Hister’s words caused Sinclair’s face to turn deathly pale. It was as if he would crumble like a dried leaf at the slightest touch.

“If you knew that and still agreed to marry elder brother, that would be truly surprising.”

Hister let out a clear, mocking laugh at Sinclair and continued speaking.

“Your relationship seems very close.”

“……”

“I never dreamed that elder brother was someone with so little ambition. Or could it be that you’ve fallen for that wench for the first time?”

Why, like a childish first love. Hister chuckled.

“Unexpectedly, you’re quite the romantic, elder brother.”

“Yes, I am,” Sinclair slowly began to speak after silently listening to Hister’s words.

“And I also find it quite surprising, Hister. For someone who goes around pretending to be so virtuous, how can you use a vulgar and frivolous word like wench?”

Ah. Sinclair made a short sound as if he had realized something.

“That must be your true nature.”

There’s a saying that words resemble the person speaking them. Sinclair laughed.

“I cherish you so much, elder brother, that I seem to be taking after even your way of speaking.”

“If you want to take after me, why not do it brazenly?”

Sinclair approached Hister closely and looked down at his face as he spoke.

“Instead of always hiding behind someone like a child and acting shady despite being unable to do anything on your own, why don’t you take the lead and do something for once?”

“……”

“Though, someone like you couldn’t possibly do that. Just like your mother.”

This time, it was Hister’s face that turned icy cold. Just like Sinclair’s had earlier.

The brothers had slightly similar faces, but not a hint of warmth could be found in the eyes they directed at each other.

Only a sharp, needle-like hostility flowed between them, like well-honed blades.

“You remember well how your mother died, don’t you, Hister?”

Sinclair was right. Hister still vividly remembered. The sight of his mother being murdered by Sinclair in broad daylight, right in the heart of the imperial palace.

“So, be careful to watch your mouth.”

Sinclair slowly reached out and gently straightened Hister’s slightly disheveled clothes as he continued.

“Otherwise, you might become the second person I kill. Don’t you think?”

“…So, are you insulting my mother and threatening me now? Using my life as leverage, you dare…”

There was no trace of the mocking tone he had used earlier to ridicule Sinclair. Looking at the now genuinely angry Hister, Sinclair laughed loudly.

“Of course not. Actually, I’m a bit clumsy when it comes to threatening someone. So I just do it first and see. Without any warning.”

“……”

“And you seem to have forgotten something. There’s no need to express it as an insult. Your mother killed my mother, and I killed yours. Frankly, I think that was very gentlemanly behavior.”

“What do you…”

“At the very least, I didn’t kill you.”

Sinclair tapped Hister’s neck as he spoke.

“Of course, I don’t know what will happen in the future.”

He was fully capable of it. Whether that ‘future’ meant a few minutes from now or a few days later. Hister knew that fact all too clearly.

Hister, his face turning deathly pale, unknowingly took a small step back.

But that wasn’t a particularly rewarding action. Whenever Hister took a step back, Sinclair took three steps forward, and soon Hister found himself backed against a wall with nowhere to go.

“I didn’t expect you to tremble this much. You look like you might wet yourself at any moment. Pathetically pitiful.”

“……”

“In that sense, let me give you some advice.”

Sinclair’s golden eyes flashed and shone.

“First, if you’re going to pick a fight, put your life on the line. Even then, your chances of beating me are less than half.”

“……”

“If you want to end up like your mother, of course you can recklessly attack me anytime.”

Sinclair sneered again.

“And second. From now on, it’s best not to mention Elaina Aswald’s name again. As you said earlier, I’m a vulgar and frivolous person, so I’m very short on patience. So I had this thought.”

“……”

“If Elaina’s name comes out of your mouth again, no matter the reason, I’ll slit your throat.”

Hister’s lips trembled at the chilling warning.

“I know very well how much you cherish me. So don’t make me beat or stab my beloved younger brother to death with my own hands. Wouldn’t that make me too sad?”

Despite the cruel words he uttered, Sinclair’s face looked more serene than ever.

He even patted Hister’s shoulders as if he had finished straightening his clothes.

“Now, go to the emperor and tell him everything I said.”

