Roina opened the desk drawers in order, making sure not to make any noise.

However, for some reason, there was nothing inside the drawers.

“Is there really nothing?”

Just as she was about to close the drawers with a slight sigh of disappointment, something caught in the drawer prevented it from closing properly.

She opened the last drawer again.

“……!”

Soon after, she discovered a thin notebook hidden inside.

‘What… is this?’

Knock knock—.

“Are you still not finished.”

At Conrad’s deep voice, Roina hurriedly hid the notebook inside her garment. Then she tried to stand up as if nothing had happened.

“No. I’ve finished looking—.”

At that moment, she staggered from a sudden sharp pain and touched her forehead.

For some reason, her heart was racing dangerously, and she couldn’t escape the strange sense of déjà vu coming from her surroundings.

‘Why am I suddenly like this?’

In that moment, she seemed to hear a ringing in her ears, and the hazy fragments of memory gradually began to appear clearly.

“Roina, Roina!”

“……”

“Please… come to your senses.”

Roina shuddered as she recalled the face of the person who had desperately called her name when she collapsed.

‘Why are you…?’

Bang—.

As she sank to the floor with a short groan, Conrad, who had opened the door and entered, approached with quick steps.

“Are you unwell somewhere?”

‘Why were you…’

The question of why he had looked at her with such desperate eyes lingered on her lips.

Roina barely shook her head.

“I’m fine.”

“Then what—.”

“Conrad, that day… was it you who found me?”

When she clutched his clothes with tear-filled eyes, the man’s face instantly hardened.

“You, have your memories returned?”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Roina, who had lost consciousness, returned to the duke’s residence with Conrad’s support.

After receiving a brief examination from the physician, she took painkillers and fell into a long sleep.

How much time had passed? Lifting her heavy eyelids, Roina blinked slowly with a dazed mind.

Night had fallen, and everything around her was shrouded in darkness.

As her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, she tried to rise from the bed.

“Are you awake now?”

“……!”

Roina’s eyes widened like lanterns when she discovered the man sitting on the sofa.

Conrad, who had been quietly watching her, raised an eyebrow. Then he spoke in an extremely dry voice.

“If you were going to collapse like this, why did you insist on going there.”

At the man’s question that seemed to reproach her, Roina’s heart sank.

Nevertheless, she tried to appear unaffected and answered with an expressionless face.

“I’ve caused you trouble. I won’t bother you again next time.”

Yet there was something she wanted to confirm. She might not get another chance if not now.

Roina moved her lips and finally managed to speak.

“I think my memories have returned.”

“…All of them?”

Her memories were already gradually returning, but she decided to hide this fact from him.

She didn’t want to bring up anything related to Daphne.

“Not all… just the moment I collapsed, when you called my name.”

At those words, Conrad’s expression hardened briefly, but he spoke in a calm voice as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, I was the one who found you in the cabin that day.”

“……!”

“You lost consciousness, so I merely called your name.”

It was such a typical answer from him, but Roina’s heart sank.

Conrad, who had been staring at her intently, soon casually asked a question.

“Are you… feeling alright?”

“……!”

‘Is this man worried about me right now?’

No, that couldn’t be.

With her heart racing rapidly, Roina tightly clasped her hands hidden under the blanket to hide this.

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Nevertheless, this moment felt exactly like facing him from the past, making her eyes sting.

Even if she couldn’t restore their relationship, she wanted to correct the wrongful situations.

‘This is the only way I can atone to Conrad.’

Thinking of her father who had committed evil acts by any means necessary, Roina felt as if she couldn’t breathe.

When she first heard about the incident involving the previous Duke Asheter years ago, she hadn’t taken it so seriously.

She had only been interested in what was publicly revealed.

Perhaps it was natural. At that time, the marquis wouldn’t allow Roina to take interest in current affairs or politics.

When it was later revealed that Asheter had made an unfair contract with Würetti, she learned about the darker side of her family.

‘Back then, I was too busy turning away from my own ignorance.’

Roina tried to correct the wrongs belatedly, but it was beyond her power.

After persuasion from her people, she finally decided to report her father’s *buse.

But the more she tried to do something, the more they suffered.

That’s why she couldn’t stop her father even while knowing something was wrong.

She had to pretend not to see or hear the things happening in the Würetti household.

In that suffocating daily routine, she met Conrad.

A man who she thought might become the salvation of her life.

‘No matter what you think of me, I just… want to be helpful to you.’

While Roina was deeply immersed in thought, Conrad raised one eyebrow and said.

“You still don’t seem to be in good condition.”

“Yes, I thought I was fine, but I guess not.”

Feeling her heart suddenly ache, Roina erased the bitter smile that had spread across her face.

‘You were always a kind person.’

As she habitually bit her lower lip in distress, she tasted the metallic flavor of blood, suggesting her lip had cracked.

The man, unaware of her inner turmoil, seemed about to leave.

“Then rest now.”

Roina’s gaze, fixed on the place Conrad had left, gradually grew cold.

Perhaps it was time to end the unrequited love she had carried for so long.

Though she tried to dismiss it as an old emotion, it remained.

Rising from the bed, Roina carefully examined the notebook she had brought from the cabin.

Judging from the familiar and neat handwriting, it was definitely hers.

Swallowing hard, she turned the pages of the notebook with trembling hands.

On the first page, there were only two or three lines written.

The closer I get to the truth, the more I feel like I’m falling apart.

If I disappear, perhaps it could be resolved?

The writing, revealing an anxious state of mind, resembled that of someone secretly harboring a secret.

What kind of issue would be resolved by one’s disappearance?

“What does this even mean…?”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Several days passed as she gradually recovered her memories.

Roina requested a meeting with her brother Bleon, and before his reply arrived, she prepared to go out.

Her destination was a small art studio located in the outskirts of the capital.

With moldings creating an antique atmosphere and wooden floors that creaked with each step.

In the studio filled with canvases, a man was painting an oil painting.

Although he might have been surprised by Roina’s unannounced visit, Bleon showed clear signs of delight.

As if he had expected her to visit.

“It’s been a while, my sister.”

He put down the palette and brush he was holding and gave her a friendly smile.

Roina, who had countless questions, wanted to confirm directly with her brother.

“Yes, it seems you knew I would stop by.”

“Of course. We’re the only ones who can understand each other.”

Since Bleon had occasionally made cryptic remarks since childhood, she lightly dismissed it.

Then, taking a seat across from him, she said.

“There’s something I want to confirm with you.”

“What is it?”

Bleon kindly asked, just as he used to listen to his sister’s worries when they were young.

Roina hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

“You know about the deal related to my marriage, don’t you?”

“Well, I heard some of it from Father.”

When Bleon nodded without hesitation, she asked with a somewhat forceful voice.

“What exactly does Father want?”