Ophelia’s eyebrows twitched at the sudden words. However, there was no time to hear an explanation. They had already reached the castle gates.

The lord’s daughter standing in front of the door bowed to her in greeting.

“Greetings, Princess. I am Anika Rohos.”

Ophelia looked at the woman who had once informed her of the plan to assassinate her father. The woman who would become the new lord of Rohos had the same color hair as her father, but her eyes were a deep chestnut color.

Idren did not allow her to stare at Anika for long. Gently pulling her hand, he said.

“Aren’t you tired? Let’s go to the room.”

There was something she had to tell him anyway. Ophelia nodded her head.

As they walked through the castle corridor, Idren asked.

“How was your friend?”

“Just okay.”

Idren didn’t seem to like that answer. He narrowed his eyebrows.

“Weren’t you close? I heard you met frequently in your previous life.”

Ophelia did not tell him that even meetings with close friends may not always be pleasant.

Idren had no one he could call a friend. It was one of the few facts she knew about him.

Idren turned to look at her as he opened the bedroom door. Ophelia entered the room through the open door. Unlike the chaotic outside, the bedroom was neatly organized.

Seeing the bed clean enough to lie down anytime, fatigue rushed over her. Ophelia sat on the edge of the bed. Idren, who had entered after closing the door, sat down next to her. The neat bed sank.

Ophelia rested her chin on her elbows placed on her knees. Her head felt heavy. Idren glanced at her and said.

“Don’t do that, lean on me.”

So Ophelia leaned on him instead of straining her wrists. The firm shoulders did not budge as she rested her weight on them. She twisted her body slightly to lift both legs onto the bed.

Leaning against the warmth that felt somewhat hot, Ophelia asked.

“What does it mean that the lord of Rohos is dead?”

“It means exactly that. It seems he was attacked by a beast while hunting.”

As Idren said this, he wrapped her hair around his fingers. Watching his calloused fingers fiddle with her hair, Ophelia thought that the beast the deceased lord encountered was not an animal, but this man.

It made her feel a bit strange. It was similar to the feeling of being embraced last night.

It was understandable to be reminded of it, as their bodies were touching just like then. Explaining to herself, Ophelia muttered.

“……I could have handled it myself.”

She said those words knowing that he had touched the lord solely because of her.

“I know.”

The docile answer felt unsatisfying. Hugging her knees, Ophelia pressed her body hard against him. But Idren did not budge at all.

Realizing that no matter how much force she applied, he would not move an inch, Ophelia gave up. Releasing the tension from her body, she said.

“You did it even though you knew.”

And Ophelia wondered why she was saying this. In her previous life, Idren had also killed that lord on her behalf.

Back then, she certainly had no intention of saying such things……

She was about to consider the differences between the two situations, but Ophelia abandoned the thought. It seemed like it would give her a headache.

To her, Idren said.

“I wanted to handle it as soon as possible, even by a day.”

Then Idren glanced down at the woman leaning against him, looking exhausted.

Ophelia, who had stopped grunting, now had her eyes closed. Fatigue was clearly felt on her pale face.

In a voice so small it was almost inaudible, she said.

“……You said there was something you had to find out from him.”

Idren was a little surprised that Ophelia remembered his words. To the woman who seemed to have matured a bit, he said.

“I asked what I needed to ask.”

“I heard the lord of Rohos was part of your forces.”

“It was a branch that had to be pruned someday, so it’s fine.”

He could place Anika in Taeran’s position. As she was young and followed a different path from her father, the existing forces would disintegrate, but Anika would build her own power base. Idren had seen how she moved in the previous life.

With just a little support, she would accomplish at least as much as her father.

Ophelia’s eyebrows twitched once at his words, but she did not add anything else. Looking down at her forehead that was exposed white, Idren thought he wanted to touch it once.

He reached out his hand to her shoulder. With her eyes closed, Ophelia let the man adjust her posture as he pleased.

Idren pulled her towards the inner side of the bed and laid her down properly. He pulled the blanket over her and removed the ornaments with clumsy and slow movements. For a first attempt, it was a decent touch.

