The Etiénne I’m seeing doesn’t seem to be eighteen years old. The current Etiénne plays pranks well and is cheerful. Even though she has just become an adult, she looks as sunny as she did when she was sixteen.

However, that Etiénne was different. The faintly tinged smile and the gentle gaze made her appear older than that.

The water ability possessed by my father was a memory.

This means that at any point in time, my father preserved what he saw in the water, including Etiénne. Everyone, including her, seemed to be older, judging by the occasional murmurs, indicating events in the future more than now.

It felt like time was tangled. How could he see and remember things in the future?

Suddenly, he thought of Lehárt. [The ability I had was about the future. The duke remembers the past, and I saw the future.]

Did he say this with that in mind?

He briefly reconsidered the doubts. People seemed to have gathered to make flower arrangements. Etiénne’s hands were skilled in handling flowers.

While doing so, she glanced at Fernando, who was sitting not far away, smiled, and seemed to enjoy something.

Although it seemed too careful for anyone to notice, someone who did caught her. That person pretended it was a mistake and pushed away her flowers. It was Hana.

As a slight disturbance occurred, the Fernando I’m seeing worried about Hana. If that’s all there is, I wouldn’t know, but [Etiénne, Hana didn’t do that on purpose.] He spoke sharply to Etiénne. Despite seeing her gaze stained with wounds, he held Hana’s hand and left the place.

Etiénne, left alone as if abandoned, looked down at her own hand.

From the hand that was casually shaken, blood flowed and fell onto the rose flowers. The blood, hidden by the red roses, felt like Etiénne’s tears.

I hurt Etiénne. I turned away from her knowing her feelings and even pushed her away further.

The flow of water changed, and the location shifted. It was just now in the duke’s garden, but it had suddenly changed to an office.

[Why are you here?]

He was shouting at his father. My heavily distorted face looked too desperate. What could have happened?

[Etiénne… might die. So, I have to see her.]

Die?

What could be happening?

[Will seeing her change anything?]

Even as Fernando raised his voice excitedly, his father’s face remained indifferent. Instead, speaking in a low voice, he treated his son like a child.

[You’re going to the prison to console that girl? Don’t you think it’s too late for that? If you were going to do that, you should have done it sooner. Do you think I would happily accept my fate after seeing you before dying?]

Father had noticed Etiénne’s feelings early on.

[Going there and giving half-hearted comfort won’t help at all. Instead, it will only confuse the child.] [Confuse her? I just…]

Fernando hesitated, not knowing what to do. He had said he would see Etiénne, and it would have been better to insist on it, but his foolish self couldn’t do so.

As if reading his thoughts, Fernando took a deep breath and started persuading his father from a different angle.

[I’m sorry for her. It’s all because of you, Father.] [Because of me?] [If Father hadn’t involved Claire Viscount in the rebellion, our family wouldn’t have fallen apart like this.] [So, you understand better now. If you go to prison now, it will show that we are somehow related. If that’s what you want, you have to give up everything. Didn’t you say you wanted to marry Hana?] [That…] [Why? Are you rebelling because the Emperor is trying to take Hana away? So, you want to see Etiénne?] [It has nothing to do with Hana. Father, aren’t you the one who did such a thing to Etiénne without any guilt?] [Guilt… Yes, you only think that much about Etiénne. In that case, there’s no need to go further. Don’t go and shake that child for no reason.] [Father!]

Despite his voice ringing with a sense of injustice, Father did not relent until the end.

[Let’s meet tomorrow. Let’s see how that child, whom you look at with guilt, thinks of you.]

With his father’s meaningful words, the situation changed again.

Etiénne was kneeling, in a mess.
The bandage wrapped around her hand seemed to mirror her current situation. Could that bandage be from the wound she received in the rose garden?

[Was Viscount Suprahu involved in the rebellion? What proposal did he receive from the viscount?]

It didn’t matter that Prince Ludvi became the Emperor. Fernando couldn’t take his eyes off Etiénne. Her… The answer that came out after she, who was on the verge of death, looked at Fernando, weighed heavily on him.

[With the viscount… I have no connection at all.]

Only then did Father’s words make sense. Fernando’s guilt was nothing compared to Etiénne’s feelings towards him.

Etiénne had loved herself until her death. The moment Fernando learned that, he could no longer continue his ability. When he cut off the ability as if letting go of everything, the swirling water fell with a splash.