“It was a political marriage.”

Odin’s answer made me sigh with indifference—phuuu.

This was something I had already read in the original story, so it wasn’t a surprising answer.

“Well, that’s obvious.”

“Obvious?”

“Looking at how you two don’t particularly like each other, what other conclusion could there be except that your families arranged it?”

“When you say they don’t like each other, does that mean you don’t like him either?”

Odin’s sharp question suddenly reminded me of the position I had been maintaining all this time.

“No? His Highness doesn’t like me. I like His Highness. Hehe.”

Odin’s fur puffed up as he looked at me suspiciously.

I shook my head in denial and looked at Odin.

“What I meant was, how did the two families end up arranging this political marriage? Was there a close relationship with the Azanie comital family? Like with the Grenville family?”

“With those vulgar people?! Impossible!”

Odin suddenly burst out in anger, pounding the table with his front paws.

His strong desire to avoid any connection with the Azanie family was quite clear.

“The Azanie family has been incredibly vulgar for generations. They’ve exploited powerless and poor imperial citizens through loan sharking and labor exploitation. They’ve been involved in all kinds of violence, gambling, and even contract killings. Everyone knows this—they just lacked evidence. Moreover!”

“Whoa, there’s more?”

“Yes! When war broke out, they should have sacrificed their lives to protect the Empire, but they were always quick to retreat. They were the kind of shallow creatures who would cowardly step back, then slyly come forward and shout when victory seemed assured! They clearly have vile blood flowing through generations! Nobles should have carried responsibility proportionate to their privileges!”

“Wow…!”

“Money, yes, they could accumulate through wrongdoing. But how terrible must their actions have been that they couldn’t build even a speck of honor until now! Such despicable—!”

Odin, who had been excitedly shouting about their misdeeds as I marveled, suddenly paused and looked up at me.

“Ahem… I got too excited and said too much… Still, it’s about your family, so I went too far.”

“No! It’s fine. From what I’ve heard, they deserved those insults!”

“…What?”

Odin twitched and perked up his ears.

“They committed all sorts of corruption. And they’ve been doing it for generations!”

“Th-that’s right.”

“Wow! They deserve divine punishment!”

“…R-really?”

“Those who have done bad things for generations don’t even realize what they’re doing is wrong! I’ve seen plenty of that!”

Thinking back to news articles I occasionally read in my previous life, they were all about people who committed wrongdoings yet shamelessly held their heads high.

“But how could they possibly arrange a marriage between their children with such a despicable family that shouldn’t even be associated with?”

The more I heard, the more impossible it seemed to imagine marriage talks between these two families.

“……”

Odin suddenly closed his mouth at my question and stared at me intently.

It was truly a gaze that seemed to examine me thoroughly.

After scrutinizing me from various angles with his beautiful blue eyes, Odin let out a “hmm” and opened his mouth.

“…You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there was certainly something unusual about your marriage to Carlo that might make you curious.”

“Wow! What was it?”

My curiosity surged so much that my upper body instinctively leaned toward Odin.

“Are you curious?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want to know?”

“What? Yes, I want to know!”

“Do you really want to know?”

“I want to know, yes!”

“Then there’s one thing I need to confirm first. I’ve been uncertain until now.”

Why are you drawing this out so much?

“Ask me anything.”

At my willing response, Odin rose and took a couple of steps closer to me before stopping.

“Who are you?”

My heart sank.

I am Odin Veiled Aslan Hedegen.

The great founder of the Hedegen family, the Empire’s foremost meritorious subject who helped establish the Tezen Empire, and the splendid middle-aged Grand Duke beloved by all imperial citizens.

Speaking of myself, I was the owner of magnificent achievements that contributed to the Empire’s development until just before my death. I passed down my excellent appearance, maintaining beautiful health for generations, and with my superior intellect and wealth, I was, in a word, the most uniquely perfect being in the universe.

Perhaps heaven took notice of me, for I earned the right to reside there in recognition of my lifetime achievements.

Afterward, whenever I missed St. Berte Castle while wandering in heaven, I would descend there and drift around near people.

Since St. Berte Castle was the only earthly place permitted to me, I couldn’t explore anywhere else.

There, for hundreds of years, I watched my child’s grandchild, and that grandchild’s great-grandchild, and even the great-great-grandchildren that followed, all at my leisure.

“No!”

