“I rushed ahead of a joyous meeting. Please forgive me.”

His gaze clung persistently.

It was a fierceness that made her recall a certain fierce man desperately buried in the depths of her memory.

…Again, something that should be forgotten.

Merche bit her lip imperceptibly. Deliberately meeting Fabio’s eyes more directly, the distracting thoughts that had been scratching at her nerves gradually faded.

“I heard about the rudeness committed by Juana. Since that child has caused you trouble, I’m not sure how I should apologize properly. Is there any compensation you desire?”

“If there is? Will you grant whatever it may be?”

“Yes. I will grant anything within my power.”

“…It’s an apology overflowing with generosity. I have already forgotten the incident with Lady Juana, so you should forget it as well.”

“Lady Merche.”

At the sudden call, Merche turned her gaze that had been floating in the air.

“Please speak.”

“Do you remember your childhood?”

“…My childhood?”

It was a question whose intent was completely unfathomable. Merche hesitated, delaying her answer, then slowly nodded.

“Yes. Of course I remember. Though it’s a bit hazy in parts.”

“What is your earliest memory?”

“Well… It’s such a sudden question, it’s difficult to recall right away.”

“Then what about paintings? Are there any portraits or family paintings of you as a child?”

Portraits or family paintings. Were there such things?

Merche barely managed to pull out memories worn and tattered with age.

It seems there were no paintings of herself from very early childhood…

At most, only paintings from when she was about six or seven. Even those were few in number due to entering Lupinus Castle not long after.

Still, there should have been quite a few paintings of Christine.

In the once harmonious small mansion of Ashtad, there were certainly paintings hanging all around.

Christine and her mother just days after birth, Christine just learning to walk…

There were so many of that kind of painting that one could know how Christine had grown over time without even seeing her.

−Why aren’t there any paintings of me?

So once, out of needless sorrow, she had asked her mother.

Even that was brushed off after seeing her mother’s flustered look.

“…There aren’t any in particular. But why do you ask?”

Fabio did not answer for a long while. Then suddenly, at an unexpected moment, he spoke as if setting fire.

“I wish to marry you.”

“…Pardon?”

“I desire marriage. So I’m asking for your opinion.”

Before she could even think, Fabio stepped closer. The faint scent of heavy wood tickled her nose.

“Lady Merche. Will you marry me?”

[This is the timeline separator]

Juana gnawed on her fingernails as she watched the distant couple.

−You know what you’ve done, don’t you.

−…Fa, Fabio.

−Be quiet. Don’t do anything, just stay still.

The pressure of Fabio’s aura bearing down on her was so intense that she couldn’t even utter a sound.

Unbelievably, it seemed Fabio truly intended to marry that woman.

When she finally confessed that Merche Benenum looked exactly like the first king, unable to withstand the fierce urging. At that time, Fabio’s eyes flashed more clearly than ever before.

“Um, miss.”

“…If you’re going to say something pointless, don’t bother. I’m not in a state to listen to such things right now.”

“That’s not it. I really have something important to tell you.”

Already in a complicated mood, having the maid pester her from the side made her temper flare.

As Juana sent a glare burning with sparks in her eyes, the maid flinched but urgently whispered.

“…I heard that he has come here.”

Her furrowed brows returned to their place at those words.

Strength filled her limp body, and her hands and feet trembled finely.

Who? Who came here?

“…Ha!”

The goddess Nisha is helping me. The corners of her lips lifted in a bright smile that seemed about to split.

At last, Juana summoned her divine beast and mounted it, rushing off somewhere as if flying.

“Duke Lupinus!”

She didn’t need to see to know. It was that man. It had to be that man.

−I heard that the head of House Lupinus has come here.

She saw black hair.

That which looked like a skein of black thread rippled as if beckoning to Juana. A build much larger than Fabio’s, thick back.

The man dismounted from a wolf that seemed twice the size of a person. And finally turned to face Juana.

“…!”

Juana trembled.

Her intuition told her.

That this man was her destiny. That this man could surely suppress Fabio and raise her to the very top.

“Duke Lupinus…”

He was a man who exuded a chillingly eerie atmosphere.

His eyes like amethysts calmly gazed at Juana, but an uncontrollable ferocity filled them like a mist.

“Duke Lupinus. Please marry me!”

“What?”

