“It was really delicious. It’s my first time seeing an opera, and it was amazing!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“It wasn’t just good, it was incredible! I had no idea opera could be this entertaining. It’s my first time experiencing it.”

“I heard Count Lindsey dotes on his daughter. Has he never taken you to a performance?”

Summer rolled her eyes.

“I thought opera would be boring, so I never asked to see one.”

“I see.”

“Nothing is as interesting as a love story, after all.”

“Wasn’t the ending tragic?”

“That’s what makes it interesting. All love stories are interesting because they end in separation.”

Satisfied with her explanation, Ian didn’t ask any further questions.

The opera they saw after dining at a restaurant reserved for nobles, as Ian had planned, was truly excellent.

Summer had never properly seen a performance before, busy with the things she had to do in her original world. She didn’t want to see one either.

It was painful to see the relaxed faces of people at leisure.

“We’ll have dinner at home.”

“I think it’s my first time visiting the Duke’s mansion!”

“That can’t be right.”

In a good mood, Summer nodded and looked out the window. The fading sunset was quite beautiful.

When was the last time she had leisurely watched the sunset like this? It must have been when she was young.

Holding her mother’s hand after work was done, biting into a blue ice cream on a hot summer day, walking along a narrow sidewalk. That’s when she felt the setting sun was beautiful.

“…A memory.”

Summer suddenly startled and leaned back.

Though she still couldn’t remember people’s faces, she recalled the entire atmosphere and feeling of that time.

It wasn’t completely forgotten after all. A sense of relief washed over her entire body.

“Memory?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Summer. Sometimes you seem like a person from another world.”

“…Pardon?”

Summer asked back with a surprised face. Ian, who had just uttered such an extraordinary statement, carelessly threw his gaze out the window.

“That’s why I keep wondering if you dislike this world so much.”

“…”

“It was a thoughtless remark. Let’s get off now. We seem to have arrived.”

The carriage door opened, and Ian, who got off first, held out his hand.

Summer stared blankly at Ian’s hand. The calluses on his hand spoke of the hardships he had endured on the battlefield.

“Summer?”

“Ah. Thank you.”

Summer, coming to her senses, lightly took Ian’s hand and got off the carriage. Ian’s mansion was so enormous that her jaw dropped.

“Wow…”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s amazing.”

Following the path through the vast garden, there was a huge fountain in the center.

The sight of clear water shooting up into the air and falling in droplets was quite beautiful.

Summer toured Ian’s garden like a traveler. Ian didn’t rush her, quietly following behind Summer and only answering her questions.

“How do you manage all this?”

“You just need to hire many caretakers.”

“That’s simple. But many people don’t follow that. Wow, there’s a fountain here too.”

“Do you like water?”

“Mm, yes. It’s clear and refreshing. Especially in hot summers, water is directly linked to life.”

Summer bent down and touched the water with her fingertips. Along with the cool sensation, her slightly rolled-up sleeve got wet.

But she liked it. When would she have another chance to freely explore such an open garden?

God might not allow her to keep this memory, but Summer intended to cherish it forever.

It would become a memory to occasionally recall after returning to her original world.

“The sun has set.”

“Shall we go eat dinner now?”

“Yes. After dinner, I’ll show you the interior of the mansion.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“There’s nothing special.”

Nothing special, indeed.

If Count Lindsey’s residence gave off a glamorous and cutely pretty feeling, Duke Lancaster’s mansion exuded a grand and classic atmosphere.

The food was also uniformly excellent.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but it seems like the best chef works in this mansion.”

“Is it that delicious?”

“Very much so. Just being able to choose what to eat is such a great happiness.”

Being able to eat without worrying about finances too. Summer, who was putting the remaining steak in her mouth, suddenly stopped chewing and closed her lips tightly.

If this is inside a novel and everything is fiction. If it’s a dream. Then it can’t be considered as having actually eaten, can it? She’s not the Little Match Girl after all.

“…”

It was the first time the word ‘fiction’ felt so painfully close.

She wished this wasn’t all a lie. She wanted to leave this world not as a midsummer night’s dream, but as something she had experienced, even after returning to her original world.

“Summer. Don’t think about it.”

Ian placed a fruit plate in front of Summer.

“Just now, I felt like I became the Little Match Girl.”

“The Little Match Girl?”

“Every time she lights a match, she can forget reality and dream. But when all the matches go out, reality feels even colder and harsher.”

“…”

“So the girl burned all her matches. And when the dream was completely over, the girl followed her grandmother. She died.”

“…”

“Was the Little Match Girl happy? Because she could eat a delicious dinner with her family in a warm house, even if only in a dream.”

