Was there truly nothing left with which to honour Ariana?

Kenneth couldn’t believe it. He searched the mansion and her belongings repeatedly.

At least her possessions were still in good condition. But they had all been given to her purely for display purposes.

Whenever she had to wear them, she wilted like a withering flower.

And yet…

“All right, you were almost the Crown Princess, and now you’re left with nothing but this. What a pity.”

He sneered and cast her aside so easily.

It was no wonder, then, that during their marriage, Ariana hadn’t found a single item that she truly cherished or loved.

“No.”

He left her scattered belongings behind and wandered through the mansion one last time.

He couldn’t bring himself to visit her grave.

She hadn’t cared for it while she was alive.

The only place she had spent any real time was a quiet corner of the garden where Beatrice had been laid to rest.

Perhaps it was the way the grass around the grave had been trimmed so precisely, but the area stood out awkwardly, like a scar carved into the garden.

Kenneth took a single step towards it, then stopped.

“Haa…”

On the day Ariana buried their child and wept in agony, he had stood just a few paces away, watching her in silence.

Even when the tiny body was lowered into the earth, he hadn’t shed a single tear.

Why had he been so reluctant to cry?

Did he really feel nothing when he saw the face that resembled his wife’s so much disappear into the ground?

“Waah!”

There were nights when he would walk past the nursery and hear the baby crying. His heart would waver every time he stopped to listen.

The child had done nothing wrong.

But while Kenneth claimed to despise Ariana, he turned away because he had secretly longed for her all along.

This was proof of his weakness.

In truth, he had been happy to have Ariana as his wife. He had simply been consumed by feelings of inferiority and fury at the fact that she had never wanted him in return.

‘I can’t breathe.’

Overcome with a suffocating tightness, Kenneth hastily tugged at his tie.

Suddenly, he couldn’t take it anymore, so he turned back towards the mansion.

Only to be struck speechless by the sight of its towering silhouette.

This was the place he had been so proud to reclaim after it had fallen into ruin.

The main residence had over 300 rooms, a splendid annex, and a vast garden.

And yet, not a single corner of it held Ariana’s presence.

That realisation echoed in his ears like a quiet whisper.

It was the question the priest had asked him a long time ago:

“Even if you were to meet Ariana again, would that truly be best for her?”

Was that really the answer?

If not, what meaning did the rest of his life hold?

‘No — don’t fall apart.’

Kenneth returned to his room, opened the vault and took out a gift that had lain untouched for years.

The tiara, which had never graced its owner’s head, glittered so brightly that it was almost painful to look at.

A hollow laugh escaped him.

‘I should have put it on her at least once.’

With nothing else left to remind him of the happy Ariana he had known, he had to cling to this, absurd though it was.

Yet the sight of the tiara stirred a faint spark of hope in his chest.

If he did everything right, Ariana would awaken at a moment when she still had the chance to bear their child again.

‘When that day comes, may you be able to wear this……and maybe smile, even if only a little.’

Kenneth only realised far too late that he had never asked the Saint what kind of man Ariana would meet after the regression.

Would his former self retain the memories he had now?

Would that version of himself be capable of making her truly happy?

“That child was a mistake.”

Even when Ariana stood on the edge of a cliff with a gun in her hand, he threw those words at her like a knife.

People don’t really change unless they’re forced to face such a horrifying death that they have no other choice.

So what if the man she returned to never changed at all?

Would he drive her to take her own life again?

No matter how deeply she loved their child, could she survive another lifetime with someone like him?

Fear overwhelmed him as one thought spiralled into the next, each one heavier and darker than the last.

It was a terror unlike anything he had ever experienced; it was every bit as suffocating as the despair he had felt when he found Ariana beyond help.

“No.”

Things could have been different. Maybe Ariana could have changed, and Kenneth would have sensed that and changed alongside her.

‘So don’t fall apart now.’

And yet here he was, staggering like a blind man, already crushed beneath the weight of his grief. Kenneth tipped the bottle of pills prescribed by Dr Bialle and swallowed them dry.

Since Ariana’s death, he hadn’t slept properly for a single night.

If he was going to stay awake anyway, he might as well spend the time winning over one more ally — taking one more step towards fulfilling his pact with the saint.

‘Don’t. Not. Break.’

Even if his own life was beyond saving, perhaps twenty-one-year-old Ariana — and Kenneth at that time — could still have a chance at happiness.

His unshakable resolve had once seen him through the destruction of his family and to the brink of death.

But even the strongest tree can be uprooted by a relentless wind.

Now, Kenneth’s mind had begun to waver.

***

Not even the duchy’s power could stop Roger from being punished. After all, hadn’t Kenneth himself presided over countless trials in pursuit of vengeance?

Now, senators backed by the imperial treasury were doing everything they could to break him.

Yet the day before the execution—

“You’re telling me Theodora came looking for Ariana?”

Kenneth, paying Roger a final visit, heard a truth he had never known. While he had been away from the manor, a visitor had come to see the fragile, grieving Ariana.

She had been reeling from the loss of her child, and as Kenneth had seen how fragile she was, he had arranged for her to rest and recover.

“And you allowed a visitor? With whose permission?”

“My deepest apologies, Master. I—I assumed that you would eventually take Lady Byron as your next wife, replacing Madame…”

“Roger.”

“A-and this isn’t an excuse, but after that day, my pistol was definitely gone.”

“……”

“I will atone for the death of the late Madam with my own life. Please forgive me.”

Roger had been used and discarded like a pawn. Yet upon hearing this confession, Kenneth finally began to grasp the truth.

Killing Ariana in this manner would gain the Byron family nothing.

This wasn’t about seizing the next duchess’s seat or petty jealousy between women. No — the scheme had forced Ariana to shoot Kenneth.

If the ducal house fell, Fort Ailesia would revert to the Crown and could be converted into an Imperial military base without opposition.

This would tie the Byron family to the Imperial Court.

“… Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped him, crushed beneath the weight of his own stupidity. He had been so obsessed with protecting the house that he had failed to see the treachery taking place right before his eyes. He had even helped to k*ll Ariana.

Scarlet rage flooded his vision.

Had they set a trap for her and then dared to ask him for permission to run cruise lines in the south?

‘But there has always been something strange about them.’

Ever since Kenneth tightened his grip on southern transport, the Byron family had become increasingly agitated. He’d assumed this was simply because their cruise project was underperforming.

But what if that wasn’t the reason?

What if they were trying to use him, just as they had tried to use Ariana?

A chilling certainty gripped him as he looked one last time at the aide weeping in fear.

“Roger. Only Ariana could forgive you for what you’ve done, so don’t ask me.”

“H-huk…”

“I’ll see that you leave this world without pain.”

Kenneth coughed slightly, and a bead of blood slipped from his dry throat, splattering onto the cold floor. He wiped the corner of his mouth wordlessly.

“I’ll go on ahead, Roger.”

After saying goodbye to his aide, Kenneth slowly stepped out of the prison.

The moment he got into the car, war hawks swarmed the streets and gave chase.

“Traitor to the nation!”

Rotten eggs and other filth were thrown at the vehicle, splattering loudly and messily all over it.

Kenneth bore the insults in silence.

Ariana had endured such slander time and time again.

Now it was his turn to carry that weight. And so it didn’t faze him.

Even if people called him insane, he had to do something.

He had to head south — immediately.

***

Days remaining: 540.

He was starting to see visions of Ariana.

At first, he thought he was imagining it. But on the express train bound for the southern region, he heard her softly humming a tune.

‘…I should probably change my medication.’

***