After finishing all her business, Biare got off near the count’s residence and boarded the duke’s carriage with the help of Joian, who had been waiting for her in advance.

The coachman, who knew nothing, looked refreshed as if he had just woken up from a nap, and Biare sighed in relief at having avoided his suspicion.

The road back to the duke’s mansion created a lonely and gloomy atmosphere blended with the night, and she, feeling downcast, maintained silence.

Entering the dark room without lighting a single lamp, Biare collapsed face-down on the bed as the tension drained from her.

Her delicate hands clenched into fists were trembling slightly, and unable to contain her anger, she struck her pillow several times.

“Why is nothing going right!”

She had been confident that if she used the Eye of Truth to return to the past, she would at least find one clue related to his death.

So she had planned to thoroughly investigate the truth and prevent such a thing from happening again.

But as if some cursed god had intervened, the situation where nothing was going as she wished made her indignant.

All she had done since coming back to the past was to simply remain as the well-behaved eldest daughter of the Ruschef family as usual.

Biare stared for a long time at the cufflink she had taken out of her pocket and was holding tightly in her hand.

“In the end, I couldn’t find out about this pattern either.”

Biare hadn’t thought it would be this difficult to meet the person called ‘The Absence of God’ or even to find out who they were.

Her palm, which had been unable to calm her anxious heart all along, was clearly marked with nail impressions.

Given how delicate her skin was, those marks would take days to disappear.

Nevertheless, Biare didn’t mind. This didn’t even count as pain, and it was nothing compared to his death.

Feeling only helplessness in the relentlessly flowing time, Biare put the cufflink in the mahogany drawer, pushing aside her complicated feelings.

Biare, who was about to ring the chime bell to ask for water to be brought to quench her burning insides, withdrew her hand.

It was already late at night, and she didn’t want to wake the servants.

As Biare headed towards the kitchen carrying a lamp, she felt puzzled by the faint light leaking from there.

Soon after approaching the kitchen, she could discover the maids gathered together.

“What are you all doing here?”

“Ah… Young lady!”

Hurriedly trying to hide the book, they were at a loss for what to do and ended up dropping it.

The book they had been reading was 《To Reclaim Destiny》.

‘To Reclaim Destiny.’

It was also a book that contained one of the most memorable and brilliant memories of her life so far.

As Biare picked up the fallen book and caressed it, she sank deep into the memories of that day.

During the continuing cold wave that seemed to be nothing but harsh throughout the dead of winter, Biare was sitting in front of the fireplace, setting up camp.

She was particularly sensitive to the cold, so when winter came, she often refrained from going out, using the weather as an excuse, but today, for some reason, the cold was easing and subsiding.

Sitting in front of the fireplace wrapped in a blanket, Biare frowned deeply and turned her head at the sudden cool breeze.

The person who had opened the window wide was none other than Manolin, to which Biare said in a somewhat grumbling voice.

“Why are you opening the window when it’s cold?”

“Young lady, on a day like this, you should go out for a walk.”

“My goodness. A walk in the middle of winter. That’s too much for me.”

Biare, shivering her shoulders from the cold, waved her hand and curled up deeper into the blanket she was covering herself with.

During such severe cold, she intended to refrain from going out as much as possible, so she had planned to stay in her room today as well.

But today, it seemed as if everyone had made up their minds not to let things go as Biare wished.

Even Henderson, the head butler, knocked on Biare’s door three times, causing a shallow sigh to escape from her.

“Young lady, the duke has sent a messenger.”

“Yes, what did Father say?”

“He said he would send a carriage and wants to have lunch together at Arkan Square.”

“……”

The person most delighted by his words was none other than Manolin.

She seemed to be quite concerned that Biare, who should be growing up, was staying only within the mansion.

It seemed that to her, Biare still looked like a young and fragile young lady.

Biare, who had finished preparing to go out while pouting her lips, had already arrived at the entrance of Cheil Trading Company, and her body was shivering from the cold.

As she hurriedly entered, the inside of the trading company was full of warm air, so Biare, who had been breathing heavily, gradually found her stable breathing.

