What did you just say.

What did I just hear. Ivnen stared at Dek with an utterly vacant expression, then asked in a halting, cracked voice.

“Could it be…… could it be that the Count is remarrying?”

Since I’ve died, is he rushing to hold a ceremony with his mistress right away?

But even that didn’t quite make sense. Why would Dek know about it, and why would she be telling her with that smile on her face. And more than anything — wasn’t this the afterlife?

Every manner of thought tangled together and turned her mind upside down.

“No — how could someone remarry when they haven’t even had a first wedding yet.”

Dek strode toward her with quick, purposeful steps. The worry now plain on her face was something Ivnen hadn’t seen there a moment ago.

“What on earth is the matter, Miss. You aren’t feeling ill, are you?”

“……”

“You’ve been counting down to today for months. Your wedding to Count Bjorn, whom you love so dearly.”

Dek went on.

“The Count went out of his way to get permission from House Denia, and you came straight here just yesterday. Don’t you remember?”

……Wait.

Ivnen, who had been standing there wordless and hollow, went rigid. Only then did she hastily look around her.

The guest room of the Count’s estate……

Dek was right. The day before the wedding, she had arrived at Balder estate early to spend the night. Because of Bjorn, who had made the excuse that it would be too much for her — already frail as she was — to be up and moving at the crack of dawn.

And just like that, everything was exactly as Ivnen remembered it.

I’ve come back to the day of the wedding?

How could such a thing be possible. None of it made any sense — but above all else, there was one thing that struck her more plainly than anything.

Her body. Not a trace of pain anywhere.

Even before Bjorn had handed her the poisoned tea, she had already been dying. And doing so in excruciating agony, every inch of her body screaming with it.

Simply lying still and breathing had been so unbearable that she had found herself thinking it might be better to die quickly and be done with it.

“……”

Ivnen looked at Dek with trembling eyes.

“You really are all right, Miss……?”

“I’m — I’m fine. No, I’m just so terribly confused——”

“Goodness, you gave me a fright.”

Dek pressed a hand to her chest, having no way of knowing what was churning inside Ivnen.

“That’s just how weddings are, I suppose. When it’s right on top of you, the feelings go wild. Not that I’ve ever been married myself — but that’s how it looks from where I’m standing.”

“……”

“Now then, you really must get up. Count Bjorn has already finished preparing and is waiting at the temple.”

Quickly, quickly.

Dek steadied her with careful hands, and Ivnen, half in a daze, let herself be guided along with each step.

And then she stopped for a moment before the vanity mirror.

Glossy golden hair that fell to her waist. Eyes the same shade as that hair, glittering like the sun. Skin as clear and white as milk, lips as red as crushed flower petals, and cheeks full of fresh, healthy color……

Ivnen’s hands went stiff as she stared at her own reflection — looking perfectly well, not a shadow of illness anywhere to be found.

Her fingertips felt icily numb, as though all the blood in her body had turned cold with bewilderment and confusion.

Ivnen was subjected to Dek’s fussing for quite some time.

The unfamiliar excess of it all — being adorned so elaborately. The pure white dress she now had one memory of wearing. And through all that chaos, Dek’s face, dewy with emotion as she brought up old stories — every bit of it was exactly as Ivnen remembered.

The wedding venue was a small temple not far from the Count’s estate.

As Ivnen recalled, not a single person from House Denia had shown their face at the ceremony. Not her father — and not Lilien either.

The nobility had been much the same. That the people of House Denia hadn’t come was no surprise — they had never treated her as a person to begin with — but there were two reasons why even the other nobles had stayed away.

The first was that they already knew what kind of existence Ivnen had been within House Denia. The second was that Bjorn himself, the groom, had wanted the wedding as bare and simple as possible.

He didn’t want it.

The reasons, of course, were different.

In her past life, the simple fact of being joined to Bjorn — the man she loved — had been more than enough joy, leaving nothing more to wish for. And now……

“Now then, walk straight ahead. You’ll enter together with the Count. I’ll be watching from the seats, Miss.”

“……Thank you, Dek.”

Dek paused for just a moment.

Because the look on Ivnen’s face as she glanced back was slightly different from before.

That is to say — for some reason, it carried a faint air of resolve.

She’s finally calmed down, it seems.

Dek smiled warmly and looked at Ivnen as if to say go on, and Ivnen began walking alone.

Toward the wide-open doors ahead.

And then a familiar silhouette came into view.