“Your Highness Alicia. Greetings…”

Alicia, who had been staring blankly at Killian, was barely able to regain her senses thanks to Amy, who had approached her side and whispered in a small voice.

“…I’m sorry, Duke. I made a mistake…”

“It’s alright.”

“…Welcome to the lord of northern Binion in Eregron. I apologize for greeting the Duke and your troops, who are returning after completing an important mission, so simply.”

“I’m grateful that you’ve allowed this unexpected visit.”

While conversing with Killian with a deliberately calm face, ignoring the loud beating of her heart, she stole glances at his face.

As she took in his appearance, which looked a bit younger than in her last memory, Alicia felt both a tremor and surprise.

‘This man can look younger…’

It was amusing to think that nothing had changed except for his hair being a bit shorter than when she last saw him, but he certainly looked younger, no, more youthful than in her memory.

It was natural since time had reversed, but it was fascinating that the day had come when he, who had looked like an adult compared to Alicia from their first meeting, appeared younger, and she couldn’t stop stealing glances at his face.

“Your Highness, there are those waiting for the next words.”

Once again, it was Amy who brought Alicia back to her senses.

Carefully approaching and taking her place behind Alicia like a shadow, she whispered the next steps in a small voice.

“Although the day is still bright, I think you must be tired from dealing with winter’s last snow. We have finished preparations to welcome the guests, so please rest comfortably.”

“Thank you.”

Had he noticed her glancing at his face without looking directly?

Strangely, it felt like her eyes kept meeting Killian’s.

‘…This won’t do.’

Apart from falling for him again, a sense of crisis came over her.

Although belatedly, she also recalled her promise not to repeat past mistakes.

“I won’t disturb your rest. If you need anything, ask anyone staying in this castle. They won’t refuse and will listen.”

“…Won’t refuse, you say…”

“Duke?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then… I’m not feeling well, so…”

According to plan, she should have invited Killian to dinner, but even thinking simply, that was unreasonable.

‘I need to get away from here.’

The rest could be thought about later. For now, she needed to distance herself from Killian.

If she delayed even a little, he might hear the sound of her wildly beating heart.

“I hope you rest comfortably during your stay.”

“Thank you.”

After hastily concluding her greetings, Alicia began walking towards her room, forcing her legs that wanted to move quickly to appear as relaxed and leisurely as possible.

If she fled from here like she was running away, not only would it be a problem for the princess’s dignity, but Killian might misunderstand such behavior.

Killian watched her silently, but Alicia had no leisure to notice it.

After walking for what felt like a long time… Alicia, who had barely reached her room, locked the door, jumped onto the bed, and buried her face in the blankets, thrashing about silently.

The face briefly reflected in the mirror of her dressing table before jumping onto the bed seemed very red, but that wasn’t the problem right now.

‘Didn’t you swear not to love! Didn’t you resolve to give up your feelings! After saying you wouldn’t make mistakes anymore… wouldn’t make foolish choices!’

It seemed she was not only foolish but also stupid.

If not, how could she fall in love again just by seeing his face?

At this point, she was getting goosebumps at her own foolishness, unable to reflect and about to make the same mistake as before.

“Your Highness Alicia. Are you alright?”

“Your Highness! The door is locked!”

Hearing the voices of Amy and Mina, who had clearly followed her, Alicia got up from where she had been lying face down and spoke towards those outside the door, leaving her disheveled hair as it was.

“I want to be alone for a moment.”

“Your Highness.”

“Just for a moment… I’ll be alone for just a moment.”

“…Please call us whenever you need.”

“Yes, yes! I’ll wait outside the door!”

The brief commotion ended, and silence fell.

Alicia carefully removed the tiara tangled in her hair, set it down, and let out a long sigh.

‘What was I so confident about?’

She hadn’t thought about the fact that people don’t change easily.

Even if she died and came back to life, Alicia was Alicia, and she was a fool who couldn’t let go of her love for Killian even until the moment of her death.

‘But isn’t it difficult not to fall for that appearance?’

The image of Killian slowly walking in, with the white snow as a backdrop as the door opened, came vividly to mind.

If she was a foolish and stupid woman, it didn’t make sense to have such an unnecessarily good memory.

But she was doing something stupid again after dying and waking up, so it didn’t make sense to say she was smart either.

