Jurgen, who had just woken up, was in a somewhat dazed state. Vanessa was startled and froze at the sudden attack, but soon calmed herself and spoke.

“Duke.”

“……”

“Jurgen.”

He remained silent when called ‘Duke’, but when called by his name, he reacted with a subtle change in expression. He still seemed intoxicated with sleep, but…

As this was the first time she had seen him in such a defenseless state, Vanessa’s heart inexplicably raced. She wondered if perhaps now she could resolve the questions that had accumulated over time.

It felt somewhat like she was doing something wrong, but unable to let this opportunity pass, Vanessa moistened her dry lips with her tongue and posed a question.

“You know, I’ve been wondering something…”

“……”

“About what you said regarding my misfortune being a curse.”

After receiving God’s blessing, Vanessa often felt that her misfortune had diminished.

In fact, various accidents in daily life had noticeably decreased recently, and this wasn’t just her imagination but a fact acknowledged by others.

For example, Garcia had scratched his head saying, “It’s strange. I thought at least five incidents would happen during the journey because of Her Highness the Princess, but nothing happened at all.”

While Vanessa didn’t appreciate his manner of speaking, she agreed with his opinion. There had been no unfortunate incidents like a carriage wheel breaking, encountering dead animal carcasses on the road, wheels getting stuck in mud, horses suddenly becoming disobedient, Vanessa tripping over a stone while stepping out for some fresh air, or even getting hit by bird droppings — not a single one of these unlucky events had occurred during this journey.

Vanessa thought this change was due to God’s blessing. The blessing protects the recipient from all kinds of poison, harmful drugs, alchemy, and curses.

If her past misfortune had been due to a curse, it made sense that unfortunate events had decreased since receiving God’s blessing.

So Vanessa speculated. Jurgen had said she was under a ‘curse of misfortune’. He seemed to know this curse well, and above all, he was the only person who harbored enough resentment towards Vanessa to curse her.

If so…

Swallowing hard, Vanessa voiced the most crucial question.

“…Are you… the one who placed the curse of misfortune on me?”

“……”

Jurgen remained silent for a long time after hearing the question. He just stared blankly at Vanessa. As if he didn’t understand the question itself.

After a while, he finally opened his mouth. What came out was not an answer, but a question.

“…Why would I?”

Vanessa realized that his state was strange. The dazed look in his eyes, an expression different from usual. A voice that felt warm.

He smiled a languid and gentle smile that he had never shown before.

“You’re saying strange things, Vanessa.”

Even his manner of speaking had changed, becoming much softer, as if he were a different person. He even called Vanessa’s name affectionately. Vanessa felt a chill and rubbed her arms.

“Duke, you’re not in your right mind now.”

Though she wasn’t sure, it seemed he was confusing dream and reality. In his dream, did he not hate her?

‘Perhaps…’

With a sudden hypothesis, Vanessa tried calling out experimentally.

“RauÐi?”

“…What is it?”

An immediate response. Only then did Vanessa suddenly realize. Right now, Jurgen was in a dream of the past!

He had become the boy ‘RauÐi’ from before he came to hate Vanessa, during that year she couldn’t remember.

Vanessa’s heart raced wildly. A sinister expectation of seeing a side of Jurgen that no one knew, mixed chaotically with guilt over taking advantage of someone not fully awake.

But in the end, wicked curiosity won out. The voice of conscience faded away into a distant echo. Vanessa moved closer to Jurgen and met his eyes.

His moon-gold eyes curved gently towards Vanessa. Like he was looking at something utterly lovable, like it was so precious he could hardly bear it.

At that moment, an indescribable emotion welled up inside Vanessa. She felt that this feeling was strangely familiar.

Something flickered, almost remembered, almost forgotten. Her lips moved, and she impulsively asked,

“RauÐi, what am I to you?”

At this, ‘RauÐi’s’ lips curled into a faint smirk. But it wasn’t meant to mock — it was a playful smile tinged with familiarity.

‘RauÐi’ answered.

“I’m your dog, Vanessa.”

“What?”

Just as Vanessa was taken aback by this completely unexpected answer, the smile gradually faded from his face.

The light in his drowsy eyes suddenly became clear.

His consciousness had broken free from the dream state.

Realizing this, Vanessa quickly tried to distance herself from him. However, Jurgen, now fully awake, was faster in grabbing her.

