Even so, I wanted to tell him. That he was not a bad person. Who he was, what kind of life he had lived, how devoted a son he had been to his mother……

But truly selfishly, I couldn’t help thinking of my own future too.

Unlike him, the protagonist, I was a humble extra who could vanish from the illustration without a sound and no one would notice. A life worth less than an ant’s.

Instead, I decided to tell him exactly what was true.

“Dusik, the truth is, I didn’t take you in.”

At my words, Aiden listened quietly.

“I fell for you the moment I saw you. That’s why I wanted to keep you by my side.”

Saying it so plainly, I felt his gaze land on me, and a faint embarrassment crept up, making me smile with a slight flush.

“Pretty silly, isn’t it?”

Watching Aiden’s pupils waver, I continued in a quiet but steady voice.

“But my decision turned out to be right. Watching you follow along beside me without complaint, I thought to myself. I should marry him.”

“……”

A brief silence fell. Judging by the slight furrow of Aiden’s brow, he seemed a little upset.

What do I do……

I wanted to smooth over the awkward air quickly. So without thinking, I drew a heart above my head with my fingers and said,

“Dusik, I love you. You know I’m always on your side, right?”

Aiden stared at me with a perfectly blank expression as I sat there smiling the most harmless smile in the world.

‘Ugh! Was that a mistake? That was probably a bit much……’

But the water was already spilled. The corner of my mouth twitched, and the sound of insects felt unbearably loud, when,

Aiden abruptly shot to his feet.

“Hm? Where are you going?”

Startled, I asked, and Aiden, his face even redder than before, said,

“I feel restless and I can’t stand it, so I need to go chop some firewood.”

Firewood. I stared at him with wide, round eyes.

“What? This out of nowhere?”

But Aiden’s resolve looked firm. He turned his back and added stiffly,

“And my dear…… could you please stop saying that you love me. Every time you do, I lose my mind.”

What?

By the time I snapped out of my daze, Aiden was already far away. To think he had disliked hearing the words ‘I love you’ that much……

Telling him I love him every day. I never could have dreamed it was actually working against me.

Good grief. I was trying to avoid getting killed, and now I was heading straight for it anyway.

***

Early morning, when the white moon was being swallowed by the red sun.

The only sound filling my still-quiet bedroom was the soft, steady turning of pages.

The book I had been reading through the night without sleeping contained information about the legendary villain passed down across the Ekandor continent, Philiose, the master of the dark tower.

Philiose had originally been the greatest wolf divine beast of his age and a long-standing friend of Kastua. But Philiose had resented the wolf clan’s rise to the top and came to envy him. After researching dark magic, he summoned the Demon King and, in exchange for his own soul, inherited dark magical power from him.

After that, he set his sights on the emperor’s throne, but the backlash from the nobility and the Empire’s people intensified, and consumed by darkness, he gathered monsters and attempted to destroy the world.

It had begun as a bold endeavor. But when Kastua, possessing transcendent power, stood against Philiose, a fierce duel broke out, and in the midst of it, Kastua bit into Philiose’s nape. And so Kastua became the final victor.

Philiose’s body was transformed into a ‘demonic sword’ by the dark magic that remained, and the Goddess of Peace, Etelia, who appeared at that moment, sealed the demonic sword deep within the earth.

But not long after, the Goddess Etelia came to realize. That dark magic still lingered somewhere on the Ekandor continent……

I sank into deep thought.

The Aiden who obtained the demonic sword in the original story was the embodiment of Kastua’s magic and Philiose’s dark magic combined. It was only natural that his brothers were no match for him.

I had read the book carefully hoping to find another way, but there was no path forward. For Aiden to stand against the descendants of Kastua, obtaining Philiose’s demonic sword was the only option.

So I could no longer stay by Aiden’s side. I was nothing more than a mouse gnawing away at his latent magic, little by little.

Thump. I closed the book and ended my deliberation. No matter what, I had to let him go. Even if it meant my own death, to protect the people of Martina and the people of this world.

“It’s time to start looking for Ilesia.”

According to the original story, Ilesia was the type who loved sailing and adventure, bold as any man. Something like a female version of Uncle Oswald.

Thanks to that spirited nature of hers, Ilesia stumbled upon the ancient legendary ‘demonic sword’ by chance in the original story, and feeling deeply for Aiden, her first love, she helped him obtain it.

Of course, the demonic sword of Philiose, said to have been made from the dark tower master’s bones, was not something just anyone could awaken.

The only sword that could choose its wielder, and only one who possessed a considerable amount of ‘magical power’ at that. Among Kastua’s brothers, all of whom possessed great magical power, the one who obtained that power was none other than the male lead, Aiden.

So Ilesia’s help was an inevitability for Aiden.

The mess had started with me, so I was the one who had to set it right. Perhaps that was even why fate had allowed me to remember my past life, so that I could do exactly this.

I got out of bed, slipped on my shoes, and headed to the dressing room. I put on a grey dress in the lowest tone I could find and draped a navy robe over it.

Finishing my simple preparations and stepping out, I turned at a rustling sound and found Tia, who had been curled up asleep, lifting her head to look at me.

“Did you sleep well? Tia.”

I walked over to Tia and lightly tapped her small nose with my index finger. Tia shook her head with a shudder and looked at me.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

As though in answer, Tia quietly rested her chin in my palm. I looked at her with fond eyes and said,

“Tia. Let’s go out and buy some fresh fruit.”

It had been a while since I’d gone to the square to see people, and I needed to buy plenty of good things for Tia too.

“And there’s somewhere I need to go.”

I forced a wry smile.

***

Refreshed by the crisp air and warm sunlight after a long while, I stepped out of the carriage the moment we arrived at the square.

But that was as far as the good part went. I shot a sideways glare at Uncle Oswald, who was yawning widely. He had spotted me heading out just before I climbed into the carriage.

“Why are you following along, Uncle?”

“I’ve been away from Martina for a while too, so I need to see how things are going. What a cold niece I have.”

I shouldn’t have told him the truth. I never should have mentioned I was going to the square.

I was in the middle of letting out a sigh of regret when,

“Oh, that fellow Dusik, by the way. I said he looked familiar, and it’s just that……”

He looked familiar? I stopped in my tracks and looked at Uncle Oswald.

Even if Uncle lived in the Kastua Empire, Aiden had never appeared before people, so there was no way he could have seen him.

Then Uncle Oswald, who had been looking at me, slapped me on the back and burst out laughing.

“He looks quite a bit like me when I was young! Hahaha!”

I wiped every expression off my face immediately.

“Ugh! I really should stop associating with you!”

Leaving Uncle Oswald behind, I turned sharply and walked into Potela Market.

I stopped at the fruit stall near the entrance and stood before the display. Seeing the neatly stacked rows of fruit, Tia poked her face out from inside the robe, her large green eyes sparkling.

“Wow……!”

Just then, Simona, the fruit stall owner who recognized me, came over.

“Oh my, Princess Riel!”

“Hello, Aunt Simona.”

“I heard you awakened! Congratulations! I always knew our Princess Riel would succeed.”

I smiled back at her words.

“Thank you.”

“And is this little one your spirit? Oh my, how can anything be this adorable!”

Aunt Simona gazed at Tia with rosy cheeks and a look of pure delight. But Tia seemed entirely unbothered by the intense attention and was busy choosing fruit.

“Riel!”

“Yes, did you pick something?”

“This. All of it……!”

“All of this? Wow……! You really are a spirit that takes after me. So greedy!”

I smiled warmly at Tia.

“Well, if our Tia wants it.”

Aunt Simona promptly held out a single cherry to Tia.