‘No, what useless thoughts…’

She had been pondering meaningless things. Natasha shook her head to clear away the distracting thoughts and began to make a more rational judgment.

While this life’s Sieghart might be different, the man from her past life would have no reason to save her. ‘That’ Sieghart had already achieved all his goals through their marriage. He might have even been pleased that the troublesome woman conveniently died on her own.

‘It must be something else.’

Just thinking about the man from her past life made her stomach churn. Beyond reason or emotion, in her current agitated state, judgment itself was difficult. Natasha decided to give up on everything else and focus only on the news article.

The article was announcing that ‘this’ Sieghart had used the holy sword to save her life.

As a member of this world, she was well aware of the abilities and value of the holy sword bestowed upon the Knight of Honor.

There was no need to explain how rare and excellent the blessed sword that only the knight of the century could receive was. The same was true for how special and great the abilities it displayed were.

The power of the holy sword was the strength of the nation. An absolute trump card that could not lose in war. It was natural law for the country possessing the holy sword to become the world’s number one.

How remarkable that such a holy sword was possessed by an individual rather than the imperial family. It must have been the perfect card for the duke who had been planning to turn his back on the imperial family.

No, even without turning his back, the imperial family would have crawled to him like dogs. Now their positions had reversed, and they would have become the dogs of the Asthart ducal family.

Not only that, the great ability to save lives would be an enormous asset just by possessing it. Even if people lined up to auction it off for huge sums, it wouldn’t be enough.

Moreover, it was a greedy power that could be used on oneself.

‘Why?’

To use such a great power just to save Natasha.

And immediately upon receiving it.

‘Really, why?’

Sieghart Asthart was the most rational person in the empire. Someone who had never done anything emotional, but only things thoroughly for his own benefit and that of the Asthart ducal family.

Was there any benefit to him in saving Natasha?

‘…To avoid divorce?’

The answer seemed to be only one.

The reason ‘he’ pretended to love her in the past life, and was now wearing a mask and acting in this life.

To keep Natasha by his side.

But could the benefits of that possibly outweigh the benefits he could gain in the above situation?

No, it couldn’t.

Even Natasha, ignorant of Sieghart’s true nature, could firmly guarantee that.

‘What do you want from me, Sieghart? What could you possibly gain from this marriage that…’

At this point, she was truly curious. What could the man gain by maintaining their marriage?

Night came to her as she failed to solve the puzzle. The woman could not easily fall asleep even until the sky was dyed pitch black.

The distracting thoughts that filled her mind were weighing heavily on her. An unresolved frustration remained deep in her chest.

‘I guess I won’t be turning my back on the night.’

She covered Cayena, who had fallen asleep after nursing her all night, with a blanket before leaving the room.

She went out to the first floor terrace and opened the window. The cool breeze might make her feel better.

The chilly night air poured in through the window she opened without hesitation. It was an action that would make her close associates scold her in alarm if they saw it.

Her head certainly felt lighter as she took in the cool air.

But that didn’t mean her problems were solved.

‘Sieghart…’

A sigh escaped between her pursed lips. She had never thought about the man for this long before, having recalled Sieghart all day.

Perhaps that’s why.

“…Sieghart?”

It seemed as if her mind had even created an illusion of Sieghart.

Otherwise, how could he be standing firmly before her when he should be at the temple? It would take at least two days to return from the temple to the duke’s residence, even at the fastest.

But,

“Tisha.”

Since when did illusions know how to pull a woman’s arm? Even that seemed too real as her body was helplessly drawn towards the man.

Her abdomen lightly collided with the windowsill. Her head gently rested on his broad shoulder. The hand softly stroking her hair was weakly pressing the back of her head, as if worried she might pull away.

The man who had rushed here took several deep breaths. Sieghart’s body vibrated along with his rapidly beating heart.

“…Tisha.”

His voice trembled along with his quivering upper lip. There was a slight tremor in the hand on her head as well.

Natasha did not respond. It was because the way he addressed her was unfamiliar. The man’s hands gently embracing her as if cradling something precious were no different.

Thank goodness.

Other than calling her name, Sieghart had not directly spoken. But it seemed as if the voice of truth could be heard through the silence.

“…I thought you were still staying at the temple because you had work to finish.”

Natasha spoke first, naturally lifting her head from his shoulder.

The man’s red jewel-like eyes, which had been reflecting his urgent feelings, gradually calmed. He seemed to have finally relaxed after confirming she was at peace.

