He had been blind, reduced to less than human, with rumors spreading around the capital that he lived miserably like a beast, and had only recently regained his sight.

They were secretive, but they considered everything sudden, given that Elysia, too, had only been found a few days ago in their eyes, as she was also in a state of memory loss.

Illeone, who had been terribly anxious and empty since he had sent Elysia, who had stayed by his side every day for over half a year, was in such a situation. There was no way the marriage wouldn’t happen if Illeone could just endure it alone.

But if it’s not that?

If the grand duke’s family was hiding something?

If the reason for opposing their marriage wasn’t Illeone, but something else?

So if Elysia had been taken away by someone like this…

The small shoe in Illeone’s hand crumpled with a thud.

“I’m going to the Duke of Yuter’s house. Prepare the horse.”

His hasty footsteps were not rugged.

(This is a time delimiter.)

Mariella was sitting blankly in the room.

Seeing her like that, Jillian put on a gloomy face and put his arms around her shoulders.

“Madam. You shouldn’t blame yourself too much.”

“I feel like I did something wrong.”

Tears welled in her eyes.

“From the beginning, I feel like I was wrong.”

“Madam.”

Jillian embraced Mariella.

“You did what you could. If the result is still like this, then it must be our share too.”

“Where’s the share in watching a child go wrong?”

“Sorry. I misspoke.”

Jillian, sighing, comforted his sensitive wife, wounded like a cat.

“I don’t know what to do.”

All this time, she had been struggling to get Elysia outside the original work.

She had sent her to Hadunsha as a priest to buy time and planned to fake her death at the right time.

Frustration ensued as she missed a barely caught opportunity, and it seemed like Mariella would die of a nervous breakdown before Elysia.

“Wouldn’t it be better to marry Duke Clément officially?”

“That… that can’t happen.”

“Because of the prophecy?”

“…Yes.”

Jillian looked sympathetically at his wife’s shoulders, which seemed to have withered from stress.

“All the things written in the prophecy have come true, just as you said.”

Mariella had informed Jillian of several things related to the empire. Everything she said she had seen in the ‘prophecy’ had come true, and thanks to that, Jillian believed and supported her, so they were able to work together to find a way to get Elysia out.

That was a great comfort to Mariella.

That she wasn’t alone.

In this unfamiliar world, where she was anxious, worried about her daughter, Mariella wasn’t alone. At least the child had a kind father with her.

However, she could not reveal to Jillian that Illeone was the male lead.

Thinking about why that was impossible, somehow she could not erase the feeling that it was taboo. Jillian didn’t even know that this place was a ‘book’. He only knew that Mariella had come from another world, and that there was a ‘prophecy’ here.
Because it was known that the five deities and Oder were also from another world, it was something that Jullien, who was born and raised in the Empire, could understand. That was as far as it went. Even to her husband, she couldn’t disclose more than that and be understood.

Mariella, sobbing with a heavy heart, murmured softly.

“I want to be alone.”

“We should eat together.”

Jullien said cautiously.

“How will you bring that child if you are upset? Hmm? Mariella.”

At his earnest words, she reluctantly nodded her head.

“I’ll try to eat dinner.”

“Good. Make sure to prepare something easy to digest.”

Only after hearing a positive response from Mariella’s mouth did Jullien disappear from the room.

“Sigh.”

Everything was a mess.

It wasn’t Jullien’s fault. It could never be his fault. Yet, he silently comforted her, even if she acted sensitively, just for bearing it with her.

Perhaps he was a man guilty of nothing more than ‘loving Mariella.’

Mariella headed to the cozy study room connected to her bedroom. A place that Jullien, who loved books and research, had carefully created for her.

She closed the door and drew the curtains, then touched the secret space under the study desk. She pulled out a thick notebook that must have been about half a foot thick.

.

It was filled with things she wrote down so she wouldn’t forget what she saw every time she visited Hadyunsha’s vault.

She added more, groping the memories left in her mind.

But now everything had become useless.

「Mariella. You are strange.」

Mariella mulled over her daughter’s words.

「You tried to change the original, didn’t you? You tried to make Elysia look dead and flee abroad.」

Her daughter cornered her, saying that the words that the original couldn’t be changed didn’t make sense.

「Your words and actions are contradictory. They don’t match.」

What was the problem?

「I don’t care if I don’t hear an answer. Sorry, but I’m not your daughter.」

Mariella looked at the thick notebook.

Turning the cover that had been touched too many times, a crooked picture showed from a bookmark. It was a picture that Elysia had drawn when she was young.

「Mom! Look at this!」

「Oh my, you drew it so well. Is this our little lady?」

Elysia’s nose wrinkled, perhaps it was the wrong answer.

「Mom! I drew a crown on your head because you’re the prettiest in the world!」

Touching the crown drawn on the picture left by her daughter, Mariella murmured.

“It must have been so hard that you didn’t want to be my daughter.”

Was everything she did to save Elysia, her daughter, ultimately all her greed?

She didn’t know what her obedient daughter was thinking, what feelings she held within.

Though the days she could face Elysia, entrusted to the temple, were few, she was scared that knowing her daughter’s inner thoughts would become a variable that could affect saving her life.

She wanted to save her daughter, but she didn’t try to know her mind.

So, Mariella was tormented, thinking that this situation had occurred.

Then, a commotion arose from beyond the tightly closed door. People’s shoutinglike noises were heard, and Mariella quickly shoved the notebook into the secret space and wiped her tears.

Just as she returned to the Duchess’s bedroom, the door opened with a bang.

“Calm, calm yourself. If you wish to see the Madam, I will guide you to the reception room….”

It was Elleon.

The instigator of this misery.

The male lead who stole my daughter’s heart.

Seeing him barge in like a villain, Mariella’s fist clenched without her realizing it.

But all her strength drained away at Elleon’s words.

“Elysia has disappeared.”