“I’m not asking to blame you. I don’t have any feelings for you anymore anyway.”

Rachel let out a short sigh. Then she met Tervan’s eyes.

“You pretended not to know that I liked you because you thought that was the way to not ruin our relationship, right?”

That was also why Rachel couldn’t bring herself to confess to Tervan, and why she felt uncomfortable being left alone with him.

In the past, Rachel wanted to at least remain by Tervan’s side as a friend if they couldn’t be in a relationship.

At least as friends, she could still be with him.

So she did her best not to reveal her feelings.

“…I’m sorry.”

After hesitating, Tervan apologized to Rachel.

He seemed to have no idea how miserable his apology made her feel.

If there was any consolation, it was that Rachel was past the point of being hurt by his insensitive words.

“No. You don’t need to apologize. I didn’t say that to get an apology from you.”

“…”

Rachel smiled bitterly at Tervan, who was overcome with guilt.

“I’m in a similar situation now.”

Rachel answered briefly. But Tervan didn’t understand her words and furrowed his brows.

“If you or Viola knew why I’ve changed like this, our relationship could never be the same as before. That’s why I can’t tell you.”

“What do you mean?”

Rachel didn’t think Tervan would fail to understand this.

Tervan was quite intelligent.

And he was also good at recognizing boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed.

That’s why he had been able to pretend not to know about Rachel’s feelings all this time.

“It’s exactly what I said. If I tell you the reason, neither you nor Viola would be able to treat me the same as before. But there is one thing I can assure you. The person I am now is still the me that you know. I can promise you that.”

When Rachel spoke in a firm tone, Tervan pressed his lips together. Then he stared into her eyes, seemingly trying to determine whether her words were true or not.

Rachel didn’t avoid Tervan’s gaze.

If anything, it was Tervan’s eyes that wavered uneasily, more so than the calm Rachel.

“Something happened that we don’t know about.”

“Yes.”

At Rachel’s confirmation, Tervan bit his lip.

He couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of situation could break the relationship between the three of them if they found out.

“Is it because of me?”

Tervan carefully asked Rachel, just in case.

Rachel paused for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Tervan took her silence as confirmation.

“So it is because of me.”

“Similar, but no. To be precise, it’s because of me. It’s all the result of my choices.”

She had no desire to blame Tervan. Doing so would only increase her emptiness. She didn’t want to waste emotions on something that was already over.

“If I unknowingly hurt you…”

“I said that’s not it!”

When Tervan wouldn’t listen to Rachel, she finally raised her voice. Tervan seemed taken aback, as he hadn’t expected Rachel to get irritated.

Rachel belatedly raised her hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh.

“It’s not your fault. And I can’t say it’s Viola’s fault either. I’ll tell you when the time comes. Can’t you just accept that I’m not ready yet?”

Tervan hesitated as he looked at Rachel’s tired expression. She certainly seemed worn out by the situation.

“You’ll definitely tell me later?”

“Yes. I can swear to that.”

When Rachel answered immediately, Tervan reluctantly agreed. He couldn’t press further when she was so unwilling to talk about it.

“Alright. Just make sure to tell me when the time comes, whenever that may be.”

“I will.”

Rachel finally smiled faintly. Tervan forced a smile in return.

“You should go now. You only came here because Viola dragged you along anyway.”

“No, I thought I should visit too. I don’t dislike coming here that much.”

Tervan said, making what sounded like an excuse.

“I know.”

“…You don’t seem to. Anyway, since I came without notice today, I’ll head back now. Don’t see me out. I can find my way.”

“Okay.”

Tervan got up and left the reception room, leaving Rachel behind.

Rachel briefly looked at the seats where Viola and Tervan had been sitting.

Should she have hidden her changed self? Should she have pretended to be her past self?

Rachel felt her head becoming complicated with the thought that even though she believed everything had been resolved, she still had to deal with the situations arising from it.

[Rachel.]

Just as she had sent off all her guests and was about to take a breath, Creon called out to Rachel.

‘What?’

When Rachel briefly asked back, the necklace she was wearing emitted a faint light.

[I understand well that you’re in a confusing and difficult situation.]

‘And?’

[But now that you’ve achieved what you wanted, shouldn’t you fulfill our contract?]

‘…I should.’

Rachel readily agreed.

The Time Demon Creon hadn’t given her the power to turn back time without asking for something in return.

Creon had demanded that Rachel find a certain object as payment for the power.

The only hints Creon had given were that the object was called the “Tears of Licorice” and that it was in the form of a transparent jewel.

‘Are there no other clues? Like exactly what it looks like or where it’s been seen?’

[If I knew that, I would have found it already. Before meeting you, several humans tried but failed. …Though most didn’t even try.]

Creon’s voice was unusually calm. Rachel was troubled by Creon’s mention that there were those who hadn’t even tried.

‘Why didn’t those people try?’

[They wanted to break the contract.]

‘….’

Rachel couldn’t question Creon further after his matter-of-fact statement.

No, she could already guess what had happened from that brief answer.

Turning back time wasn’t as romantic as one might think.

At first, Rachel too had struggled to make use of her second chance, but turning back time didn’t mean everything would go as planned.

Those who would contract with the Time Demon Creon at the cost of their lives must have had desperate wishes they wanted to fulfill.

Just like how Rachel wanted to save Tervan, whom she had been in love with.

But what was the result?

Rachel had repeated the regression more than twenty-six times to save Tervan.

And finally, in her twenty-seventh life, she was able to protect him.

Until she succeeded, she gradually felt bored and skeptical about her tedious life.

Moreover, because of that gap, the people around her couldn’t treat Rachel as they used to.

That was because the Rachel they knew and the Rachel now were such different people.

Whenever people treated Rachel as a stranger, she acutely realized how isolated she was.

The past and future that only she knew.

The times that only she knew.

Even memories of the past had become faint, making it difficult to easily reminisce with others.

Today was a perfect example.

Viola, Tervan, and even her maid Catrin.

The closer someone had been to Rachel, the greater the disconnect they felt.

Enough to demand an explanation.

Contracting with the Time Demon Creon to defy time was such a lonely and harsh endeavor.

Perhaps it was only natural that some couldn’t endure it and wanted to break the contract.

Those who earned the right to contract with the Time Demon through death would find peace by breaking the contract.

They chose death.

While Rachel sympathized with those who chose death, she also felt compassion for Creon, who had to send them away each time.

Having to send away those who wished for death despite giving them what they asked for.

‘If you have the Tears of Licorice, you can be freed from the jewel, right?’

[Yes. I hope you won’t make the same choice as them, Rachel.]

Rachel nodded at Creon’s words.

‘I’ll try my best.’

After all, Rachel had already achieved everything she wanted.

All that remained for her was to endure.

Since she only had to quietly take over the family once things settled down, it was unlikely that Rachel would make the same decision as the others.

[…Thank you.]

Creon answered after a beat.

‘But how can I find something I don’t know?’

The problem was how to identify it.

[You don’t need to worry about that. When you see the Tears of Licorice, you’ll recognize it immediately. So if you find something suspicious, show it to me.]

‘I’ll do that.’

Rachel answered with a gentle smile toward Creon.