“The flower… has bloomed.”

On the Japaros tree that Ariel had poured all her effort into for the past few days, white flowers had bloomed.

Flowers that would harm Kaius.

Ariel, who had been staring at those flowers with a blank face for a while, shook her head vigorously. With that movement, her braided hair swayed.

This guilt was of no help, and she had no choice but to move forward.

Because at the end of that path lay Kaius’s life.

Ariel, having regained her composure, climbed the ladder and plucked all the flowers one by one, and they began to be dried along with other plants.

By the time she finished that task and came out, Ariel’s eyes had hardened as before. As she locked the greenhouse door, the afternoon sunlight settled on her head.

It was then that a long black shadow fell across her bright vision. As she slowly turned around, he was there. At that moment, a cool breeze blew from the autumn forest.

His tie and jacket tails fluttered in that wind before finding their place. His face, looking down at her with calm eyes, seemed even cooler due to the backlighting.

“Is it finished?”

“Yes, I heard you were out, seems your work ended early.”

Kaius, who nodded briefly, extended his hand to Ariel. After hesitating for a moment, Ariel placed her small hand on his large one. Despite the midday temperature, the touch of that hand was cool.

“Where are we going?”

“The stable.”

“Are we going for a ride? I’m good at riding horses. I mean, good enough to ride alone. I’m saying I ride well. I thought you might not know.”

Thinking how long she took to say that simple phrase about not wanting to ride together, Kaius couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s similar to a ride, and now that I know you ride well, shall we ride separately?”

“Yes!”

Kaius let out a laugh at her energetic response as she nodded her head.

The stable hand brought out two horses. A black horse and a white horse.

“Come here.”

Kaius moved first. Holding the reins of the white horse, he extended his hand to Ariel to help her mount. As Ariel stroked and soothed the horse, the servant approached.

“This is a new horse the master purchased for the madam. It’s very gentle, so you shouldn’t have any trouble riding it.”

“Ah…”

“Are you going to ask for the invoice for that too?”

At those words casually thrown, Ariel’s face turned red. Although she knew it was a meaningless remark, Ariel felt a little embarrassed. It was inevitable, but she knew well that she had made a fuss over the greenhouse incident.

“Let’s depart now.”

Meanwhile, Kaius, who had mounted his black horse, started to leave first. Thinking she hadn’t been able to say what she wanted, Ariel followed closely behind him.

“Kaius, thank you for the horse.”

Kaius laughed softly at Ariel’s low voice and steered his horse towards the lake.

It was an ordinary autumn afternoon with an exceptionally blue sky and warm sunlight, pleasant to hear the clattering of horse hooves.

“Wow… It’s beautiful.”

The lake sparkled dazzlingly in the afternoon sun. Ariel, dismounting from her horse, handed the reins to him and approached the lakeshore. In contrast to its brilliant shining, the lake’s surface was perfectly calm. Ariel’s eyes, which had been looking at her reflection in the water, settled calmly.

How nice it would have been without this cursed ability. To meet someone to love like others, to marry, to have children resembling him.

She wanted to have such an ordinary daily life, like going for walks together as they were now.

There were times when she wanted to give up everything. She knew well that if only she disappeared, everything would be resolved. That her very existence was a curse. After the regression, she had endured through countless worries and resolutions, but each time, one question arose.

Why, after all.

Why should she, who was nothing and insignificant, be responsible for people’s futures? Even now, that question remained unresolved. Perhaps she would never know.

Kaius’s figure quietly appeared next to her reflection in the water. Should she tell this man everything truthfully and ask for help?

If she said, ‘I’m growing flowers that will kill you, but I’ll soon find a way to save you. So until then, could you quietly die and help me when I need it?’ His answer ‘Why don’t you just die?’ came to mind, making her body shudder.

That would be madness.

“Be careful.”

“No!”

It was then that a rather large scream escaped Ariel’s lips. She had startled terribly, perceiving the hand embracing her shoulder as the touch of death.

Perplexed, Kaius let out a small laugh. He had grabbed her thinking she might fall into the water, but instead he was treated like a molester. Exhaling a frustrated sigh, Kaius turned away.

“Follow me.”

Ariel’s eyes, which had been dazed as if in a dream, regained focus at the pressure given by his lowered voice. In those eyes, she saw Kaius entering the annex, passing by the two horses tied to the porch pillar.

This isn’t right.

But now she couldn’t even make excuses. Feeling at a loss, Ariel stared at the annex he had entered for a long time. Having walked to the front of the annex without realizing it, Ariel hesitated several times before finally stepping inside.

