Luden said this and looked at Alsellon. There was one way to make him confess, but it required Annelia’s power.

Would he have to wait for her to wake up?

Just then, the door suddenly opened and Annelia entered. Luden was surprised to see Annelia being supported by Sella.

“Annelia?”

“Luden really is here.”

Annelia quickly ran to Luden and embraced him.

“I was scared. I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Annelia.”

“I don’t want to be apart from you.”

Luden held Annelia’s hand tightly and embraced her. He comforted the unstable Annelia and whispered to her.

“The poison has been detoxified.”

“I’m alive, right?”

“Of course.”

“Luden found me.”

Annelia smiled brightly. Seemingly calmed, she turned her head toward Alsellon.

Luden watched her quietly. Annelia seemed very angry.

* * *

When I woke up, Sella was by my side instead of Luden. I knew he was nearby, but I felt like I couldn’t bear it without seeing him right away.

“Lie down. You haven’t fully recovered yet.”

“I want to see Luden.”

“Really…”

Sella held my hand tightly.

“I’ll take you to him. Don’t make that face.”

What kind of face was I making?

“A sad expression doesn’t suit Annelia.”

So I had made that expression. I nodded and bit my lip.

During the time I was trapped in that space, the only things I could think of were my family and Luden. I opened the door and entered with Sella’s support.

Luden and Kajiian were standing there together. Luden had lost a lot of weight. I could tell how much he had struggled to find me. I embraced him with tears welling up.

I could hear his heartbeat. I could feel his warmth. Finally, I could feel that I was alive.

I wanted to stay in his arms and eliminate this anxiety, but I couldn’t do that yet. Luden’s gaze was directed at Alsellon. He wanted to say many things but was holding back.

“Alsellon is claiming innocence. Annelia, did you hear who the mastermind was while you were kidnapped?”

At Kajiian’s words, I shook my head.

“No.”

“You see? I have nothing to do with this incident.”

Alsellon said this. He naturally claimed his innocence to us.

Was he really innocent? I quickly walked toward him.

“Do you really think you’re innocent?”

“Yes, Marchioness. I’m truly glad you’re safe.”

I stared at him intently. Many emotions were contained in his eyes. I was confused whether the look in his eyes held goodwill or not.

Luden had said Alsellon was skilled at hiding his emotions.

“Then I’ll cast magic on you.”

“Magic?”

“Yes, magic that lets you meet your past self. If you’re innocent, nothing will happen.”

“Annelia…?”

Alsellon’s expression hardened.

“Either way, it’s true that I was found on an island owned by Alsellon Charlot, so you need to prove your innocence.”

Alsellon’s lips twisted upward.

“Is this t*rture?”

“It’s not.”

Mesriten stepped forward.

“When magic is cast on humans, they simply meet their past selves.”

“My past self?”

“Yes.”

Mesriten spoke to Kajiian.

“If there’s no wrongdoing, the magic should be fine. I, the Dragon Lord, guarantee it.”

“Then, Alsellon.”

Kajiian looked at Alsellon.

“Accept the magic and prove your innocence.”

Alsellon hesitated for a moment.

* * *

He recalled his past self. His past self always hid his feelings and never spoke his true thoughts. Even if his past self appeared, nothing would change.

He wasn’t afraid. His past self would handle things well on its own.

Of course, there had been times when he was foolish, but that weak past self wouldn’t appear. Because that version was pathetic.

“Understood.”

He had always handled things perfectly. Rather, if his past self appeared, it seemed like it would handle things even better.

“Then I’ll cast it.”

Annelia said this and raised her hand. Then a hot energy surged and enveloped him.

“I’ll cast it strongly. I’m very angry, you see.”

At Annelia’s words, Kajiian’s eyes widened and Luden shrugged his shoulders.

Kajiian couldn’t even guess what was happening. Meeting your past self?

He could tell this was related to the tear-drinking tea that Annelia always served.

“Ahhhhh!”

Alsellon screamed.

“That position was mine. But my brother took it!”

He realized what he had shouted and quickly tried to cover his mouth. But the past anger, the emotions he had to suppress, crawled out and opened the present Alsellon’s mouth.

“I’ll kill them all. Luden, my brother, and her too!”

He gasped for breath.

“Why… how?”

He looked at his hands in confusion.

“If you tried to bring down Luden by kidnapping me, you must be that consumed by past emotions.”

Annelia spoke quietly to him.

“You’ll vomit everything out.”

And so his past self burst out. The past self that had been suppressed and had to swallow anger, the one that was painful and agonizing.

The anger still remained, and he came with that emotion.

“Your past self didn’t resolve the anger and passed it to your future self. That’s why the current you can’t contain that emotion.”

And… everything was just as Annelia said. Alsellon vomited out the emotions he had suppressed toward Luden.

