Ophelia added before he could react.

“I’m not saying we should nullify it right away. We haven’t decided how to handle Reden yet, and we still need to solve the issue of time going backwards. If you want to include Reden in Aglante, the marriage should be maintained during that period too.”

Idren, flustered by the smooth announcement as if she had prepared it, stuttered.

“I, I…”

His mind felt blank. He clearly understood all the components of the sentence, but couldn’t interpret it. It felt like being asked to read a book while having dyslexia.

After stumbling over his words a few times, he rubbed his face.

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

No, he wasn’t completely clueless. There was only one reason Ophelia would say such things. Because she was dissatisfied with this situation.

She had reason to be dissatisfied. Idren thought of the country that hadn’t even properly established its form as a state. It was understandable to be annoyed at being told to take such a thing.

But he couldn’t agree to the absurd suggestion of handing Reden over to him.

“Reden is yours. I’m truly sorry that only the shell remains. I’m ashamed of that part. But if you give me time, I will again…”

And Idren realized that whatever he said would be inappropriate. To make Reden normal again? Would Ophelia really want that?

He rubbed his face once more. He didn’t know how to navigate this situation. It felt like someone had shoved a rock down his throat.

He barely managed to gather the words that were stuck and wouldn’t come out.

“The throne of Reden, I’ve never thought of such a thing. Who am I to possess that?”

At that, the woman who had been looking down at the law book turned to face him. Her large, deep blue eyes focused directly on him.

“Reden is all I have.”

The man blinked as if he didn’t understand. Ophelia explained to the man who seemed skilled at times but infinitely naive at others.

“I’m saying that’s all I can give you.”

Gallisia, it’s only right to return what you gave, of course.

Even after hearing her additional words, the situation was still incomprehensible. Hoping his voice wouldn’t sound terribly weak, Idren objected.

“Your premise is wrong. Why are you trying to give me anything? Why are you trying to return Gallisia? That’s what I told you to keep…”

“Gallisia is Aglante territory, isn’t it? If the marriage is nullified, it’s a place you should take back. Reden… just think of it as compensation.”

“Compensation?”

Ophelia then answered in a monotone voice.

“It’s true that I benefited from this marriage, so you should gain something too.”

“Benefit, what on earth…”

And Idren gave up on refuting each of her statements one by one. It didn’t seem like that was what Ophelia wanted.

But since he didn’t understand what her words were implying either, he ended up uttering formulaic words.

“I was wrong. I made many mistakes. I should have acted with more consideration, but I was arrogant.”

But if Ophelia gave him a little more time, he could rectify it. Thinking about how to persuade her, Idren took her hand. Meanwhile, her cold flesh made his chest tighten. Though it was clearly human skin, it felt like it would melt away at any moment.

Knowing that he shouldn’t grip tightly to prevent ice from melting, Idren unconsciously tightened his hold on her. Even if this was like grasping at sand, there was nothing else he could do.

He rambled on with excuses that sounded pitiful even to himself.

“If you just wait a little, I’ll fix everything. I promise. I can’t bring back the dead Mahanas, but if you want, anyone else…”

He knew this wasn’t the ideal image of a husband.

But there was a limit to faking something he had never learned. Lowering his gaze, Idren rolled his eyes trying to come up with what to say next.

It was then that Ophelia brushed off his hand.

Tak. Startled by the cold gesture, Idren looked up. Ophelia was biting her lower lip and glaring at him.

Why is she making such a face? While he was blinking and thinking such thoughts, Ophelia, with an angry expression, said.

“Look at yourself right now.”

“…”

“How dare you beg me? Who am I, that a man as great as you would, would…”

Would do something so beneath you.

Why did the last words sound like gasping for breath?

A confused Idren opened his mouth. It was then that something dropped from the blue eyes with a plop.

Looking down at her wet hand in surprise, Ophelia hurriedly covered her face. She lowered her head and rounded her shoulders.

Without time to think further, Idren embraced the woman who was hiding herself. As the small, trembling back entered his arms, he felt like he was being strangled. Holding the helplessly shrinking woman as if she were his lifeline, Idren murmured. No. Nothing has meaning without you. I, I…

It’s because I’m lacking.

Then a muffled voice was heard from within his embrace.

“I ruined everything.”

Ophelia, turning the arrows that should have been aimed at him towards herself, said.

