After that, Raoul was nowhere to be seen or heard.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

Diana passed by the training grounds, but he didn’t acknowledge her, and he didn’t appear in the library either.

Sometimes, when she would wistfully gaze at his back, only then would he briefly meet her eyes and flinch in surprise.

Diana felt oddly melancholic, even though it wasn’t a big deal.

‘Another delusion of mine alone…’

Perhaps even after regression, her mental state was in this condition; she had been under the illusion that the two of them had become friends.

The sudden change was disappointing and upsetting, but it was clear that she must have unknowingly offended him.

‘Why did I think it would be different from my past life?’

She let out a small sigh and looked at the scenery outside the window.

Cherry blossom petals that had flown to the terrace were conveying the fragrance of spring just reaching its peak.

‘It was definitely a day like this when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.’

She recalled the spring when she was 13 years old, living as the original Diana.

It was now really close to the point where Ayla would open fire in the original story.

‘At 13, is this how the time-limited happiness ends…?’

The heart that had been immersed in a sweet dream for a while was becoming damp. Her mood was gloomy.

[This is the timeline separator]

Diana was forced to open her eyes due to the noisy atmosphere in the mansion from early morning.

“What’s going on…?”

“They say a tribute has arrived from the capital today. It’s to honor the great contribution made in the recent territorial expansion.”

“Ah…”

Diana moved her dry lips.

‘So it finally begins.’

Angela, who was changing the flowers in the vase, noticed Diana’s withered state and asked with concern.

“Young miss, why have you been so low on energy lately?”

“Huh…? Have I been?”

Diana raised her eyebrows slightly and forced a bright expression.

However, it was impossible to fool Angela, who was sharp as a tack.

“Come to think of it, that wolf boy hasn’t been around lately… He used to stick to you like glue, always wanting to eat and study together… What’s with the sudden change?”

“Haha… Raoul is 13 now too. Maybe he needs some time alone?”

Angela wrinkled her face unpleasantly and put her hands on her hips.

“A slave acting all on his own whims? Should I go and give him a piece of my mind?”

She looked fierce, as if she might dash out right away. Diana quickly got down from the bed to stop her.

“No! Absolutely don’t do that! Please…”

Angela let out a big sigh and embraced Diana’s small body.

“…How can our young miss have such a silken heart? I’m afraid to let you out, thinking you might fly away with the wind.”

“…Don’t, Angela. Really, please don’t?”

“…Alright.”

She answered like that, but Angela made a chilling expression where Diana couldn’t see.

‘Insolent boy. I won’t let this slide…’

Of course, Diana wouldn’t know at all, and she shouldn’t know.

As soon as Diana headed to the library, she immediately ran to the training grounds.

“Vincent! I need to talk to you!”

“Huh, Miss Angela?”

As Angela looked around as if she was about to grab a club and kill someone, she saw the arrogant brat beating a straw doll in the distance.

‘What, does he think he’s some great hero to make the young miss feel so down? Huh!’

Angela, frowning fiercely, bared her white teeth at Vincent, who came running like a puppy.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

Just as Angela was about to roll her eyes and breathe fire,

Raoul was lost in his own thoughts.

‘Why did I act like that back then?’

No matter how much he thought about it, that trembling was inexplicable.

That day in front of the door, Raoul felt a strange sensation he had never experienced before.

As soon as he saw Diana, his pupils dilated, his senses expanded, and his heart beat very fast.

It was a tingling feeling, as if the emotion of excitement when pouncing on small prey had been concentrated.

‘Diana is not prey. My…’

“What is she to me?”

She refused to be his master, nor was she a friend, and certainly not family.

He couldn’t even figure out what to call the girl who had taken care of him most closely for years, let alone what this emotion was.

He was avoiding Diana to sort out his feelings as objectively as possible.

He was afraid that if he saw Diana, his heart would race and his thoughts would stop, just like last time.

As he was swinging his wooden sword lost in thought, Vincent somehow recognized him and grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, my disciple. You look deep in thought… Ha.”

He looked haggard, as if weathered by a storm.

“If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t put on airs.”

Raoul coldly shook off the hand on his shoulder, showing no intention of playing along.

“Why don’t you act like a cute disciple at times like this? I just got bombarded with nagging because I’m your teacher, you know? Huh? Don’t you feel anything?”

“What are you talking about? Speak clearly.”

Vincent gritted his teeth and pressed down on his head.

“This should be… Young Miss Diana has been lacking energy. It seems there’s someone here who should feel very guilty about that. Hmm?”

“…Diana?”

As the name he was interested in came up, Raoul’s response softened a bit.

“Yes. What’s been going on lately? To be frank, is there anyone who takes care of you like the young miss does? If it were me, I’d serve her on my hands and knees. You’re just giving her the cold shoulder. What are you trying to do?”

“…Mind your own business. I’ll handle it myself.”

“Ha… And haven’t I told you before? Even when it’s just us, always use honorifics for the young miss. Do you know how disrespectful a sin that is?”

“…Diana doesn’t say anything, so why are you making such a fuss?”

