In the dimly lit room as night descended, Valter sat on the bed, quietly gazing at the face of his sleeping wife, who lay sprawled across the bed.

Even with her eyes closed, the slightly reddened eyes hinted at Odette’s crying before falling asleep.

Y-You are, well, truly, a bad person…

Whatever the reason was, had he made the baby cry? No, it seemed like he teased her a bit, and her face turned red. How could she say such things after that?

Her adorable and lovely appearance almost made him forget that he should have consoled her.

Valter had never been prouder of his strong self-control than he was today. Although it wasn’t the wedding night with Odetteit wasn’t even nightit made him more impulsive and instinctive than he had imagined.

If he wasn’t someone with such strong self-control, he might have fallen out sooner.

And Odette, instead of receiving criticism as a mere ‘bad person,’ might have received a divorce on the first day of marriage.

‘Even so, I have no intention of getting a divorce.’

There’s no need to assume things that didn’t happen.

Thanks to Valter’s strong self-control, instead of preparing for a divorce, Odette glared at Valter, then turned her back and fell asleep.

It was her way of expressing protest.

Nevertheless, since they were already in bed, it was quite amusing that she crawled back to lie down.

When she thought about last night, she seemed to act innocent, as if she were trying to behave innocently, but everything she did revealed her innocence, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘But it’s not like she’s entirely innocent.’

If Odette had just been innocent, wouldn’t he have been less tormented?

Valter’s gaze, looking down at the sleeping Odette, sank deeply.

It was because he recalled their conversation inside the carriage coming to the Ertman Duke’s mansion.

Don’t deceive me, Valter.

Along with those words, Odette’s gaze, looking straight at herself.

She never hesitated to look at Valter.

Because she had no deceit, no emotions, and no reason to be ashamed.

But for Valter to meet Odette’s gaze, some preparation was needed.

He was deceiving Odette, harboring countless indescribable emotions, and couldn’t be straightforward.

The apparent difference that had not been seen on the surface became vividly apparent when Odette spoke those words.

Valter felt as if an invisible line was being drawn in front of him.

He sensed that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t be able to speak the truth with his own mouth.

‘It would have been better if you just hated me.’

Or maybe it would have been better if Odette were a little less kind.

Then he wouldn’t have felt the need to carry such a heavy burden of conscience in deceiving her or feel the need to be so upright in his deceit.
So, Valter thought that if Odette had been hating him all along, perhaps she might eventually reveal the truth.

At least until Odette brought up her own childhood stories and talked about her goals.

‘It was the first time I heard a story twice in a row.’

Odette wasn’t someone who talked well about herself.

For her to bring up the topic first meant that she trusted Valter to that extent.

It could also be interpreted as her opening up her heart to him to that extent.

Faced with such kind trust, Valter couldn’t bring himself to reveal any truth.

‘…There won’t be anything to say in the future either.’

In the first place, Valter didn’t have much to hide.

He had already spoken about everything that could be said, such as the superficial purpose of going to the masquerade ball and what he did there.

There was only one thing Valter had concealed.

Why he couldn’t tell Odette about the masquerade ball.

The reason was simple.

‘I can’t say that I went to prepare for death.’

Because he was preparing for his own death.

The artifact, commonly referred to as a relic, which is said to exist only three times on the entire continent.

There weren’t many documents about it, and the records were sparse and scattered, making it highly unreliable.

However, there was a common claim in all the records.

Even though there were few cases and the records were unreliable, this was the only reason why it was treated as a relic.

The fact that people who claimed to have fulfilled their wishes through the relic consistently disappeared.

And they all disappeared around the same time.

In terms of having the remarkable ability to turn back time, this was the reason it was considered a relic.

Some were eager to try it out at least once, but Valter didn’t even know about the existence of this relic.

Not until he got his hands on it in the place he went to die.

There is a story like this.

A somewhat common story where a princess who has lived as a weed in the imperial palace proposes a contract marriage, choosing a suitable partner, when faced with the crisis of an unwanted marriage.