It was around the time when the sun had set and pitch-black darkness engulfed Biare’s room.

She was pacing her room countless times, not knowing what to do with her anxious and uneasy heart.

Though she knew well that the problem wouldn’t be solved just by worrying, she couldn’t help but hesitate again and again.

‘What if you are still waiting?’

After much deliberation, Biare finally took out a robe deeply hidden in her wardrobe, put it on, and hurried towards Weber Forest with a lamp in hand.

As today was the day of rest, the vassals would have finished their work earlier than usual and would be resting in their rooms or praying at the temple.

If so, her father would have naturally gone to the temple to see Lord Ecarto, and Gaizen would also be performing another duty at his post.

In other words, now was the perfect opportunity when people were not coming and going at the Ruschef mansion.

Weber Forest was not far from the Ruschef estate, so she could arrive there soon.

Biare did not think he would still be waiting.

How many people would be considerate enough to wait for an ex-lover, even if it might be different for a current lover?

‘But if I happen to meet Sion, what should I say first?’

She reached Weber Forest, unable to control her wavering heart.

The trees there were denser than in other forests, making it difficult to see the sky, and even the moonlight was obscured.

As a cool breeze blew, the lamplight dimmed and soon disappeared completely.

Walking through the darkness-engulfed Weber Forest, Biare felt goosebumps as the eerie feeling she had felt in the corridor during the day resurfaced.

Hurrying her steps, she looked around the meeting place, but as expected, he was nowhere to be seen.

“I knew it would be like this, I shouldn’t have come out.”

Although she had anticipated this outcome, she was very disappointed when she actually failed to meet him.

As she was about to leave Weber Forest and return to the mansion, letting go of the faint hope she had built up, she saw an unidentifiable form lying stretched out on the ground, accompanied by a splashing sound.

Something sticky and wet splattered on her ankle, and soon she could realize what that pungent scent was.

Wondering if it might be an animal fleeing from a hunt, she approached to examine the form, pressing her pounding heart.

As her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark view and she reached the form, the blood drained from her face.

‘No, it can’t be…’

Recognizing the person drenched in blood, Biare felt all strength leave her body and she collapsed on the spot.

“Sion, why are you like this? Please, wake up!”

With his cold silver hair and profound blue eyes, he was someone she knew well.

‘Yes, surely this must be a dream. It has to be a dream.’

At first, she thought all of this was just a nightmare.

That he appeared in her dream because she still desperately wanted and missed Dension.

There were times when she had prayed for him to appear in her dreams, even if just once, because she missed him so much.

But she had never wished for a meeting like this, even in a dream.

Biare, who had repeatedly told herself that this must be a dream, was desperately denying the current situation, biting her lip hard to wake up from this dream.

She had bitten so hard that the pungent scent of blood from her split lip lingered in her mouth.

“This can’t be. Sion, why on earth…”

By now, she had to accept the reality she had been trying so hard to deny.

Because his condition, upon hurried examination, showed that he had long since breathed his last.

“Please answer me, Sion.”

Realizing that he no longer existed in this world, Biare embraced him tightly and sobbed.

“It’s my fault. I should have gone out to look for you somehow, but I was afraid you might have grown tired of me.”

The past year had been filled with regret, wondering if her approach of pushing Dension away had made him leave.

That’s why she couldn’t find him even more.

She had tried hard to erase him from her mind, but it was nearly impossible.

She still loved him.

Biare’s state of mind was miserable as she looked at his bloodied corpse under the moonlight.

Holding his two hands that no longer had any warmth, she wept uncontrollably.

“Please… save him.”

She couldn’t let him go like this, not when she hadn’t even conveyed her feelings to him yet.

She thought that if he wasn’t saved, she might hate God forever.

She cried and begged for him to be saved. Loud enough for God to hear her desperate voice.

In the passing time that she could barely measure, only sorrow and screams were deeply permeating.

The situation she was experiencing was too overwhelming to think rationally.

In a world where his existence had completely disappeared, her life felt meaningless.