While telling the story, Alsellon shed tears.

“Ahhh, stop!”

He shouted at Annelia.

“Stop it…”

“No.”

Annelia looked at him with firm eyes.

“When you vomit out all your past emotions, it will stop on its own.”

Alsellon’s complexion grew even paler at those words.

“Stop…!”

He screamed and tried to run away, but the past emotions kept coming out. And the past he wanted to turn away from emerged.

His childhood when he blamed himself for everything, when he constantly compared himself to his brother and drove himself—that time. Even the pathetic Alsellon from that era appeared.

Alsellon sat blankly in the room. Knights were watching him, so he couldn’t go anywhere, and he had no intention of going.

He had been caught by Annelia’s magic and met his past emotions. The emotions from that time that were painful and difficult, the things he couldn’t acknowledge and raged about but ultimately had to suppress. Those accumulated things came to find and torment him.

He had finally escaped and gained the leisure to take revenge, but in an instant that leisure disappeared. Tears no longer came. But the lingering emotions continued to swirl in his heart.

“How can this be!”

Because of his past self, he ended up confessing. He couldn’t contain his anger toward Luden, and the words inside burst out without him knowing.

In front of Luden, Annelia, and Kajiian. Kajiian looked at him and quickly ordered him confined to a room.

“Haha.”

Everything was crumbling. Because Annelia had this strange power, this had happened to him.

“I should have killed her from the start!”

It was a mistake to keep her alive to torment Luden. Magic that makes you burst out hidden emotions.

Making you vomit out your past feelings! The intelligence about the counseling center only said it made people who came for counseling cry. So he hadn’t considered it at all.

Only then did Alsellon realize that Annelia had been hiding her power, and he closed his eyes. He wanted to at least sleep.

Then he could escape this sensation.

“Haah.”

The sensation of his past self wailing came back to him. It was truly an emotion he didn’t want to meet.

* * *

Kajiian, Annelia, and Luden were sitting together eating. They were relieved to see Annelia eating safely.

“Still, Alsellon only cried for three days. Even though I gave it everything I had.”

At Annelia’s words, Luden smiled quietly and Kajiian’s eyes sparkled.

“What exactly is that power?”

Alsellon was a man who hid his true feelings. He rarely expressed emotions and just smiled pleasantly every day. Because of that, Kajiian also found him difficult to deal with. The depth of emotion he had toward Luden exceeded imagination.

The anger he burst out toward Luden was still vivid in his ears.

It’s all because of you! If only you hadn’t existed!

Alsellon had ultimately said those words at the end. He lashed out at Luden and cried, crushed by his own emotions. Luden wasn’t surprised or saddened watching him. It was like he had expected it.

Kajiian felt sorry he couldn’t help, thinking Luden had endured such anger since childhood. But there was nothing he could do back then. If he unconditionally protected Luden, Alsellon, who held the power of the Charlot family, wouldn’t have left Luden alone.

At Kajiian’s words, Annelia shrugged.

“Are you curious about the identity of the power?”

“I would like to know.”

“It’s the power to make people shed tears.”

At Annelia’s words, Kajiian recalled when he drank the tea. He shed tears and past emotions calmly rose up. It felt like returning to that time and crying.

“Then?”

“Yes, that’s right. When I use the power strongly, past emotions come rushing in like a tidal wave.”

At those words, Kajiian felt a chill. Even he, who didn’t accumulate emotions much, felt he couldn’t endure it if such a moment came.

“Truly a frightening power.”

“If you’re possessed by the specter of your past self, you can’t easily escape.”

Kajiian nodded.

“I also used the power carelessly at first and almost got consumed by my past self. Fortunately, Luden helped me from the side, so I survived.”

“Then at the counseling center, you help customers by weakly breaking their emotions with tea so they don’t get possessed by past emotions?”

“Roughly like that.”

At Annelia’s words, Kajiian fell into thought for a moment.

“It’s originally a power dragons had, but because my magic power is strong, I was able to receive it.”

“How strong are we talking?”

“Like a dragon?”

In the end, it meant no one but Annelia could have it. It wasn’t common for a human to have magic power equal to a dragon’s.

“Sella said she can take the power back anytime she wants. Until now, such a thing hasn’t happened because I’ve never used the power with bad intentions.”

At her words, Kajiian chuckled.

“If such a thing had happened, I would have interrogated you first.”

Kajiian was right.

“You’ve cleverly kept that power and stayed quiet until now. Not bragging to people, just using it moderately while maintaining boundaries by yourself.”

Kajiian muttered and asked Luden.

“Is this an easy thing to do?”

At Kajiian’s words, Luden firmly shook his head.

“It’s difficult.”

“Right? It’s not just my thinking?”

“No, what’s so great about that?”

Annelia exclaimed. Her cheeks were very flushed.