The brief attempt to give herself an indulgence only brought confusion.

Alicia let out another long sigh and got off the bed to stand in front of the window.

The snowfall had become heavy, making it impossible to see outside clearly, but it was just right for vaguely seeing her own shameful appearance.

“Even looking vaguely, it’s a foolish face.”

What expectations had she had to dress up like this?

She had clearly been anticipating today’s meeting without realizing it, even while saying with her mouth that she had no lingering feelings, that the relationship was over.

Alicia stared at her reflection in the window for a long time before raising her hand and starting to roughly wipe off the makeup on her face.

The light eyeshadow on her eyelids smeared unsightly around her eyes, and the red lipstick smudged hideously.

Alicia briefly smiled at her appearance, which resembled a ridiculous clown, before bursting into tears.

She hated her foolish self.

She resented Killian for being unnecessarily handsome and making her heart race on its own.

She felt wronged and frustrated that she still loved him despite resenting him so much, but she couldn’t stop crying because her heart was stupid for still not letting him go.

“No. I don’t want to jump back into that hell.”

Alicia whimpered.

The Alicia before the regression was as unhappy as she loved Killian.

Every moment of loving him was happiness, but at the same time, it was painful.

And to repeat that again?

The end was already determined by death.

If she were to reach that end once more, would God give her another chance?

Even if Alicia were that God, she would turn away, disgusted by such foolishness.

“I need to find a way.”

Escaping through death had failed.

Thanks to that, she had gained a new opportunity, but recalling that pain of her insides burning up, even attempting it was foolish.

So she needed to find another way.

“Think, Alicia. You need to think.”

She doesn’t want a happy life.

Her sins were too great to wish for that.

So what Alicia desperately wants now is to not become unhappy.

No, even if she becomes unhappy, she would be satisfied as long as she’s not dragged into that hell.

Her face, made even more unsightly from wiping away tears, is reflected in the window.

Isn’t this appearance more fitting for her now?

Alicia rubbed her palms along the tracks left by the incessantly flowing tears to wipe them away, and awkwardly smiled, pulling up the corners of her mouth.

It was quite some time later when Alicia, who had been crying alone for a long while, opened the locked door.

Mina, who had been dozing off crouched in front of Alicia’s door, true to her word that she would wait, was shocked to see her disheveled face.

What was unexpected was Amy’s calm attitude.

As if she knew what Alicia had been doing behind the locked door, Amy, without asking anything, drew a bath and wiped Alicia’s messy face clean.

“Mina, if you’re not going to do anything, go out and prepare clothes for Her Highness to change into.”

“Ah, no! Attending to the bath is my job!”

“I’ll do it as my job for now, so go out and prepare.”

“…Alright.”

Amy, who had pushed the restless Mina out of the bathroom, attended to Alicia’s bath alone for the first time in a long while.

Neither Alicia nor Amy spoke, exchanging no conversation while keeping their mouths shut, but perhaps thanks to Amy’s unremarkable response? Alicia was gradually finding stability.

“Amy, thank you.”

“I’m just doing what I should do.”

“Yes… I know.”

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Yes.”

“Your voice is very hoarse. I’ll prepare something soft for dinner.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Just for today, I’ll prepare it so you can eat in bed.”

Amy, who was sensitive to etiquette, never allowed Alicia to eat anything in bed.

Perhaps thanks to developing such a habit since childhood?

‘Eating food while lying in bed,’ which was only allowed when she was sick, felt like a special occasion even after becoming an adult.

“…But I’m not sick?”

“You came here to cure an illness, Your Highness. It’s alright.”

At those words, which meant she would overlook it this once even though it was a feigned illness, Alicia unconsciously let out a small laugh and hugged her knees in the bathtub.

“Amy.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What should one do when encountering a problem without an answer?”

“If you take your time and keep thinking about it, you will surely find the answer someday.”

“Can one find the answer even if they’re stupid?”

“Our princess is a smart person, so there’s no problem.”

Alicia burst into laughter, feeling good as she listened to Amy’s voice, which accepted her childish complaints as if they were nothing. She rested her forehead on her drawn-up knees and closed her eyes.

The warm water in the bathtub and Amy’s touch were gently soothing her heart, which had been shaking uncontrollably with foreboding.