Amelia shook her head vigorously when she said that he would never leave again. Such a thing must never happen. There was nothing more terrifying than him saying he would never leave. Of course, she resented Raphael for suddenly leaving the castle, but… that didn’t mean she wanted him never to leave.

“It was just bad luck.”

“…Bad luck?”

Yes, it was bad luck that she ended up possessing Amelia’s body. And that she ended up being hated by May. She could have been reborn in a more peaceful place.

Her body flinched when she saw his expression hardened at whatever displeased him.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“……”

She should have provoked May just enough. After all, that man wasn’t to blame. To him, Amelia and May would look the same.

“Yet you say it was just bad luck, as if I hadn’t put you in danger.”

Amelia’s lips quirked up at his sharply critical tone. What is this man talking about? She was the one who suffered, yet she couldn’t understand why he was the one getting angry.

If anyone has to be angry, shouldn’t I be the one?

“It just happened that His Excellency wasn’t there, that’s why it was bad luck.”

It just so happened that there was a rabid dog nearby that bites people. According to the Master, it was a dog without a leash. Moreover, the other person was a rabid dog with rabies. Hearing May’s grand delusion made her realize that. It was something nobody could have stopped.

“Amelia… Do you have absolutely no expectations of me?”

“Huh?”

Why is he suddenly talking about expectations? Amelia didn’t understand what he was talking about. Even trying to make him feel less guilty was a problem. Would it have been better to say it was all because of him?

But that wasn’t possible. Raphael didn’t want to receive such twisted affection and obsession. After seeing May, she thought about whether the past Amelia had done the same to him. And provoking May, which worsened the situation, was also partly her responsibility.

“You don’t resent someone you have no expectations of.”

The bitterness in his tone made Amelia pause. That wasn’t what she meant. She already knew everything, that’s why…

“Ah, that’s…”

“Yeah, let’s just say it was bad luck this time, as you said.”

Before she could say it wasn’t like that, Amelia turned away at his mocking words. Was I crazy? To think that person was bitter? Disappointed? He was always eager to mock her whenever he could.

“Yes. It was really bad luck. And it would have been fine even if you hadn’t come.”

It would have been fine if Raphael hadn’t come. Whether she died sooner or later, what difference did it make? But then, why didn’t he just leave her be, why did he go out of his way to save her? It wasn’t the first time his actions were incomprehensible, but today was strange.

Wouldn’t it have been better if she had died by someone else’s hand? If she was him, she would have turned a blind eye. And it was the ring given by the Master that saved her life. If it weren’t for the magic contained in it, she would have been full of holes before he even arrived. Like a hedgehog pierced by knives. Just the thought was terrifying enough to make her shiver.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone else saved me.”

She deliberately said ‘someone.’ In reality, it was because of the magic in the ring. Since the Master gave her the ring, it wasn’t completely wrong to say so.

“Someone else?”

Seeing his slightly distorted frown, Amelia smiled triumphantly. She didn’t know why, but it felt like she had to say it.

“Yes, another man.”

***

Humans are beings with reason. Acting on impulse, like an animal that only has its instincts left, is not human, but animal-like. And she was an animal.

She acted on instinct, losing her reason to the moment’s stimulus. At that moment, all she wanted was to shatter Raphael’s mask-like face. She didn’t know then how far-reaching the effect of a moment’s instinct could be.

When she spoke, and his expression crumbled, Amelia smiled willingly. She didn’t realize that her sweet victory was actually a chalice filled with poison.

“He should tolerate this much stubbornness.”

She checked to see if he had broken the nightstand in anger again, but he hadn’t. It wouldn’t have been strange for him to leave the room immediately, yet Raphael lay down on the bed. Sure enough, when she woke up, the space beside her was neatly empty. How could he do it, like there was no sign of someone who had just laid there?

She failed to ask Leonel if he knew the whole story of last night because she got swept up in his pace.

“Ah, how stupid.”

If she met Leonel now, he would surely notice… She should have just done it moderately… But standing in front of him made her feel strange. She couldn’t help the sadness welling up unexpectedly. Was it because the body belonged to the original Amelia? Or maybe it was because of what she had been through.

“Your Highness, are you awake?”

Amelia glanced at the sight of bright Ann and Jane. It seemed like everyone except a few people didn’t know about yesterday’s events.

“I’ll request an audience with Edward.”

“Huh?”

“After breakfast.”

Edward had told her that May was sick and had left the duchy. She felt she needed to hear what really happened.

“Mother!”

“Ah, Leonel.”

Breakfast was torture. The fierce battle between Leonel trying to dig into last night’s events and her defending against it. In the meantime, Raphael sat there as if it had nothing to do with him. In the book, it said he didn’t enjoy food…

He ate much more than her. Of course, it’s probably required to maintain his much larger body. Strangely, he didn’t talk to her. Usually, he tries to start a conversation…

“Did you call for me?”

“Ah, Edward.”

She thought Edward would come to the room as usual, but he told her to meet in the drawing room instead. She couldn’t understand why they had to meet in the drawing room when there was a perfectly good room available.

“Why did you ask to meet in the drawing room?”

He used to come all the way to her room before.

“I guess it’s not polite for me to enter the bedroom of a couple.”

You’re saying that now? If that was the case, you should not have come in from the start. But she couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud. Everyone would probably do the same after seeing Edward’s face. Even she felt it was unnecessary to meet him the moment she entered the drawing room and saw Edward.

He looked beyond exhausted. She was at a loss for words at his completely haggard and pale face. It seemed like he was completely drained of his energy…

“What’s wrong…?”

“Nothing.”

“You seem to be ill.”

She would have felt bad holding onto him if he was sick. She could only guess that Raphael must have thoroughly broken him.

“I apologize if this is about May. I lied, fearing I might trouble you, Her Highness.”

Amelia couldn’t say anything in response to his bow and apology. The other person’s impeccably neat apology and his hurt face. It wasn’t a situation where she could get angry.

“I had no idea the head maid harbored such disrespectful thoughts towards Your Highness. If I had known, I would have dealt with it sooner.”

“Did you find out recently?”

“Yes…”

Until then, he didn’t have any interest in the villainous Amelia. May would have been hiding her true nature as much as possible. And Raphael’s demeanor of not even remembering May’s name. He probably didn’t know exactly. He probably wasn’t interested.

“Because I was trying to wrap things up quietly… I brought great danger to Your Highness.”

Hearing his apology made her feel so uncomfortable that she thought she might die. Edward wasn’t at fault. Didn’t everything come from May’s delusions? Amelia waved her hands to signify that it was enough.

“It’s okay, stop. I’ll be going now.”

Her initial goal had completely disappeared. Who could have predicted a lunatic? Ultimately, it was something nobody knew. Besides… May must have been perfectly dealt with already. By none other than Raphael himself.

He was cruel enough to abandon his own wife.

“Wait a moment. I have something else to tell you.”

Something else to say? She couldn’t guess why he was so tense. It was completely different from when he brought up May. His overly stiff expression and his hardened face were new to Amelia, leaving her bewildered.

“Do you have any other man you are seeing?”

He looked just like a man about to confess his feelings.