“Lottie… Bartram, you…?”

“You claim to love her, yet you can’t even recognize your fiancée?”

Olivia’s words cut sharply as she addressed Gael.

“Did you really think a woman nearing childbirth could make it all the way here? You only ever thought about keeping Ronae by your side, never once considering her health or condition, did you?”

Gael’s gaze wandered aimlessly. If Ronae wasn’t here, then why had he come?

“I… I…”

“You had so many chances to turn back. You could have lived a normal life, harming no one, forgiving and being forgiven.”

Olivia looked down at the dying Gael.

“But you chose not to. That’s on you. Now, it’s time for you to take responsibility, Gael Abyss.”

For someone who had spent his life blaming others, it was difficult for Gael to accept his own mistakes. As the sole heir of the Abyss family, he had been taught by his parents never to bow his head to anyone.

A noble had to walk with pride, and if ever caught in a mistake, they were to shamelessly claim, “I am entitled to do so.”

“So you have no one to blame but yourself. It’s time to pay the price, Gael Abyss.”

So when Olivia spoke these words, Gael couldn’t accept them. Instead, he thought she was spouting nonsense.

“Enough… I’m in too much pain. Get me some painkillers… I’m going to die.”

His tendency to avoid the situation dulled his sense of reality. Gael desperately reached out into the empty air, but no one was there to take his hand.

“It hurts so much! I… the Count of Abyss has collapsed. Why isn’t anyone coming to help me?”

Gael clutched his abdomen and lay on his back. The sunlight pierced his eyes, making his already blurry vision even more clouded.

“Ronae? Ronae, are you there? What kind of crazy woman wouldn’t come help her fiancé when he’s collapsed?”

He kept rambling, forgetting that the person he was calling for wasn’t Ronae but Lottie.

“Have you forgotten that I rebuilt the crumbling Bartram family? Who saved the family your incompetent father nearly destroyed? If you hadn’t betrayed me, you and your child could have lived well for the rest of your lives!”

Something else inside him must have broken, for blood welled up again, and Gael spat it out crudely onto the ground.

“Ungrateful scum! You’ve all been in it together from the start, haven’t you? Even the Emperor tricked me, didn’t he? You’re the ones who should be in agony, not me! You’re the ones who should be burning in hell!”

Olivia clicked her tongue in disbelief, “A lot of words for someone who claims to be in pain.” But Gael paid no mind.

“I’m innocent! I… I did it all for ‘us.’ Olivia Charbert should have died!”

Who ‘us’ referred to was unclear, but it was enough to ignite Marsden’s fury. He approached Gael with murderous intent, but Olivia caught his hand, stopping him.

“Let him be. He’s practically confessing now, and it’s better that the others hear it.”

Olivia glanced behind her, where Celeste and the Imperial Knights, who had been notified beforehand, stood. They were observing Gael’s display under Celeste’s orders. Olivia, wanting to draw out more of Gael’s confession, provoked him further.

“It’s laughable, really. So others are allowed to suffer, but you’re not?”

“I just… I just wanted something.”

“What? Surely it wasn’t me? You don’t kill what you want to keep.”

Gael let out a bitter laugh at Olivia’s deduction.

“I was planning to bring everything back… to the time when you loved me. Even if that love was just a pretense…”

Gael’s chest heaved heavily, as if even breathing had become difficult.

“If you had your memories, I planned to erase them. If you didn’t, I would watch to ensure they never returned…”

“So that’s why you sought me out as soon as I returned? To see if I had my memories?”

It was almost laughable. If she had known, she would have smashed his head instead of just striking him down.

“Looking back, you always were strange. Well, I knew you were odd, but there was something… artificial about you. When I first came back, you were openly vile, but afterward, you started acting all fake, making me sick. You were trying to see if I remembered, weren’t you?”

The fact that Olivia had changed so drastically must have been Gael’s biggest hurdle.

“Yes, you weren’t the Olivia I knew. You were so different… even if you were from another world, you were completely different…”

“No, you don’t get it.”

Olivia coldly interrupted Gael.

“Even if I didn’t have my memories as Olivia in that world, I was always there in my heart. I can be sure of that. I was still me in that world, and I’m still me in this world. It’s just that I’ve been painted in different colors.”

Marsden had noticed this. He was the only one who never asked why she had changed so much and who accepted her as she was.

‘Well, he did have a bit of an advantage since he was the one who brought me back to life.’

As Olivia shot an unresentful glance at Marsden, he blinked in confusion, making him look adorably lost. It was hopeless—everything about him seemed endearing.

“Well, I think that’s enough conversation. I won’t say ‘take care,’ but I do hope you suffer and die miserably!” Olivia chirped with a bright tone as she turned to leave.

Gael reached out his hand. “You think I can’t kill you again…?”

But before he could finish, Celeste swiftly stepped in, grabbing Gael’s hand and twisting it behind his back to cuff him.

“The Abyss family ends here. This will make for an interesting chapter in history.”

Celeste hoisted Gael to his feet and roughly handed him over to the knights, who dragged him away as he continued to shout pathetically.

“Ronae! Ronae… save me. Olivia… Olivia, I can explain everything. There were reasons, special reasons why I did everything to you all…”

Gael couldn’t finish his sentence. The knights unceremoniously threw him into a prison carriage. Olivia watched the scene without looking away.

She should have felt a sense of relief, as if she had just downed a refreshing drink, but instead, there was only a heavy emptiness. Too many people had been hurt and suffered on this journey. Bay had died because of Gael’s evil deeds, and Olivia knew she would never forget this tragedy.

“It’s over, Olivia.”

Marsden wrapped his arms around Olivia, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“You did well.”

Olivia knew that Marsden had placed flowers on Bay’s grave earlier that morning. Not knowing what kind of flowers Bay liked, he had brought a variety of beautiful blooms, which Olivia had wholeheartedly supported.

Olivia thanked Lottie for her efforts as well, embracing her in a comforting hug. Lottie, who had once been so dignified, cried more than anyone.

After sending Lottie to the palace with Celeste, Olivia and Marsden returned to the duchy. They expressed their gratitude to Ricardo as well, then finally retreated to their bedroom to rest.

“Ah!? Today?”

But their brief moment of peace was abruptly shattered just a few hours later. The palace had sent word, and contrary to Olivia’s expectation that it was about rewards and punishments, the news was even more shocking.

“Yes, Lady Ronae has gone into labor. Lady Lottie seems anxious about being alone and has asked if you could come, Marchioness.”

Ricardo handed Olivia a hastily sealed letter. The wax seal had smudged and spread across the paper, indicating the urgency with which it had been enclosed.

Olivia didn’t hesitate for long. Since she needed to meet Hellebore soon anyway, she quickly prepared to leave with Marsden, who followed her without a word of protest.

TL NOTE: Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories