After a moment’s hesitation, Leonhardt glanced once toward the waiting room door and then secretly slipped out through a first-floor window.

He headed toward the gazebo on the hill.

‘Just as I thought!’

In the distance, the wind blowing from the lake and plains gently rustled the rose-gold hair of someone sitting in the gazebo.

Though the gazebo was still quite far away, Leonhardt could recognize her at a glance.

He ran up the hill.

Daphne was sitting facing the lake and plains, reading a book. Leonhardt approached from behind with both excitement and fear.

“Daphne!”

Though he called her name, she didn’t turn around and spoke as if talking to herself.

“I’ll have to fire that maid.”

Her tone was so cold it was hard to believe she was his childhood friend and fiancée.

“Daphne, what do you mean?”

“I instructed her to say I couldn’t meet visitors, but she didn’t follow through. She deserves punishment. Don’t you agree, Young Duke?”

Leonhardt hesitated briefly before moving closer to her.

“The maid did nothing wrong. I snuck out because I missed you so much.”

“Then I’ll have to replace all the guards on duty. If they can’t catch an ordinary person wandering around freely, not even an assassin, they’re clearly incompetent.”

Of course, the guards had seen Leonhardt walking around. Their looks weren’t friendly, but he acted so naturally they didn’t think he was wandering without permission.

Leonhardt’s eyebrows drooped with guilt.

“Daphne, don’t be like this. Be angry with me.”

He approached her side and knelt on one knee.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind.”

But she continued reading her book, not even looking at him.

“Daphne, it’s hard to believe, but I think I was enchanted by something. Please don’t think this is just a flimsy excuse and listen to me until the end.”

Only then did Daphne calmly turn a page in her book and respond.

“I understand.”

“What?”

He couldn’t believe she acknowledged it so readily.

Leonhardt stared at her, wondering what was happening. Then suddenly, the book’s title caught his eye.

〈Types of Magic Stones Classified by Color〉

Leonhardt’s eyes widened.

“Daphne, you knew about this too?”

“Yes.”

Despite his excited question, her answer was tersely dry. Leonhardt’s voice dropped.

“How did you know?”

Daphne abruptly closed the book she was reading and looked straight at him. Unlike Leonhardt’s wildly shaking eyes, her purple eyes appeared deep and calm.

“What about you, Young Duke?”

“Daphne, don’t change the subject……”

When he spoke with some agitation, Daphne raised her hand to cut him off.

“I’ll be the one asking questions.”

Leonhardt stared at her.

“Daphne……”

She had seemed unfamiliar since the day he confessed his love for Anaïs, but now there was an aura about her that made her unapproachable. She felt like someone too difficult to deal with.

Daphne questioned Leonhardt as if addressing a subordinate.

“If you want to have a proper conversation with me from now on, fix your form of address first. And drop that friendly tone.”

“Daphne!”

When Leonhardt called her name in protest, she stood up from her seat. She looked ready to leave, so Leonhardt grabbed her arm.

“Let go.”

Her icy demeanor made Leonhardt release her arm reflexively.

Leonhardt had no choice. She possessed the clue that could save him. He spoke with a cracking voice.

“Ah, understood, Lady Armin. I’ll change as you wish.”

Only after Leonhardt corrected his manner of speech did Daphne sit down again.

Though she was looking up at him as he still stood, her gaze and expression were those of a master addressing a slave.

“Then Young Duke, I’ll ask again. How did you know it was because of the magic stone?”

Leonhardt let out a short, bitter sigh and explained carefully.

“Something felt strange from the moment Anaïs gave me the cuffs. I didn’t realize it then, but gradually my heart leaned toward her, and I was filled with thoughts of wanting to please her somehow.”

“So you secretly courted that woman behind my back, went to great lengths to have a dress made, and even committed the act of appearing with her at the ball?”

And that wasn’t all.

‘In my past life, you stood by and watched, then tried to make me your mistress, ultimately driving me to a cliff.’

The Leonhardt before her now hadn’t done that yet. But there was no guarantee he wouldn’t if left unchecked. Even now, he had snuck all the way here.