The jewels on her neck and hair were removed, and soon a large hand touched her forehead. The man began to gently caress her forehead.

Ophelia let the man do something he had not done in her previous life. It was fine, as touching would not wear it out.

Rather, she had something to say to him. Ophelia said to the one sitting beside her.

“I previously said something like your memories were nothing special.”

The thumb that had been gently stroking her forehead paused.

Although her eyes were clearly closed, it seemed like she could see his lips pressed tightly together. Ophelia thought about the lord of Rohos’ death, which still did not feel real.

In her previous life, Idren had hanged him. And this time, he had lured him to the hunting grounds.

She knew that it was a fruitless act for him. But Idren acted as if he was unaware of all that.

The feeling was starting to become strange again. To avoid being too conscious of the sunken right side, Ophelia slightly turned her head. As if he understood it differently, the hand on her forehead was withdrawn.

Ophelia took a small breath. It required a bit of preparation, as it was not something she said often.

With difficulty, she parted her lips and uttered the words she had been thinking about the entire way in the carriage.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

And the woman turned her back.

Looking at the slender body lying on its side, Idren blinked. The hand that had not been fully withdrawn twitched in the air.

Doubting his own ears, he cautiously asked.

“……What did you say?”

“If you didn’t hear it, never mind.”

“No, I heard it correctly. Correctly……”

However, Idren did not seem like someone who had heard her words straight. He muttered. It’s not an auditory hallucination, right? That I heard it correctly……

Ophelia thought it was fortunate that she had turned her back in advance. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure if she could have endured such an embarrassing attitude.

Feeling awkward, she grumbled for no reason.

“I just apologized once, I don’t know why you’re acting like that.”

Then Idren immediately retorted.

“Just once, you say? How can it be just once when you said you’re sorry?”

Ophelia flinched at the exclamation filled with genuine sincerity. It was clearly treating her words preciously, but somehow it felt like being scolded.

However, the tactless man continued to speak. He said in a voice tinged with joy.

“I never thought I would hear an apology from you in my life. For someone like you to apologize…… This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“……Seeing you like this, I shouldn’t do it a second time.”

Only then did Idren close his mouth. However, Ophelia could feel the sharp gaze on the back of her head.

She was about to vent her anger, asking why he was staring at her like that, when Idren asked.

“Did something happen today?”

It was a question with a different feeling from the mischievous attitude he had shown a moment ago. Ophelia read the concern contained within it. She suppressed the rising anger and answered.

“……I just realized that I, too, have felt such emotions before.”

She had also endured the palace, which was like a deep sea with the kindness Haslen had shown her. To her, those memories that were as precious as gold were just ingrained kindness to Haslen.

The feeling of being able to breathe from a single meaningless brush was something she already knew. Ophelia continued.

“Knowing how precious it is for someone to listen to my words, I spoke too thoughtlessly back then.”

Beneath the calm answer was a poignant feeling.

Idren instinctively recognized it as the appearance of someone reminiscing about memories. It was a memory he didn’t know when or with whom she had made.

Along with a bit of shock, the jealousy that had been suppressed for a while rose.

He knew the weight of their emotions was not the same.

However, holding hands alone and realizing that the other person is holding a different hand were as different as heaven and earth.

The urge to dig into the part of her he didn’t know about rose from deep within his stomach.

He wanted to ask if she also had memories she took out whenever she was struggling. Just as he had chanted a name he had never been allowed to speak while looking at the white snow at dawn, he wanted to know if she also had a name she used as a prayer.

Almost simultaneously, Idren realized that he shouldn’t do that.

What would change if he dug deep? Even if Ophelia had heart-like memories, there was nothing he could do.

Such memories could not be cut out or erased. It was the same even if the person who had implanted them touched them.

He knew it well because he had the same thing.

Unable to handle the confusion, Idren looked down at the thin back. It was then that Ophelia’s voice was heard.

“Let’s get along well for the next three years.”

And Ophelia reached out her hand over her shoulder.

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually took her hand. The warmth was felt along with the calloused fingertips. Ophelia unknowingly relaxed the tension between her eyebrows.

For the first time, she thought she could become friends with him.