The guest arrived before the chill of dawn had fully dissipated.

“Ludmila!”

Ludmila, who was about to have her tea after a light breakfast, looked up at the voice calling her.

The person who entered her sight was Emma, who had just opened the door and come in.

Unlike Ludmila, who could only stare in surprise at the unexpected appearance, Emma approached with quick steps.

“Ah-, I’m so glad. To see you again like this… It must be God’s will.”

“Emma…! How did you come here?”

“I sent a letter to the Marquis. I asked if I could return to the Marquis’ residence after hearing that you had returned. Fortunately, he graciously allowed it, so I was able to come like this.”

Ludmila’s eyes narrowed at the word ‘fortunately’.

Kedilen accepting Emma wasn’t out of benevolence. It was to put another iron chain around her neck.

Emma had made another foolish choice.

While trying to understand it as a personal action by an elderly woman, Ludmila felt her shoulders grow heavy.

However, unaware of this, Emma was busy asking about her well-being with a bright face.

As Ludmila listened with vacant eyes and sat down weakly on the bed, Emma sensed something was amiss, tilted her head, and took a seat beside her.

“I heard about Duke Habertz. It’s unfortunate. He was a good man.”

“……”

When Ludmila remained silent, not wanting to respond, Emma looked around nervously.

Wondering if she had misspoken, Emma hurriedly opened her mouth as she rolled her eyes in confusion.

“Ah, ah! Come to think of it, did I tell you about that?”

Ludmila, who no longer had the energy to react to the flustered voice, sighed, while Emma quickly continued.

“I saw a very strange painting at the inn where I was staying.”

“…No. What do you mean?”

“I found a portrait there that looked like the Duke from his childhood.”

At the word ‘portrait’, Ludmila’s eyes, which had been giving an indifferent look and businesslike response, gradually became clearer.

“It should have been an unfamiliar sight, but I felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if I had seen it somewhere before.”

It was when Emma’s voice was heard again that Ludmila recalled that bizarre painting she had seen in the history hall.

Looking at Emma, who had felt the same as her, Ludmila once again seemed to hear a child’s voice brushing past her ear.

“Then I figured out who it was.”

“Who?”

“My lady, do you remember the child you stayed with at the palace when you were young?”

An image fixed in the memories of the past surfaced above the water.

Soon, Ludmila’s face was tinged with bewilderment. Seeing her change in expression, Emma clicked her tongue shortly as if understanding.

“Emma… Are you saying that the Duke from his childhood is that child?”

“I wish I could say no… but it’s true.”

The short affirmation intensified Ludmila’s confusion. That the owner of the voice that rang in her ears when she saw the boy’s portrait in the Habertz Castle’s history hall was that child? And that it was Aden’s childhood?

Confused by the unbelievable fact, Ludmila bit her lip and shook her head.

“That’s impossible. It can’t be. That child clearly…”

‘Help…! He-help me-!’

Ludmila, frowning at the scream that rose like a reverie, uttered as if groaning.

“That child clearly drowned…”

It was the moment when an unbelievable fact turned into a cruel awl and fell before her eyes.

Aden, who woke up to the sound of knocking, got up from his seat as the door opened. It was Beressa’s laughter that broke the dawn of the quiet training ground.

“As expected, you were here.”

Aden gripped a water bottle with an indifferent face at the voice that reached him along with a fresh smile.

Beressa’s smile was about to break at the dry attitude that seemed almost heartless for a moment, but she didn’t remove her mask.

She approached him leisurely to achieve the purpose of her coming here.

“If it’s alright for a moment, please join me.”

“I have a lot to do, so if it’s not important, let’s talk later.”

Despite her gentle smile and voice, the response was as cold as frost.

Beressa bit her lip at the chilliness that felt like standing in the center of winter and facing the cold wave with her whole body, but she didn’t forget to grab Aden’s wrist as he was about to pass by her.

“Beressa.”

“It will only take a moment.”

Beressa turned her head and tilted her chin while facing Aden, who was looking down at her with a frown.

“Is it difficult to spare even that moment for your step-sister?”

“……”

Aden, knowing her usual nature of not being unreasonable, couldn’t continue with words of refusal.

Aden, who had been staring intently at Beressa with his lips pursed, nodded slightly with a small sigh.