And in this life, Daphne had no intention of showing mercy to her enemies.

Weeds never change. If left alone, they would quickly cover the field and swallow her whole.

“Lady Armin, I’m truly sorry.”

“When did you realize something was wrong with you?”

Daphne ignored his pathetic apology and asked another question.

“It was when I stood before Her Majesty. Anaïs’s necklace suddenly split and turned into a stone. From that moment, the fog in my mind began to clear, and my sense of reality gradually returned. When I got home, I found that the cuffs Anaïs had given me had also changed. As time passed and my mind became clearer, I grew suspicious.”

He sighed softly and concluded:

“I know that yellow-tinted magic stones can make people feel somewhat comfortable, but I couldn’t find any more records about orange ones… It’s hard to prove.”

“I have a way.”

Leonhardt was so surprised by Daphne’s words that he held his breath.

“I can prove it for you. But there’s a condition.”

After a moment of silence, Leonhardt slowly shook his head.

“Lady, please not that……”

Though she hadn’t yet made her request, he immediately guessed what it was. Since the day he confessed about Anaïs, there was only one thing she had consistently wanted.

“I absolutely cannot break off our engagement.”

But Daphne just stared at him steadily without any reaction. Leonhardt hoped she would say “What are you talking about? Don’t misunderstand,” but those luscious lips remained firmly closed.

Leonhardt spoke firmly.

“Daphne, we are one. It’s fate.”

“If your words were true, it wouldn’t have broken.”

“I wasn’t in my right mind. You know that.”

“What does that matter?”

Leonhardt couldn’t respond to Daphne’s retort.

She rose from her seat again and said:

“I’m the one who was hurt. I’ve already been wounded and I’m in pain.”

When Leonhardt couldn’t refute any further, Daphne continued:

“My dignity has fallen to the ground. People may now call me a lady who handled it gracefully, but in the end, I’m the one who was abandoned, and you’ll be the one who wasn’t in his right mind. If we stay together, we’ll only look ridiculous.”

“Daphne, what can I do?”

“Nothing can turn back time.”

“But this is too sudden.”

“Sudden…… Do you think I was always satisfied and getting along well, then suddenly turned away? No.”

She shook her head.

“I’ve been enduring all this time, and I finally realized how foolish it was. I concluded that I couldn’t take it anymore. There’s no use giving you one more chance when you keep pushing and deluding yourself. You’ll just catch your breath and continue as before.”

“That’s absolutely not true. I’ll do better from now on.”

“You were the one who was comfortable in our relationship. Someone who has tasted comfort will eventually return to their old ways.”

Human relationships were always like that. Daphne had seen too many such cases throughout her two lifetimes.

“I know you’re anxious, but give me one more chance.”

If Daphne were to accept him again, it would be because of the hope that “we’ll be different from others.”

But when the time came, Daphne would go through life-threatening experiences due to pregnancy and childbirth, and Leonhardt would say it was something most women experience and she was being too sensitive.

And then he would want to experience firsthand how “most women” weren’t being sensitive.

“The first time is difficult, but from the second time on, it gets easier and easier. You’ll keep looking elsewhere, and whenever I catch you, you’ll ask for another chance for the sake of our family or children.”

Eventually, he wouldn’t even say that much, and she would be too exhausted to do anything but live with it.

In her previous life, she couldn’t open her heart again to a fiancé who had done even worse things. Daphne wasn’t that stupid.

Unlike Daphne, who remembered the catastrophe from then, Leonhardt, who knew nothing, shed tears.

“Ah, please…… Daphne.”

For twenty years, everything had revolved around him. So he didn’t know that once you turn away from even the most precious relationship, it’s over.

With trembling hands, he grabbed the sleeve of Daphne as she turned to leave. It was a very feeble grip, but for the first time in his life, it contained genuine sincerity.

But his sincerity failed to stir any emotion in Daphne.

“Since it’s going to happen anyway, stay put. Then I’ll give you this book as evidence that the magic stone Anaïs gave you had an influence.”