Act 2, Scene 1. The Reversal of Unrequited Love

Tyche in Spring.

It was a fragrant morning with pure white flowers blooming outside the window, but the atmosphere inside the drawing room was heavy. The attendants guarding the room exchanged glances and silent conversations.

The reason for their unusual laxity, despite their usual strict adherence to etiquette, was simple.

An entirely unexpected guest had arrived at dawn. Although the man carried nothing to prove his identity, his presence was unmistakable.

Silver hair that shone even in the darkness. Who else in the kingdom had such hair besides the Duke of Trisel?

Hence, Tyche had been bustling since dawn. Not only was the man’s status surprising, but his appearance was unbelievable, causing even more commotion.

As a high lord, he should have been adorned with retainers, knights, and ornaments, but he arrived alone. He looked as if he had slept in the woods. Perhaps he really had.

The Duke’s ashen gaze was intense. His half-crazed eyes, almost showing madness, were the only sign of life in his otherwise monochrome appearance.

Tyche’s court had to sink into sorrow once more as they hurriedly received him.

At that time, the king, queen, and three princes were all away at a hunting competition. The only person who could receive Ethan Erentis in Tyche was Lady Hyacinth Hener of Laurel. According to etiquette, she should have been woken up and prepared to meet Ethan Erentis immediately, but…

Lady Hyacinth’s nanny, Seina Ir, cautiously refused.

‘She is sleeping too soundly.’

Her voice was filled with a desperate plea not to wake her precious baby from her deep sleep.

Indeed, recently Lady Hyacinth had been exhibiting strange behaviors.

She refused the egg dishes she used to enjoy, and at night, she would whisper that she was cold in a half-dream state, sleeping with three blankets.

Even now, when summer is approaching.

It was a situation that anyone could find unsettling, so both the royal family and Tyche were worriedly watching over the lady. Unable to defy the nanny’s insistence, Tyche eventually made the Duke wait.

Even when the guest returned to the drawing room, having shed the disheveled appearance from his long journey, Lady Hyacinth had not woken up. The Duke of Trisel could have been angered by such treatment, but he waited quietly.

Like a frozen person. Without a single movement.

The ones who grew anxious were the attendants waiting in the drawing room. They waited nervously in their assigned places.

The tension was palpable. The air was heavy with an inexplicable unease.

And finally.

“…The flower of Tyche, Lady Hyacinth of Laurel, is entering.”

With a pleasant voice, the heavy door began to open.

Ethan Erentis, who had been sitting like a corpse in his chair, staggered to his feet. Without blinking, he stared intently at the door, as if determined not to miss a single moment of the upcoming scene.

The first thing to appear through the door was an elegant shoe. Next was the flowing skirt of a bliaut. A pale hand. And then.

A woman with a graceful figure entered everyone’s view.

As soon as she stepped into the room, Lady Hyacinth stood tall. After a brief glance around, she looked at the Duke of Trisel.

“I am Hyacinth Hener of Laurel.”

…Simultaneously, sparks flew in the Duke’s ashen eyes.

Fierce. It was an expression that could only be described as fierce. With eyes that seemed to explore—or devour—her, the Duke scrutinized the lady.

It was a change that puzzled the onlookers. Even Lady Hyacinth, receiving such a gaze, seemed taken aback and tilted her head slightly. Her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

The Duke’s reaction became even more intense in response to her puzzlement.

His entire body began to tremble, as if his very soul was shaking.

“Why…?”

A trembling voice.

“What do you mean ‘why’?”

The lady’s question.

With just one voice of confusion, the Duke crumbled. It was as if he had been kicked back into the entrance of the hell he had barely escaped from.

* * *

From the moment Ethan Erentis realized he had returned five years into the past, he acted with only one goal in mind.

The one he had dared to destroy…

Hyacinth. Hyacinth Hener. He had to confirm with his own eyes that she was living safely at this point in time. He had to see it himself.

Until then, he couldn’t even breathe.

So he grabbed a horse and rode straight to the capital. He didn’t care about the northern region panicking over his disappearance.

Because only one thing mattered.

What had he been thinking as he rode here? What had he been worrying about as he waited in the drawing room?

If she refused to meet him, he planned to secretly confirm her face and leave… But to his surprise, Hyacinth accepted. She agreed to meet him.

She might even have a knife in her hand. Ethan prepared himself calmly. If she tried to kill him, he would gladly offer his neck. No. If that complicated things, he would willingly take his own life for her. A life not worth saving, it could at least serve to relieve her grudge.

