‘Huff…. Gasp. Why is it so…, phew. Wide? Maybe it feels worse because Ailexia’s stamina is at rock bottom. Whew.’

Iella felt like death. Surely when she got off the carriage and checked the streets, they didn’t seem this vast, but now that she was walking, the area seemed endless. She hadn’t even explored half of it yet. Combined with Ailexia’s stamina that she had overlooked, she was truly on the verge of collapse.

Perhaps instead of doing embroidery during those idle moments, she should have done some exercise to build up stamina.

‘What am I supposed to do with this terrible stamina?’

“Are you tired?”

“Phew, no. Not at all.”

“…Let’s rest over there.”

But she didn’t want to extend her time with Chase. They weren’t in a position to sit face to face and have refreshments together.

Moreover, whether it was the lingering effect of the tea party with the emperor or not, despite their pretty and appetizing appearance, she found herself reluctant to reach for snacks. She also worried about what would happen if they contained peanuts.

But Chase, after looking around, eventually took her into a shop. Without even pretending to listen to her saying she was fine, he secured a good spot in one swift move.

The place exuded an elegant atmosphere, suggesting it was frequented by nobles, and Chase seemed to be recognized.

‘……Well, at least I’ll survive.’

Iella, who had reluctantly sat in the seat he pulled out for her, experienced heaven. In truth, she desperately needed this rest. If she hadn’t been Ailexia, she would have definitely dragged him in first.

Of course, she didn’t relax completely without tension. She merely savored the feeling of the fatigue melting away from her feet and legs internally. The pleasant interior of the shop was just right.

After a while, various desserts were placed on the previously empty table. Eclairs, mousse cake, choux pastry, madeleines, scones…. There were so many that they outnumbered her fingers.

‘No financiers?’

Iella, who had been examining each item, blinked. Among the plate that seemed to have gathered every possible variety, only financiers were missing.

She raised her gaze from the table to look at Chase. He had just tasted a cup of bitter, strongly brewed tea and was setting it down. Suddenly, their eyes met.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah…. Nothing.”

Feeling as if she’d been caught secretly watching him, Iella picked up her teacup, then after a moment’s hesitation, set it back down.

“There are no financiers?”

She hadn’t meant anything particular by it. She just felt like he had deliberately excluded them. However, Chase, perhaps thinking she wanted to eat them, locked eyes with her intently, then with a sigh, called the manager.

“Bring financiers without cream on top, if you have any.”

“Yes.”

After instructing the manager, he looked at her again as if to ask if that was satisfactory. Iella, who hadn’t intended this, considered explaining but simply nodded instead.

She didn’t want to nitpick, knowing that both his initial omission of financiers and his request for ones without cream were all out of consideration for her.

Iella picked up her teacup again and took a sip. The sweet yet refreshing aroma and taste enveloped her.

Surprisingly, the Grand Duke didn’t initiate conversation with her. Like someone who just wanted to spend this time as it was. Thanks to this, Iella also calmed down in the quiet stillness. Unlike in the carriage, which felt like a confined space, this wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.

‘Why did Ailexia hate the Grand Duke?’

Suddenly, a question arose.

Of course, until now, she too had been troubled by his forceful emotions. But thinking about it now, it seemed like she had been constantly running away and trying to escape from him.

What would have been different if she hadn’t just pushed him away like she was doing now?

Chase wasn’t an inconsiderate person. This wasn’t about him escorting her according to etiquette, but rather about his attentiveness to details, like with the financiers just now.

‘It seems like we could communicate well without necessarily being sharp with each other.’

So naturally, she wondered. Why did Ailexia always sharpen her attitude when she saw Chase, and why did she try to avoid even encountering him?

Because he viewed her romantically? But most men in the harem would have felt that way. Above all, wasn’t she treating them in the same manner herself?

The more she learned about Ailexia, the more contradictory and difficult to understand she became.

“Is it not to your taste?”

Just then, Chase asked in a gentle tone.

Iella only then realized that she had been cutting the eclair on her plate into tiny pieces with her fork.

It seemed like after noticing Chase’s consideration, she had naturally judged that nothing would contain peanuts and had been nibbling more than she had in the secondary palace, but she hadn’t realized she was breaking it into such tiny pieces. It was probably due to being lost in thought unconsciously. Embarrassed, Iella put down her fork and after a moment’s contemplation, asked him.

“What memory do you want me to find?”

It was half impulse. The moment she thought that if not now, she might never have such a calm conversation with him again, she spoke.

And half curiosity. What memory made Chase unable to let go of Ailexia, making him stay despite the treatment he received from her?

“If I tell you, there would be no meaning in finding it yourself.”

“Even something small and trivial might help if I hear it.”