She had been able to endure until now because she had the belief that the one she loved was still living somewhere.

Biare, barely holding onto her unsound mind, picked up a defensive dagger that he hadn’t been able to use with her trembling hands.

“Wait just a little. I’ll be by your side soon…”

Just as she had made up her mind and was about to act, a form reflected on the blade tip was faintly shining.

‘What is that?’

Why did something sparkling appear at that moment?

Biare felt a strong pull, as if she had to check what it was.

She picked up a cufflink that had fallen among the blood-soaked grass.

‘This isn’t Sion’s.’

The pattern engraved on the cufflink was not that of the Verdeum viscounty, and it bore a pattern she had never seen before.

It was impossible for her, who was well acquainted with the crests of families within the empire, to not recognize this emblem.

Then this cufflink must belong to an unofficial organization.

At the thought that it might be related to his death, Biare’s heart pounded fiercely.

She couldn’t explain why, but she had a strong conviction that it must be so.

As the trembling of her cold body subsided, Biare gathered her scattered wits and clenched her fist.

“If this is related to your death, I will surely uncover it.”

Her guard knight, who had belatedly noticed Biare’s absence, had already approached nearby.

“My lady, what on earth…”

Biare, who had been keeping her place regardless of her blood-stained dress, was gradually losing focus in her eyes.

“Please help this person, I beg you.”

With those final words, Biare lost consciousness, and her memory of that cursed Weber Forest ended.

When she regained consciousness, his corpse was being escorted to the Verdeum viscounty.

The night at the viscounty, having received their master’s body, was truly miserable, and Biare hung her head like a sinner before them.

She could only repeat over and over that she was sorry for not being able to protect their master.

Unable to fully accept his death, Biare bit her lips and held back her tears.

She shouldn’t be alright. She was not qualified to be.

If she had gone to the meeting place earlier so that he wouldn’t have to wait long, he might not have met such a death.

After Dension’s funeral, Biare happened to overhear a conversation that someone was casually talking about.

[I heard it was the duke’s daughter who found the viscount that day?] [There are rumors that the viscount was alone until late at night.] [My friend, do you believe that?] [Then do you have someone you suspect?] [Would a penniless viscount be to the liking of Duke Ruschef?] [Talk sense. Would such a devout believer harm someone?] [Then perhaps the imperial family made a move to make the duke’s daughter the empress.] [Watch your words. What if someone hears?]

‘No, that can’t be. Father is not that kind of person.’

Biare shook her head, having momentarily doubted her father.

‘Then is it really the imperial family’s doing, as they say?’

Whenever suspicion surged that it might be so, Biare felt as if her heart had sunk.

‘If by any chance it’s because of me…’

The thought that Dension’s death might be because of her was already deeply embedded in her consciousness.

Biare’s heart burned black as she took out the cufflink from her bosom and looked at it.

When she showed the cufflink to someone who had been close to him, they knew nothing about the pattern.

Even the elderly butler of the Verdeum viscounty just shook his head; the situation was the same.

For days and days, she made every effort to find the owner of the cufflink, but no one knew about that pattern.

She even asked her father to request help from a capable information guild, but the situation remained unchanged.

Thus, the investigation concluded without uncovering Dension’s killer, and the imperial family decided to bury the incident.

Now, the only thing Biare, who hadn’t been able to find out anything, could do was one thing.

To turn back time using the power called ‘Eyes of Truth’ inherited from her mother. There was no other way.

‘If only you can live again.’

Biare was ready to use the power inherited from her maternal family at any time to revive Dension.

However, she wanted to uncover every detail of why Dension had disappeared, what had happened during the past year he was missing, and why on earth he had to meet his death.

She thought that was what she should do for Dension.

But in the end, the time had come to use the Eyes of Truth without discovering anything.

‘Perhaps it’s time to use this power now.’

Biare, who had been in agony all along without getting a grasp on his death, decided to use the Eyes of Truth and slipped into the world of unconsciousness.