“I am Juana Ardor. As you know, soon the factions led by Fondo and our Ardor will clash, and if you marry me…”

“…Ardor?”

…Huh?

Juana unknowingly took a step back.

Rude Lupinus, the man who should join hands with me to bring Fabio to his knees.

The one who should become mine, surely it was him, and yet.

“Why…, why are you looking at me like that.”

The nape of her neck felt chilly. As if that man might grab her neck and press her down at any moment.

An uncontrollable trembling swept through her body from inexplicable fear.

Meanwhile, the man approached.

“Juana Ardor.”

The man clicked his tongue softly. However, his gently shining eyes were curved in a round arc.

Lowering his gaze for Juana who was much shorter than him, the man grinned, baring his teeth.

“Fabio Ardor… Since you’re both Ardors, you must know him. Just tell me where that bastard is, and stop spouting such nonsense.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Merche exhaled tiredly as she looked at Fabio. She simply could not read his intentions.

Why? For what reason do you wish to marry me?

Conviction was etched in Fabio’s eyes and words.

The conviction that Merche would be beneficial to him. And the determination to never let go.

The problem was that none of it gave any clue as to the reason.

“I fell in love with you at first sight.”

No matter how much she pressed, the answer was the same. Nonsensical words, and clearly a lie.

Merche, rarely frowning, asked sharply.

“Don’t lie. You are neither in love with me, nor do you harbor any personal feelings.”

“How can you be so sure? My feelings are my own.”

“Because those are not the eyes of one looking at a loved one. You…”

Don’t look at me with such eyes.

She stopped mid-sentence, her body suddenly stiffening. Such eyes? What do you mean, such eyes?

−Merche.

Her breath caught at the voice lingering in her ears like an auditory hallucination.

She clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, but the pain was far from enough to erase the face that surfaced unbidden.

As Merche’s complexion visibly paled, Fabio approached a step with a slightly softened expression.

“If my sudden proposal felt burdensome, I apologize.”

“…”

“There’s no need to give an answer right away, so in the future…”

Bang!

A deafening explosion rang out.

At the same time, Fabio, who had been standing perfectly fine in front of Merche, flew like a sack and crashed into a corner.

“Kyaaak!”

From somewhere, a winged horse flew in. A Pegasus, the divine beast of Ardor.

Just moments ago, it had been a gentle white horse standing peacefully in a corner of the garden, smelling the flowers.

However, as soon as its master was attacked, the seemingly docile white horse transformed into a ferociously rampaging Pegasus as if it had never been otherwise.

As the Pegasus rose into the sky, stamping its hooves thunderously, lightning flashed across the heavens with a crack.

Something pitch black lunged at the Pegasus’s neck, slicing through the air.

Merche recognized it immediately.

How could she not? The familiar beast trying to tear at the enraged Pegasus’s throat. The eyes flashing within lightning-shaped scars, overlapping with Shakar’s bright yellow pupils.

“Nike…?”

In the midst of wrestling with the Pegasus as if they were one mass, Nike suddenly raised its head to look this way.

Judging by how its ears covered in black fur perked up, it seemed to have recognized Merche.

“Kyarung…!”

But the timing was not good.

With the wolf facing it distracted, this was an opportunity for the Pegasus.

Its solid hooves violently kicked the wolf and soared into the sky again.

Just as lightning was about to strike once more along with the fluttering white wings.

“Stop−!”

Merche cried out.

The surroundings fell deathly silent. Immediately after Merche’s ‘command’ fell, the wildly raging Pegasus quieted as if it had been leashed.

Nike too lowered its head, trembling.

However, the very person who created this forced peace, Merche, could only stagger and curl her body into a small ball.

Splash…, splash…!

The cries of the sea she had heard somewhere before pierced her head.

Her body shook and stiffened from the destructive noise like tinnitus.

“Hic… Stop, please stop.”

[What’s wrong? This is your fault. You used a power that wasn’t permitted first, didn’t you?]

It was the first time. That a complete voice spoke to her.

Merche tried desperately to gather her fragmented mind, while strangely feeling something odd on top of her head.

It feels like there’s something here, what is this…?

Even as she searched and parted her hair like thread with her fingertips, nothing could be grasped.

At that moment, the voice laughed.

[Obtain the qualifications. First, you must reclaim all three qualifications on earth. Then come find me.]