Merche rose from the bed as the day dawned.

Rude was embracing her entire body like a doll, but it was easy to escape by whispering a few words into his ear as he was deep in slumber.

However, when she stepped out of the cozy bedding and Rude’s arms onto the fluffy carpet, it was nearly impossible to walk without staggering.

“Haa…”

Merche let out a small sigh.

Her whole body ached. With each step, a dull pain followed, making her want to collapse right away.

So much so that when a maidservant asked, “Shall I assist you?” the answer “Yes, please” nearly spilled from her throat.

Nevertheless, Merche walked steadfastly on her own feet.

She bathed herself, dressed, and neatly adjusted her appearance.

Her gaze lingered on her reflection in the mirror, scrutinizing her appearance over and over.

Only after her rigorous self-assessment concluded that her appearance was impeccable did Merche finally turn away from the mirror and take a step.

Today, she had an appointment.

An appointment with Elizabeth Lupinus, unknown to Rude.

“Come on in, dear.”

Elizabeth smiled as she looked at Merche.

Her eyes curved slightly into a round shape, but it was so subtle that one had to look closely to notice. Instead, her lips, forming a distinct arc, stood out more prominently.

As always, tea was placed in front of her and Merche.

The reddish liquid in the steaming teacup rippled as if small waves were forming in the blowing wind.

“It’s been a while since we sat together like this and had a conversation. You were intelligent and wise, making for a good conversation partner. I do miss that.”

Elizabeth calmly caught her breath while looking at Merche.

It seemed she had something she wanted to say, so Merche also refrained from speaking and waited for Elizabeth to initiate the conversation.

“…Regarding Genovefa’s matter, I wanted to express my gratitude to you.”

Merche did not respond immediately. Instead, she silently observed Elizabeth’s face.

Elizabeth had an expression Merche had never seen before.

Gratitude, relief, joy… and a hint of bitterness. The last emotion was so faint that it was difficult to even discern.

How should I put it? She truly looked happy.

As if someone who had been imprisoned for a long time was suddenly released one day, she appeared bright and free, like someone who had finally reached a long-awaited day.

Suddenly curious, Merche asked,

“Did you hate Lady Genovefa?”

“…Well. I can’t simply sum up my feelings towards her as mere hatred.”

Elizabeth smiled faintly. It was a habit of hers that Merche was familiar with.

She enjoyed the wicked game of throwing words that would make the other person uncomfortable and then taking pleasure in it herself.

“Do you think I married Genovefa out of love?”

“I understand that marriages among nobles are often closer to transactions based on profit and loss rather than love.”

“Yes. That’s how it is. However… I wish it had been such a transaction.”

Elizabeth’s fingers slowly caressed the round rim of the teacup.

Her gaze, cast down as if wandering in a dream, also settled on the tea filling half the cup.

She brought up her own ancient past as a topic.

“I had a lover. We were engaged and cherished each other dearly. If time had passed without any incident, I would have become his wife and had children with him.”

He was a man who made a living as a painter.

Although his family was not as wealthy or renowned as Elizabeth’s, Elizabeth loved him deeply.

Elizabeth was always present in the paintings he created.

The Elizabeth in his paintings was as beautiful and radiant as a legendary fairy, and Elizabeth saw and felt countless times how much her lover loved her.

Elizabeth liked it, his beautiful and tender love.

So much that she could say out loud, “I love him.” And that love plunged Elizabeth into despair.

She lost her lover forever. Just a month before their wedding, due to the head of the Lupinus family barging in, claiming he had imprinted on her.

“As you may have experienced, imprinting is excessively rude and one-sided to the person who becomes its target. If a Lupinus bloodline simply imprints, the other person, whether they have a lover or not, must live their entire life as their companion.”

Elizabeth laughed self-deprecatingly. Even though she was clearly laughing, her face was filled with a bitter grudge, as if harboring a sharp resentment.

She muttered in a low voice,

“If only he hadn’t killed my fiancé… I wouldn’t have hated him to the bone like this.”

“…Did Lord Genovefa harm your fiancé, Lady Elizabeth?”

“When he first came to me, I rejected him, citing my fiancé as the reason. I said I couldn’t go with him as long as I had a fiancé. Those words must have offended Genovefa.”

Should I have refrained from saying that back then?

