Looking at the Duke and Duchess who had fainted after eating the elaine grass, I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I did it, I really did it. I prevented the tragedy of the Belvederes……!’

To be honest, even while preparing, I had many worries about whether I could really pull this off.

To find the elaine grass that was the basis of the plan, I had to enter a forest full of magical beasts, and I was afraid of magical beasts.

Nevertheless, I succeeded.

I prevented the greatest tragedy in the lives of Dietrich and Ludovica.

‘Now Dietrich won’t die, and Ruby won’t have to sharpen her blade of revenge……’

Even in the original story, if only the reason for Dietrich’s unfilial act had been revealed, Ruby wouldn’t have sought revenge.

‘Though she would have been in pain, Ruby would have understood Dietrich’s choice.’

However, Dietrich thoroughly hid all the facts. Because he wanted her to hate only himself rather than resent even their parents.

He thought it would be better for his sister if he bore all the sins himself and died by her hands.

Ludovica only learned the truth belatedly, and ended up spending agonizing days in regret and grief.

‘But nothing like that will happen now.’

Because I’ve completely shattered the flow of the original story.

In an instant, all the tension drained away.

For the past few days my head had been full of thoughts on how to prevent this tragedy from happening, and now I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

‘Though in reality, this is just the beginning.’

There was still a long way to go to prevent the invasion of the demons. Still, I was glad to have successfully taken the first step.

As I was lost in these various thoughts, the situation came to a conclusion.

Nils and the servants who had followed us belatedly helped with the cleanup.

In the hidden space underground, terrified servants and maids were trembling.

It seemed they had hidden here to escape the indiscriminate attacks of the Duke and Duchess.

‘If things had gone according to the original story, all these people would have died too.’

I was glad to have prevented the innocent casualties.

Besides them, there were people all over the basement who had been injured, unable to avoid the Duke and Duchess’s attacks in time.

Most had severe bruises or fractures, but miraculously, none of their lives were in danger.

The family doctor came immediately to treat them.

Dietrich himself moved the unconscious Duke and Duchess to their bedroom.

Meanwhile, I brewed tea with the stems of the elaine grass.

Magi had accumulated in the souls of the Duke and Duchess for a long time. An amount that would have driven an ordinary person mad long ago.

To eliminate that terrifying amount, they would need to continue consuming the components of the elaine grass for a while.

Just then, I spotted Dietrich coming out of the Duke and Duchess’s bedroom with a complicated expression.

I hurried over to him.

“They haven’t woken up yet, have they?”

“No, not yet. But more importantly, what’s that in your hand……”

“Oh, it’s tea brewed with that grass from earlier. I brought it for you to drink. Dietrich, you were in the forest for a long time too, so you need to detoxify.”

He downed the cup of tea in one gulp.

“It tastes…… bad.”

“Are you being a picky eater at your age? Really, Dietrich. You need to mature a bit.”

I deliberately made a joke to lighten the mood.

A small smile appeared on his shadowed face, but quickly disappeared again.

“Well, things that are good for you are usually like that, right? I’ve made some for the two of them as well, so make sure they drink a cup a day for a while after they wake up. One stem probably wasn’t enough to complete the detoxification.”

He nodded silently in response. I was concerned about his continued gloomy expression.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

“Miss Vivian, how are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’ve been treated well, so I’m fine now! Thank you for worrying about me.”

“I’m glad you’re alright. Then……”

Though he didn’t say it out loud, I could immediately tell what he was trying to say from the way he looked at me.

He was probably going to ask for an explanation of the series of events.

“Ah, alright. I’ll tell you everything. Just, not here, somewhere quieter……”

He eventually led me to his study. Nils, who had been inside, was chased out because of me.

It was probably Dietrich’s consideration to let us talk comfortably, but I felt bad for Nils.

I sat down facing Dietrich.

‘Where should I start and how should I explain.’

I started to worry because there was too much to explain.

‘Should I tell him this is inside a book?’

No, no. That would only confuse him more.

I maintained an outwardly calm appearance while organizing my thoughts.

Dietrich was staring at me intently, waiting for me to begin speaking.

However, perhaps my deliberation had gone on too long, as he opened his mouth first.

“……Miss Vivian, can you see the future?”

“……!”

I was surprised that he brought this up first.

I had expected him not to believe even if I said I could see the future, so this was unexpected. I hurriedly nodded.

“That’s right, how did you know?”

“So it was true. Actually, I was curious about the source of Miss Vivian’s power, so I investigated holy power.”

He investigated separately? I listened carefully.

“When I looked into ancient texts, it said that messengers of God could often see fragmented moments of the future. It must have been possible through God’s authority.”

“So Dietrich thinks my ability is holy power.”

