Aden had always found that constantly bullied child strange.

Even when his brothers swarmed around him, pinching, hitting, and pestering him, he would only cry.

Living in a desolate, abandoned building and enduring persistent bullying along with being called a halfwit, the child’s inability to even think of rebelling was frustrating, but it was ultimately irrelevant to him.

His attention was focused on the Emperor’s children.

And only on the Crown Prince, whom the Emperor cherished, so there was no need to even glance at a bastard child with no influence.

Aden wanted to take revenge on the Emperor who had inflicted an indelible wound on his mother.

However, the Emperor was the sovereign of the empire, positioned at an incredibly high place, while he was the heir of the barbarian tribe called a tumor.

It was difficult to kill someone who was hard to even meet.

Moreover, even if they did meet, he, being young and lacking in ability, could not defeat the Emperor.

Under this reasoning, Aden lingered around the Crown Prince every day.

If given the chance, he intended to inflict irreparable harm on the Crown Prince. If necessary, he was willing to cut off a finger or two.

One might ask what crime the Crown Prince had committed to bear his father’s karma, but at that time, Aden thought it was the right answer.

For 10-year-old Aden, revenge was everything, and the desire for revenge was the force that drove him.

But the Crown Prince, as if aware of this, did not carelessly show any openings, and because of that, Aden couldn’t even protect his mother’s death, let alone take revenge.

His mother’s death made Aden, who had come alone to a distant place, wander.

Moreover, the former Duke, who was his father at that time, acted as if he had lost his mind after the death of the former Duchess, and couldn’t take care of Aden.

His life, which had become a complete mess and broken, fell to the bottom day by day.

Then one day. It was when he was trudging back to his room, soaked from a sudden downpour while taking a walk.

Although he would have passed through the imperial garden without any problem normally, once he lost his way, Aden wandered.

One hour, two hours.

The rain, which he thought was just a shower, grew stronger, and Aden, unable to endure any longer, finally sat down on a chair, fully exposed to the rain.

It was then that the bastard child called a halfwit, Ludmila, appeared before him.

“What are you doing here?”

The child, looking at him with large red eyes half the size of his face, held out the umbrella she was holding.

Even as her platinum blonde hair, well-groomed by her nanny’s hands, was getting wet, Ludmila’s face showed no emotion.

It was the day Aden first made eye contact and spoke with Ludmila.

Emma, the nanny, took Ludmila and Aden and washed them clean.

The place, which looked no different from an abandoned palace from afar, was a palace used by the bastard child called a halfwit and Emma, just the two of them.

A deserted ruin with only two inhabitants.

But the flower that bloomed on top of that ruin was so brilliant.

It was enough to cast its fragrance over Aden, who had lost hope to live and only wanted to die.

After that day, he forgot about the revenge he had thought was his purpose and everything, and stayed by Ludmila’s side.

His mother’s death should have added fuel to his revenge, but instead, his emotions flowed in the opposite direction.

He couldn’t understand why.

But when he was next to Ludmila, he felt himself stabilizing, as if he had been standing on a shaky, precarious rock.

Though still young, his life had been drifting in rough waves and harsh winds, unable to anchor in one place, like a buoy with its line cut.

Ludmila was the line that held him in place and a small rock he could lean on.

A very small, personal haven.

The distant sky burst into tears. Ludmila, who had been listening to the story with a dazed expression, raised her head.

The sky, full of dark clouds, was now shrouded in mist. Just as she thought it might be dangerous to stay like this, Aden grabbed the oar.

Feeling the boat’s movement heading towards the direction they had come from, as if trying to go outside, Ludmila furrowed her brow.

The story Aden had told her. The Ludmila that existed in that story was certainly herself.

But she had almost no memories related to him.

What remained were just a few fragments of broken memories. The story of the boy in the picture that Emma had shown her.

Even Ludmila felt confused by Emma’s words suggesting he might be dead.

“That boy… Was that boy from then really Aden?”

Aden nodded briefly. In the silence, Ludmila dropped her shoulders in dismay at his unwavering gaze.

“But he definitely died.”

“He didn’t die.”

When Ludmila threw out a question, unable to bear the weight of her mouth any longer, Aden calmly answered.

“That lake was certainly dark and cold. Even though it was midsummer, the bottom of the shallow lake was like ice, and I couldn’t see an inch in front of me. I was afraid. Not because I had jumped in there, but because I thought I might not be able to save the girl who had fallen in.”

Tok tok−. Rain had started to fall. The ripples created by the rain falling on the lake grew larger.

