Even if there was something I wanted, it wasn’t something a dragon could give. A child was something only Luden could give.

“No, you really don’t have any wishes? Separate from that, I want to grant something related to you too.”

At her words, I seriously pondered.

Would something like this even work?

“The ability to make someone cry by releasing pent-up emotions.”

Could something like that even exist?

Then Sella smiled brightly.

“That’s an unusual wish.”

After saying that, she infused magic power around me.

“It’s the ability you wanted. You were born with the qualities of a great mage. That’s why I can give you this ability. Use the power I’ve given you well.”

Sella winked and held Igol. Igol looked at me and I nodded. Then Igol settled into Sella’s arms, seemingly reassured.

* * *

Oh, I’m nervous.

With a pounding heart, I looked at Anan. Sella clicked her tongue when she saw Anan.

“Your vitality has weakened considerably. What happened?”

Well, that’s because Anan… was poisoned. But the Charlot family kept this hidden.

Luden dismissed everyone around us. I was about to leave too, but he stopped me.

“Annelia can stay.”

Have I become someone who can hear his secrets now?

Only Anan, me, Luden, Sella, and Igol remained.

“Publicly, Mother is said to have collapsed from shock, but that’s not true.”

Luden gritted his teeth.

“Mother was poisoned.”

I pretended to be surprised.

“When they couldn’t kill me, they tried to poison Mother to death. If Mother died, I would crumble. It was a poison that could never be detoxified by magic.”

“That would be true for humans.”

Sella examined Anan’s face. Then she pushed white energy into her.

Anan’s body glowed. It was a sacred, hazy light. When the light stopped, Anan opened her eyes.

“This is?”

Anan lifted her hand. Unlike before, her skin showed a healthy color.

“Mother!”

Luden walked into Anan’s embrace. I thought he would cry, but Luden just smiled.

“Thank goodness.”

He was desperately suppressing his emotions.

Ah, even in this moment, Luden is trying not to cry. Then why did he cry in front of me?

I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.

“You’re trying not to cry even when you’re happy.”

Sella approached me and spoke with curious eyes.

“You have so much pent up in your heart that you can’t cry anymore.”

“How do you…?”

“Dragons can see human emotions. We can tell how much emotion a human has accumulated. Dragons don’t accumulate emotions, but humans are different.”

I envied dragons. Sella held my hand and pushed some energy into me.

“Now you’ll be able to forcibly release emotions. Whether that becomes poison or medicine for you, I don’t know.”

It was warm energy. I looked at my hand.

“I’ll only stay here until Igol recognizes me as a parent. If there’s anything I can help with, call me.”

“You can stay longer if you want.”

“Thank you.”

Sella said that and smiled with satisfaction.

I approached Anan and held her hand.

“I’m glad you’re not in pain anymore.”

Anan looked at Sella beyond our shoulders.

“Are you a dragon? They said only a dragon could heal my body. But dragons rarely grant human requests. So I had given up…”

Anan bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

This was the first time I’d seen Anan speak without such difficulty.

“Luden, it must have been hard preventing the poison from spreading further all this time?”

“I could endure it.”

Luden smiled and spoke like it was nothing.

“Now I’ll be able to attend the wedding.”

I spoke joyfully.

“I’ll get to see Annelia’s beautiful appearance.”

“Please look forward to it.”

I’m glad Anan recovered.

Originally, Anan died before Luden returned. It was briefly described that she died from her weakened body.

The Luden in the original story couldn’t be at Anan’s deathbed, but the current Luden won’t face that.

Because all the poison in her body has been detoxified.

* * *

“For now, we’ve decided to keep Mother’s recovery a secret. She can’t be attacked again.”

At Luden’s words, I smiled.

“Yes.”

Why does he trust me but not want to have children? Does he just not want them? Or does he not want them with me?

I frowned. I was pathetic for not asking because I feared his answer.

What’s certain is that Lorina had Luden’s child.

Right, because she’s special.

“Why didn’t you cry, Luden?”

Luden looked up.

“I wanted to cry too, but…”

Luden exhaled.

“I’ve suppressed my emotions so desperately that I rarely cry. Crying in front of you before was the first tears I’d shed in years.”

He muttered regretfully.

“When I was young, I didn’t want to cry, but now I can’t cry even when I want to.”

