Etienne followed the housekeeper’s advice. Except for the coronation ceremony that she had to attend, Etienne canceled all external schedules and stayed home, spending time with her family.

“How did Fernand see my future?”

At first, Etienne was mentally overwhelmed with shock and sadness upon learning that Fernand had seen her future self. It was even more challenging because she had thought he would never know.

So, in the beginning, it was disheartening whenever she thought about it. However, as days passed, it gradually became more manageable.

Now, she was curious about how he saw that future self.

“Could it be that Prince Leharht informed him?”

Leharht was the one who reversed time, making him the most likely candidate, but something felt uneasy. There were many things that couldn’t be explained simply by what he taught.

“He said he saw it.”

Although Leharht also claimed to have reversed time, Fernand said he saw it, not heard about it. The more she thought about it, the more she felt trapped in a maze.

Eventually, Etienne thought that she might find out by asking Fernand. However, she wasn’t confident enough to ask him what had happened.

“Sigh.”

Etienne picked up the next flower.

She wanted to do something, even if it was just using her hands to break free from the stifling feeling. She quickly trimmed the flower.

“Etienne.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Etienne looked at Sarah.
“Working hard is good, but you can take it easy now. The whole house is filled with the fragrance of flowers you’ve made.”

Etienne turned her gaze to the flowers in her hands. Lately, she had been arranging flowers every day with her mother and placing the creations one by one in the mansion. As a result, there was quite a collection.

In the room where the two of them were currently, three were already placed, and there were even more flowers outside.

“When did it become so many?”

“Originally, I filled the house with what I made, and then your creations were added.”

Sarah absentmindedly touched the petals of a completed flower.

“It’s so nice doing it together as a hobby. I don’t know how time is passing.”

Her words weren’t just casual; the flowers created at her fingertips were even more beautiful.

“There were times when I felt a bit sad when you liked books more than flowers. I wondered if there would come a day when we could face each other and make flowers together.”

Now, Sarah expressed her sincere feelings.

“You should have told me earlier.”

Having said that, Sarah alternated between looking at Etienne and the flowers before speaking.
“When you were born, I only wished for you to grow up as beautifully as this flower…”

Sarah stood up and approached Etienne. She gently stroked Etienne’s head and cupped her cheek.

“You are beautiful, like a red rose.”

“Is it the most beautiful among the things mother made?”

“Yes. The most beautiful. That’s why it seemed even harder to let go.”

In the midst of the gently flowing conversation, Etienne quietly held back a sigh at her mother’s interjected sigh.

“When you overworked yourself reading books and studying, and even now, pretending as if everything is fine, do you know how painful it is?”

“Mother…”

I thought I could hide my feelings, laugh, and pretend as if everything was okay.

But it seems I couldn’t hide it from the butler.

Etienne relaxed her expression, and with a bittersweet feeling, she embraced Sarah.

“Now, can you tell me what happened?”

In response to Sarah’s cautious question, who had been by Etienne’s side all this time, Etienne embraced her waist as if playing a prank.

“I… ”

Even in this moment, she felt pathetic for not knowing how much she could reveal to her mother.

‘I can never talk about the family collapse.’

Etienne’s thoughts were just like back then, when she couldn’t tell the truth to the butler. It was an event she had to carry until death unless someone found out about it. She couldn’t share that nightmare with anyone.
In that case, I can’t reveal that I’ve returned to the past after my death. There wasn’t much I could tell Sarah.

“I heard apologies from Prince Ferdinand and Lord Leharht… I felt quite sad about it. I still don’t know why His Lordship said such things, and Prince Ferdinand surprised me by bringing up a completely unexpected story.”

In the middle of speaking, Etienne choked up a bit. Trying to control her emotions, she kept pausing and repeating herself.

It seems I was mistaken in thinking I had gotten a little better now.

“The apologies were too painful. I could feel the sincerity behind how both of them thought about me.”

It might not have hurt this much if they had just coldly offered a dry apology.

Ferdinand, who understood my past feelings, seemed to suffer too much.

“So, following Retin’s advice, I stayed at home.”

Following the advice that time will heal.

“Yeah, spend more time with your mother during this period.”

“Yes.”

Etienne picked up flowers to finish the floral decorations.

“Let’s clarify this again. You’re saying you killed me?”

Alex’s eyes showed displeasure at Leharht’s question.