Elizabeth’s eyelids trembled faintly as she continued to gaze at the tea.

“…No. Looking back, it wasn’t my fault.”

She slowly raised her head that had been lowered and met Merche’s gaze.

“It’s not my fault for rejecting his proposal. It’s the fault of the madman who murdered the other person’s fiancé. It’s Genovefa’s sin, not mine.”

Merche looked at Elizabeth, who seemed to have more to say, with puzzlement.

Elizabeth, unlike her usual self, moved her lips several times and finally opened her mouth after much hesitation.

“The one I should have been angry with for losing Rude was not you, but Genovefa.”

“…Lady Elizabeth.”

“The one I truly despised and hated was Genovefa. So if I were to be angry and torment someone, I should have done it all to him. But I realized it too late… I have no face to show you.”

Where did it go wrong? Why did the arrowhead I held have to fly towards the innocent Merche?

Elizabeth forcibly recalled a fragment of her most dreaded past.

It was a day less than a year after Elizabeth had lost Rude, and the day Genovefa summoned all the vassals to the castle.

−My spouse can no longer bear children.

The doctor residing in the castle firmly confirmed Elizabeth’s infertility.

Elizabeth cried out, saying it couldn’t be true and asking him to examine her again, but Genovefa accepted the fact of her infertility without questioning the doctor further.

And the very next day, at a gathering where all the vassals of Lupinus were present without exception, Genovefa announced the conclusion she had reached regarding the succession.

−I will bring my young nephew to the castle and make him a candidate for the succession.

Elizabeth also knew.

At that time, the only child carrying the Lupinus blood was Merche Ashtad, and if not for that child, the Lupinus line would be forever severed.

But knowing didn’t mean her heart could settle. Elizabeth felt a furious whirlwind of anger in the proposal.

How could he? How could the man who was her husband do this?

It hadn’t even been a year since his wife lost their child, and without seeking any agreement from such a wife!

Looking back, Elizabeth’s situation at that time was clear without further consideration.

The emotion she felt was a sense of betrayal, and the cause and target of it was Genovefa.

The problem was that from Elizabeth’s position, there was no way to condemn him and express her anger.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t escape Genovefa’s grasp, and even the power of her family of origin was nothing more than a handful of grains compared to Lupinus.

Knowing that miserable and heartless reality all too well, Elizabeth had to turn her eyes elsewhere to find someone she could vent her anger on to her heart’s content.

That target was none other than Merche.

“I can’t even bring myself to ask for your forgiveness, so I will apologize as many times as it takes until your anger subsides. If you tell me to kneel and beg, I will do so.”

“No. Please don’t do that.”

Merche shook her head.

“I am not caught up in the past. So, Lady Elizabeth, you should also break free from the past and live in the present. That is all I wish for.”

I’m sick and tired of being trapped in the past and wasting meaningless emotions.

Seeing someone in front of me captured by those sickening shackles is not just unpleasant, but grating.

“As you said, there is no need for you to seek my forgiveness. I, too, cannot completely forgive you, Lady Elizabeth. However, I have one request. Please do not apologize to me anymore, and do not be caught up in the past.”

Merche said,

“‘Do not forget the past, but overcome it and move forward.’ Isn’t that what you taught me?”

“…Yes. That’s right. …I foolishly forgot that obvious thing and only struggled in vain.”

Elizabeth weakly nodded her head. Then, she suddenly raised her dazed gaze and looked deeply at Merche.

“Do you… love Rude?”

Elizabeth’s voice was precarious, like a flickering, hazy light.

Her unfocused eyes fumbled through the void beyond Merche, slowly finding their orbit and becoming clearer.

Elizabeth clenched her hand as if she had made a decision.

“If you do not love Rude, and he merely wants to keep you by his side because he loves you in a twisted way, tell me now. I will do whatever it takes to separate Rude from you.”

Elizabeth was afraid. She was afraid that her son’s love resembled Genovefa’s love.

Genovefa did not love Elizabeth.

At least Elizabeth could not acknowledge his love as love.

It’s not love… it’s obsession. It’s also possessiveness.

Sometimes, when Genovefa looked at her with dark eyes, Elizabeth was gripped by an eerie fear and disgust.

She, too, had once loved someone who was her lover, so she knew what the emotion of love was.

The love she knew couldn’t possibly be such a terrible thing.