It happened in an instant. My last remaining bloodline died. After the Azanie Count’s daughter married Carlo, my Carlo was attacked and killed.

“My Carlo…!”

My proud Carlo, whom I considered God’s perfect creation, at the hands of his wife, whom he suspected and detested…

Afterward came eternal darkness.

“What’s this?”

Just when I thought it was over, I somehow returned to the past.

Once again, my proud distant grandson, Carlo, was lifting a teacup containing toxic sleeping pills.

And sitting across from him was, of course, the Azanie child!

“Don’t drink it! Don’t drink! There’s poison in it! Hey, you! Listen to me! Hey! Hey, you bastard!”

No matter how much I shouted, there was no way he could hear my voice.

I shouted beside him and flailed my hands in the air, but they couldn’t reach him.

My transparent hands merely passed through Carlo’s hands repeatedly.

But then…

—Crash!

Suddenly, the Azanie daughter struck down Carlo’s teacup to prevent him from drinking it!

First she puts poison in it, and now what is she trying to do?!

“Run away.”

Then she embraced Carlo’s head and took the blow from a blunt object in his place.

Unlike before when I watched him drink the poisoned tea, surprisingly, the Azanie child saved Carlo. Her eyes held a desperation never seen before as she looked at him.

That gaze was more shocking than the scene of her being hit on the head.

And a few days later, she woke up claiming to have amnesia.

Even so, it must be a lie.

I thought whatever scheme she was plotting would be revealed within days.

“That fellow is still treating himself alone. It’s not like there’s no one in the castle.”

At that time, Carlo, who had cut his thigh during the attack, had resorted to treating himself, unable to trust anyone.

But having spent his life wielding only swords and guns, never having treated his own wounds, his appearance was incredibly clumsy. At this rate, his leg would become infected…

“Hurry and treat my grandson! Don’t all fall asleep—at least one of you should wake up so that boy doesn’t have to handle this alone! He’s my only remaining bloodline! You fools! The head of the family is sick, why doesn’t anyone know!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs, but as always, no one could hear my voice.

Well, these people don’t even know there’s a ghost wandering around the castle, so it would be even harder to imagine me shouting here.

However, something strange happened that I had neither expected nor anticipated.

“…Are you hurt?”

In the late dawn, that child woke up and ran to Carlo’s study.

As if she alone had understood my cries.

“If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already! I had plenty of opportunities, didn’t I?”

And the one who had always lived like a gloomy shadow suddenly transformed into someone bold, snapping at Carlo.

She tried her best to treat Carlo, frequently appeared before him, often showed her smile, and followed him around worrying about his every move.

It was completely different from that child’s behavior before I returned to the past.

Among these, the most surprising thing was…

“Could it be… she can hear my voice?”

The fact that the Azanie daughter acted as if she could hear my voice.

I decided to test this suspicion.

If she could hear my voice, and if that child understood it, she should be able to come to where I called her.

“I’ll be at the Sun Fountain garden.”

It seemed unlikely, but…

It would be quite vexing if the Azanie daughter could understand my words when no one had been able to for hundreds of years despite how much I spoke.

But for the slim chance, I spoke to that child.

However, Lea Azanie didn’t come to the garden.

That was natural. She had collapsed.

“Where are you, Helper!”

Just as I was turning away, feeling both relieved and dismayed that the only being who could understand my words wasn’t the Azanie daughter, I heard her voice.

Helper? Is she referring to me?

“Ack!”

The moment I tried to approach that child, my entire body converged into a small point of light, and I felt an energy surging like a flame.

When I opened my eyes, my view, which had been looking down at many things, now had to look up at everything around me.

What’s going on?

In the moment I tried to lift my hand, instead of where my hand should have been, I saw a soft, furry paw.

After a brief moment of confusion, I instinctively realized I had manifested physically and looked at the Azanie child.

“Turn around.”

I wondered how long she would run around frantically looking for me. Her dress would likely get caught on something and tear easily.

“Pick me up first. My neck is about to break from looking up at you.”

I saw the Azanie daughter’s eyes widen as soon as she discovered me.

Whether it was really because she had lost her memory…

Or if there was some other reason…

This child was acting like a completely different person than before.

If I watched a little longer…

If I kept watching, I would find the answer.

For now, the only one who could understand my words was this vexing yet unnecessarily pretty child.