Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 2/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

“I heard you came yesterday?”

Jella asked in an indifferent voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Niel bowed respectfully as usual.

He was dressed much more neatly than usual.

Perhaps sensing that this might be the last time he would converse with her like this, he wanted to appear at least a bit more presentable.

“So, what brings you here so early in the morning?”

“….”

Despite his resolve, the words wouldn’t come out, and Niel maintained his silence for a moment.

She raised one eyebrow while waiting quietly.

It was an expression she often made when displeased since she was young.

For Niel, it was an expression he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

After all, he always tried to ensure she wasn’t displeased.

Perhaps that’s why, seeing her expression after so long, Niel unconsciously found himself smiling.

“What are you trying to do right now?”

She asked in a sharp voice.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Niel immediately composed his expression.

“I, Niel Alpenhayer, head of House Alpenhayer and noble of the glorious Shunaibel, dare to make a request.”

For a moment, a crack-like fissure appeared on her face. She stared at him with a hardened expression, as if predicting what he was about to say.

“I formally request to break off our engagement.”

Break off the engagement.

The moment those words left his mouth, a dull pain spread across his heart.

He had thought these were words he would never speak first.

If either of them were to demand breaking off the engagement, he thought it would be her, not him.

After all, she was always the one who seemed indifferent to their relationship, as if she could let go at any time, while he was the one hiding his desperate feelings and trying to please her.

But why, at this moment?

Why did an inexplicable loneliness flash across her eyes?

Perhaps this was just a projection of his own pain at not wanting to leave her.

Or maybe it was his wish to mean something, even small, to her.

“…Ah, breaking off the engagement.”

She responded half a beat late.

Then, after rubbing her face with one hand, she burst into laughter.

“Ahaha!”

After laughing heartily for a while, she suddenly stopped and glared at him with cold eyes.

“Have you lost your mind, Niel Alpenhayer? You dare mention breaking off the engagement to me?”

She snapped in a harsh voice.

But Niel knows.

That she’s not truly angry right now, but merely pretending to be angry.

When she’s truly angry, her voice is a bit lower and heavier than this.

“…I apologize, Your Majesty. I have found a woman I cherish.”

“What?”

“Therefore, I dare to request breaking off our engagement, even if it means being disloyal to you, for her sake.”

“Are you not afraid of the consequences of such disloyalty?”

“Even if you were to take my head for this… my feelings will not change.”

There was genuine sincerity in that voice.

His feelings about having found a woman he cherished, and being willing to face death for her sake, were genuine. Only that the woman was different from who she thought it was.

She bit down hard on her lower lip as she glared at him. Her lips had turned deathly pale.

The fear she had shown when Yuria appeared yesterday flickered across her eyes again before dissipating.

Even she, who seemed to fear nothing in this world, must fear death.

His heart ached thinking about how she had to endure that fear alone.

He wanted to go to her right now and tell her everything.

That it was alright. That she shouldn’t be afraid.

That he would absolutely prevent her death, so she didn’t need to be afraid anymore.

That he would lighten her burden so she could live and breathe in the future she envisioned, that she should just smile brightly while dreaming of the future to come.

“Niel Alpenhayer.”

She stood up and drew the sword from Cail’s waist who was standing behind her.

“Your, Your Majesty…!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down…!”

Ignoring the alarmed voices of the servants trying to stop her, she raised the sword high.

Then, without hesitation, she swung it at Niel.

Slash-

The epaulette on Niel’s shoulder fell to the ground.

“Make sure I never see you again. If either you or your woman ever appears before me, you won’t remain unscathed.”

Niel quietly bowed his head at her cold, venomous words.

My Your Majesty is truly kind.

Although he had come prepared for the possibility of bloodshed, she had merely cut ties with him through a few harsh words.

Yes, cut off.

With this, his engagement with her, which had been his only hope for so long, was completely severed.

Perhaps it was a connection that could never be restored.

He might never be part of her future again.

