In the midst of the silent sighs around them, Hyacinth glanced at Seina. It was a gesture that seemed to say, ‘I did my best, and it’s not my fault that the other side isn’t cooperating.’

After confirming Seina’s long sigh, Hyacinth began to eat her salad with a serene face. Showing no intention of resuming the conversation, only the servants in the room had to fret nervously.

At that moment, the Duke stammered an apology.

“Rudely… barging in… and waking you at dawn, I apologize. That was not my intention.”

It was a statement that made not only the lady but everyone present look at the Duke. Of course, among all the people watching him, Ethan Erentis only cared about one person.

After blinking a few times, Hyacinth slowly grasped the truth.

“Shouldn’t I be the one to apologize, Duke? I made you wait while I slept despite your visit.”

“You do not need to apologize to me, lady.”

“Hmm. Such admirable chivalry.”

A short chuckle was heard.

Perhaps feeling slightly better, Hyacinth slowly put down her utensils. Her green eyes carefully scanned Ethan from top to bottom.

After finishing her inspection, her gaze returned to his silver hair. She stared at it for quite a long time, almost obsessively.

Ethan Erentis couldn’t fail to notice the interest that everyone else had already picked up on. When he unconsciously touched his hair, Hyacinth’s indifferent comment followed.

“They say Trisel inherited the blood of fairies. It’s a rather intriguing color.”

“Do you like it?”

Only after asking did Ethan realize his question could be interpreted oddly. Disapproving looks poured from the surroundings, making him feel like a beast pierced by a spear. Only then did Ethan remember that this was Tyche.

Tyche. The royal castle that cherished and loved its flower dearly.

The place that would have skinned him alive and burned him at the stake if they knew what he had done.

Before Ethan could try to manage the situation, Hyacinth responded while poking her cheese.

“If I must choose, I would say I dislike it.”

Ethan’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer. Hyacinth smirked lowly.

“Why, did you think everyone liked your hair? It is indeed a mysterious color.”

“I never had such arrogant thoughts.”

“It’s just that I dislike it due to personal experiences. Don’t worry, Duke.”

“…”

“I’m not foolish enough to dislike someone just for the color of their hair. Just as I was born with red hair, you didn’t choose to have silver hair.”

His fingers twitched involuntarily.

It felt like his lungs were being scraped by a red-hot nail. Ethan quietly held his breath and silently observed the woman sitting opposite him.

Did she remember… and that’s why she said those prickly words?

No matter how long he watched, the woman sitting quietly in the morning sunlight was impenetrable.

He couldn’t read anything from her.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“The Duke of Trisel seems to apologize for everything and is grateful for everything.”

Leaving behind a mocking comment, Hyacinth closed her mouth.

Ethan, too, couldn’t find any words to add, and the meal continued in silence.

* * *

After breakfast, Lady Hyacinth guided Ethan to the room where he would stay in Tyche. It was a splendid room befitting the Duke’s status.

After guiding him in a gentle voice, she fluttered away, saying she had completed her task. Her steps were so light they seemed to fly. Despite Seina’s nagging scolding following her, it couldn’t weigh down the lady’s steps.

Ethan stood still, staring at the woman’s resolute back.

The attendants assigned to him cautiously observed him, worried that he might be offended. Ethan silently gestured for them to leave.

Once the attendants quietly exited the room, silence fell.

In the familiar solitude, Ethan Erentis slowly hung his head. Burying his face in his palms, he let the emotions shake his entire body. The myriad thoughts he had postponed while dealing with Hyacinth began to devour his mind like a beast.

What should I do?

He quietly crumbled.

What should I do now…?

He confirmed that she was alive. Just as before meeting him, she was happily living under Tyche’s love. It wasn’t surprising. In fact, Ethan Erentis had been Hyacinth Hener’s sole misfortune.

He was glad she was happy.

But now, what should he do? Having committed sins deserving of being torn apart, he couldn’t just wash his hands of it. If he were human, he couldn’t.

Of course, if he were human, he wouldn’t have committed such acts…

Nausea rose from deep within. Just moments ago, he had eaten so well in front of her, despite needing to kneel and apologize. What shamelessness. He sighed deeply and staggered to the bathroom. He intended to vomit everything in his stomach.

After roughly rinsing his mouth, he leaned his head against the wall. He wished the judge above would immediately strike him with divine punishment.

