Bang. Noel, who slammed the door shut, gritted his teeth.

The past was already in the past. He would move forward, looking ahead, not dwelling on a past he couldn’t even remember.

He ran, moving his short legs. His destination was always where she was, as it had always been.

“Oh, Noel. I was just looking for you. Did you know that the ominous energy suddenly disappeared?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened? Did the medium of the curse break?”

Without answering her question, Noel silently hugged Diana.

“I’m glad. I was going to get rid of it anyway, so there’s less work to do. Right?”

Noel clung to her bosom and rubbed his cheek against her as if he was throwing a tantrum. It really seemed like he had regressed to infancy, but it didn’t matter.

“Sister.”

His mumbling voice sounded like he was crying.

“Yes?”

“You can’t abandon me.”

Don’t abandon me. Noel tightly hugged Diana with his small arms.

“Then, my younger brother.”

Noel’s expression, which had regained stability from her affectionate touch, darkened in an instant.

Younger brother. How would Diana react if she knew he wasn’t her real younger brother?

How long would this false relationship last? The memory manipulation magic might unravel someday, just like his sealed memories.

“What’s wrong, Noel?”

Diana asked worriedly, staring at him intently.

Kind Diana might accept him. Noel desperately pushed away negative thoughts, holding onto that hope.

“Sister, I like you. I love you.”

“Is it because of the thunder? Our Noel is being so clingy, huh?”

Even though it might be bothersome, Diana comforted him until Noel fell asleep in her arms, snoring softly.

He didn’t even know if tears were flowing from that gentle touch.

[This is the timeline separator]

It was a day when the snow was fluttering down like flowers. A woman with particularly lovely pink eyes was looking at him.

‘Levant Schwartz. Levan. I love you.’

The man couldn’t bring himself to reach out to that longed-for sight. If his mistake was realizing his feelings for the woman too late, then it was a mistake. He regretted it deeply.

If you had just become the duchess, would I have regretted it this much?

Kwang-! The man’s reminiscence, wandering through memories, was shattered by a thunderous sound that seemed to break the sky.

Under long eyelashes, blue eyes darkened. Outside the window, it was raining endlessly, not snowing.

As if to let him know that this was not a dream. Raindrops hit the window violently.

Knock knock. He tried to ignore the knocking sound that rang out in the middle of the night.

“Rodrick. Are you asleep?”

If it hadn’t been for that small voice, he would have ignored it. He strode over and flung the door open.

Diana, startled by the door opening without warning, widened her eyes before smiling softly.

“Were you sleeping?”

“……”

“Can I come in?”

She entered his room without even waiting for an answer. The scent of spring unexpectedly found its way into his heart, which had been tossed about by the north wind.

Rodrick’s heart pounded loudly.

Rodrick with anxiety, the man with longing. The emotions of the two men resonated as if in harmony.

“What’s up? I thought you’d ask to sleep together.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off Diana’s face as she smiled playfully.

The wistful, flickering scent blurred his vision.

Those clear eyes that made his heart tingle. The pink eyes he had longed for so much were right in front of him.

He reached out the hand he couldn’t extend when he was lost in the afterimage of the past.

His fingertips trembled as if touching a delicate piece of craftsmanship. The warm, soft, and smooth skin, even the fine hairs, he could feel it all.

As he touched her as if tickling, Diana tilted her head and rested her face in his large palm.

When she approached him without hesitation even as he touched her, his thick fingers flinched. His throat choked up at the trust fully blooming on her slender face.

Emotions that had been burnt to ashes and turned to dust were stirred. The man couldn’t come to his senses in front of the fluttering emotions.

“Rodrick.”

Rodrick’s gaze as he looked at her was unusual. His blue eyes, darker than usual, were quietly swirling.

Like Noel, Rodrick’s condition was strange. He looked precarious somehow. He narrowed his brows as if suppressing something and was awkwardly lifting the corners of his mouth.

“Are you crying?”

A teardrop fell on the cheek of the man who had an absent look on his face, filling her face with one hand.

“……”

Who said it? They say a handsome man’s tears are right. Diana, who had been immersed in such absurd sentiments, tasted saltiness on her lips.

“Eek. Wait.”

Thud. Diana, who was pushed down on the bed by him, looked at Rodrick strangely as he pounced on her without warning.

“Rodrick.”

She couldn’t read his expression. Even with the same expressionless face, she could usually read his thoughts, but today was different.

“Wait.”

She expressed discomfort at his impatient hands coming down, holding both her wrists with one hand.

“Stop it.”

But he didn’t listen.

“I said stop!”

Diana, who had reached the limit of her patience, instantly flipped him over with force.

Straddling him, Diana pressed a dagger hidden in her thigh against his carotid artery.

“Didn’t you hear me say stop?”

With one hand pressing his solar plexus and the other holding the dagger, the man’s one eyebrow moved greatly at the sight of Diana.

“…You’re a Beatus, but different.”

A creepy chill ran down her spine. An unfamiliar voice was coming out of Rodrick’s mouth.

“Who are you?”

“It’s Rodrick’s body, so how can you carelessly harm it?”

Ha. What are you saying? She roughly brushed her hair back.

“I don’t know who you are. But let me show you if I can harm it or not.”

If this is Rodrick playing a prank, I won’t let it slide.

