Herdin, who had been self-deprecating about his foolish judgment in his past life, suddenly realized that his and Blair’s assumptions were wrong.

“…It’s not the imperial family.”

At his mumbling, as if he had realized something from their earlier conversation, Blair looked up at him with puzzled eyes.

This time, Herdin looked at her with confident eyes and said:

“It wasn’t your mother who killed you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because it was Caligo who brought evidence to prove the Empress Dowager’s connection to the fire accident at the Empress’s Palace during the trial.”

It was the same in his past life. Even then, Herdin was able to negotiate with Katrina thanks to the evidence Caligo had found.

Blair’s eyes blinked in surprise at those words. Herdin added:

“If that guy was the Empress Dowager’s subordinate, he would have destroyed the evidence rather than bringing it to me.”

“Then, who on earth…?”

Who else could harbor a grudge against Delmark?

Herdin, who had been deep in thought with cold eyes, suddenly realized as he looked at Blair. It was time to tell her about the dark magic seal.

Just as they had discovered that Caligo and Katrina were not connected while talking to each other, she might know something he didn’t. Above all…

He didn’t want to hurt her by hiding the truth under the pretext of protecting her like in his past life.

“I think the culprit behind that is likely the same person who cast dark magic on you and me.”

“…Dark magic, you say?”

“You probably know about it too. About the power of Delmark.”

Herdin briefly explained to Blair.

In the past, the descendants of Delmark who inherited the power of the divine beast could use power beyond limits.

Worried that this power would be abused, the divine beast placed a constraint on the life of a loved one as the price for using that power.

Because of this, an ancestor who lost their loved one gave up the possibility of exceeding the limit and removed that constraint.

However, someone used dark magic to place that constraint on the two of them again.

“Here.”

Herdin stopped walking as he continued his explanation and pointed to Blair’s collarbone where the dark magic seal was engraved. Blair involuntarily flinched at the sudden touch of his finger.

Herdin looked at Blair and continued speaking.

“This is that seal engraved here.”

Herdin’s eyes were deeply sunken as he gazed at her delicate collarbone and her slightly trembling eyes.

Blair, as if she had just realized something, asked:

“Was it because of this that you stayed away from me? Afraid your power might harm me?”

Blair’s voice asking this sounded calm as if she was trying hard to suppress her emotions, but her eyes looking up at him couldn’t hide the resentment in them.

Herdin answered by closing his mouth.

She couldn’t understand him.

If it was dangerous, he should have told her all the more. If it was our problem, we should have naturally thought about it and solved it together.

But he didn’t do that.

In the end, to him, she was no different from a jewel that needed to be protected without blemish. Not an equal partner.

As Blair looked at him, she suddenly remembered a magic book she had seen in his study once.

The magic of time.

As she recalled that, the puzzle pieces of unsolved questions came together.

“…It was you who saved me, wasn’t it?”

Herdin didn’t answer this time either.

After realizing that he had made her go back in time, a question that had been on her mind throughout her return to the past came up.

“Then what about Asiel?”

My baby who would have been left alone after losing his mother.

That child had been on my mind all along, even as I was dying and after I woke up again.

“What happened to that child…?”

Herdin’s eyes wavered at that question. He remained silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Right after you died… I went berserk.”

I felt like I knew what came next without hearing it.

If he had gone berserk, there would have been no way to undo it. Except for suicide.

So, that child who lost his mother also lost his father and was left alone. In that timeline where no one was left.

Tears fell from Blair’s eyes as she realized this fact.

“Why did you do that…?”

“…”

“You should have endured to the end by that child’s side.”

“…”

“You are… that child’s father after all…”

Herdin quietly looked at Blair who was blaming him, then smiled bitterly. Even that face that no longer smiled at him was so beautiful that it choked him up.

He moved his tightly closed lips.

“I didn’t have the confidence to endure that world without you.”

Those sparkling eyes looking at me. Those cheeks tinged red. Even that lovely voice calling my name.

Just mentioning Blair’s death vividly brought back the memory of facing her dead body then. Just recalling that memory made his heart feel like it was being torn apart and his breath stop.

He swallowed the rising emotions and continued speaking.

“I’m sorry.”

Blair, who had been moving her lips as if to say something more to him, ended up swallowing her emotions without saying anything.

She knows that emotions don’t work as one wishes. She also knows that in a situation where he had already gone berserk, going back to the past was the only choice he could make.

But still.

