When Elysia reluctantly nodded, Alejandro gave her a gentle smile and handed her bread and a spoon and turned away.

“…Can’t be changed?”

Little Elysia stared at the dinner in front of her for a long time. After a moment, she put down her spoon and began to break the bread in her hand under the table.

The broken bread crumbs started to fall secretly onto the restaurant’s stone floor.

“I can change it.”

Alejandro had said they would eat potato stew for dinner, but she didn’t eat. Contrary to his words as the deputy, Elysia had changed her fate.

That night, lying on a hard bed, Elysia shed tears.

Why did she cry?

She couldn’t remember if it was because she missed her mom and dad, or if it was because of her hungry, growling stomach.

(This is a time separator.)

When Elysia opened her eyes in the morning, she was crying.

A child’s emotions are pure, but not as clear as an adult’s.

She didn’t know why she was crying.

Was it because she felt sorry for the toosmall little girl in the temple?

It was always hard to wake up, as if her emotions were immersed in Elysia’s dream after dreaming it.

“Ugh.”

She tried to calm down.

“Why are you crying?”

Elleon’s voice came from nearby.

“I had a dream again.”

Elleon hugged her tightly. His warm body heat enveloped her, and Elysia gradually calmed down.

“What was it about today?”

“Just a childhood dream, but I don’t know.”

He stroked Elysia’s hair neatly.

“Didn’t you lose your memory?”

“I don’t know. Whether this is really a dream of something that happened in the past or just a dream.”

But Elysia somehow felt it was ‘Elysia’s old memory.’

She doesn’t know the details here except that it’s the world of . Because she had stayed almost inside the grand temple after her incarnation. She hadn’t felt stifled for half a year. She was so happy just to be able to earn money, live comfortably, and warmly without memories or anywhere to go.

But in the dreams, there were always realistic details.

Like the narrow corridor on the ship from which she had escaped after being caught by Saviel.

Or that the mermaid’s tail carved on the ship’s mast was split into three.

In today’s dream, she could draw the plants and large trees planted in the garden as vividly as if she could replicate them.

And the emotions. A feeling of heavy moisture seemed to rise in her chest.

‘Are they all sad memories?’

Is it because those feelings are intense and impressive?
After possessing Elysia’s body, she had never dreamt of a moment of joy or happiness.

Steward Alejandro. Why did that man seem to have looked after Elysia? In her dream, Elysia was convinced she would be driven away if she questioned whether her fate was not already determined.

“You don’t have to try too hard to remember something you don’t recall.”

Seeing Elysia unable to remove her hand from her head, which was throbbing with a headache, Illeone wrapped her hand.

A rustle.

Illeone’s fingers burrowed through her hair.

As he gently pressed her head with his large hand, the strange pain seemed to disappear quickly.

Elysia closed her eyes in pleasure again. She realized that her whole body had been aching like her bones and muscles were about to separate before she fell asleep last night, but after a good sleep, her muscles relaxed, and her legs felt cool.

“My panacea.”

As Elysia leaned her head against his chest and embraced his waist, Illeone stopped as if he had pressed a pause button.

“You’re fearless.”

“Should I be scared? Of you?”

“I told you to run if I seemed to pounce.”

“Welcome.”

Seeing Elysia giggle in his arms, Illeone was at a loss for words. She was doing this deliberately, believing that he would never treat her lightly. Really insufferable. It felt as if Illeone was the only one desperately longing for the moment when they would become one.

“I wish I could turn back time. I shouldn’t have spoken to the Duchess that way.”

“If you don’t keep your word to your mother, I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Thank you for considering it.”

The glowing Elysia was dazzlingly beautiful. After washing with warm water and sleeping soundly, it seemed like her face was also radiantly glowing.

Illeone’s heart momentarily felt heavy, and he stopped breathing.

“Why aren’t you breathing?”

The cause of it asked.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

“Breathe. We have to live together for a long time.”

‘Together.’ Illeone felt like his breath would stop again.

(This is a time separator.)

In the afternoon, Elysia, who followed Illeone to the back garden, was unconsciously amazed. The back garden of the Grand Duke’s residence was directly connected to a vast mountain, so there were no fences or walls on that side. There was quite a dense forest between the residence and the mountain, and it had a serene atmosphere when looked at from inside the house, but it was her first time coming as far as inside the forest.

“Wow, what’s all this?”

Among the quite tall trees, small tents were adorably pitched.

‘There are tents here too.’

The tents, made sturdy with long wooden rods and ropes, were brightly illuminated by lamps placed here and there.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Illeone responded to Elysia’s words.

“It’s called a barracks.”

Ah, barracks. They used the same classic term here too.

“Of course, it’s something that noble families’ heirs hardly see. Even during hunting parties, they use canopies to shade from the sun, so it’s hard to see such barracks.”

“That’s true. What about you? When have you had a chance to use something like this?”

“On the battlefield.”

“Ah.”

It just occurred to her that he had roamed the battlefield for a full 7 years. It seemed like he had lived in barracks all along, being pushed and pulled, moving along with the shifting front lines.

“Wasn’t it uncomfortable?”

“It’s not a place to go and care about such things.”

Illeone was a man aristocratic to his bone marrow. Even a simple walk or brushing off dust was graceful. It was hard to imagine him, in dusty armor, wielding a sword, wandering the battlefield.

‘Ah, no. I saw it once in a dream.’

The dream where he lost his eye.

‘If that wasn’t a dream but matched his memory, then that would be really strange.’

But how could she know the moment he experienced on the battlefield, as if she had been there, without having met him before?

‘It’s really weird.’

Elysia was lost in thought when,

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Illeone’s red eyes were right in front of her nose again.

“How dare you get lost in thought while I’m right in front of you.”