As I stared blankly at the door of the shop where Asel had vanished, Yuri suddenly asked me, “So, what do you think about Titi? Do you think he’s a scammer?”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you saw the verification earlier?” I replied.

Even that fool. He had shown the verification and left it on the table.

I clicked my tongue in irritation. Yuri pressed the verification with his fingers and said, “Well, if someone is determined, they can easily forge things like this. I’d rather trust Titi’s intuition than my own eyes.”

“Um, in my opinion…” I hesitated. I already knew that diamonds were pouring out of Asel’s mine.

Besides, for once, I had a decent amount of money. Soon, the invincible fleet would return home victorious after years, and tulips would skyrocket.

Then, I might easily earn enough money to mine the diamonds.

Still.

“I’m not going to invest,” I said finally.

My answer was no.

Yuri frowned, probably expecting me to say I’d invest. He tilted his head and asked, “Why not? Is that verification fake after all?”

“I don’t think so. You saw it earlier, right? How clumsy he was. There’s no way he has the guts to forge a state-certified verification.”

I gave a bitter smile.

‘If he had that kind of flexibility, he wouldn’t have suffered so much in his past life.’

Asel was the type who couldn’t even protest if someone took bread from him when he was starving.

And he was supposed to forge a mine verification? He didn’t have the guts for that.

He wouldn’t do it because he wouldn’t be able to handle it if it got exposed later.

Yuri seemed to see it the same way, as he crossed his arms and nodded. “Then it must be real.”

“Yeah. And doesn’t it seem like whatever is buried in that mine is incredibly valuable? Usually, the best thing comes from the one pitiful thing a person like him possesses.”

“And then it gets taken away.”

“…That’s right.”

The rich get richer, and the poor lose even what they have. That’s the so-called ‘cliché’ of this world, and it’s brutally cruel.

I sighed.

“That’s something that can’t be helped either. If you haven’t learned how to protect your assets from your parents, suddenly becoming rich just means you’ll be holding gold and wandering around aimlessly.”

If wandering aimlessly was all they did, that would be fortunate. Usually, poor families are surrounded by people who are the cause of their poverty, who drag down the family trying to escape, pulling them into the mire.

‘Just like Robi and my father were to me in my first life.’

I tried to keep a straight face, but as someone who’s experienced a life of loss, my face hardened involuntarily.

Yuri, who was watching me curiously, asked, “Then why won’t you invest? Even though you’re sure of the high value of what’s buried in the mine?”

“That’s…” I pressed my lips together. Although I shared many things with Yuri, this was something I couldn’t reveal.

‘I don’t want to get involved with Asel anymore.’

We happened to meet on the street and ended up talking, but I wanted my involvement with him in this life to end here.

‘I’m living a completely new life now. Why should I get entangled with him again?’

Of course, investing in him would be good for me too. He wouldn’t end up committing suicide after being scammed.

‘But just seeing him is painful for me.’

His suicide was a huge shock to me. It was enough for me to give up a diamond mine when I had decided to earn a lot and live as a rich person in this life.

The problem was that this answer sounded utterly illogical unless he knew about my unfortunate past.

‘It’s only natural that Yuri is puzzled.’

I glanced up to check Yuri’s expression. His clear blue eyes, like the warm southern sea, sparkled as they looked at me.

“Titi?”

Since we first met, Yuri had always supported and encouraged whatever decision I made.

Facing him made me want to spill all the sad past I kept to myself.

‘Yuri revealed that he’s a mage. Should I keep hiding things?’

Maybe that magic was something Yuri could have done too.

Thinking of the past made my face contort naturally. Yuri, noticing this, comforted me with a worried expression.

“Titi, what’s wrong? If it’s difficult, you don’t have to answer. I was just curious.”

“No, it’s not that…” I said, trailing off.

It’s not because of your question, but because my past came to mind.

‘Actually, this is my third life.’

I wanted to just say it and feel relieved.

But after opening and closing my lips repeatedly, I swallowed the words I was about to say.

“…It’s nothing.”

I didn’t want to expose my clumsy self, stumbling endlessly after failing twice and now facing a third attempt.

‘I still don’t have the courage to show everything.’

I lowered my head. Just then, a shadow fell over me.

Yuri had approached quietly and was now leaning on either side of me, looking down. His voice, echoing in my ears, sounded unusually heavy and somber.

“Titi, are you hiding something from me?”

“Yuri?”

My eyes widened. The backlight cast a shadow, obscuring Yuri’s face, which was frustrating.

“I’ve been completely honest with you, Titi. So why do you always try to hide things from me?”

“Yuri…”

He clearly looked hurt. Having helped me from such a close distance, he must have felt the wall I had built.

I lowered my head and fidgeted with my fingers.

“…I don’t know what to say. It’s too embarrassing, and just bringing it up makes my heart ache.”

However, if my silence was hurting Yuri, I decided I couldn’t remain quiet any longer.

Seeing him hurt was certainly more painful than exposing my own shame.

With a pained smile, I asked, “Do you really want to know?”

Yuri flinched. Then, with eyes full of turmoil, he looked at me and took a step back.

Covering his mouth with his palm as if confused, Yuri slowly shook his head.

“I’m sorry. Memories from the past kept coming back, and I guess I got sensitive without realizing it.”

“Wait!”

I hadn’t intended to make him apologize.

I reached out to grab Yuri, but before my hand could touch him, he turned away.

“I’ll just step out for a bit.”

“Yuri!”

Without giving me a chance to stop him, Yuri disappeared out of the shop.

***

After leaving the house, Yuri didn’t stray far from the shop and perched on the rooftop railing. He had nowhere else to go.

Looking down, he saw Titiana running outside to follow him, only to trudge back inside.

Yuri bit his lip. He felt so despicable for feeling joy at her disappointment and hesitation.

‘How pathetic, Yuri Esrenche.’

Yuri’s life had shone almost annoyingly bright.

As a child, his pretty looks earned him everyone’s affection, and as he grew older, his innate talents attracted people like moths to a flame.

But nothing he possessed seemed to work on Titiana.

‘If she had just asked me to solve her family issues, it could have been handled easily, but she insisted on solving them herself and got hurt…’

The thought of the scar on Titiana’s neck still made his teeth grind.

The person he was most angry with was none other than himself.

For failing to protect her from danger.

Yuri ruffled his hair in frustration.

‘Isn’t it normal to ask a mage for help when you have one around? To ask for favors?’

Everyone Yuri had met so far had done that. But Titiana, though she often thought about it, seemed uninterested in relying on others’ strength.

‘She was only surprised when I dried her hair…’

She listened to all his stories about his siblings but never shared her own.

It felt like she was pushing him away, making him feel desperate and alone in his efforts to get closer.

“Do you really want to know?”

The moment he saw her with that weak smile, it felt like something snapped in his mind.

The guilt of making her wear that expression because of him mingled with an odd sense of happiness.

A sweet desire kept budding in a corner of his heart.

The urge to press her until she revealed every little secret, to hold her completely.

‘It’s a relief it was just a fantasy.’

If he had pushed her further, he would have been no different from those who had made her life difficult.