A small kitchen and reception room, fireplace and sofa, and stairs leading to the second floor. The inside of the annex was relatively simple. Standing in front of the window facing the lakeshore, Ariel opened it wide and sat down on the sofa opposite him, leaning back. Meanwhile, Kaius had poured some wine.

“About earlier…”

“Drink.”

He cut off Ariel’s words with a low command. She had tried to say it wasn’t sincere, but seeing his attitude of not caring, Ariel also resolved not to mind and pulled the glass forward.

“Ah! When is the chef for the competition coming?”

Disliking the awkward atmosphere, she threw out a question that suddenly came to mind.

“They will arrive the day after the wedding.”

Thinking that should be fine, Ariel slowly nodded. In the meantime, Kaius had emptied one glass of wine and began pouring another. He remained silent until even that disappeared.

“Didn’t you come here with something to say?”

Unable to bear his direct gaze any longer, she asked about his business first.

“From tomorrow, relatives of the Elbartan duchy will start visiting.”

“Ah…”

“If you ever plan to reveal your true self, it should be today. Before showing yourself to the relatives.”

“…”

Surprised, Ariel unconsciously swallowed dry. She knew he was suspicious, but she didn’t expect him to speak so directly. Her true appearance would naturally be discovered on the wedding night anyway, and that was her own countermeasure. She thought if he saw an appearance he disliked, he would no longer be interested in her.

“The moment a rumor arises that the Duke of Elbartan was deceived into marriage, it’s a violation of the fifth clause.”

Kaius watched Ariel with sharp eyes as she began to consider intensely from the moment his words ended. Ariel’s hands filled with strength, at a loss for what to do. If she revealed it now, she might have the contract cancelled, and if she revealed it on the wedding day, a situation would arise where she’d have to pay a huge penalty for breaching the contract.

“Is there a need to think more? I already know that you’re deceiving me.”

In a situation where she could do neither, Ariel’s heartbeat began to become unstable. With her breathing becoming increasingly rapid, Ariel closed her eyes. She had to calm her mind first. During that time, Kaius looked at her deeply and calmly.

If you can’t decide for yourself, I’ll have to help.

It was then that Ariel’s body was laid down on the sofa. Startled, Ariel finally realized what had happened to her and tried to get up, but trapped by his too-large body, she couldn’t move an inch.

“Why, why are you doing this? You said you’d give me time.”

Her heart began to beat even more fiercely than before at his sudden action. Kaius began to carefully caress one of Ariel’s arms that was pushing him away. As if trying to find something under her clothes. But when Ariel, terrified by his strange behavior, struggled frantically, Kaius raised both her hands above her head, restraining them.

“Stay still.”

A voice like a sigh was lowly uttered.

Ah…

Stay calm. Calm down, Ariel von Letiana. You’ve anticipated that something like this could happen enough since that day.

It was she who wanted this marriage, and this man was to be her husband.

Only after repeating those words several times did her wildly beating heart slowly begin to calm. It was only for a year anyway, and she just had to be careful not to get pregnant. All of this might be her own fault for taking marriage too lightly.

Kaius wasn’t trying to do anything to her. He was simply trying to find the artifact that should be somewhere on her body.

But as he sat on top of her and subdued her resistance, once again an uncontrollable heat began to rise from deep within. As Kaius’s breath began to lose its calm, Ariel stopped struggling and tightly closed her eyes. Kaius, who had been quietly staring at that sight, closed his eyes.

By the time he opened his eyes again, his face had regained its composure. His hand began to carefully caress Ariel’s arms and legs again. Ariel endured that touch silently, with strength in her entire body.

“Finally found it. This on your left leg, will you take it off yourself? Or I can remove it for you.”

At his calm words, Ariel came to her senses and realized that there was a magic artifact where his hand had paused. Kaius, who had obediently released Ariel, turned his head towards the second floor.

Understanding the meaning of that action, Ariel held out both hands to him, slowly calming him as if soothing a beast.

“I, I’ll do it. But before that, there won’t be any contract nullification or anything because of my appearance, right? Just promise me that.”

It was a voice tinged with undisguisable anxiety.

“I promise.”

“You really promise.”

After confirming his nod, Ariel headed to the second floor. Standing on the last step, she turned back to look at him at the bottom of the stairs.

“Really?”

Whether she couldn’t believe it or didn’t want to believe it.

Kaius, who nodded slowly once more with a low sigh, leaned his shoulder askew against the wall at the bottom of the stairs with his arms crossed. As the sound of a door opening and closing again reached him, his eyes closed.

Through the open window, along with the fishy smell brought by the wind and the small cries of two horses, the sound of small footsteps seeped in.

Kaius’s closed eyes slowly opened, and eyes like moonlight met eyes as deep and quiet as the night.