It wasn’t just his sister that Mirea had ruined. His nephew Leorville as well.

Sandes tried to speak but couldn’t continue as anger surged through him again.

It was only when Leorville was just 2 years old that he ended up at the Eols Orphanage due to Mirea’s schemes.

He was a child who had difficulty saying ‘uncle’ and was learning to speak while calling Sandes ‘dad’.

He was a gentle child, full of affection, who loved being held.

“After leaving him at the Eols Orphanage, they didn’t take proper care of the little child.”

They would starve him, using the excuse that they forgot, and there were times he was left alone in his room.

According to the maid, one day he fell while walking, hit his head, and was unconscious for a full day.

After that, he stopped calling out for his dad, looking for Sandes.

The orphanage director was shocked and had a doctor examine him. They said due to the trauma, his memory was a complete blank slate.

“That child, who used to call me, his uncle, ‘dad’… because of that, he doesn’t remember me.”

That was why Leorville was wary when he faced Sandes, as if looking at a stranger.

If the child had remembered and called him ‘dad’, perhaps Sandes would have recognized Leorville sooner.

No, that was just an excuse.

He should have been the first to recognize that Leorville was his nephew.

Sandes resented himself back then.

Why couldn’t he recognize him?

He, more than anyone, should have recognized that the child was his nephew. But the news of his death had numbed all his senses and he had turned his back on the child.

Sandes felt like his heart was crumbling to pieces.

Erina tightly grasped his hand, her heart aching for him as he was dripping with sorrow.

Sandes weakly lifted the corners of his mouth at her careful consolation.

“The place where I lived with my mother and sister was the village where I first met you, Erina.”

“Next to the mana stone mine, right?”

“Yes. After my sister died, I buried her next to my mother behind the mansion there.”

Although Sandes didn’t say more, Erina could tell he was going to visit his sister now.

Seeing his vulnerable side for the first time, Erina’s heart ached.

He was always like a big, lush tree, firmly protecting and supporting her.

It pained her to see him struggling as if he would crumble.

“I want to ask my foolish sister why she did that, why she endured it so stupidly. But then I think of my nephew and I somewhat understand.”

To Sandes, Leorville was the only thread that made him breathe and live on.

To his sister, Sandes and their mother were her only reason to survive.

That’s why Sandes understood his sister, yet couldn’t understand her at the same time.

Sandes was tormented by the contradictions of his constantly clashing emotions.

“I want to see my sister, but I feel like I’ll break down if I do. So I dared to ask you to accompany me, Erina.”

Erina could hear the tremor in Sandes’ voice.

At some point, the carriage that had been running hard came to a stop.

As if by agreement, the two stopped talking and got out of the carriage.

As she stepped out, Erina saw a landscape that was familiar yet foreign.

The few households in the village now had even roads, and dozens of mansions were being built at the same time, making the village a bit chaotic.

Unlike other villages, there was now an entrance and a name.

“The village name is Brill? Oh, don’t tell me…”

Erina’s middle name was Brill.

Seeing Sandes smile silently, it was clear the name came from that.

Erina felt somewhat embarrassed.

“There are many better names though.”

“This village didn’t even have a name before. It got a name thanks to you, Erina.”

Although the roads had improved, the houses Erina had first seen in this village were the same as before.

It was early morning, so the streets that should have been busy with construction were quiet.

They walked along the silent road and arrived at his villa.

Sandes took Erina’s hand and circled around the back of the villa.

Behind the villa stood a large weeping willow with beautifully drooping leaves.

In front of the willow were two thin, long wooden plates stuck in the ground.

As they got closer, the crudely carved wooden plates became more visible.

There were no names on the plates.

Sandes approached and gently brushed the plates.

“If there had been names written when my nephew and I fled this village, I felt it wouldn’t remain intact.”

The former Count of Eols or someone else would have surely destroyed them beyond recognition.

Sandes hoped his mother and sister would be at peace there, keeping their names whole at least.

So he couldn’t write any letters.

“Even coming to this villa, I was always afraid to come here. The guilt of not being able to protect my nephew was so great, I felt I would crumble.”

Erina quietly stood behind him, silently keeping him company as his voice wavered.

Just as Erina had relied on him waiting patiently for her, she wanted Sandes to rely on her too.