Although she herself had been reincarnated, it was hard to believe that the other person was suddenly possessed. If not possession, it must be a split personality.

Judging by the subtly different voice, it felt like a different person.

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Should I stab him a little to scare him and make him come to his senses? Just as she was about to slightly move the blade away from the vital point on his neck,

“Diana.”

It was Rodrick’s voice that came out with difficulty.

“Dodge it.”

Before she could even answer, bam! Rodrick swung his fist.

“Rodrick!”

Diana, who quickly leaned her body back at Rodrick’s warning, escaped the trajectory of the raging arm. Rodrick punched his own cheek.

Thwack- Thwack-

“Stop! Stop it!”

The man, who had been mercilessly hitting his own face, flinched and stopped his fist right in front of his cheek.

“I won’t! Damn it! I said I won’t!”

As he spoke as if surrendering, the man who regained control of his body shouted.

“Isn’t it fine if I don’t touch her!”

The man, who got up from the bed, spat out blood-stained saliva on the floor. Diana had already come out of the bed and was standing far away.

“Ha, to think such a crazy guy is my descendant.”

“Did you just say descendant?”

The man, who had been hitting his own cheek like a madman, paused while rubbing his sore cheek. The man’s gaze turned back to Diana.

“Beatus.”

The man who approached Diana stood at a distance as if keeping his word to Rodrick.

Raising one hand to his chest, he lifted her loosely hanging long hair and kissed it. It was the appearance of a knight paying proper respects.

Their gazes intertwined in the air, with her loosely hanging hair in between.

She suddenly remembered the voice she had heard in her dream in the obsessive, thickly settled blue eyes.

[Beatus.]

“Beatus. How much I missed you.”

[Angela Beatus. My love.]

“You really resemble her.”

Ah, it’s not Rodrick. She could tell for sure. Looking closely, it was a man who only made expressions that he wouldn’t make.

“Hmm, you seem to recognize me. Right?”

“Are you the one who arbitrarily entered my dream?”

The man, who had been silently trying to guess something, burst into laughter.

“Hahaha. I’m sorry. I just wanted to get out so badly. I touched your subconscious.”

I don’t find it funny at all. Diana glared at him as if telling him to quickly explain what the situation was.

“Well, shall we sit down first? This story might take a while.”

[This is the timeline separator]

With steaming tea in front of her, Diana was being observed.

Dark blue eyes were looking at her from head to toe, drawing something with deep emotion.

The rain continued to fall endlessly. Only the sound of rain filled the silence.

“Excuse me. Ancestor?”

The man’s eyebrow rose crookedly.

“If you called Rodrick a descendant, aren’t you my ancestor?”

What are you so displeased about that your expression is dark? Diana swallowed her words.

“Yes, time is truly merciless. Let me introduce myself first. I am Levant Schwartz. I was the 6th Duke.”

“Oh, I’m Diana Beatus.”

His arrogant gaze had the power to make one naturally lower their head. Diana introduced her name without realizing it.

The man smiled satisfactorily.

“Nice to meet you, Diana. I’m especially glad that you’re Angela’s descendant.”

“Who is Angela?”

“My fiancée. And the woman who possessed the greatest magical power of the time. The woman who was called a witch. If she hadn’t been engaged to me, she could have become the head of the Beatus family.”

It was the first time she had heard that. If it was such a person, they would have been mentioned at least once when studying the family lineage.

“It’s natural that you don’t know. All information about her would have been disposed of. Even if it existed, it would have been recorded as a sinful villainess.”

His dark blue eyes were looking at her but directed towards the distant past.

“Do you know this? In the past, it wasn’t that difficult to use the magical power that existed within the body.”

Diana nodded. She knew that. However, as generations passed, magical power decreased, and only the imperial family could freely wield magical power.

“Isn’t it strange? Why only the imperial family came to use magical power. Even magicians use magic stones.”

“Are you saying there’s another reason?”

“The imperial family is very greedy.”

That’s obvious. Isn’t it the same in any world that those who have power are greedy? Diana looked at the man with sullen eyes.

“Does that have anything to do with you entering Rodrick’s body?”

“Hmm, is that form of address going to continue?”

“We’re not close enough for me to call you by name.”

“Haha. I like that you’re assertive.”

The man, who stopped laughing because of his swelling cheek, slightly frowned and touched his split lip.

“In a way, it can be said that it’s thanks to Angela Beatus that only the imperial family can handle magical power. She even gained the power of the dragon.”

The man’s voice gradually sank.

“However, the imperial family killed her and erased everything about her. They disposed of everything that contained her aspirations. The only thing I found was a single portrait.”

He leaned forward and grabbed Diana’s hand. Rodrick also remained silent at the earnestness in his hand.

“So I borrowed this body for a moment. Descendant of Beatus. Help me. Help me find traces of Angela.”

“What?”

“If we find the tombstone containing Angela’s soul, your body can also return to its original state. In a way, your curse also originated from Angela.”

Diana was confused. She understood that this ancestor of his wanted to find the tombstone of her ancestor Angela.

There was one thing that didn’t make sense to her the most. She had died from an unknown illness and came back to life. Magical power drained out of her and pain came. Noel called it an illness. However,

“I’m cursed?”

Rodrick’s ancestor was talking about something completely different.