After that, the events that unfolded were predictable, as if set in stone.

Idren sent a proposal to the Kingdom of Leden. It took about half a year to finalize the exact date as several conditions needed to be coordinated.

Still, he was eventually able to marry Ophelia the following summer. Twenty-three. It was the perfect age for marriage.

Idren felt excitement as he prepared a port and villa as wedding gifts for her. He had never seen a woman as dazzling as the fifteen-year-old Ophelia. And now, she was twenty-three.

Moreover, Idren remembered what Ophelia had said.

“I hope we can see each other again next year.”

Admittedly, much time had passed to bring up those words now.

But he had improved immensely since then. To the point where the child who couldn’t even fully own his own body was nowhere to be seen.

Idren believed that Ophelia, like others, would prefer his changed self. So being a few years late wouldn’t be a significant flaw.

However, Ophelia’s reaction was different from what he had expected.

Clearly, he was incomparably better than that pitiful child, but she didn’t even look at him.

No, it seemed like she couldn’t even remember him in the first place.

When he first realized this, he felt deflated, but Idren decided to interpret the situation positively.

In his childhood, he was truly unsightly. But if she couldn’t remember him from then, it meant she thought of him as he was now, didn’t it?

Of course, it was a bit sad that what was irreplaceable to him held little meaning to her, but memories didn’t disappear just because they were buried for a while.

So Idren kept his mouth shut. It was natural for anyone to want to appear impressive to their first love.

But that method was wrong. Now Idren knew that fact.

While he had remained silent to appear as a decent husband to Ophelia, he hadn’t grown any closer to her. Ophelia had constantly put up walls against him.

And in the end, didn’t she make the cruelest choice?

Now that he knew well that she didn’t want to get married – he felt a slight pain at this thought – Idren wanted to let Ophelia live the way she wanted.

Of course, he wanted to marry her. But it was far more important that Ophelia didn’t die again than his own desires.

If her family became an obstacle to her building the will to live, Idren could protect her from them. It was only natural since she had been on his side when his family was the problem.

And to make Ophelia believe that fact, he had to provide a reasonable basis, so he had no choice but to explain what had happened in the past himself.

It was embarrassing to bring up such a miserable past, but it was okay. If it helped Ophelia, Idren could confess his faults anytime.

Idren, who had washed away his despair and gained new hope, raised his head. When he first left Ophelia’s room, he had been flustered at the thought that she didn’t need him, but after collecting his thoughts, he felt better.

It was then that he heard a piercing scream from behind.

“Princess−!”

Realizing it came from the direction of Ophelia’s room, Idren turned back and ran the way he had come.

But before he could reach the room, his vision swayed. He staggered on the black, undulating floor and eventually collapsed.

The last thing that entered his blurred vision was the wide open door of the princess’s room and people rushing inside.

When he opened his eyes again, he was thrown under a clear blue sky.

Startled, Idren got up from his spot. He staggered like a drunk person, standing on the swaying boat. The colorful silks decorating the boats passing by and the flowers scattered along the water’s edge caught his eye.

Suddenly, a fishy smell wafted from somewhere. Nausea rose from his stomach. Idren knelt at the end of the boat. Penrel approached him with surprised eyes as he dry-heaved.

From then on, everything was the same as his memory.

The knight with green eyes asked him with a worried expression if he was alright. Idren grabbed him and asked what time it was, and the answer he received was one he had already heard before.

“It is currently the fourth month of this year, and Your Highness is on the way to the royal palace of Leden. You were scheduled to meet King Dares and Prince Mahanas there.”

Upon hearing those words, Idren pushed the knight away. Penrel turned pale and asked again if he was alright as he covered his own face with his hands.

Despite the knight’s words, he was not alright at all.

Have I gone mad?

Idren thought, clutching his face on the swaying boat. Have I lost my mind? Is that why I keep seeing these illusions?

But the sensation of his face being squeezed by his fingertips was too vivid.