“……”

“It’s the only thing you can do, right? I can’t take away even that joy from you. I already took your mother.”

Sinclair flashed a smile at Hister and left him frozen like a doll as he began to walk away.

[I was worried about you, elder brother, so I looked into it, but she’s a wench I already knew about. The one you secretly met outside the palace long ago, concealing your identity and name. The one who lost her leg because of you.]

…Hister had no right to say such things. No, he couldn’t even mention a single letter of Elaina Aswald’s name. He shouldn’t have even used the expression ‘I already knew’.

[Don’t leave me alone…] [While I am your wife, I want to do the things I should do.]

Elaina’s young, pleading voice and the slightly lowered tone of her voice he had heard earlier at the villa alternately rang in Sinclair’s ears.

[Help me, Ren!] [Sinclair helped me too and took revenge for me. So there’s no need.]

Those slender, snow-white legs.

[I heard there’s no hope.]

The sight of them wedged between large rocks, unable to move at all.

[And they said it would be even harder to restore them now that I’m an adult.]

It’s not just about your broken legs that are difficult to restore. I know that too, I know.

I know!

A deep darkness descended upon Sinclair’s golden eyes that had shone like the sun.

It was the darkness of guilt, self-reproach, and regret. It always engulfed Sinclair like a tidal wave, rushing at him like a beast with its jaws wide open, devouring him.

But Hister was wrong.

I don’t love Elaina.

This is just guilt. That’s why sometimes I even want to die, why it’s so painful, why I feel like I haven’t grown at all since then.

Sinclair repeated to himself as if brainwashing himself.

As he always had since parting with Elaina.

[This is the timeline separator]

Surprisingly, life at Sinclair’s villa was nothing short of comfortable.

Elaina often spent time in a rather luxurious bedroom instead of a cramped, dusty, insect-infested attic.

The meals were the same. She ate carefully prepared food, not moldy, leftover, or tough, hardened meat. It was thanks to the maids Sinclair had sent.

The thing Elaina did most at the villa was sleep as if she were dead.

It was a funny thing, but the fear, terror, loneliness, and tension that had accumulated like fallen leaves on a late autumn street throughout her lifetime.

Elaina’s nerves, which had always been taut like a rubber band on the verge of snapping due to that, had become as loose as a leisurely stretched thread.

Was that why? It felt like she was making up for all the sleep she hadn’t gotten properly until now.

Sinclair had told her she didn’t need to prepare anything, but was it really okay to keep staying like this?

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t worried about that, but even though four days had already passed, there was no news.

‘The wedding is just two days away now…’

Staying at the villa was comfortable, but on the flip side, it also meant there was no way to know what was going on outside.

Still, feeling like she had to do something now, Elaina decided to reorganize the luggage she had brought from the Aswald family.

Separately keeping the things she wanted to cherish even in the future, and readily discarding the things she didn’t.

But there was one item she couldn’t tell if she really wanted to keep or throw away.

That ring.

The one Ren had given her long ago.

“……”

In the villa’s parlor, Elaina sat alone on the sofa, silently looking down at the luxurious ring.

It would be a lie to say she had never tried to throw it away.

She had tried to throw it into the river, box and all, and had even tossed it onto the street.

But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to throw the ring into the river, and she had endlessly searched the dirty streets with her limping leg to pick up the ring she had discarded with her own hands.

Tirelessly. Time and time again.

What do I really want to do?

What am I hoping for?

From this ring that has lost all meaning now.

Elaina’s blue eyes shimmered with emotions that could have been sadness, resentment, or longing.

“Sigh……”

Just like Sinclair, unable to come to any answer, Elaina let out a heavy sigh out of habit. At that moment, a knocking sound could be heard from outside.

“……”

For a moment, fear flashed across Elaina’s face.

If it were Sinclair, he would have entered without bothering to knock like that, and if it were the maid who had gone to the palace returning, she would have politely spoken first. That’s what she had been doing for the past few days.

Then who on earth…?

As Elaina froze in terror, the knocking sound grew louder and louder. Hesitating, she finally got up from her seat at the sound that seemed to be urging her.

Then she slowly approached the door and stood in front of it.

…And the person visiting the villa was someone Elaina had never expected.