“No, no, it definitely won’t be me. Don’t say such creepy things. It makes me feel nauseous like I’m going to throw up.”

Even though I hadn’t said anything funny, I could see the corners of Duncan’s mouth twitching.

I also noticed how he tensed up, trying to stop his lips from curling upwards.

Duncan was desperately trying to hold back his laughter.

“Why…”

Just as I was about to ask why he was trying to laugh, my voice was drowned out by a loud shout from the cathedral.

“Bring my daughter back to life right now!”

Yerena’s parents’ act must have reached its climax. The way they shouted, it seemed like they would rush to Chelsea Center right away to demand compensation.

“My parents are being quite noisy. They might even go to the center and cause a disturbance.”

“It’s alright.”

His face was calm, even as he shrugged his shoulders.

As if dealing with troublemakers wasn’t new to him.

“They can’t be more troublesome than the three from the Allen Knightly Order, can they?”

I found myself nodding unconsciously.

There’s no one more inconsiderate than those three, that’s for sure.

Then Duncan willingly explained what I had been curious about.

“And I laughed because your reaction was cute.”

“….”

“Even if you quit being a guide, please meet with me occasionally.”

A gentle smile spread across his face.

It was a peaceful smile that didn’t match the gloomy reality of Yerena’s parents causing a scene and my fake funeral.

How could I not feel fluttered when a handsome man finds me cute and asks to meet privately?

‘Is this man interested in me?’

I rolled my lips inward and shyly averted my gaze.

Since he finds my actions cute, I should meet him privately at least once.

It was then that I noticed a man standing behind Duncan, near the front door of the cathedral.

A man who looked just as good in a black uniform as Duncan was staring intently at the cathedral.

Even from a distance, the man seemed to glow.

His complexion, even paler than usual today, made him look like an unrealistically handsome man.

And this man was someone I knew.

“…!”

It was Benjamin, the man I thought would never appear here.

He had really shown up!

I was so shocked that I lost my words for a while.

‘Why? Why did he come here? What was he thinking? What about Diana?’

Various thoughts tangled in my mind like a knotted thread all at once.

As always, I couldn’t fathom Benjamin’s intentions.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

At Duncan’s question, I managed to part my lips with difficulty.

“Be-Be-Benjamin is here. Even from afar, I’m sure it’s him, so don’t turn around. He might notice us.”

“Haa…”

Duncan sighed as he learned the truth.

He didn’t seem surprised, as if he had expected Benjamin’s visit.

I recalled the absurd thing Duncan had claimed earlier.

“But you never know with people. Their spiritual pillar might have changed.”

Oh, no. There’s no way I could have become their spiritual pillar.

No, such a thing should never happen, right? Only the female lead can handle their temperaments!

I desperately wished to see the female lead who hadn’t appeared yet.

“Follow me quietly. Since you’re wearing a hood, Benjamin won’t recognize you.”

“…Okay.”

Duncan gently grabbed my wrist.

The warmth of his touch on my wrist seemed to calm my startled heart.

We had taken about two steps when it happened.

Benjamin, who had been staring intently at the entrance without entering the cathedral, suddenly turned his gaze towards me.

I quickly lowered my eyes as soon as that chilling gaze touched me, but my heart, which had calmed a bit, started to race again.

My heart was beating so fast it felt like it might jump out of my mouth.

A strange uneasiness that Benjamin might have recognized me enveloped my entire body.

Before I knew it, my steps had quickened.

“I-I think I made eye contact with Benjamin.”

I confessed, sticking close to Duncan like a baby animal seeking its mother.

Unlike me, who was trembling, Duncan maintained his composure.

“Don’t worry. He won’t recognize you. The carriage is parked right in front of us, so we just need to walk there.”

“Okay.”

Indeed, I could see a parked carriage not far away.

Fortunately, we didn’t hear Benjamin’s voice until we reached the carriage.

I’m not sure if he followed us or not.

The sound of my heartbeat was so loud in my ears that I couldn’t pay attention to my surroundings.

Once the sense of foreboding set in, it didn’t easily go away, and my palms were sweaty.

It didn’t feel like things would end peacefully like this.

“Before you get in, just a moment.”

Duncan whispered some message to me, then helped me into the carriage.

A few seconds after the carriage door closed, a chilling voice rang out clearly.

“Who did you just help into the carriage?”

Benjamin’s voice was more terrifying than the plague.

***

Benjamin, who attended Diana’s memorial service, was in a bad mood throughout.

How to put it… It felt like there was an important task he had to do, but couldn’t.

It was truly strange.

There shouldn’t be anything more important than commemorating Diana.

The only thing Benjamin, who despised constraints and valued his freedom, had consistently done for the past 10 years was to observe Diana’s death anniversary.

But today, the feeling was particularly odd.

He couldn’t focus on Diana’s memorial day and even felt restless.

Benjamin unconsciously touched his lips.

It felt as if the warmth of someone who wasn’t there now lingered there.

The brief kiss with Yerena, when sparks flew before his eyes and his heart tightened, suddenly came to mind.

“Hey. Today is the day to meet Diana, but your clothes look terrible.”

The person who approached with a sarcastic remark was Baron.

Benjamin stared intently at Diana’s portrait hanging in the hall without giving him a glance.

Her image as a child who never grew up seemed both alien and nostalgic.

‘Diana. You’re the only person who broke a promise with me, but I attend your memorial service every time as promised. Do you even know that?’

At that moment, Diana’s voice echoed in his ears, uttering a promise that couldn’t be kept.

“No matter what kind of esper you become, Benjamin, I’ll be by your side.”

Diana broke her promise to be together in the future and died heartlessly.

Since then, Benjamin never made promises to anyone.

He didn’t want to experience the despair of broken promises again.

To avoid getting hurt, he stopped making plans for the future and stopped relying on people.

From that time on, his deeply lacking heart remained stagnant, unable to flow anywhere.

“Promising the future…”

As Benjamin mumbled to himself, Yerena came to his mind again.

The absence of her, who seemed like she would remain as his guide, his ugly doll, not dying even in the distant future, felt somehow today…

His thoughts were interrupted.

The Countess, Diana’s mother, approached and spoke to him.

Even while conversing with her, Benjamin kept thinking about Yerena endlessly.

Where Duncan had hidden her, how she had paid off all her debts, and…

‘They said a fake funeral would be held at Tachis Cathedral today.’

His thoughts didn’t just remain thoughts, and his lips moved on their own.

What he truly wanted and felt uneasy about slipped through his teeth.

“I apologize to you, Madam, but there’s actually a place I must visit today.”

Benjamin wanted to go to that funeral where the real Yerena might appear. Throughout his visit to Diana’s memorial service, from the very beginning.

The Countess graciously understood his early departure.

Benjamin walked straight to Tachis Cathedral.

Of course, he had shaken off Baron who usually clung to him annoyingly.

He had used force to stuff the chattering Baron into an empty mansion.

He knocked him out with one blow, so it should be quiet for a while.

Normally, he wouldn’t have cared whether Baron was chattering or not… but today, he was particularly irritating. Especially whenever he mentioned Yerena, it made his blood boil.

Was this whim also because of Yerena?

‘Whatever the reason, it’s nice and quiet without Baron.’

Finally arriving at Tachis Cathedral, Benjamin stood in front and observed the surroundings.