“Unlike Your Highness, I’m not someone who only tells half the truth, so I’ll be clear about this.”

“That damn half.”

Reizen pressed his forehead and appeared to be in pain.

“Should I stop if you’re tired of it?”

Melissa felt increasingly displeased with Reizen’s attitude that seemed to say ‘are we still on this?’ What’s wrong with bringing it up when nothing has been resolved?

After all, they weren’t in a relationship forcibly drawn together by the mark’s power.

Melissa was prepared to lose everything, and if this was the end, she thought it would be better to say everything she wanted to say without regrets.

Ironically, thinking about the end made it easier to be honest, even if her heart fluttered a bit at the prospect of parting.

The man who let out a low breath looked into Melissa’s eyes. His faintly arrogant gaze that seemed to say ‘go ahead, speak’ was irritating.

But she roughly understood what feelings lay behind it. Was it similar to the jealousy she felt towards Florence?

She wanted to explain it well. So that he wouldn’t hurt like she did.

Melissa pulled Reizen’s hand close and held it firmly with both hands.

“Selheim is… like family to me.”

“Ha.”

Reizen laughed shortly and lowered his head. He seemed displeased from the first word.

“Listen until the end.”

Melissa squeezed his hand and met his eyes.

“I’ve never thought of him as a lover. Selheim took care of me before I could even walk… he was like our older brother, so to speak.”

But Reizen frowned as if he couldn’t understand.

“You’re still saying that? After what that bastard did to you.”

His eyes said he could never forget what happened then. Melissa nodded in acquiescence.

“I know. But whether I like it or not, the death of someone close affects me. You know that too.”

Even though they didn’t talk about it, didn’t they both know about the tragedy that happened in the Rose Maze? Reizen too had grown up affected by their deaths.

“…”

Reizen bit his red lips and furrowed his brows, unwilling to acknowledge it. He looked pained.

“When someone dies, it’s not those who hated them but those who loved them most who get hurt the worst. And I… I’m already hurt enough.”

The dead are just dead, but the remaining wounds belong solely to the living. Just as the twins bore all the stigma after grandfather passed away.

“I didn’t want to get hurt anymore. If I got hurt more… I felt like I would lose myself.”

Tears had formed in Melissa’s eyes without her realizing. She hadn’t meant to cry, but remembering grandfather made her heart ache as she recalled the happy past.

A season she could never return to.

Selheim and Rael were present in every page of those happy memories. No matter how much she hated them, she couldn’t watch them die before her eyes because she feared even the few beautiful memories of the past would be buried under death.

Melissa believed that the various experiences in life shaped a person’s character. But if all the memories that made her who she was were painted black, it would be too sad to live on.

A teardrop fell from Melissa’s eyes.

She smiled and said.

“I was protecting myself. Not Selheim.”

A strange nasal sound came from Melissa’s voice, congested from crying.

“I didn’t want to get hurt by adding more painful memories. I know it was a selfish choice. If this kind of situation happens again… you don’t need to save me. I’ll take responsibility for my choices…”

Before she could finish speaking, Reizen pulled her into his arms.

Melissa’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before a warm smile spread across her face. She felt a sense of security as Reizen’s hand soothingly stroked her back.

She firmly held his waist with both hands and rested her head against his solid chest.

The embrace of this man with his high body temperature was warm in all seasons. The sound of his heart beating strongly, thump, thump, was full of vigor unlike her own.

Reizen wrapped his hand around her head and hunched over. His muffled voice resonated.

“I wouldn’t have made that choice even if it meant getting hurt. So, I can’t understand.”

Melissa nodded while keeping her face buried in his embrace. She hadn’t brought it up expecting understanding anyway, so she was ready to accept the outcome.

She was prepared to leave if he told her to go, since she had caused him harm. But… his next words were unexpected.

“Even if I can’t understand, I’ll still come to save you, Melissa.”

His gentle words seemed to melt her heart.

Melissa’s eyes grew hot with tears. He held the woman tightly as she burrowed deeper into his embrace and continued speaking.

“As long as you haven’t betrayed me, that’s enough.”

These words struck Melissa in a new way.