“When I heard you had awakened, I asked His Holiness for understanding. You had woken up, so there was no reason to stupidly remain at the temple.”

“…Carelessly using up the power of the precious holy sword, and returning without finishing your work. His Holiness the Pope must have been angry.”

Now that she knew the truth, she could understand what work Sieghart had to take care of at the temple.

It must have been incredibly frustrating for the precious holy sword to lose its power in just one day. It would be reasonable to hold the ducal family responsible in this situation.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say. Don’t make unnecessary misunderstandings.”

Sieghart soon shut down the conversation. The way he sternly cut off her words seemed like an attitude of scolding Natasha.

The brief response lacked the kind consideration to explain the confusing situation. The conversation she had started to avoid the strange atmosphere unintentionally provoked anger. Feeling a sense of defiance, she added one more retort to the man.

“No, that sword wasn’t meant for me. Likewise, it wasn’t meant to be used to save my life either.”

“Though God’s blessing may have disappeared, the great achievements of the Asthart family remain. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Because saving me will be harmful to the Asthart family. Why on earth did you make such a choice, Your Grace?”

For a moment, his dark eyebrows furrowed together.

“My wife, who attended the coronation for my sake, drank poison and was dying before my eyes, so I saved her.”

“…”

“I only did what I should have as a husband. Is that wrong?”

Sieghart immediately asked back, as if daring her to refute if there was anything wrong.

“…You’re explaining that what you did was what you should have done, Your Grace.”

“Because I did what was natural.”

“Public opinion won’t see it that way. Didn’t you read the newspapers while at the temple? If you knew what they’re saying…”

“I’m not interested in the words of fools who only pursue power and wealth.”

It was a naturally made disparagement, as if overlooking the fact that he himself had been one of those fools.

“What those fools respected was precisely the great achievements of the Asthart family. You were proud of that, yet you threw it away in an instant just for my life.”

“I don’t understand what you want from me. Are you arguing that I shouldn’t have saved you? Or do you perhaps want to hear that I regret my choice?”

As Natasha kept pressing the issue, Sieghart now snapped back harshly. Perhaps he was irritated by her repeatedly bringing up death.

“I’m sorry, Tisha. Unfortunately, I can’t give you the words you want to hear. I’m delighted and honored even by my wife getting up again and being angry at me.”

He reached out and grasped Natasha’s waist, pulling her towards him. Mindful of the earlier collision, he stopped her in front of the windowsill.

“You must want to be happy. Your conditions with me must be for future happiness.”

“…”

“Then, live. Natasha Asthart.”

The man continued speaking with strong emphasis, enunciating each word. The sight struck Natasha as rather ridiculous.

“Don’t… Don’t say it so easily.”

Live, he says.

It was laughable that the man who had been complicit in Natasha’s death was now saying such things with the same face and voice.

The temporary emotion that had arisen from the moment she heard Sieghart had saved her suddenly flared up. A tidal wave of unstable emotions engulfed the pier.

In the end, she blurted out the words that had been in her heart.

“Who made my life miserable, unhappy, and arduous?”

“…”

“Who pushed me into hell, into the abyss, into the snow fields…!”

She hated the man’s face that seemed to know everything.

Even that was obviously a deception. It was clear that after violating the woman like this, once she opened her heart, he would throw her back into misfortune.

So Natasha too condemned Sieghart.

While wearing a face as if she knew everything about him.

“It’s because of you, Sieghart. You made me like this…”

In truth, Natasha could not easily accept that the very person who had driven her to death was now saving her from death. At this point, she became curious about the true intentions of the man who was acting as if he had lost his mind.

The vow-sealing kiss on their wedding day, the matter-of-course consummation, the speech at the coronation, the use of the holy sword – these were all situations that had never occurred in her past life. Beyond the terms written in the contract, the man had acted unilaterally.

It was painful to watch the man act as if he loved her. It was vexing to see the man who had reigned at the top of the world with boundless arrogance now appear so weak before her, as if he had lost everything.

Perhaps it’s because the man from her past life overlaps with him. There was no reason for her not to be mindful of the past.

This man is the cold-hearted Sieghart Asthart who would whisper love but then discard her like baggage once he achieved his goals.

No matter how much you say you’ve changed, your true nature couldn’t have changed. Since I’m noticeably wary of you, you must have become that much more meticulous.