“Because I touched it, it’s all because of me…”

Haslen’s death, Starlet, Anika’s death were all her fault. Unlike her, this man who had so obviously achieved his own accomplishments was shaken and hurt like this, all because of her.

What good is there in me being alive? Leaning into the other’s embrace, Ophelia thought. What good will come from enduring this moment and moving forward? What meaning can my life have?

If it’s going to be like this, wouldn’t it be better to just give up?

All of this was a waste. Idren caring about her, him being harmed because of her, her constantly trying to do things that wouldn’t work out.

It’s all beyond what she deserves.

Feeling like she shouldn’t hide that fact, Ophelia wiped her face. She was planning to calm her breath and speak again. To say that for their long-term situation, it would be right to end this relationship here.

But before she could say anything, the man stroked her back.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. This happened because I’m lacking.”

And he carefully detached her shoulders. When she saw the golden eyes containing her, Ophelia saw for the first time eyes that weren’t even wet trembling so much.

Wiping her face with hands mostly covered in scars, the man whispered self-deprecating words as if they were evidence.

“Think about our past life. Didn’t everything work out well then?”

About to unconsciously agree with that sweet voice, Ophelia realized there was a flaw in it.

Of course, in their past life, Starlet and Anika were alive.

But Idren.

Wasn’t this plausible man already becoming a mess by being with her?

Someday, I’ll ruin you too.

Ophelia swallowed the fact she didn’t want to admit even in her endless self-blame. What she had loved had never remained intact.

So someday, Idren too.

She thought the sense of feeling unhappiness had already dulled long ago, but realizing this fact felt like being stabbed with something sharp. Ophelia, swallowing her tears, closed her eyes. Though she was clearly breathing, it felt like being buried alive.

Brinwell lost the war.

They said the Aglante prince had taken Hator’s head, that the remaining body was found in a cave.

The king fainted upon hearing those words. The man who had ruled the country for over half a century with a straight back collapsed at the death of his first son, to whom he had intended to pass on everything. The doctor said that due to the king’s age, he likely wouldn’t recover his strength again.

Thus, Masaran came to sit on the throne he had never even been allowed to look at.

In any other situation, he would have been deeply satisfied. However, because the current state of affairs was not very good, Masaran couldn’t fully enjoy the things that had suddenly come into his hands.

“Your Highness! We must devise countermeasures!”

“You must make a decision quickly!”

The ministers would say such things and pester him whenever they saw him.

Because the country’s situation was so bad, Masaran tried to understand them at first. He tried his best to listen to what they said.

But the ministers were very dissatisfied no matter what choice he made.

“We must send troops again! If we let Aglante win like this, the country will be ruined!”

“So we should keep fighting? Who will boost the army’s morale in place of the late First Prince?”

His dead brother Hator had excelled in martial arts from a young age, so that minister’s words were correct. But somehow to Masaran’s ears, it sounded like saying he was inferior to Hator.

Meanwhile, Amarelda, who had been Hator’s wife, the First Princess Consort, even grated on his nerves.

Masaran couldn’t understand his sister-in-law who treated him as if he had stolen his brother’s throne. He wasn’t the one who sent his brother to the battlefield or killed him, but Amarelda was wary of him as if he had committed a crime. To be precise, it was after he said at a family gathering that the remaining family members should get along well.

But he hadn’t said anything untrue. If they didn’t maintain close family ties, who would they ally with? Although the king and his dead brother used to exclude him, Masaran had no intention of repaying that to his brother’s family who were left alone.

Not knowing his generosity, Amarelda…

As he thought about the increasingly annoying state of the household, Masaran frowned.

In this situation, his only consolation was the Second Prince from Egelbamot. As beautiful and gentle as he looked, that man knew well how to soothe people’s hearts.

Therefore, when conversing with him, Masaran felt like he had found someone who truly understood him in this world. It was a different feeling from facing his wife who was strongly influenced by his father’s will, or the ministers who showed not a shred of reverence for him.

Today too, coming out of the royal presence where the ministers were arguing among themselves, Masaran asked the attendant by his side.

“Where is the Second Prince, I hear?”

The attendant, who would normally have naturally recited the man’s whereabouts, hesitated to answer and rolled his eyes. Sensing something strange, Masaran urged an answer.

“Do you want to be punished? Speak without hiding anything.”

Bowing his head deeply, the attendant finally confessed.

“The Second Prince is in Your Majesty’s bedchamber.”