The two finished a simple lunch at a famous restaurant of the principality near the checkpoint. Originally wary of the public’s gaze, Natasha Charliee continued her meal more smoothly than expected.

There were two possible reasons. Either because of Sir Leon’s blessing, or because of the hidden voices.

The voices did not suddenly reveal themselves.

Was it because she had made contact with Sieghart? Or was it thanks to Sir Leon’s blessing?

The exact reason was unclear. She was just grateful they did not appear.

Afterwards, the two walked the streets of the principality, making small talk. After buying a bouquet at a flower shop, they headed to the fountain at the appointed time, where a carriage had just arrived.

The carriage traveled for quite some time. It passed by the mansion of the acquaintance where the two were supposed to stay.

The place they arrived at was a desolate field like a wasteland.

“This place is……”

Natasha Charliee, looking around, trailed off in surprise.

The place they had arrived at was a cemetery. More precisely, it was a memorial space for those without bodies, a place she occasionally visited to mourn a friend who drowned in the river six years ago.

Natasha moved forward as if in a trance. Strangely, she did not stop at her friend’s gravestone. Her unhindered steps passed by countless gravestones. Her gaze moved ceaselessly, checking the names engraved on the stones.

And finally, the woman stopped at one place.

Kneeling down weakly, she gently stroked the gravestone.

“……”

Many names were engraved on the steadfastly erected gravestone. Natasha mulled over each of their names.

James Charliee, Eleanor Charliee. Damian Charliee, Evelyn Charliee, Edward Charliee……

She quietly caressed the precious names, trying to recall their faces.

Ah, she couldn’t remember them properly.

Their images in the newspaper were the last Natasha remembered of her family. The horrific sight of their decapitated heads dangling from the palace walls. It was so shocking to young Natasha that she had to erase it from her mind.

Whenever they tried to surface, she would bang her head against the wall. She covered mental pain with physical pain. Until her forehead was numb.

She covered, and covered, and covered again. By the time she had overlaid it so much that she could no longer remember her family’s faces, the voices newly invaded her life.

As if asking why she had forgotten them.

Natasha carefully pondered the nature of the voices. When and for what reason they barged into her world.

They were her guilt. The infinite sense of sin that assailed the woman who had betrayed her family and chosen the enemy. The hatred Natasha created towards herself.

To erase the instinctively raised corners of her mouth, to forget the momentary happiness she had bloomed, to crumble the stupidly built trust towards someone……

“I too……”

Natasha swallowed the tears welling up. The breath flowing from her covered mouth moistened the air.

“I too… thought that was the best at the time.”

A cry of grief broke the silence. It was a lonely melody harmonizing heart-piercing quietness and sorrow.

“I know how pathetic you must think I am, but that really was the best I could do then. I chose blinded arrogance wanting to be happy, and after realizing it was a huge mistake, I collapsed……”

The twenty-one-year-old Tisha Winter had a secret she couldn’t even confide to Lord Dante, who was closest to her.

The woman had to coexist with loneliness in a house built by despair. It was a conundrum that neither Lord Dante, who always cared for her, nor the kind villagers could solve.

The person who solved the unending solitude was a man who appeared suddenly one day with a proposal.

Because the man’s gentle voice and sticky touch began to shake the woman’s reason. For some reason, she could freely confess the worries she couldn’t even tell Lord Dante, who was always with her, and each time, the man deeply sympathized.

“So please, understand me and don’t appear. Like Sir Leon did, appear in my dreams and tell me I did nothing wrong, then… I think I won’t create them anymore.”

The woman who had been holding the bouquet in her arms gently placed it on the gravestone and whispered slowly.

It was when the clear sky had turned pitch black that the woman rose from the gravestone.

Sieghart did not ask Natasha anything when she returned. He simply took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Natasha also did not bother to speak first.

Natasha descended the hill slowly, clutching the man’s collar. Perhaps because it was winter, the dawn wind was very cold. She tried to suppress her cough inside, but it kept leaking out regardless.

Noticing her condition, Sieghart stopped walking.

It was a ten-minute walk to where they had left the horse, and it would take an hour on horseback to reach the village. Even if they reached the village, the presence of a coachman to guide them was uncertain.

In the end, they decided to change plans.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“What? No, wait……”

Sieghart, having asked for permission, put his action into practice without even hearing a response. Natasha’s legs, which had been standing still, were lifted into the air and then tilted completely. Her body was lifted by rough hands.