“Now I feel I can keep my mother and sister’s last wishes.”

Sandes felt he could now fulfill both his sister’s last wish to take care of the child and his mother’s last wish for him to live happily.

Leorville, whom he thought was dead, and Erina, who gave him the overwhelming feeling of love he was experiencing for the first time, were both by his side now.

“So now, I’m truly alright.”

His voice sounded somehow unencumbered, but Sandes’ face was drenched with regret and sorrow.

Erina approached Sandes from behind, who still couldn’t take his hand off the wooden plate, and carefully stretched out her arms to slowly embrace his back.

Sandes’ body trembled at Erina’s touch.

Usually, Erina would have been startled and quickly let go, but today she boldly held him and leaned her body against his back.

Sandes felt both choked up and happy at the warmth of her body.

In his arduous life, had he ever relied on someone like this?

“You really are…”

Sandes removed Erina’s arms that were hugging him and turned around to face her.

Her eyes sparkled like jewels in the sunlight filtering through the trees.

He worried if he was allowed to gaze upon her, so brilliant and beautiful, when he hadn’t exactly lived an upright life.

“Sandes.”

Erina reached out a hand and gently caressed his cheek.

Just as he had done to her before, she rubbed her thumb as if wiping away tears that hadn’t even fallen.

“I visited the temple and tower and saw so many things. And you know what I felt seeing all those things?”

Sandes placed his hand over hers on his cheek.

He tilted his face slightly, leaning into her hand.

“That I shouldn’t lie to myself about my feelings, even if I regret it later.”

Erina smiled brightly as she cupped his face with her other hand as well.

Sandes’ breath caught at the sight of Erina’s smile, beautifully blooming like a flower basking in sunlight.

“Sadness, agony, pain.”

Erina wanted to share with Sandes the warm affection he had always given her.

She hoped her clumsy gestures would reach him.

“And my heart too.”

“Erina.”

His sky blue eyes widened and the skin under them flushed red.

Erina could no longer hide her feelings for him.

Her pent-up emotions overflowed, making it hard to deceive herself and him any longer.

“Sandes, I thought enduring was natural for so long that I’m clumsy at expressing myself.”

That’s why Erina wanted to tell him.

That her heart had come to be filled with him.

“I like you. Sandes, I really like you.”

“Ha…”

At Erina’s confession, Sandes exhaled as if releasing a held breath.

From the moment he learned the truth about the past, the negative feelings that had filled his heart began to scatter at her lovely confession.

As his heart slowly emptied, she filled it completely.

Her beautifully smiling face that he never wanted to forget, her confession so sweet it made the inside of his mouth sting, etched into his heart.

Deeper than anything else, so much that he could never forget it in his life.

“Erina.”

Sandes felt like he was going crazy.

The way she crinkled her nose shyly, the way her hands cupping his face trembled slightly, was unbearably lovely.

“Erina.”

Sandes kept calling Erina’s name as he gently held her hands on his cheeks with his other hand.

Erina’s lashes fluttered at the soft tickling sensation on her fingertips.

“Thank you.”

Sandes smiled as brightly as Erina.

Erina’s cheeks flushed faintly at his beautiful smile.

“But I want to say this first.”

“What…”

“I love you, Erina.”

Sandes said it before Erina could even ask what he meant.

Erina’s eyes widened at the words ‘I love you’.

Sandes slowly bent his waist, looking at her.

He tilted his face and slowly leaned in.

Erina, surprised by his approaching face, squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled sharply.

Sandes then carefully pressed his lips to her red, luscious ones.

Afraid she might be startled, frozen as she was, Sandes slowly touched and parted his lips, whispering.

“Breathe.”

Erina trembled at his low whisper full of laughter, then slowly opened her tightly closed eyes.

The clear sky blue eyes in front of Erina shone brightly.

The hot, burning passion swirling in the refreshing sky in his eyes enveloped Erina.

Erina unconsciously let out a breath.

Then Sandes pulled Erina’s face slightly and kissed her again.

He wedged between her slightly parted lips and shared an intensely sweet breath with Erina.

The lush green leaves of the weeping willow embracing the two fluttered in the wind.

The cold air softened at some point, yielding to the warmth where their lips met.