“I’m not sure.”

“Or did she cry because all of that was a dream that could never come true?”

“It’s nearly impossible to perfectly distinguish between reality and fiction.”

“…”

“If that child was happy for even a moment through that dream, it can’t be dismissed as a mere dream.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve never thought about it, so I’m not sure. But whether it’s real or fiction, if it has meaning to me, isn’t that enough? Eat more.”

Ian placed the pudding that came out as dessert in front of Summer first. Summer thought for a moment, then scooped up the pudding with a spoon and swallowed it.

As the sweetness entered her mouth, her mood improved a little. Summer quickly emptied the plate and let out a soft sigh of satisfaction.

“If you’re done eating, let’s tour the mansion. But I should send you back not too late, so the Count won’t glare at me.”

As she was full anyway, Summer quickly followed Ian.

They walked along the training grounds and watched the knights’ training for a bit.

Entering the mansion, they toured the study, which was more like a huge library than a study.

“Where is this?”

“The gallery.”

The space covered with red carpet was filled with beautiful sculptures and artworks on display.

As the gallery was quite spacious, Summer examined each painting and sculpture with the feeling of being at an art exhibition.

“Do you like it?”

“Oh. This one seems… a bit unusual. I wonder what it’s trying to express?”

The painting was so large it took up half the wall. And it was entirely painted blue.

Ian’s gray eyes darkened as he looked at the painting.

“My mother bought this piece.”

“…”

“I once asked my mother the same question.”

“And?”

“She said it was water. That after witnessing his mother drown in a lake, the artist went mad and only used blue in his paintings afterward. That’s what she told me.”

“…”

“It’s a painting of death.”

“That’s scary.”

Summer looked at the painting again. The blue color filling the enormous canvas.

Because of its size, it clearly showed the terror of something unmanageable that might overwhelm you at any moment.

Summer felt overwhelmed by fear the moment she saw this work.

Wanting to run away, but completely consumed by fear, unable to even breathe.

As if floating alone in a distant place, suffocating in a lake filled with water.

Mary had said that too. There might be a painless death, but there’s no death without fear.

Summer turned her gaze to the side of the artwork. There hung a portrait of a beautiful woman.

“This painting…”

“It’s a portrait of my mother.”

“…She was beautiful.”

Longing filled Ian’s eyes as he looked at the painting.

“My mother often said she wanted to go back. Like you.”

“Wanted to go back…”

Now she knows. Ian’s mother must have also been someone who came into the book. So she must have constantly tried to return to her original world.

That must have left an indelible wound on Ian.

Did she have the right to leave, even if it meant hurting Ian?

Did Summer have the right to leave, even after nearly causing Russell’s death? Summer tightly closed her eyes, feeling suffocated.

“I wonder where she wanted to go back to so badly.”

It hurts. Even though Ian’s murmur wasn’t directed at Summer, she felt terribly pained.

His layers of accumulated wounds. His pain. His resentment. And yet, Ian’s deep longing that still loved her in the end.

Each one stabbed Summer’s heart like a red-hot knife.

“From some point on, Mother seemed to become a completely different person. How terribly must this world have felt to her?”

“…”

“This world is terrible to me too. The previous Duke was a cold-hearted man. He didn’t hesitate to use violence. When he died in an accident and my brothers started killing each other. I thought it was a terrible world.”

“…”

“But I struggled to survive. I went to war and achieved merits, killing brothers I used to eat meals with.”

“Your Grace.”

“I don’t regret it. Even if I’m called a monster. That was my best effort. It wasn’t perfect, but.”

Ian’s low voice echoed through the gallery. His voice seemed to seep into her entire body.

In the quiet gallery, his trembling voice made Summer just close her eyes and repeatedly swallow dry saliva.

Her throat kept getting choked up and painfully prickled.

She wanted to stop him. She wanted to cover his mouth, but she also wanted to pat his back comfortingly.

“Even someone like me manages to live on, so I still don’t understand why Mother did what she did.”

“…You don’t need to understand. Just… wouldn’t it be better to think of it as being separated for a very long time?”

Ian slowly shifted his gaze to Summer at her words.

“Summer. You know.”

“…”

“Where Mother wanted to go back to so badly.”

Summer shook her head. Ian lowered his eyes and let out a hollow laugh.

“I hope it wasn’t the afterlife, wherever it was.”

“…”

“Then I could selfishly think that Mother didn’t pass away completely, but is living somewhere.”

Summer covered her mouth with both hands.

Fearing she might start crying in front of him. Fearing she might make him even sadder when he was trying so hard to hold back.

She felt like she might drown in his sorrow.