The mark on her skin didn’t sting sharply even when she was close to him. Even with the forcibly tied bond loosened, he still wanted Melissa.

Maybe he needed someone to lean on because he was struggling with losing a friend. After all, neither of them had anyone around to share their painful emotions with.

Whatever the reason, Melissa felt the same way.

It was enough that Reizen wouldn’t abandon her even if he couldn’t understand her.

When different people meet, perfect understanding is probably close to impossible.

But if they stay together for a long time, if they continue getting to know each other like this, might there come a day when they finally understand each other?

Melissa had always felt like she was walking in place. Whenever anyone said anything, she would freeze up and become unable to move.

But now she has learned how to adapt to others. Today she had taken a big step toward one man.

* * *

The next day, Melissa, having recovered, roamed the castle. She was playing hide and seek with Clara, and the seeker was none other than Rael.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this nonsense!”

Though Rael grumbled, she diligently searched for the two.

“We agreed to hide only on the second floor, they wouldn’t have gone down to the first floor, right? Damn.”

The short-haired woman wearing men’s pants and shirt roughly opened the drawers in the corridor.

Clara and Melissa were hidden behind curtains. Clara whispered through the gap in the curtains while watching Rael huffing and puffing.

‘Does she think we’re small enough to fit in drawers? Is Rael perhaps stupid?’

Melissa silently giggled, shrinking her shoulders as the child’s whispering breath tickled her.

Rael exasperatedly noticed the curtain moving unnaturally beside the display cabinet. She ran at full speed and yanked the curtain open.

‘Found you, you little brats!’

Melissa, whose legs had been cramping from crouching, struggled to stand up using the wall for support. Clara shrieked “Eek!” and ran around the corridor in circles.

Rael was quite athletic. She chased after Clara, who Arthur could never catch due to her speed, and lifted her up by putting her hands under her armpits.

‘Caught you, little brat!’

‘I’m not a brat! You witch who looks like Melissa!’

‘Watch your mouth, quacker. I don’t look like Melissa, Melissa looks like me. I was born first, you know?’

‘But Melissa was probably made first in the womb?’

‘You’re annoyingly smart. How did you know that?’

Rael exclaimed in admiration while Clara struggled.

‘Let go, stupid!’

Clara shouted to be released. But Rael just grinned mischievously and wouldn’t let go. When she blew a breath at Clara, daring her to escape, an angry Clara bit Rael’s wrist hard.

“Oh sh…!”

Rael started to curse but swallowed it back. Finally freed from Rael’s hands, Clara ran behind Melissa to hide.

‘Hey, you come here. Not coming?’

The corridor became chaotic. There was so much thumping on the second floor that the butler came up to check what was happening.

Melissa felt fatigue suddenly washing over her. She felt dizzy too…

Downstairs, Reizen, Arthur, and several others were in a meeting. She needed to calm these two down so they wouldn’t disturb them.

Melissa, her face having turned pale, smiled gently and asked.

‘Clara, what was the name of that dessert you said you liked?’

They had promised to have dessert when they met again, and when she heard the story, there was apparently a dessert Clara’s mother often made at home.

Thinking that might be the dessert Clara wanted, she asked, but the child gave a vague answer.

It was very sweet, very soft, and very fluffy, she said.

‘I can’t tell what dessert it is from just that.’

‘Then I’ll ask Papa!’

Melissa shook her head.

‘Papa is working right now.’

‘Clara’s okay! I can go to Papa when he’s working!’

This kid won’t listen when told no, Rael grumbled while trying to catch Clara, but Clara slipped through her hands, stuck out her tongue at her, and ran away.

Again, Rael had a hot-tempered side. Perhaps angered by the child’s prank, she also thundered down to the first floor.

Melissa couldn’t run wildly like those two because of her injured ankle. But since she was the only one who could stop them, she couldn’t not go either…

The central staircase leading to the first floor was quite high, so she had to be careful going down. When she reached near the reception room after slowly descending while holding the railing, it was quiet.

‘Where did they go?’

She approached the reception room while looking for the two troublemakers who had disappeared. Thinking they might be inside and reaching for the doorknob to get them, she heard Reizen’s voice.

“I think it’s time to bring in the stockpiled weapons.”