“They were known in society as the bickering couple, and that’s exactly what they were. Blaming each other, casually stabbing each other’s hearts as if it meant nothing. They didn’t even care about my presence in the back seat.”

The heavy secret flowed effortlessly, without a single hitch. What had been buried until now seemed absurdly easy to reveal.

Marianne couldn’t say a word. She simply listened intently to his story, holding her breath.

“Contrary to the tragic accident stories in the news, my father deliberately turned the steering wheel. The car tilted over the cliff, and my mother screamed as if she were crazy. She shouted, ‘Are we all going to die like this? Can you just throw away what you have?’ She yelled and screamed, and then she finally burst into tears. She begged, said she loved my father, and pleaded for forgiveness, but…”

Slowly, the expression drained from Marianne’s face. Her blue eyes trembled. Christoph’s gaze remained fixed on something beyond the windshield.

It was unclear what he was looking at. Was it the swaying tree shadows, the sunlight streaming through, or perhaps a day from a long time ago?

“My father was still smiling until the very end. If you can call it a smile in such a cold and empty situation, then yes, my father was smiling.”

“…….”

“After that, it’s as you know. Both of them lost their lives just like that, and I was lucky enough to survive. If you ask whether they made great efforts to save me from the tragic accident, like the mourning articles suggest… Well, my memories are different from theirs.”
With a calm expression, as if telling an utterly unremarkable story, Christoph continued, and Marianne’s face contorted in pain, as if someone were squeezing her heart, hurting her, and making it hard for her to breathe.

He seemed as if he were still sitting in the back seat of that car. Marianne wanted to reach out and comfort his lonely shoulders. Her fingers twitched.

“Since then, I’ve thought dozens, maybe hundreds of times. Perhaps my father had planned from the beginning to stop the servant who wanted to accompany us and personally take the wheel. Maybe he intended to kill us all from the start.”

“…….”

“Was that love? Did they truly love each other? Was there even a single moment when they felt that way?”

“Chris, stop.”

Barely, his name slipped through Marianne’s lips. The story was so shocking that it was almost unbelievable.

Dear Lord, how could such a thing…

Christoph ran his fingers over his lips. There was a cold self-pity there. He didn’t believe in love.

He had witnessed firsthand how far humans shouting love could fall, how vile their words could be, and that was why he didn’t believe in it.

In the next moment, Christoph’s voice took on a fragile tone.

“Ever since then, just being in a car gives me a headache.”

It was the truth. At the same time, Christoph was well aware that his words would stir Marianne’s sympathy. She couldn’t simply look past the pitiable and wretched soul before her.

Sure enough, her face contorted, as if she were struggling to hold back welling tears.
And Christoph felt relief. He genuinely felt relieved by the fact that she still cared about him.

“Why…”

Marianne started to speak but then closed her mouth. She wanted to ask why she hadn’t said anything until now. She wanted to inquire why she had been carrying such an enormous secret alone.

But she couldn’t bring herself to continue. It was because she couldn’t be sure if she had the right to do so.

Tears welled up suddenly. Marianne clenched her lips and held onto that moment. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, and her knuckles turned white.

Christoph wasn’t crying, but she couldn’t help but shed tears. Marianne, with slow deep breaths, turned to look at him. Even so, her sapphire eyes were moist, glistening with tears.

“What about the Duke…?”

She asked in a trembling voice. Plick, Christoph tugged at the corner of his lips once more.

“A story known to only me in this world. No, now it’s shared by both of us. Since you know about it too.”

“It might be best to return to the mansion now.”

At that statement, Christoph slowly turned his head. Their gazes met. Christoph furrowed his eyebrows, as if he couldn’t understand.

“Just because of a headache? There’s no need for that, Marianne. If you were planning to run away at the slightest discomfort, you wouldn’t have gotten in the car in the first place. Just like the Duke.”

“Why… Why didn’t you run away at the slightest discomfort?”
Marianne’s voice took on a resentful tone. Her facial expression twisted once again. It was as if she was questioning why he hadn’t run away, why he had carried that burden all this time.

Christoph, who had been staring at her intently, suddenly tugged at the corner of his lips.