The path I returned on, throwing unanswerable questions.

As always, Hael waiting for me flickered in my mind.

“El?”

Suddenly, I recalled what my senior had said.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Even a passing dog would know that Hael likes me, he had said.

“Hael, don’t wait like this anymore from now on.”

“I wasn’t waiting.”

“…”

“I was just here, and you came.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more to Hael, who was lying with such an innocent face, so I stopped talking.

After that, Hael went on for quite a while congratulating me on the success of my project.

“It’s not a success yet. The progress is being made at the magic tower.”

“Still, if you got sponsorship, it’s done, right? As expected, the top student is different.”

Chuckling at the silly joke, I walked until the dormitory was right in front of us.

At some point, Hael, who had fallen silent, was fidgeting.

It seemed he had something to say.

Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, he spoke first.

“Um… what are you doing this weekend?”

This weekend. That day I don’t want to remember flashes through my mind.

The time when I have to meet that man again.

The face of that man who called me to the hotel again this time vividly filled the space.

Even though he wasn’t in front of me, it felt like those red eyes were staring at me right before my eyes, making me dizzy.

Only when Hael suddenly approached my field of vision did I slowly come back to my senses.

“Ah, just… planning to go somewhere with my mother.”

Unable to tell him about the affair with that man, a needless excuse-like statement leaked out.

The feeling of being a sinner tightened around my heart.

“Then next week, perhaps…”

Hael’s feelings for me began to become clear once again.

Clear enough for me to see distinctly now.

“Hael.”

“…Yes?”

“Don’t wait for someone like me.”

No matter how long you wait, I won’t be able to go.

So don’t wait on that path.

That ended years ago in Alphonse.

The moment Hael likes me, everything I say and do will become a deception.

I wanted to run away from that.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, that night in Alphonse when I was abandoned by Hael, that prison, lessened the guilt.

“See you next time, at the magic tower.”

I waved to Hael with a grin and entered the dormitory.

Even after turning on the lights, I could see Hael through the window.

Deep footprints remained for a long time in the spot where Hael had stood guard for quite a while.

[This is the timeline separator]

The pen engraved with Blanchet’s seal rolled across the papyrus with a scratching sound.

A considerable amount of documents were placed in front of Cassian, quite a lot for an heir’s work.

It was in accordance with the mistress’s instructions to firmly establish his position, given how long he had been away, but even so, it was a substantial amount.

Tiobe looked at her lord, who was processing them with a dry face, clicking her tongue.

Her lord completed them without a single change in expression.

He repeatedly processed the piled-up documents without a single mistake.

The repetitive routine that continued with machine-like movements never stopped.

The only time her lord ever paused his movements was once a week.

The time when that woman came.

Until the snow melted and the green spring blossomed, that woman visited Meriot several times.

Today too, Yuriel was inevitably reflected in Cassian’s gaze, rippling.

The flaming red hair approaching outside the window was rippling closer.

Her lord embraced only that woman every time, wholly.

“The item.”

“Ah…”

Tiobe suddenly remembered the somewhat amusing order her lord had given.

Quickly moving, Tiobe took out the item and held it out.

“Here it is.”

The changer was placed on the table, emitting a brilliant light.

The pendant studded with gems was the most expensive one in that shop, as per her lord’s order.

Tiobe had to visit a space that didn’t suit her several times, as it even required a reservation.

Of course, the shop had a slogan saying makeup for both men and women, but unlike what the shop advocated, the men of the empire weren’t very interested in adorning themselves.

Especially if they were knights of a country or men of high status.

As if to prove that point, the majority, no, all of the people inside the shop at that time were young ladies.

That woman was also one of such customers.

That news unfailingly reached her lord’s ears.

Tiobe easily guessed that this was probably why her lord had given such a strange order.

The woman always visited that branch located in the capital before coming to meet her lord.

Despite looking like someone being dragged in when entering, she never failed to visit the shop before coming.

It was an oddly mismatched behavior.

Moreover, the meeting between the two, which was thought to be a one-time thing, had already continued several times.

And of all places, the meeting place was always, without fail, a hotel.

Well, it was a somewhat predictable combination.

A high-ranking noble’s son and a beauty warming his bed.

Until this changer order was given, Tiobe had thought so.

If that woman’s goal was to win her lord’s heart, she would dance out today.

If not… she would leave with the face of a dead person, as always.

Whether it was the former or the latter, it would be problematic either way, but Tiobe sincerely hoped for the former.

Wouldn’t it be too sad if her lord’s heart was his alone?

In that sense, she was quite confident it would be the former.

Because she had rarely seen a woman who didn’t have her lord in her heart in her life.

Her lord’s gaze as he fiddled with the changer was nonchalant.