“The path ahead is bound to be rough, so we have no choice but to move like this.”

“No, we can just go……”

“No.”

“……”

“If you catch a fever by chance, it’s obvious you’ll be groaning, so what can I trust?”

Natasha was left speechless. Even if she wanted to argue that she hadn’t fallen ill that often, the evidence to support it was far from sufficient. She had been seriously ill twice in the past year, and counting the minor ailments, it would exceed ten fingers.

The place they arrived at was a cave near the forest.

Sieghart suggested they endure here until daybreak when they could safely ride the carriage.

He brought small stones and twigs and lit a bonfire. The crackling sound of burning made the mood languid. The quickly rising heat eased the tension.

The sight of the two sitting side by side in front of the bonfire, melting away the cold, seemed quite familiar. A familiar scene flashed in Natasha’s mind.

Was it long ago, when Sieghart loved Tisha Winter?

“Hey, Sieghart.”

“……”

“Why did you do it?”

Perhaps because the precious time Tisha Winter and the man had shared came to mind, making her heart ache, Natasha unconsciously voiced her true feelings. She criticized the man, revealing raw resentment.

As usual, he was slow to answer. In the meantime, the crackling sound of the bonfire burst forth repeatedly.

There was no glib question asking what she meant. He kept his mouth shut like someone struck with muteness.

“Was it simply… to help the emperor?”

Natasha asked once more.

Only then did Sieghart shake his head. Even as he expressed denial, he didn’t add any particular excuse. It seemed he couldn’t answer now.

“I see. It’s no longer of any concern to me anyway.”

It was curious that for the first time, this person who had always seemed unrealistic felt realistic. He too had things he wanted to hide in this life.

Sieghart, who had been avoiding answers but not eye contact, finally opened his mouth with difficulty after a long while.

“…Later, much later, when I have the courage and the face to tell you, may I explain then?”

Later…

The timing didn’t matter. If it wasn’t like before, now or the future would be the same. Even if he gave some plausible excuse, her heart wouldn’t change.

Yeah, so you left me that day for such a reason, she would think.

“If I’m still waiting for Your Excellency’s words until then.”

She murmured softly.

“Don’t be too late.”

Despite the somewhat cold response, Sieghart countered gently.

It seemed that a woman who felt rebellious at such an attitude must have quite a bad temper.

“You know, Sieghart. I really hated you. I hated you so much that even that hatred became dull……”

So she lamented to the man who knew nothing. That she hated you from her past life so much, that she stabbed a dagger into her heart wanting to escape from you.

And that she never forgave you even once until she repeated that act ten times.

“I know.”

“Don’t pretend……”

“You know better than anyone that I’m not someone who can feign empathy.”

Sieghart wrapped his hand around the one placed on the ground.

Soon, delicate fingers wriggled, struggling to escape from the strong grip. But the more they tried, the more they were confined within the large hand, moving further away from the escape the woman desired.

“I’m sorry, Natasha.”

“……”

“For pushing you into those feelings.”

Sieghart repeatedly responded in a low voice that could be mistaken for affectionate if one wasn’t careful.

Sieghart stared intently at the woman dozing off with an innocent face. Natasha, who had been reacting sharply as if he was terribly hateful, was now sound asleep with her guard completely down.

The woman, breathing softly, occasionally muttered something. It was so quiet, muffled by the crackling bonfire sound, that even Sieghart didn’t bother to listen closely.

As the fire died out and the cave became desolate, she whispered once more. The faint sound echoed inside the cave.

“I’m, I’m sorry……”

“……”

“I’m sorry… everyone……”

There was no need to discern who the apology was for.

Sieghart slowly applied more force to his hand. The self-talk tinged with pain quickly diminished, and now only faint breaths were repeatedly exhaled.

The intense gaze watching her shifted. An image was etched onto the newly faced black cave wall. When he tightly closed his eyes to avoid imagination, the image unfolded on the black field of vision.

It was a wearisome recollection.

‘Aaagh!’

‘Pl-please spare me…… Please… sp-spare……’

‘Ah, uh, uh, uh, uh……’

The tragedy visible through the wardrobe cracks was too cruel and ruthless for a seven-year-old boy to encounter.

The family members and mansion staff who had been smiling just hours ago were losing their lives. Those who had already left this world had their eyes rolled back as if protesting their unjust fate.