The sound of rain, though gentle at first, gradually became fiercer.

Although they were still far from land, the two seemed not to care about that, just looking at each other.

“I prayed desperately. Please, just be alive. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find you sinking to the bottom. I tried to hold you, who had fainted after swallowing water, and come up, but I too was running out of breath. Just when I thought I couldn’t hold on any longer, someone else who had jumped in found us. I lost consciousness right after guiding that person to you.”

“So Emma thought you had died…”

“But fortunately, I too was rescued by someone else and was able to save my life. However, I, who had been as good as dead, lost my memory due to that accident. Isn’t it ridiculous? Losing my memory just from swallowing some water.”

Aden let out a self-deprecating laugh as he took out a parasol placed on one side of the ferry and opened it, fitting it into a round groove.

Thanks to this, the rain fell on the parasol above the heads of the two who no longer had to endure the rain.

A dreamlike scene where the sound of rain hitting the umbrella mixed with the sound of rain falling on the lakeshore.

In the meantime, Aden, who had briefly paused his story, smiled and grabbed the oar.

“It was a time when rumors were circulating that my mother’s death was the Emperor’s fault. Thinking that if I died too, the Khan tribe, which was becoming stabilized, might revolt, the Emperor apparently treated me and quietly sent me back.”

“With your memory lost?”

“More precisely, with the memory lost from the day I heard the news of my mother’s death.”

“Then you wouldn’t have remembered me… Why did you turn back time? To you, wasn’t I just a strange woman making an odd request?”

“That’s certainly true.”

As the oar moved, the boat advanced again.

The gradually approaching pier was indicating at which point this conversation would end.

“But the moment I placed flowers on your grave, the memories I had forgotten came back to me. When the complete memory finally returned, I found myself in the process of turning back time.”

As his hand movements slowly subsided, the boat’s speed decreased accordingly.

The boat, which had now arrived at the pier, was being guided by the ferryman waiting in the distance.

During this time, Ludmila waited for Aden’s next words, but he just smiled while gathering the luggage and umbrella he had brought.

“We’ve arrived. Since it’s raining, let’s hurry back.”

Having returned to the role of a polite fiancé, he got off first and reached out his hand.

Ludmila bit her lips tightly as she looked at his hand before slowly grasping it.

Led to set foot on land, Ludmila slowly walked away from the lake under the umbrella Aden had put over her.

But for some reason, the sound of rain falling on the distant lake was piercing her ears more clearly.

It was a quiet night. The rain outside was still falling, and it was impossible to go anywhere.

The voices of people who had returned, disappointed that the festival had ended early, were heard outside the door a few times.

But even that soon faded away, and as the full night arrived, only the sound of rain mixed with the humid summer air came through the window.

Crackle crackle−. Ludmila, who had been silently reading a book in front of the burning fireplace, glanced at Aden.

He too was seated in a rocking chair, holding a book.

Although her mind was still confused from their earlier conversation, the atmosphere in the room was more peaceful than ever.

The words in the book didn’t register.

Tormenting the innocent corner with her fingernail while repeatedly reading and rereading the first sentence, Ludmila let out a long sigh.

Finally, closing the book, she approached Aden with a dry blanket.

“I’m going to bed first.”

“Okay. Good night, Ludmila.”

Aden looked up from his book and said goodnight with a cool smile.

Ludmila felt complicated by that brief greeting that showed no lingering attachment, but having already said goodnight, she couldn’t stay any longer.

She quietly turned around and walked towards the door with slow, very slow steps.

Aden didn’t stop her until she opened the door and closed it again.

Until she stepped into the bathroom after climbing the stairs, finished washing up briefly, entered her room, completed her preparations for bed, and lay down on the bed.

Ludmila couldn’t shake off a strange unsettling feeling.

Unable to fall asleep while lying down, Ludmila stared at the ceiling for a long time, and only after feeling the claustrophobia that came with the sound of rain outside the window did she finally realize the nature of her uneasiness.

Biting her lip while glancing down at her clothes, Ludmila furrowed her brow before slowly getting out of bed.

Silently looking at her reflection in the mirror in the darkness, Ludmila let out a small sigh and opened the door.

Holding a small candle, she walked down the stairs and knocked on Aden’s door.

“Aden?”

Despite the quiet call, there was no answer from inside.

Calling his name again, she slowly turned the doorknob.

A silent room enveloped in darkness.

The rocking chair where Aden had been seated was now empty, and the room was filled only with humid air.

Aden’s room, now vacant.

Ludmila’s eyes trembled slightly as she looked at that room.