Whether her lord was being played by that woman, or that woman was being played by her lord.

Tiobe looked at the changer in her lord’s hand with a curious face.

[This is the timeline separator]

Click, click.

The tense bursting sound echoed quite noisily in the air along the periphery of the changer.

With each movement of the fingers, the woman’s footsteps grew louder and closer.

The footsteps pause briefly in front of the door.

Here, that woman always takes her time.

It’s not hard to imagine her letting out a faint sigh.

Only after that does the knock sound neatly echo in the air a couple of times, right on time.

This is the pattern that this woman has repeated without fail, not even once.

From Alphonse to the capital, quite a long time had passed, but nothing had changed.

The fact that her birth mother was still alive, that she was a devoted daughter.

The fact that I was a malicious and wicked bastard.

Not a single thing missing.

Ah, it’s not that nothing has changed at all.

This woman always wears perfume and powder when entering this room.

The eccentricity that was thought to end after one time was repeatedly continued afterwards.

The woman who comes wrapped up from head to toe every time she comes to the hotel always appears in a revealing dress in front of me.

After Tiobe left, the woman who entered was the same today.

The clear skin that was tightly wrapped inside the coat was nakedly exposed in front of me. As if trying to seduce.

No, not as if.

It’s to the point where I could laugh at how blatantly she’s trying to win me over.

As if following my words, the red hair covering her nape was well-groomed as usual.

The woman who turned her back to me pushed the zipper towards me as usual.

As I reach out my hand, her reddened ear is vividly visible.

Knowing that it’s not embarrassment but the light of shame, I interpret it as I please.

Right. It’s you who threw yourself at me anyway, so the interpretation is my freedom, isn’t it?

The insignificant dress peels off like a shell, and the woman approaches me without hesitation.

Like someone with a task to handle.

The woman’s breath, who boldly bit her lips, reaches me.

The woman whose every breath is sensual stirs my insides at will.

Without even asking for permission.

I’m clearly crazy for falling for this.

Knowing that all of this woman’s actions and words are not directed at me.

Knowing that all of this is just an act of a devoted daughter.

The ridiculous play begins as always.

Will the time-limited game that should have ended long ago end in your hands or mine?

I’m quite curious.

[This is the timeline separator]

After everything is over, the man always gets up first with a face that shows no change in expression.

The muscles engraved on the body without a single ounce of fat have never shown any disarray, resembling the man’s perfection.

This room, which I wish would be dyed pitch black, is always filled with the light of a luxurious red lantern.

I’ve always been afraid of what he might think when he sees my appearance.

If I don’t meet his standards… then what should I do then?

Although I’m trying my best in various ways, I know well that these kinds of matters can’t be resolved by effort alone.

What could be as fickle and hard to understand as a person’s heart?

Among such human hearts, this man is… a person I absolutely cannot understand.

That’s probably the same even for people working at Blanchet.

Hael once said.

This man was a good person.

At one time, I even ridiculously sympathized, wondering if his terminal illness had made him that way…

Now I think I know for sure.

He’s just a person whose inner thoughts can’t be known, at least to me.

The more nights I spend with him, the clearer this fact becomes.

As it does, I’m afraid every day, wondering if my ending will be like the abandoned women in the love affairs I occasionally hear about at the shop.

I don’t mind being abandoned, but that should only happen after a year has passed.

If there’s anything fortunate, it’s that there have been changes in him as we’ve gone through these nights.

The eyes that occasionally become unfocused when looking at me.

The lump of desire that often shows in our meeting eyes.

And…

The smile that very rarely spreads across his lips and the gentle touch with which he handles me.

Although they might be illusions I’ve created as a defense mechanism, he certainly seemed different from the beginning.

The gentle voice saying I’m sweet while tasting my lips and the touch stroking my hair sometimes even felt like an affectionate lover.

Knowing it’s a ridiculous delusion, I try to maintain this illusion just a little longer.

Because I feel like I might go crazy if I don’t have even these illusions.

Showing his broad back, he buttoned up one by one.

As expected, there were no words of satisfaction or that it was good this time either.

Of course, it would be stranger if he said such things. That man is not the type to say such things.

Nevertheless, from the position of having to cling, it couldn’t help but feel frustrating.

The words of the shop staff brush over his back.

[Using your body to push, well, it can’t last more than a few years, right?] [Still, they say being good in bed lasts longer than a pretty face.] [Haha, unnie. That’s true, but mental connection is still the best for married couples. It was written in the report from this Secret Painting too. They said couples like that lived the longest.]

As they receive many customers, they probably know all the news in social circles, so how many cases must they have observed?

A sense of uneasiness brushes by, and another lie swirls around my throat.