He gave an affirmative answer.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

‘It’s not a precognitive ability, just remembering the contents of the original story…… But in the end, I do know the future, so could it be considered precognition?’

No matter how I thought about it, it was ambiguous.

However, it seemed easier to go along with Dietrich’s story rather than mentioning the original unnecessarily.

After all, I just needed to explain to Dietrich the things that would happen in the future.

“I’ve seen the future several times. A future where demons invade the human world, a future where the Duke and Duchess lose their minds, and……”

“A future where I die.”

I was startled by his sudden interjection.

“How did you know?”

“So it’s true. Your reaction says it all.”

“Ah……”

I realize anew that I must be an idiot. To fall for such a trick.

“Don’t make that face. If Miss Vivian hadn’t been here, my parents would have crossed a line they shouldn’t have. And the choice I would have made then…… is all too obvious.”

“……Is that why you’ve been in a bad mood? Dietrich, the future has changed. There’s no need to think about things that haven’t happened.”

“No, it’s not that……”

He held back his words.

“More importantly, explain about the demons and that huge hole the magical beasts came out of. And why my parents ended up like that.”

I immediately complied with his demanding words.

I explained everything without omission – that the demons were preparing to invade to dominate the human world, and in the process, the Demon King opened a huge hole, that is, a portal.

And the fact that the magi flowing in through the portal drives people mad.

Dietrich concentrated to not miss a single word I was saying.

“So even if affected by this power called magi, people’s reactions vary widely?”

“Yes, that’s right. Each person’s soul has a different capacity to withstand magi. Dietrich, you’ve been to that forest a few times already, right? But you didn’t fall into a Lima state because of that. If it had been someone else, they would have gone mad long ago.”

“The same goes for my parents.”

“That’s right. They held out relatively long, but eventually fell into a Lima state. But don’t worry, Dietrich. They’ll be fine now that they’ve had the elaine grass. It eliminates the magi accumulated in the soul.”

I smiled brightly to reassure him, but Dietrich’s face only darkened further.

‘This isn’t like him.’

Of course, it would be stranger if he acted the same as usual in this situation.

But it was his first time looking so depressed, so I couldn’t help but worry.

Dietrich continued to ask this and that. I answered sincerely, revealing as much as I knew to the best of my ability.

“I think I understand the situation now.”

“That’s good.”

I nervously watched his expression, which seemed more thoughtful than usual.

“Miss Vivian. I’m really sorry, but I’d like to organize my thoughts, so could you leave for a while?”

“Of course.”

At the sudden request to leave, I quietly exited the room.

‘……Is he alright?’

Maybe it was just my feeling, but Dietrich looked sad.

I felt like I shouldn’t leave him alone.

‘He told me to leave so I did, but……’

I stopped as I was walking down the corridor and turned back.

‘This won’t do. I think it would be better to hear why he’s so sad after all.’

If he was just depressed about his parents’ problem, it might be better to leave him alone, but I felt it wasn’t just that.

He seemed to have some circumstances that I didn’t know about.

I hurried to enter Dietrich’s study, but someone blocked my way. It was Nils.

“The young master needs time alone.”

“But……”

Nils let out a small sigh and closed his eyes tightly.

“Do you know why the young master came to bear the infamy of being a murderer?”

I shook my head. Come to think of it, he was described as a brutal murderer in the original story.

The difference between the Dietrich I knew and the rumors about him was so great that I had forgotten about it recently.

“It was already 9 years ago……”

Nils briefly revealed an incident that had happened to Dietrich in the past.

It was a story of him coming out of the Black Tree Forest after killing his companions.

“I don’t know the details, but you entered the Black Tree Forest where that incident took place. You unintentionally touched on the young master’s deepest trauma.”

I bit my lip in regret.

It wasn’t mentioned in the original story, so I had no idea. I never knew such a thing had happened.

Only then did the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit together.

When I encountered Dietrich in the Black Tree Forest, he urged me to leave immediately.

At the time, I couldn’t understand why he was acting that way.

‘He was worried. Afraid of losing me like his companions.’

And the reason he kept looking upset……

‘It must be because of his guilt for not being able to protect his companions and ending up harming them.’

The Dietrich of the past probably never thought there was a way to cure his maddened companions.

The best judgment he could make at the time was to strike down his companions with his own hands.

Now that he belatedly learned there was a way to save them, he must be blaming himself.

‘This won’t do. I really can’t leave him alone.’

Just as I was about to ask Nils to step aside.

“Miss Vivian, a guest has arrived for you.”

A servant of the mansion approached, calling for me.

A guest all of a sudden? Who could it be?

Reading my puzzled expression, the servant added.

“He introduced himself as Ren.”

“……!”

I followed behind the servant as if in a trance.