His golden eyes shone fiercely. Numerous emotions flashed across them.

Humiliation, anger, confusion… A swamp of emotions that couldn’t be pinpointed to just one churned in his pupils.

“…You…”

A seething voice flowed through his gritted teeth. Vanessa shrank back and struggled to break free from him, feeling the murderous intent as if he might kill her right then and there. But with one arm already firmly grasped, escaping was impossible.

As the strange excitement cooled, only a vivid sense of guilt remained. Biting her lips hard, Vanessa was conflicted for a moment before quickly devising the best course of action.

“I’m sorry.”

First, apologize unconditionally. Just now, she had been too… rude. She shouldn’t have done that to someone in a dream state.

“I was curious… that’s why I did it. I’m truly sorry.”

“……”

After glaring at Vanessa silently for a long time, Jurgen roughly released her arm and stood up from the chair.

Running his fingers through his still-damp hair and exhaling a fiery sigh, he shot Vanessa one last fierce look before leaving the room.

Vanessa, feeling a mix of guilt, a hint of indignation, and bewilderment, stared blankly at the door before approaching the bed and slumping down.

As she buried her face in her palms, Jurgen’s smile appeared in her darkened vision.

Something that seemed infinitely precious and special, something that felt lost, something that left an empty space in the corner of her heart.

Strangely enough, she felt like crying.

✦ ✦ ✦

After leaving the room like that, Jurgen never returned. Vanessa, who had spent the night wide awake, sat on the edge of the bed with evident fatigue and let out a deep sigh.

She had only meant to tell him to lie down comfortably and sleep because his posture looked uncomfortable. How did it end up like this?

She felt a tightness in her chest, filled with an unexpected sadness she never imagined feeling towards him.

“Your Highness the Princess, did you cough?”

This voice belonged to Renee. Vanessa hurriedly tidied herself up and told her to come in.

A moment later, Renee entered the room and, with her usual pedantically polite smile, reported to Vanessa.

“It seems His Grace the Duke spent the night outside. Even for a power user, he should get some sleep…”

Renee probably just stated the facts without any intention, but Vanessa felt as if her words were reproaching her.

After all, it was because of her that Jurgen had to rush out of the room late at night and spend time in the cold outdoors.

‘It takes talent to act shamelessly with a thick skin…’

Unfortunately, Vanessa wasn’t the type of person who could be brazen after prying into someone’s past they wanted to keep hidden and disturbing their sleep on top of that.

So she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles with guilt throughout the entire process of being assisted with washing her face, combing her hair, and changing clothes. She felt that Renee would despise her if she knew the truth.

Still, to avoid being late for the departure time, she had to hurry down for breakfast, so she rushed through her preparations.

After tidying her hair and appearance, when she came down to the first floor, she found the rest of the party, except for Vanessa and Renee, eating in a boisterous atmosphere.

Vanessa, who still didn’t have the courage to face Jurgen, quickly scanned the lobby-slash-dining room.

Fortunately, Jurgen was nowhere to be seen. Had he finished his meal early and gone outside? …What if he skipped breakfast because his mood was completely ruined because of me?

“Oh? Your Highness the Princess!”

Just then, Garcia, who had spotted Vanessa, waved his hands in greeting.

Normally, Vanessa would have smiled at him incredulously, but her mood was quite gloomy from worrying about Jurgen, so she just nodded.

Seeing Vanessa like this, Garcia raised an eyebrow as if perplexed. He approached her side without being called and bustled about, leading Vanessa to a seat.

“Here, here, please sit this way. The food at this inn is much more palatable than where we stayed before.”

‘Before’ probably referred to the time shortly after the fall of Terevron. Vanessa realized how much had truly changed since then.

Back then, Garcia had been as prickly as a wild dog you might encounter in the mountains, and the other knights were equally wary of her.

But now, without exception, everyone looked at Vanessa with eyes full of reverence. Some even mixed with fondness. It was indeed a great leap forward, but…

‘It’s not quite right to say I achieved this by my own power.’

If she hadn’t received God’s blessing, wouldn’t it have remained the same for most, except for a few? She would have been the beautiful and ominous Vanessa Roengreen, as she had always been.

Vanessa took a sip of water to moisten her throat as she sat in the seat Garcia had guided her to. Somehow, the water tasted bitter.