Yet despite sensing this was their end, his face remained utterly calm.

Niel Alpenhayer had only one wish for her.

That even if he wasn’t in her future, she would be there in the future she envisioned.

That she would live and breathe and laugh and talk in her future, painting it with her brilliant colors.

And so, for that future, Niel left her side.

‘To cross dimensions, many people’s lives are needed.’

Niel knew her well.

Someone as kind as her would never build her future using others’ lives as sacrifices.

Therefore, the role of the villain who would stain the continent with blood rightfully belonged to him.

The moment he heard Yuria’s explanation about needing many lives, one word came to his mind.

Civil war.

From then on, Niel organized a rebel army, planning to collect the blood of those who wished for her death to open dimensions and smuggle her soul away.

He knew this fell into the category of unforgivable sins that were highly unethical.

He knew it would shake his identity as the always moral and righteous Duke Alpenhayer.

He knew it might earn her contempt, that it might erase him not only from her future but even from her past.

However, even if his soul became corrupted and trapped in eternal hell as punishment, he couldn’t give up.

So, Jella.

Until then, please, just stay alive.

Please endure the weight of the fate given to you. Please don’t break down. Please just stay alive.

***

I headed towards Count Pluna’s mansion carrying a bright bouquet.

I was going to visit the Count’s residence under the pretext of customer relations. It would also give me a chance to personally check on the status of the plague.

Cail tried to follow, but I tucked him into bed, telling him he couldn’t possibly come along after being out in the snow all night. I wrapped him tightly in blankets and even sealed him with magic so he couldn’t move at all.

“Sister, did you have a good time with the Hero?”

When I turned around, I saw Felitz’s face wearing a shy expression that didn’t match his fierce features.

“Drop that expression right now. Or I’ll turn you into a snowman too.”

“Wh-what? N-no, please!”

Felitz crossed his arms protectively over his chest as he cried out.

“I-I hate being assassinated or pounced on! I’d rather be hit! Please just hit me!”

I glared at him in exasperation at his attitude, as if he was looking at some pervert.

“I have my preferences, you know? I wouldn’t hit you even if you begged!”

As I swung my fists in the air, he screamed and quickly backed away from me.

‘Come to think of it.’

I fell into serious thought. One concern had been stuck in my mind for a while now.

‘I think Cail knows who I really am.’

Though I tried to ignore it, the moment Yuria’s name left his lips, I couldn’t deny it anymore.

‘How did he recognize me?’

My current appearance was completely different from the ‘Jella Shunaibel’ he remembered – different hair color, eye color, features, and body type.

Even my way of speaking had changed slightly, so even if the essence was the same, it should have been difficult to deduce that I was ‘Jella Shunaibel’ from just a few casual conversations.

However, those words clearly…

‘…Jella.’

‘Why are you speaking formally to me?’

‘You still don’t trust me, do you?’

These were words he couldn’t possibly say unless he was certain I was ‘Jella Shunaibel.’

But even if he did know my identity, there was another thing I couldn’t understand.

If he really did recognize me as ‘Jella Shunaibel’…

‘Why is he acting like this towards me?’

I furrowed my brows as I recalled his behavior towards me over the past few days.

‘Please don’t abandon me, Jella. My master.’

‘I’ll take responsibility for your nights too.’

‘You can pounce on me until you feel better.’

Unlike his meaningful words that seemed to show he recognized me, his attitude towards me was completely different from my previous life.

‘Anyone would think he actually likes me.’

T/n: Has anyone noticed how all characters seem to be allergic to actual conversations? 🤔 I mean, TALKING could be an option… but no, no, that would be far too simple! Why take the straightforward path when you can spin like a top, creating dramatic whirlwinds around the same spot?  These people would rather start civil wars, cross dimensions, and organize rebel armies than sit down for a nice cup of tea and a chat.

See you in the next chapter, where we’ll continue watching these characters do everything except having a proper conversation! ლ(ﾟдﾟლ)