‘Asiel, my baby…’

Just thinking about the child who would have been left alone made her heart feel like it was being torn apart. Even though she knew it was an unavoidable situation, resentment clung to her like lingering attachment.

Even if the child in her womb now is Asiel, can it be said to be the same child as the one left behind?

As Blair suppressed her emotions in the face of an irreversible reality, she suddenly realized.

That she and he could never be matched in the end.

It’s true that he hurt her, but she couldn’t say that even his heart that wanted to protect her was wrong. They were just different.

If you try to force mismatched puzzle pieces together like that, will they eventually fit as they wear down? Can that be said to be for each other’s sake?

Should they have to fit together… even while hurting so much?

At the end of that question, Blair opened her mouth.

“Herdin.”

Herdin quietly looked at his wife calling him in a calm voice. As if he would listen to whatever she said.

However, the words that flowed from her lips were something he didn’t want to accept.

“When this is over, let’s part ways.”

At that, Herdin’s eyes were violently shaken.

He needed to say something, but he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth.

Because her expression looked refreshed, like someone who had found the answer to a long-unsolved problem.

* * *

“Ah, are you coming to?”

The first thing Gerard saw when he regained consciousness was Miela’s eyes checking on his condition.

At first, Gerard frowned, not recognizing Miela, but soon found her face in his memory.

She was one of the priestesses of the temple he had seen in passing.

There were many priestesses in the temple, so he couldn’t remember all their faces one by one, but Miela was known for her outstanding beauty and taking the lead in good deeds, often mentioned by fellow priests and believers alike, so he knew her face.

Gerard moved his parched mouth.

“…Priestess Miela.”

“You recognize me!”

Miela smiled as if pleased.

“Where is this? Surely not the island?”

“It’s Lord Nerha’s mansion. You seemed badly injured, so we brought you here.”

Gerard flinched at the mention of the lord’s mansion and immediately got up. His whole body ached dully.

“You shouldn’t overexert yourself yet. I’ve healed your wounds, but you were injured for a long time, so you lost a lot of blood. You’ll feel very weak. Please lie down a bit longer.”

Ignoring Miela’s restraint, Gerard got up anyway and quickly looked around the room.

A room built with expensive materials, though small in scale. It was clearly a guest room in a noble’s mansion.

Noticing his gaze looking around, Miela said:

“Ah, the room is a bit small for Your Holiness to use, isn’t it? I’m sorry, we couldn’t rent a larger room to hide your identity.”

Gerard furrowed his brow at Miela’s words.

“…You hid my identity?”

“I thought there must be a reason why Your Holiness didn’t visit Nerha publicly. So for now, I told them you were a priest from the same temple as me.”

“I see.”

“Did I… misjudge the situation?”

Gerard stared at Miela, who was carefully gauging his reaction. She was quick-witted and intelligent as he had heard.

“No. You made a very wise decision.”

Miela finally smiled brightly, relieved at his praise.

“I’m glad. That I could be of help to Your Holiness.”

She handed Gerard a cup of water, as he probably hadn’t had anything to drink for a long time, and asked:

“The reason for your secret visit was to catch the dark mage, wasn’t it?”

Gerard hesitated as he was about to take the cup of water.

The place where he was found was a collapsed villa. There was a dark magic circle drawn in its basement, so the knights of Nerha must have seen it in the process of rescuing him.

However, fortunately, it seemed that thanks to Miela’s presence, he had been able to avoid suspicion that he was the one behind that dark magic circle.

After all, Miela wouldn’t have thought that he, the Pope, would use dark magic. Even if it was a bit strange for the Pope to move in person, she would have believed that he came to catch the dark mage.

Thanks to this, he had avoided the troublesome situation of having to explain directly to Lord Nerha.

Gerard gave Miela a satisfied smile.

“As expected, Priestess Miela, you have excellent situational judgment.”

“You flatter me.”

Gerard, moistening his throat, recalled the memory just before the building collapsed and casually probed Miela.

“By the way, was there no one else found with me? Or… a corpse perhaps?”

The building’s collapse was due to his battle with Mikhail.

The two had exchanged attacks severe enough to inflict fatal wounds on each other, and the building that couldn’t withstand the impact collapsed.

Just before the building debris fell on Gerard, he barely managed to form a protective barrier with his holy power to protect himself, and thanks to that, he was able to survive.

But he didn’t know whether Mikhail was alive or dead.

‘Is that bastard dead?’

Gerard waited for Miela’s answer, hoping that the annoying remnant of the past had died.

Finally, Miela opened her mouth.