]

When she called his name, Frost kissed her as if spellbound.

[Frost.]

At that sweet voice, the string of his firm reason, which he had never let slip before, snapped. Even if that moment were to come again, he wasn’t confident he could control himself.

“Yuriella.”

Frost clenched his fists, suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety at the lack of response no matter how much he called.

“Yuriella.”

Only after checking that she was breathing steadily by placing his hand near her nose did he feel relieved.

Knock knock. There was a knocking sound, and Alexis entered.

“…Your Highness. His Majesty the Emperor-.”

“Tell him to get lost.”

“He says he will leave after seeing Her Highness’s face just once-.”

“Tell him if he makes that request one more time, he dies by my hand.”

The head butler let out a deep sigh. He felt sorry for his master whose cheeks had sunken in the span of a week.

“What about the coachman from the apothecary group?”

Alexis looked at the Grand Duke with a puzzled expression and shook his head. He didn’t understand why he had been eagerly searching for a mere coachman, not even an apothecary, for a week.

“He has not returned yet after taking a vacation when the wedding ended.”

The Grand Duke, who had been muttering curses through gritted teeth, uttered a name that the head butler found even more incomprehensible.

“Call Cassandra. Bring her here secretly. Right now.”

“She is the woman Your Highness personally put magic restraints on for engaging in ominous black magic. Your Highness also ordered her to be locked in a cave, never to see the light of day again while she lived.”

“Alexis.”

“Your Highness is the North itself, and the law of the North. Are you going to break the law you established yourself? I fully understand your concern for Her Highness, but-.”

“The Duchess… Yuriella Grande and I are not a real couple.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a contract relationship disguised as a political marriage.”

Not a relationship where they open their hearts to each other even though it’s a political marriage in disguise?

Alexis tilted his head and soon nodded. If his master says the sky is red, then it’s red.

“Then all the more reason summoning a black mage like Cassandra Cabeza is-.”

“Even though we are not husband and wife… Even though she has no reason or affection to help me… She willingly cured me… and now lies unconscious.”

“Your Highness…”

“I must… wake her up. I must see her open her eyes. On the day our contract ends and she leaves my side, I must give her everything I promised.”

“However… His Majesty the Emperor is still here… If the imperial family finds out, they will make a fuss over nothing-.”

“Rex.”

The childhood nickname he used to call the head butler slipped out of the Grand Duke’s mouth. He had never called the head butler by that name since losing his parents.

“Yes, Your Highness…”

“I don’t want to lose anyone anymore.”

Alexis gazed at his master who held the Duchess’s hand tightly and could not let go, losing the will to resist any further.

He said it was a contract relationship, but it seems Your Highness has come to hold Lady Yuriella in a deeper place than I estimated.

Even when you were burning with fever due to the demon’s poison and hovering between life and death, you flatly refused the suggestion from those around you to call Cassandra…

“…I will prepare at once.”

After the head butler left, Frost buried his face in Yuriella’s hand he was holding and murmured,

“Yuriella. If you don’t want to see me go crazy… come back. Please come back to me…”