It wasn’t just the sensation of his face. The tepid spring breeze, the colors as bright as fraud, everything was excessively vivid. That vividness constricted his throat.

Looking down at the water that seemed like it would surge up and swallow him at any moment, Idren thought of one person.

Ophelia.

In the last scene he had seen, her room was wide open. People were rushing inside.

As if something had happened to the person inside.

Then, apart from the sense of discomfort he was feeling, a sense of unease swept over him.

Clearly, it seemed like Ophelia was not being treated well in the royal palace of Leden.

Her servant blamed her when she jumped, and her family treated the incident as if it had never happened.

What they did as a measure… The grotesque wooden boards crossed on the balcony flickered before his eyes.

Perhaps someone had harmed Ophelia.

Thinking like that, his already rapidly beating heart seemed like it would jump out of his mouth. He vomited again. The undulating water was deep blue.

This time, too, riding a horse prepared at the docking station, Idren rushed to the Kingdom of Leden. Penrel followed him, unable to stop him from riding the horse as if being chased.

Finally arriving at the royal palace of Leden, the first thing Idren did was look up at where the princess’s room was located.

Clearly, Ophelia was there. The memory of catching her falling from up there was still vivid.

But the balcony now was closed as if it had never been opened before.

Still, he couldn’t let his guard down. Idren dismounted from the horse and strode across the palace garden. Mahanas, who had come out to greet him from afar, made a startled expression.

“You’ve arrived earlier than scheduled. But right now…”

Idren passed by the prince who spoke to him and entered the palace. The surprised Penrel called out to him from behind. Your Highness−! The knight seemed perplexed by his master’s unprecedented rudeness.

Regardless of that, Idren went up to the corridor where Ophelia’s room was located. The sound of something breaking could be heard from the corridor.

Idren hoped it didn’t originate from where he was heading, but his wishes were usually not well fulfilled.

Soon, Idren could see people gathered in front of the room of Leden’s princess.

Among them, a few who recognized his face said something, but he couldn’t hear it.

He pushed through Ophelia’s maid, who was sniffling while holding a completely ruined flower basket, and the whispering attendants. A dull bursting sound could be heard from inside Ophelia’s room.

Idren urgently knocked on the door of the room.

“Ophelia! Are you alright?”

Although he couldn’t tell what was happening inside, the noise he heard was unsettling.

“Please open the door! Ophelia!”

As if hearing his cry, the door of the room flung open.

A skinny hand that popped out from the dark gap grabbed his wrist. Before he could even recognize the contact, Idren was pulled into the darkness.

The room was generally overshadowed. Looking around, Idren was appalled.

“Are you okay? What is this…”

The surroundings were a complete mess. The mirror of the dressing table was shattered, the chair lying beneath it had a broken leg, and flower branches were crushed and scattered all over the floor.

And Idren realized why light wasn’t entering the room. The support of the curtain that had been attached above the balcony window was half-broken, and the rolled-up cloth was unraveled over the window.

In the midst of it, Ophelia, who had been gasping for breath, saw him and strode over.

“You, you came back too, right?”

Her rough, cracked voice was filled with urgency. Before the surprised Idren could answer, she asked imploringly.

“Do you know why this is happening? Why on earth… Why…”

And Ophelia lowered her head. She covered her face as if she had received a great shock.

Idren reached out his hand to support the pitiful trembling woman’s shoulders. That was when Ophelia muttered. Why can’t I die?

It was closer to her talking to herself than to him, but it was enough to understand. In an instant, a chill ran down his spine. Idren asked in a trembling voice.

“Just now, what did you…”

But Ophelia didn’t seem to hear his words. Covering her own face, she muttered through her teeth like a madwoman. What on earth is the problem, that I can’t die, I, I…

Seeing her state, Idren realized.

It wasn’t that something had happened to Ophelia.

It was that she had done something.

With trembling hands, Idren grabbed the woman’s shoulders. At any other time, he would have refrained from physical contact with the other person without permission, but now he didn’t want to care about manners.

He asked in a rising tone.

“…What did you do?”