Melissa barely parted her stiff lips to call the owner of that voice.

“……Edgar.”

Sparkling blue eyes. The soft black hair that always revealed his distinctive presence. Just as when she had last faced him in the temple prison, Edgar was always dazzlingly beautiful.

Even on that day when he appeared as a hallucination before her eyes as she rolled in the mud and threw herself into the pond.

‘That’s right. It was before Edgar left.’

She had been so preoccupied with the thought of getting a new chance that she hadn’t considered it.

Melissa swallowed hard against the complex emotions washing over her. Her limbs trembled with tension. It was difficult even to stand properly.

When she lowered her head, she saw her nails, which she had unknowingly bitten. She was also breathing heavily from running in a hurry.

In contrast, Edgar Shortiras looked absolutely perfect.

Anyone could see he was a talent who had recently been scouted as the next Tower Master of the Magic Tower. Standing before Edgar in such a disheveled state made her feel somehow insignificant.

‘……I want to run away.’

Melissa fiddled with the tips of her badly damaged fingernails.

Come to think of it, Edgar Shortiras was someone who could never be with her from the beginning.

Was he not the only son of the Shortiras ducal family, whom even the Emperor was cautious around, and the person who would become the master of the great Magic Tower?

In contrast, Melissa was someone who would be used all her life for a power that wasn’t truly hers, only to be discarded in the end.

A fool who didn’t realize this until right before her death.

Looking at each detail, the comparison became clear.

Yes, this was the truth. Melissa finally accepted the fact she had denied for a very long time.

[We were never a good match to begin with.]

Edgar had been right.

Edgar Shortiras and Melissa Lucid were not compatible.

Realizing this made her past life, where she had trusted him completely, seem incredibly foolish. Why had she spent her time looking only at one person until the moment of her death? Had she been under some spell?

In the end, she would have been abandoned anyway.

‘I was truly a fool.’

Since when had Edgar been deceiving her?

They had been together since the moment she was born.

Therefore, Melissa thought he couldn’t have been that way from the beginning.

Above all, wasn’t it too cunning and terrible an action for a young child who hadn’t even mastered the imperial language to devise and implement on his own? Even if someone had ordered him to do so.

Then perhaps it was when he heard about the magical contract?

That seemed quite possible.

Thinking about it, it was always Melissa, not Edgar, who approached first and expressed affection. When he suddenly confessed and proposed engagement before leaving for the Magic Tower, she should have found it strange.

‘I never dreamed it was to bind me to the Shortiras ducal family.’

Melissa’s heart turned ice-cold in an instant.

This wasn’t the time for such thoughts. Edgar wasn’t what she needed to focus on right now.

‘I should quickly find someone who can help me.’

“Let me pass.”

Melissa tried to walk past Edgar.

Or more precisely, she tried to. She would have if Edgar hadn’t suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Edgar asked.

When she turned her head, she saw his face had turned pale. His blue eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

Like Melissa behaving this way was something inconceivable.

‘What? Why is he suddenly acting like this?’

Melissa’s body stiffened at the unexpected situation.

Edgar was acting strange.

Melissa remembered very clearly how Edgar had behaved in her previous life. On the day of her mother’s funeral, he had briefly shown his face at the beginning of the ceremony and then disappeared until all procedures were completed.

His reason was that he needed to prepare for the Magic Tower.

Back then, enchanted by his proposal, she had deliberately hidden her disappointment, but not anymore. She now knew what Edgar’s true intentions were.

‘But what’s with those eyes?’

They looked like he was genuinely worried about her.

With this strange feeling, Melissa kept her mouth shut, and Edgar frowned as if something displeased him.

Over that expression, she saw the face from the prison before her death.

The face with a hint of laughter that had asked what ancient matter she was talking about and told her to go do her job.

“……Let go. I’m going to see my mother.”

Melissa applied force to free her hand from Edgar’s grip. She didn’t want to stay in front of him anymore. Just being here was painful, and made her feel like crying.

She never had any intention of seeking revenge.