Why does he remind me of myself when I look at him? The past me—no, the current me was like that.

I clenched my hand.

“I have work to attend to, so I’ll be going.”

Luden kissed my cheek and left the room. Alone in the room, I looked at my hand.

I wanted to test how good the ability I received from Sella was. Should I try releasing my emotions?

“I want to cry.”

I whispered to myself.

Then a reaction occurred inside my body, but nothing happened.

I thought maybe I’d just cry and stop…

‘Now you’ll be able to forcibly release emotions. Whether that becomes poison or medicine for you, I don’t know.’

Sella’s words brushed past me. And I fell into hell. Back into those sensations I felt in the past.

* * *

“Annelia!”

Luden burst through the door urgently. I looked at him and couldn’t say anything. Lella supported me, but it was no use. I looked at him, ran over, and hugged him.

And I shed tears.

It wasn’t just simple crying.

“I…”

I tried to suppress it, but something inside me wanted to speak, wanted to cry.

Like my past self had been waiting and appeared to possess me, wanting to pour out all that resentment from back then.

But I can’t do that to Luden. I thought that and tried to hold back, but words came out without my knowing.

“You should have been more careful.”

Sella opened the door and entered, holding Igol.

“Emotions aren’t resolved just by crying. Breaking down emotionally means vomiting out everything you’ve suppressed. It’s not just tears that come out. You’ll talk about and vomit out everything from the past too. That’s how it goes.”

“But nothing like that should have happened to the young lady.”

Lella looked at me with worried eyes.

“Just talk for now.”

But I’m a person from this world. I wasn’t from here. Yet I can’t stop.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

I said tearfully.

“If you don’t speak, your past self, the you who held those emotions, will become more enraged. You’ll be forced to speak. Even if you’re alone, speak.”

At Sella’s words, I looked up.

“From your condition, you’ll be in that state for a few weeks. But after it ends, you’ll feel at ease.”

How could that be?

I planned to speak even if I was alone.

“Everyone leave. I might scream.”

Lella nodded. Sella smiled brightly like I had nothing to worry about and left, but only Luden remained.

“Luden, aren’t you leaving?”

I pulled away from Luden’s embrace. He could leave if I let go.

“I won’t leave.”

“Luden?”

“I’ll listen to what Annelia is suppressing. And…”

Luden looked at me.

“You’re not Annelia, are you? I already know, so you don’t need to worry.”

How does he know? When I widened my eyes, Luden touched my cheek.

“I know you’re a different person from her.”

“It wasn’t my will. I suddenly became Annelia…”

“I see.”

He pulled me to the sofa.

“Tell me the stories you couldn’t tell before.”

At his gentle words, my wounded past self emerged. And my past self began to speak.

“I was poor when I was young. I was teased a lot, so I was afraid of getting close to people. Then I met that man.”

“Who was he?”

“My first love. At first, he just approached me. He studied well, was ordinary—that kind of man, but he was kind to everyone.”

I lowered my head.

“I felt like I was becoming addicted to that first warmth. So I gave him everything I had. I didn’t expect anything in return. I just wanted to work hard to maintain that warmth.”

“What kind of efforts did you make?”

“I just gave him what I had. I gave him money, gave him my heart—I acted like a pushover. Then we became lovers.”

I choked up.

“Then he stopped paying back my money.”

I laughed.

“But it’s okay. He must have his reasons. He’s a kind person, so he’ll return it someday, I thought. Because it was money I had saved with difficulty too.”

Luden’s hand tightened.

“Then I found out that man was using my money to hang out with other women. Breaking promises with me like that…”

“He took your money without keeping his promises.”

“That was everything to me. I remember being ignored for not having money. It was money I saved by scrimping and saving.”

“What did he say?”

“Why can’t you understand me?”

The feelings from that time came back. They returned as nightmares. Those emotions were vividly embedded piece by piece.

The sensation of being betrayed by someone I loved, the first person I gave my heart to. All of it came flooding back.

I wailed.

“Did you cry then?”

Luden asked calmly.

“I… couldn’t cry.”

Luden gritted his teeth.

“Why?”

“The reason is the same as yours, Luden.”

I smiled bleakly. Tears surged again, so it didn’t last long.

“I just couldn’t cry. My heart hurt like crazy, but I couldn’t cry.”

Luden pressed near his chest.

He understood what I was saying.