“I’ll still need to wait a bit longer, but once I receive my title, I won’t have to go to the battlefield for months like before. I could work in the capital, and even with a low title, I could apply to be an official like other nobles.”

Though she had praised him for seeming all grown up, Olivia found her younger brother truly admirable and impressive for achieving so much in just four years. She had always thought of him as a child she needed to protect, but he had grown up on his own and was now moving toward a broader world, having seen more places than she had.

“Actually, my desire for a title and to earn a lot of money wasn’t because I dreamed of some grand future. I just wanted to live with you in a better, safer place, prosperously and happily.”

A peaceful daily life that might seem ordinary and boring to some. To achieve this unremarkable daily life with Olivia, Lime had cut down countless lives on battlefields and endured death, and now stood at the starting point of that future.

“When you eventually leave the mansion and become free, come with me then. Instead of staying in that small village, we can travel to many different places, meet various people…… That way, you could learn about animals you don’t know yet or new treatment methods. Wouldn’t that be good?”

The future Lime painted certainly looked wonderful and fulfilling. She wouldn’t have to live alone in a cabin anymore, and perhaps it would be an opportunity to grow into an even more amazing person than she was now. She recalled the emotion she felt when she first saw the sea. Probably many more overwhelming experiences awaited in the future. Lime’s proposal seemed very sweet and bright, but Olivia gave no answer.

Because walking toward that brilliant future with Lime’s hand would mean her time at Alois’s mansion had ended.

“But I don’t know when I’ll repay the debt, and I don’t know how to break Alois’s curse……”

“Did the duke ask you to break his curse?”

“No, but……”

Again, Lime was right. While Olivia worried about Alois suffering from the curse and wished there was a way to help him, Alois had never asked her to stay with him. All her encouragement—hoping the duke would no longer suffer from the curse, hoping he would be happy, hoping he would overcome his wounds and move forward—was only what Olivia had offered to him, not Alois’s answer.

She already knew this, but going over it again made her suddenly curious. In Alois’s present, or future, would she be by his side? Being at Alois’s side had become so natural to her that just imagining its end made her heart shudder. But what about him…… As Olivia naturally began to imagine a future with Alois, Lime once again cut her thoughts short, forcibly bringing her back before him.

“It doesn’t matter when you leave that mansion. I can wait. Waiting for that day doesn’t seem so difficult. Remember how we used to imagine things when we were young? That we’d buy a house with a wide yard and a pretty blue roof when we grew up. Wouldn’t each day be exciting if I prepared for those dreams while waiting?”

“Lime.”

Leaning his back against the terrace railing, Lime looked up at the sky. Though he could feel fireworks blooming behind him, he searched for stars shining in the pitch-black night sky instead. He playfully swung their joined hands back and forth excitedly, like when they were children.

“Do you know why I refused when you asked me to call you by a nickname before?”

“No. Why did you?”

“Because Olivia and Lime seemed like one set, and I liked our names. They reminded me of our home. A house full of olive and lime trees. Every time I called your name, I felt reassured that we could always be together.”

Both Olivia and Lime had been abandoned by their parents before they could form their identities. Since the first thing they learned in life was abandonment, they always lived with the fear of loss. Though their wounds had mostly healed after meeting a loving mother, Lime still greatly appreciated having a name that made it obvious to anyone that he and Olivia were family.

“You don’t have to decide right now. Think about it slowly. I still have some time left before receiving my title, and your debt probably won’t be cleared quickly either.”

“Ah, haha, that’s… right?”

“Yes. The duke seems to value you quite, no, find you useful.”

Can that look in his eyes be one of usefulness? Though he was aware his word choice was somewhat petty, Lime didn’t correct himself. Even if it seemed mean, he was fine being narrow-minded if it meant downplaying his feelings even slightly.

Lime placed a cherry into Olivia’s contemplative mouth and pressed his finger against the wrinkles between her brows to smooth them out. As he changed the subject to something more comfortable, telling her to think slowly, Olivia leaned against his arm in relief. Their conversation flowed through the long night, from childhood stories to tales of the days they spent apart.

And behind the curtain covering the balcony window, a shadow that had faintly approached slowly retreated again.

* * *

The night bestowed silence equally upon the resort that had been so bustling during the day. Though they needed to leave early in the morning to catch the train, Alois couldn’t fall asleep easily and sat on the living room sofa after leaving the bedroom. Having been lying down all day due to his poor physical condition, he found his mind becoming increasingly clear during this time when everyone else slept. The breeze gently coming through the slightly opened balcony window felt quite refreshing, perhaps because his fever hadn’t completely subsided.

He took out his pocket watch to check the time. The second hand moved relentlessly forward at a constant pace, never waiting for Alois even if he did nothing.

“I feel like a fool.”

Previously, he had felt at ease because he had no expectations for life. He lived without even knowing whether a day had already passed or whether it was autumn or winter, simply waiting in the mansion for an end that would someday come, only thinking about enduring the occasional heat cycles that visited him.

But since meeting Olivia, new worries had gradually accumulated in Alois’s mind. And all those worries ultimately led back to her.

‘When you eventually leave the mansion and become free, come with me then.’

He had heard words he didn’t need to hear. Should he think it fortunate that he heard them rather than remaining ignorant? Alois recalled the conversation between Olivia and Lime that he had accidentally overheard, raising the corners of his mouth self-deprecatingly.

When you leave the mansion and become free…… Though the words bothered him every time he recalled them, what irritated Alois more was that he couldn’t refute them. He himself had burdened Olivia with debt to keep her in the mansion, and the mansion was indeed a prison that suppressed her freedom. It wasn’t long ago that he had naturally considered her his possession and feared she might run away, so he couldn’t deny that theirs was an oppressive relationship.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

His past self probably wouldn’t have cared. He didn’t believe in relationships with others anyway and would have been satisfied simply possessing her, as long as she stayed obediently in his grasp. But why did those words bother him so much now?

He had often been bothered by the way Lime looked at Olivia. But until now, he had felt nothing about Lime himself as a person. If Lime is not connected to Olivia, he would have been a meaningless person who stirred no emotion in Alois.

But for the first time, Alois felt intense inferiority toward Lime. He envied his life and time, which allowed him to proudly tell Olivia he would give her a wider world and more experiences. A relationship where he could naturally stand beside her without desperately trying to possess her.

“How much longer can I keep her……”

He wasn’t confident in how much longer he could keep her using debt as an excuse. He already knew that the value of what Olivia had done while staying at the mansion—treating animals and helping him not go berserk during his heat cycles—had already exceeded the value of the linthes flower. Perhaps Olivia knew this too.

But both of them avoided mentioning it, covering their eyes as if much time remained. Because they hadn’t decided what form their relationship would take after it ended. But today, with the new path toward the future that Lime had offered Olivia, Alois had an intuition that the expiration date of their foolish pretense wouldn’t last much longer.

“Perhaps it’s time for a new change.”

His heart pounded anxiously. Anxiety shook his heart before excitement. Though the temptation to continue living in the current peaceful moment felt sweeter, making it difficult to move hastily, Alois nevertheless recognized the need for change.

After folding and sending away his heavy thoughts one by one in the gentle breeze, Alois closed the balcony door and returned to the bedroom. Since today was Alois and Olivia’s turn to use the large bed, only Olivia slept soundly in the spacious room, waiting for him. She lay on her side facing his spot, curled up into a ball. Her disheveled hair on the pillow covered her fair face. Alois carefully removed the veil hiding her face.

“Will I be able to let you go with my own hands?”

Though he mentally understood that to change something, to build a new relationship, he first needed to know how to release his forceful possessiveness toward her, Alois still lacked confidence.