“You granted my request to make my child the Crown Prince. The words that you’ll come looking for me after seeing that. So, in front of others, you made Lédrélo the Crown Prince for my sake. All for me?”

Those words were unexpected. Lianne, whom I always thought told me everything, had a very faint suspicion in her trust and thoughts about something I had no knowledge of.

But it quickly became okay. There must have been an unavoidable circumstance. It’s Lianne, not someone else.

He has no reason to hide such things from me.

However, even my meager expectations crumbled, and Lianne looked at me with an awkward smile.

Whether she caught that remarkably or not, Beatrice suddenly became confident.

“Why are you making that expression, Lianne. Didn’t you tell her? That foolish woman thinks you’ll love only her forever, thinks you’ll only look at her forever… What can I do about saying that she’ll eventually drive you away? In her heart, there’s only the word ‘me.'”

Why is Lianne so desperately avoiding it? My expression toward him unknowingly stiffened.

“Lianne, tell me. Whatever it is, just tell me.”

“Are you anxious now? Lianne, tell me honestly. What meaning do I have to you? She’s just kept by your side because she finds you fascinating. For you, it’s only me, right? You can’t easily forget your first love, can you?”

In response to her words, Lianne suddenly held my hand tightly. As if telling me not to feel any anxiety. It was a truly firm and warm hand.

Seeing that, Beatrice forcibly smiled.

“They say you never forget your first love in your lifetime. You think about it tens or hundreds of times throughout your life. So right now, you can’t say anything. You’re pretending, but in the end, you did what I wanted because you wanted to see me, because your love for me is still the same.”

Lianne still didn’t respond. As he was someone who saved words when deeply contemplating something, I smiled at Beatrice.

“I understand what kind of answer you want to hear. Beatrice, it doesn’t seem like the answer you want will come easily.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to take the place of a first love, right?”
“How pathetic. It’s truly pitiful that the only thing you can offer is that.”

“Why, are you envious?”

“Why would I envy you, captured by the ghosts of the past.”

I chuckled as I looked at her.

Then it happened. Lianne, who had been silent the whole time, raised his head. After holding my hand, perhaps the tension had eased a bit, as the color returned to Lianne’s face, and he opened his mouth.

“First love, it can come to mind. Someday, you might miss it.”

“Lianne, you’ll miss me too, won’t you? Because it’s the first love.”

When Lianne talked about first love, Beatrice’s face brightened as if she had been waiting. My expression turned opposite to theirs.

Perhaps he also misses his first love.

“But, Beatrice. It’s just a fragment of memories. It’s not you that I miss, but that time. I remember the passing time just because that time exists. There’s no desire to go back because of the memories with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You… you even took poison for me. Such a person’s love can’t change easily, can it?”

“It didn’t change easily, so I suffered. I took poison because I loved you so much that I wanted to receive your gaze even once. Even if I go back, it won’t change. If I go back to that time, I would still have taken poison to catch your gaze, and I would have done foolish things to fit in with you. Because I wanted to love like that.”

“But why are you talking like that?”

“Because I loved with all my might, with all my heart, I could let go of everything.”

“It’s absurd. Letting go. That’s… that’s…!”

“Because I loved like that, I didn’t develop an awkward feeling this time.”

“That’s not right. Impossible. That’s… that’s…!”

“Because I loved like that, I didn’t develop an awkward feeling this time.”

“That’s not right. Impossible. That’s… that’s…!”

“Why are you so determined about his love?”

So far, I never thought she had merged or regressed into a novel. However, her actions insisting that she is loved by Lianne to such an extent… made me doubt.

It seemed like she had experienced it once. Because she had experienced it in the past, her actions were so desperate.