“How does the young miss talk to you? She’s so fond of you!”

“…She’s fond of me?”

“Yes. Are you full now? Don’t regret it later when the young miss changes her mind. Treat her well while you can. While you can!”

Raoul turned his head and looked around. Diana, who used to wave her hand slightly in the corridor, hadn’t been seen recently.

‘Is she really low on energy because of me?’

He hadn’t even properly sorted out his thoughts yet, but he already missed that gentle smile.

[This is the timeline separator]

While the two were spending time with their own worries, a new character was opening the curtain of the epic in the basement of the duke’s castle.

“Let me out!”

A young elf rebelled, violently shaking the iron bars.

The empty underground prison was sticky with old, congealed bloodstains, and the wind blowing from the dark corridor was chilly and dreary.

The girl looked around with teary eyes, but there was no one to help her, not even fellow prisoners.

Tears welled up in her golden eyes, and her delicate, pretty features suddenly contorted.

“I don’t want to die like this…!”

As if the sky responded to the girl’s desperate wish, it dropped a small leaf at her curled-up feet.

“You’ve come!”

She chanted a spell over the neatly shaped leaf.

‘Please, bring someone to save me…!’

As her eyes flashed brightly, the leaf began to flutter like a living being with its own will.

The girl clung to the iron bars and wished with desperate eyes.

‘Please… save me.’

Her story was just beginning.

[This is the timeline separator]

At that time, Diana was trying to force herself to sleep.

The meeting of the two was now imminent.

No matter what she thought, it was painful to imagine Raoul’s excited expression or his love-at-first-sight look.

‘There’s nothing strange about it. This was how it was supposed to happen… I should just sleep.’

But shaking off these thoughts wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Diana, like a mad person, flung open the terrace doors and wandered around for a long time.

‘Has he gone? Have they met?’

That’s when she heard it. The sound of someone rustling down into the bushes.

Diana looked down with a startled face, and saw Raoul hurriedly going around the back of the building.

Thump.

Diana felt her heart sink.

‘So this is how it ends up.’

As she was watching Raoul with a sense of emptiness, a small leaf suddenly jumped onto her shoulder.

‘Wh-what?’

Thinking it was a bug, the startled Diana tried to shake it off, waving her arms this way and that, but this leaf moved nimbly like a living being with its own will, playing on her body.

‘Wh-what, go away…!’

Even when she barely managed to remove it, it clung back, and even when she threw it away, it came back… This was undoubtedly a signal sent by someone.

After hesitating for a long time, she tried talking to the leaf.

“Why are you doing this! Do you want to say something?”

Then, the leaf perked up its non-existent ears and bent its body vigorously.

The leaf jumped onto the terrace railing, bent its body, and pointed to the tree.

‘Don’t tell me to climb it…?’

As Diana frowned and shook her head, the leaf circled around her body as if angry.

“Ah, ah, I got it! I’ll go if that’s what you want. I’ll go!”

‘What on earth is going on…’

Diana reluctantly climbed down the tree, following the leaf’s absurd request. It was a ridiculous situation.

“Did someone send you? Are they asking for help?”

As Diana asked while walking after the leaf, the leaf quickly bent its body again.

She stretched her lips and pondered.

‘Is this the right thing to do…?’

But this was the duke’s castle.

‘I’m the villainess, what particularly dangerous situation could there be…?’

For now, she felt she needed to check to put her mind at ease.

The place the leaf guided her to was a dark bunker connected to the back of the annex.

‘There was a place like this?’

The entrance, which looked like a wall covered with lush vines, turned out to be a passage that went deep enough for one person to pass through.

As Diana hesitated for a moment at the dark and eerie atmosphere that anyone would think they shouldn’t enter, the leaf circled around her, urging her on.

‘Ah, I get it! I’ll go in, okay…!’

Pushing aside the vines and bending down to descend the stairs, she saw the interior of a round bunker that looked like a sewage treatment plant.

‘What could be in a place like this…’

She kept walking, but all she could see were just ordinary walls.

As she touched the stone wall with a disappointed face, she felt a square hollow about the size of a human palm.

‘What’s this?’

When she thoughtlessly pressed the recessed part, the wall rotated with a clicking sound.

‘Wh-what…!’

Diana, pushed in without anything to hold onto, fell forward.

Rubbing her sore elbow with an embarrassed feeling, she saw a much more organized passage than before in front of her.

The corridor extending in one direction was quiet, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

As she hesitated for a moment and then stepped onto the continuing path, the lights attached to the wall began to light up one by one.

As she entered the wide and long corridor filled with an eerie atmosphere, a winding staircase appeared at the end of the dead-end path.
It was when she was trying to move her body while minimizing any signs of her presence, just in case.
“Who are you?”
A familiar boy’s voice was heard.
“Oh my! You really came! Did you see the rescue signal I sent?”
‘Rescue signal…?’
The surprised Diana covered her mouth in shock.
“I’m Ayla…! The one who sent you the leaf.”
Only after hearing her name did Diana understand the situation she was in.
Yes, this was the underground prison where Raoul would have his first encounter with Ayla.