She had spent her entire life thinking only of Edgar.

Believing he would save her, that with his warm hands and smile, everything would be resolved. For Melissa, who had no one by her side, that was all she had to rely on.

But what had been the result of that foolish belief?

Just thinking about it brought back the painful memory of her death.

She didn’t want to experience such a miserable end again.

She wanted to distance herself from the person before her who had brought about that outcome.

For Melissa, it would be enough if she could just sever this persistent connection.

The problem was that Edgar was not cooperating at all.

“I won’t let go until you tell me what’s going on. Your face is completely pale right now.”

He said in a deeper voice.

Melissa’s body flinched.

Edgar’s blue eyes were uncharacteristically persistent. That gaze seemed to say he knew exactly what Melissa was planning to do.

“Isn’t that normal? Don’t you know what day it is?”

Finally, Melissa answered while avoiding his gaze.

The grip on her wrist tightened to the point of slight pain.

“Don’t lie. That’s not the reason.”

“What lie am I telling?”

“I know you well, Melissa. There’s clearly another problem. You can tell me. I’ll help you.”

“……”

“I promised I would always protect you.”

Melissa almost screamed at that moment.

The expression she had been carefully maintaining crumbled. Her entire body began to tremble like an aspen tree.

How could he say such words so casually? How could he say he would always protect her so easily? He acted as if he had completely forgotten those words after just a few years.

“……Lies.”

They were all lies.

Melissa looked down at her arm.

On her arm was a scar from when she had saved Edgar years ago when his magic went berserk. She feared that, like those vivid marks that would probably never fade, this life too might be unchangeable.

After experiencing such things, she was terrified of her heart that still raced for Edgar, of herself unconsciously hoping that maybe his words now were sincere.

Melissa frantically shook her arm while breaking into a cold sweat.

Her vision turned white.

“Melissa!”

Edgar shouted, but she could hardly hear him.

I need to escape. I need to get away from here.

That thought alone circled in her mind.

Just as she was trying to free her captured arm,

Someone spoke, cutting through the heavy atmosphere.

“Young Master Shortiras.”

The voice was neither loud nor high.

When Melissa turned her head, she saw a boy about her age standing there. His light blonde hair with slight curls sparkled as it reflected the sunlight.

In the Artzen Empire, there was only one person with such an appearance who could speak informally to Edgar.

“……Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Edgar replied with a contorted face.

Regardless, the Crown Prince approached without hesitation.

“I understand you’re worried about Lady Lucid, but you shouldn’t be so forceful. The lady is in a difficult situation right now. She doesn’t look well at all.”

The Crown Prince’s gaze shifted to Edgar’s hand, which was tightly gripping Melissa’s wrist. Edgar sighed deeply and slowly released his hand.

Only then did the Crown Prince look at Melissa with satisfaction and quietly ask.

“Are you alright?”

The words were unfamiliar and kind, almost hard to believe they were directed at Melissa. In those green eyes looking at her was an emotion she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

Something she had always carried alone and never received in return.

‘This person……’

He’s worried about me.

I can escape from this place. I can run away.

Melissa’s trembling body stabilized somewhat.

Perhaps this person……

‘He might be able to help me.’

With that thought, Melissa’s vision darkened, and her body tilted to one side. Her strength gave out as the tension eased somewhat.

Feeling small arms urgently wrapping around her shoulders amid surprised voices, she closed her eyes.

After that, everything went black.

* * *

Lloyd Helia Artzen.

The Crown Prince of the ancient Artzen Empire blinked at the unexpected situation.

‘What is this……’

Lloyd had been attending the funeral of the previous Lucid on behalf of the Artzen imperial family.

He had only headed in this direction because he heard raised voices while mourning the deceased, but he never expected to encounter such a situation.

‘She did look unwell.’

Lloyd lowered his head to look at the small figure in his arms. The beautiful eyes he had noticed at first glance were tightly closed, and the brilliantly shining silver hair hung limply.

Had she collapsed from exhaustion after crying over her mother’s death?