“……”

Chase remained silent for a while, as if contemplating. Then, very slowly, he began his story.

“At first, she suddenly appeared before me. It was annoying. An outsider had intruded into my sanctuary, the only place I could be alone. But before I knew it, I found myself waiting. Waiting to the point where I was curious about the name she wouldn’t tell me.”

Name? Suddenly, the vision Iella had seen under the old tree flashed through her mind. At that time, the boy in the vision had asked if she wouldn’t tell him her name.

Very similar to what Chase was saying now.

“She would answer other questions well enough, but she absolutely refused to tell me that. She said she had promised. So I didn’t press further. I feared that if I did, she might not come back, and that would be more regrettable. I thought finding out her name wouldn’t be difficult anyway.”

This was similar too. The boy had also said he wouldn’t ask anymore.

‘Could that boy have been the Grand Duke?’

The thought occurred to her inadvertently. But how could she know about his childhood?

She wondered if being in Ailexia’s body meant she would experience her memories as if they were her own, but then realized that she couldn’t even recall recent memories, so how could she possibly remember very old, forgotten ones?

But increasingly, Chase’s image overlapped with that of the boy.

“Then one day, we made a promise. To go see the lake. She said she had never seen it before.”

A tender smile formed at the corners of his lips. Iella vaguely understood why he had suggested going to the lake after passing through the city.

One person had forgotten the promise, but he wanted to keep it somehow.

“……Shall we go to the lake?”

The words spilled out without passing through her mind first.

It was because she knew that if Ailexia returned, he would never be able to keep that promise and would have to keep it only in his heart.

‘That’s…, too sad.’

Her last moments from her previous life came to mind.

It was when she was saving up for her independence, having refused what Kang Seon’s family had offered to provide. As an adult now, she had enough strength to earn money, so she wanted to at least find a place to live with money she had earned herself.

So she went to work even on her birthday. It wasn’t her usual workday, but when they said they needed a substitute, she readily volunteered. In fact, her birthday, which was the day she entered the orphanage, didn’t hold much meaning for her. Rather than celebrating such a day, earning money quickly seemed better.

But it wasn’t the same for Kang Seon and his family. More precisely, Kang Seon would have strongly insisted as usual.

Because he always wanted to celebrate her birthday somehow. Especially on that day, he had tried to stop her from going to work until the very last moment. She clearly remembered that she was only able to leave after repeatedly promising to return early.

But that promise was never kept. There were no memories from her previous life after that.

‘Why do I keep seeing myself in these people?’

At this point, she wondered if remembering her previous life was meant for this purpose. Seeing herself in Allen, in the Grand Duke, her heart kept softening.

Even though she knew she should act as Ailexia, when she came to her senses, she found herself acting as her original self.

‘Is it like vicarious satisfaction?’

In the end, she decided to think of it that way. To think of it as doing things for her past self that she couldn’t do or fulfill then. Because there were moments when Seo Ira from that time wished someone would be by her side, and there were promises she wanted to keep.

“Your Grace, a moment….”

However, despite Iella’s determination, the lake outing for the two didn’t happen that day.

Because one of Chase’s knights urgently delivered something to him.

* * *

“I’ll take you back to the imperial palace.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Iella pushed Chase, who was standing firm in front of the carriage, inside. After hearing what the knight had to say, Chase had contemplated for a long time, but at the knight’s voice urging him, he finally reluctantly promised to meet again next time.

And now, seemingly very concerned about leaving her alone and departing first, he kept insisting on taking her back.

‘This is a golden opportunity to explore alone, I can’t miss it.’

Iella adamantly refused.

The sentimental moment had already ended. It had dispersed without being fulfilled. She faced reality again.

‘If we had gone to the lake as planned, it might have been disastrous.’

Sometimes emotions are this frightening. The atmosphere that doubles those emotions was also a very frightening thing. Even now, the man who always seemed scary and mountain-like to her looked like a dog who didn’t want to go home after a walk, which was problematic in itself.

“Go.”

When she finally spoke firmly, Chase got into the carriage. Iella sighed as she watched the carriage disappear into the distance. Still, he had given her a bundle of money to take the best carriage back. She had no worries about returning.

Rather, the problem was that he had given her so much money that she could walk into a dress shop right now and buy a dress.

‘This is why people think of him as a sugar daddy.’

Iella, who had sighed, soon turned around. Thanks to the brief rest, her stamina had recovered enough to walk a bit more. She planned to explore just a few more places without overdoing it.

It was when she paused to decide which direction to go.

As she casually looked around, her eyes caught sight of someone.

In the sunlight, long hair sparkled like the Milky Way.

‘Ailexia?!’

It was her own body, which she had thought would be in the northwestern forest.