Ethan Erentis could not understand this ‘miracle.’

It would have been enough to bring her back, so why revive him as well? While he was grateful for the result of her revival, he was baffled by the act of saving a sinner.

But he hadn’t expected this.

Not this… He panted as he took a closer look at Hyacinth Hener. The green eyes meeting his—he only now realized they were green—were filled with nothing but displeasure, without any rage or resentment.

This isn’t right. This isn’t right…

His heart pounded violently. He felt like his blood was flowing backward, making it hard to breathe. The moment when unreality turned into reality. Or the moment of waking from a long dream.

An ice pick pierced his head.

“Why…?”

Why aren’t you trying to kill me? Why aren’t you trying to stab my heart? Do you not remember what I did to you?

At his stammered words, Hyacinth furrowed her brows slightly. A familiar expression. One he had often stolen glances at from her.

“What do you mean ‘why’?”

Why don’t you remember? Why don’t you remember how I ruined you?

Am I the only one who came back? Really?

Realizing this truth, Ethan Erentis broke down miserably.

Should I be grateful that your memory of those horrific times with me is gone?

…I am grateful that you are not trapped in the past.

I am deeply grateful for the reality that your soul is still intact and that you are living happily.

But. Now, what about my sins?

Just because I turned back time doesn’t mean my sins are erased, but you… To whom should I atone? Are you really ‘you’? Is it right to atone to you? Is even my desire to atone selfish?

Dizzy. He felt an unbearable vertigo.

Ethan Erentis staggered momentarily, meeting Hyacinth’s green eyes filled with annoyance, even a hint of contempt. He barely regained his composure.

A hope that wasn’t really a hope suddenly sprang up.

In his previous life, Hyacinth Hener had never looked at him with such eyes. Never. But now, with that look, maybe. Just maybe.

“Do you not… remember anything?”

“That’s absurd. What should I remember?”

“…”

“Have we met before? More importantly, I have never seen someone as rude as you in my life.”

“Lady!”

The nanny and maids behind her were startled by the lady’s blunt display of displeasure. As Ethan turned his gaze, he noticed Seina Ir watching him warily.

The middle-aged woman was the same.

Worried about her lady’s well-being, she was entirely preoccupied. If she had known the end of Hyacinth in the previous life, she would have burned him alive. He should have waited until then. That would have been better.

Despite not being drunk, Ethan staggered again.

Hyacinth, seemingly annoyed by his appearance, wrinkled her nose slightly and turned her body away. Ethan hastily threw himself forward, half begging, and grabbed the hem of her sleeve.

“What is this…?”

“I am Ethan Erentis of Trisel.”

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t think of the direction he should take at this moment.

But… he could no longer hurt this person.

“I apologize for all the rudeness I have committed.”

“First, let go.”

Ethan quickly released her sleeve.

Hyacinth, who had been scrutinizing him with narrow eyes, clicked her tongue and extended her hand. Allowing the courtesy, Ethan slowly took her hand and kissed the back of it.

Unlike in his memory, it was a smooth and beautiful hand. Not half-dead at the fingertips…

Emotions surged within him.

Barely swallowing the hot surge, he looked up to see Hyacinth sighing with an expression of patience.

“Have you eaten, Duke?”

“…Not yet.”

“Let’s have it together.”

I welcome you as a master of Tyche.

A moderately cold voice pierced his ears.

The meal was held in a quiet atmosphere.

Those who knew the nature of Lady Hyacinth of Laurel flinched at the bleak air. The flower of Tyche, who always smiled brightly, was openly displaying her displeasure.

Thus, some of the servants cast reproachful glances at the Duke of Trisel sitting opposite the lady, but the silver-haired young man did not notice these signals. His mind was overly complicated.

Therefore, he didn’t even realize that Lady Hyacinth’s nanny, Seina Ir, was giving the lady significant looks.

Seina looked at her precious lady with stern eyes. It was the first time since she had grown up that the lady, who always adhered to etiquette, was acting so sullen. Naturally, as her caregiver, she couldn’t help but signal her.

Lady Hyacinth, who had been pouting and enduring, eventually surrendered and spoke first to the Duke.

“Does the food suit your taste?”

“…It is delicious.”

“It must have been tiring to come all the way from the north.”

“It was not.”

The conversation was abruptly cut off. Silence stretched on.