Having received permission, Beressa turned around with a bright smile like a freshly bloomed flower petal.

“Let’s go.”

Aden’s body slowly moved, following her as she led his hand.

Aden’s lips were tinged with futility as he looked at Beressa, who had come out wearing riding clothes.

He had wondered what urgent matter it was that made her seek him out from dawn and ask for some time, but it turned out to be morning horseback riding. This fact colored him with bewilderment.

At Aden’s gaze that seemed to ask if this was all, Beressa smiled brightly and then led her horse out of the stable.

Aden, who had been staring blankly at that sight, ran his hand through his hair and let out a faint sigh.

“Beressa. I’m sorry, but I have a lot to do right now and don’t have time for this.”

“I know you’re busy. But if you stay cooped up in your office or training ground because you’re busy, you’ll keep having bad thoughts. At times like this, galloping across the plains helps refresh your mind.”

“……”

“I’ve already brought out Aden’s horse, so just ride it for now.”

Aden clicked his tongue lowly with a frown. He had no intention of going along with this absurd play.

The work that piled up every day was becoming increasingly difficult to handle.

Thinking it would be better to go in and attend to his work at this time, Aden was about to turn around when he stopped at the sight of the huge horse being led out by the stable keeper.

The huge stallion with its impressive black mane was Rubik, a famous horse among famous horses, familiar even to him. The horse he had gifted to Ludmila.

That enormous horse that had lost its owner was coming out of the stable.

Beressa approached and stood beside Aden, who had stopped abruptly.

“It looked very lonely.”

“…Lonely, you say?”

At his half-beat late response, Beressa nodded.

Rubik, who had somehow reached in front of Aden, was looking at him with eyes like huge obsidian.

The horse that used to push people with its head, snorting due to its temperament, was now docile in front of him as if it had never behaved that way.

Aden bit his lip thinly at that sight, which seemed to remind him of someone.

“The stable keeper says it refuses to go out even when he tries to take it for a walk, and it’s not eating well. It’s fine for now, but according to the veterinarian, if left like this, it will harm its health. Wouldn’t it be better if Aden took care of it a little?”

Looking at Beressa’s quietly smiling expression, he could understand her intention in bringing him here.

He felt dumbfounded at the thought of having fallen for her clever ploy, but at the same time, the sight of the huge stallion captivating his eyes kept his mouth tightly shut.

Suddenly, he had the illusion of looking into a mirror.

The horse’s black mane, calm eyes, and composure without a single snort. The horse’s appearance, seemingly suppressing a desire for something while just looking at its counterpart, resembled him.

Acknowledging this, Aden felt thirsty.

His lips were parched, and his chest felt tight with an inexplicable impatience.

For the past few days, all Aden did in response to this unpleasant sensation that visited him was to exhaust his body.

He drove his body until he collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep as if fainting.

He thought that spending each day like this was the way to shake off this stifling feeling.

But to think that it was none other than a mere horse that shared the same emotion as him.

Aden let out a hollow laugh and placed his palm on the horse’s face at this preposterous truth.

Feeling the soft and glossy fur, he could tell how much love this horse had received.

Even in that short time, he could see how sincerely its owner had cared for it.

“Lady Ludmila would visit twice a day, talking to it, feeding it black sugar, and brushing its mane with care. Perhaps this child misses her greatly too.”

The unnecessary explanation from the stable keeper was welcome.

Aden’s lips were about to curve into a smile at the joy of discovering an unknown fragment of her, but soon returned to a straight line.

It was when the dawn was slowly being torn by golden light that Aden, looking at Rubik with an once again indifferent face, took a step.

“Put it back.”

“Aden.”

“Take good care of it until we find the next owner.”

Beressa, with disappointment settling in her expectant eyes, called out to Aden, who had turned around with an indifferent face, but he had already entered the castle.

Rubik, as if it had anticipated this situation, quietly turned its body towards the stable.

Both beast and human. They each accepted the farewell in their own way.

If even this doesn’t work, what on earth could return that man to his original self?

Beressa’s lament, unable to find an answer, flowed quietly mixed with a sigh.

By now, the dawn had cleared, and golden sunlight began to pour down.

Left alone there, Beressa felt a deep despair at the fact that the Habertz family and castle, which had become more perfect than ever, had become a more desolate and gloomy place than ever before.