This couldn’t be considered punishment. Someone had committed a crime, and someone had withered and died because of it. The dead had come back to life, but the crime couldn’t disappear.

Should he kneel at her feet and confess all his sins?

If so, Tyche, who loved and cherished her, might tear him apart before he could hurt her again. If they killed him before he could hurt her again, it would be a welcome outcome.

The more he thought about it, the more tempted he was, but Ethan Erentis ultimately gave up the idea. What good would it do to confess to someone who didn’t even remember? It would only destroy her peaceful life.

Retreating quietly… well.

Of course, he intended to disappear from her life forever. Once he had atoned, once he had paid for his sins, he planned to vanish forever.

But can disappearing like this be called atonement? Wasn’t the very desire to atone his selfishness, making this outcome a punishment in itself?

“Hyacinth…”

A name he had no right to call crumbled on his tongue. It was bitter and acrid. His heart felt like it was being squeezed until it bled black.

The lively figure that had left earlier and the one who had glared at him with bloodshot eyes as she fell overlapped slowly.

Where did you go?

Why am I, the sinner, living this life while you have scattered into the void? This isn’t a miracle. I never wanted this ending.

The man collapsed softly.

His nails scratched the floor aimlessly. It was to endure the excruciating pain rising from his heart. After a long period of suffering, Ethan desperately thought while lying on the ground.

Perhaps because he had turned back time, Hyacinth Hener was indeed different from before.

In his previous life, Hyacinth Hener had fallen for him at first sight.

Ethan Erentis wasn’t dull, and more importantly, Hyacinth Hener was too honest. Even a fool would have noticed her feelings.

But in this life, Hyacinth showed rather uncomfortable emotions towards him. That change. Why did it happen?

“It’s just that I dislike it due to personal experiences.”

Wait. Just a moment.

The expression Hyacinth Hener used belatedly struck Ethan Erentis’s intellect. He suddenly sat up. A straw of hope, an emotion he dared not harbor, had settled within him. His heart pounded wildly.

In his previous life, Hyacinth had clearly liked his silver hair. She often gazed at it in a trance, a truth Ethan couldn’t be unaware of.

‘Personal experiences’…

Of course, it could be nothing. But Hyacinth Hener’s words now weighed heavily on Ethan Erentis. He couldn’t take a single word lightly.

You should have listened back then.

Startled by the sudden, clear hallucination, Ethan flinched. Whether it was a groan from his guilt or a taunt from a lingering ghost, it was frighteningly clear.

He hurriedly looked around, but he was alone in the middle of the large room. The desolate scenery made Ethan smile bitterly.

Was he five or six years old?

He should have drowned when that damn woman threw him into the river. If he had died then, he could have disappeared before becoming Hyacinth Hener’s misfortune. Why did he survive for no reason?
He staggered and sat up. An uncontrollable bitter smile naturally formed. A sneer that sprouted from his guilt.
It was bitter.

* * *

Ethan Erentis’s oldest memory.

He didn’t know how old he was, but at any rate, when he was a child, he was dragged out of bed by his hair by his stepmother. Even now, as an adult, he doesn’t know why she suddenly acted that way. He could only guess that she had suddenly remembered his father.

The red-haired woman who threw him to the ground grabbed his hair and dragged him to the garden, where she abandoned him. As a result, he shivered all night in the cold, nearly freezing to death. The bruises from being thrown to the ground were a bonus. His fingers and toes almost necrotized, causing him to suffer for the rest of that year.

Maybe it was because of the shock of being suddenly thrown down, but from that point on, Ethan couldn’t sleep in beds or any moderately high places. Mostly, he slept on the floor. Occasionally, he would sleep on a bench in the garden.

Even though this place was Tyche and not Bremlin, habits don’t change.

So Ethan Erentis crawled out to the garden to sleep.

A summer night in Tyche was warmer than a winter day in Bremlin. The coolness was nothing to a northerner accustomed to Bremlin’s cold. Thinking the bench was surprisingly comfortable, Ethan closed his eyes.

In a short dream, a woman cried.

So did a baby.

They cried, searching for the bastard who had ultimately abandoned them.

Ethan Erentis immediately opened his eyes at the distant sign of movement. Following the sound of the door opening, light footsteps entered the garden.

Hyacinth.

He instinctively knew.