The manager who discovered her tried to greet and guide her, but Biare adamantly refused, saying she didn’t want to disturb them while they were busy working.

Adding that she would wait here, she stared blankly at her surroundings, which were moving busily.

Not long after, Gaizen, wearing an overcoat, opened the office door and came out.

He discovered Biare at once and showed a surprised expression before hurriedly approaching to greet her.

“Elder sister, how long have you been here?”

“I haven’t been here long.”

“You should have told me in advance. You’re so sensitive to the cold.”

“It’s quite warm in here. I’m fine.”

After some time had passed, the duke, who had leisurely appeared, said with an apologetic look.

“You were all waiting for this father, I see.”

“You said you’d be here soon, why did it take so long?”

As Gaizen looked at his father and frowned while grumbling, the duke chuckled and said.

“Ha— I was cleaning up the mess you made. You can’t even check the order items properly, boy.”

At those words, Gaizen’s eyes wavered, and Biare, who noticed the mischievous joke, stopped the duke.

“Father, that’s enough.”

Gaizen, who didn’t understand his sister’s words, looked back and forth between the two, to which the duke gently pinched his cheek.

“Son, it’s a joke. A joke.”

Realizing that he had fallen for his father’s prank, he kept pouting his lips all the way to the restaurant.

Watching Gaizen like that, the duke whispered in a voice just loud enough for Biare to hear.

“I wonder who he takes after to be so narrow-minded.”

Then Gaizen, who was walking ahead, turned around abruptly and glared at his father, saying.

“I can hear everything, Father.”

“Well, your sharp hearing is certainly something you got from me.”

Watching the two of them, who outwardly seemed displeased but inwardly cared for each other more than anyone else, Biare burst into laughter.

This was usually how the Ruschef family’s daily life went. It seemed so peaceful that it would never break apart for a lifetime.

While dining at the restaurant, when an important matter that needed to be dealt with urgently arose, the duke and Gaizen had to return to the trading company.

As their meal for three ended prematurely, they looked quite apologetic, but Biare saw them off with a smile, saying it was fine.

The coachman and Tonio, who probably hadn’t anticipated this situation, were likely wandering around this area.

She thought about finding the carriage and returning to the duke’s mansion, but Biare decided to enjoy her rare outing time a little.

She decided to do so, but she, who mostly stayed in the mansion and only occasionally participated in social events, didn’t have any particular place in mind.

After much consideration, Biare decided to look for a book to read and headed to the large bookstore she had visited before.

The bookstore during lunchtime was generally quiet and had a serene atmosphere.

As she was about to head to the mystery novel section as usual, she suddenly stopped and recalled the conversation she had with the young ladies at the previous tea party.

‘They called it popular fiction, didn’t they?’

Although it was a genre Biare didn’t often read, a hint of curiosity held her back.

Eventually moving to the popular fiction section, she looked around and her eyes sparkled as she discovered a book.

‘Yes, this is the book.’

When she had briefly heard from the young ladies, they said it was a difficult book to obtain, but being a large bookstore, it seemed there were still a few copies left in stock.

Biare, lifting her lips in satisfaction, slowly pulled out the book that was on the shelf.

Soon after completing the purchase, she briefly stopped by the carriage and then entered a quiet-looking dessert cafe, holding the wrapped hardcover book to her chest.

As she entered the cafe, the subtle scent of coffee and sweet tea brushed her nose, and appetizing desserts were neatly arranged inside glass display cases.

Biare sat in a window seat where winter sunlight was seeping in and placed the book she had been holding on the table.

The title of the book, which she wouldn’t have read normally, was 《To Reclaim Destiny》, a romance novel dealing with a sad narrative.

‘I’m sure I only intended to look at first….’

She herself couldn’t find an answer as to how she ended up purchasing the book, and she wore an ambiguous smile.

According to the young ladies, reading this book made them reconsider love.

‘Is it possible to discuss love with just one book?’

To Biare, love was nothing more than a trivial emotional game, but hearing that such love could be learned even from a book, she decided to give it a read.

The cafe’s server brought Biare a gently brewed Earl Grey tea, to which she moistened her throat and began to read the book.