“What brings you here?”

Rachel asked as she stood up, confirming Tervan had entered.

“Just thought I should visit. I heard Viola came by once.”

“She did. Come sit over here.”

Rachel gestured for Tervan to sit down.

Tervan sat and looked around her study.

“Nice study, very neat. Are you researching complicated things and developing magic here?”

“No. I’m not doing anything yet. They said they’ll give me work soon, but there’s been no specific instructions so far.”

“Then what were you reading just now? Wasn’t that research?”

Tervan asked curiously. Rachel turned to look at the document she had borrowed from Edward.

“No. I was just looking through something I wanted to check on my own.”

Tervan laughed awkwardly at Rachel’s straightforward answer.

“Have you had lunch?”

“Of course. Do you know what time it is?”

“Right…”

During their brief exchange, Tervan couldn’t shake the feeling that Rachel was responding to him out of obligation.

Was it because she had changed so much from before?

Tervan glanced at her face repeatedly. Fortunately, Rachel’s expression didn’t show any discomfort.

Soon refreshments were served before them.

After moistening his throat with tea, Tervan’s eyes caught the flowers decorating the table. They were lilies with an attractive sweet fragrance.

“Pretty, aren’t they? Edward gave them to me as a gift.”

Rachel commented casually, following Tervan’s gaze.

Tervan flinched slightly when the name “Edward” was mentioned.

“Edward did?”

“Yes. He came with Viola.”

Tervan’s gaze wavered.

He already knew from his conversation with Viola that she had visited Rachel’s study. But he hadn’t expected Edward to have accompanied her.

“I should have… brought a gift too.”

Tervan mumbled quietly, feeling awkward about coming empty-handed.

Hearing his words, Rachel chuckled.

Meanwhile, Tervan’s gaze remained fixed on the flowers Edward had given her.

Though he made light conversation, Tervan wasn’t feeling so carefree.

First Ryan, and now Edward.

Once he became aware of his own feelings, he began to clearly see how people around Rachel showed their affection for her.

These were things he hadn’t noticed before.

While Ryan might have developed feelings for Rachel after the monster subjugation team incident, Edward seemed different.

If his memory served him correctly, Edward had always been kind and gentle to Rachel.

He had thought it was simply because Edward was naturally a good person, but there was something different about Edward’s demeanor when he was kind to Rachel compared to others.

Edward would do anything Rachel asked.

Looking at it from another angle, Tervan had always felt uncomfortable around Edward.

Even when meeting him not as his friend’s brother but as the heir of a noble family, it was the same.

Edward drew unusually rigid boundaries when he saw Tervan.

At the time, Tervan thought they simply didn’t get along, but looking back now, it seemed likely because Edward had feelings for Rachel.

He probably viewed Tervan unfavorably because he knew Tervan had been ignoring Rachel’s feelings all this time.

Though this realization cleared up things that had puzzled him, Tervan felt no relief whatsoever.

He knew well that Rachel was charming.

Before she became mature like now, she was bright and cheerful like Viola, always wearing a smile.

Rachel was the very embodiment of loveliness, no less than Viola.

That’s why there were quite a few people who admired her, both in the academy and in social circles.

But Rachel never gave them a second glance. It was because Tervan had occupied her heart.

Back then, Tervan found her feelings burdensome. He couldn’t reject her feelings outright.

If the two of them became estranged over this, the relationship between Tervan, Rachel, and Viola would be ruined.

Yet he couldn’t accept her feelings either.

Until then, Tervan hadn’t properly realized how he felt about Rachel.

He thought that if he accepted Rachel’s feelings out of misguided consideration, he would only end up hurting her more.

Moreover, the thought that they could never return to how they were before if things ended badly also constrained him.

Tervan sighed quietly, trying not to let it show.

If only he had realized his feelings sooner.

No, how much better would it have been if he had remained unaware of his feelings, just as he had been until now?

Tervan thought himself pathetic for only becoming aware of his feelings for Rachel after she had moved on.

He considered giving up on Rachel, but his thoughts couldn’t match his heart.

His heart raced anxiously whenever he saw Edward and Ryan with Rachel.

“Tervan?”

Rachel called out to him when he remained silent, staring only at the flowers.

Tervan, belatedly coming to his senses, flashed a smile at her.

Rachel looked at him strangely and spoke.

“What are you doing? You keep staring at the flowers.”

“Nothing. I was just thinking they suit the study well, which would otherwise be austere. Should I bring flowers next time?”

“No need.”

Though Tervan asked subtly, Rachel flatly refused.

“If you have nothing to say, you should go now. You must be busy too.”

“…”

Rachel frowned, uncomfortable with Tervan’s continued silence.

Though he didn’t want to leave, he couldn’t find a reason to stay and just rolled his eyes. Then he hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Rachel, what if.”

“Yes?”

“What if I had accepted your feelings before you gave up on me… what would have happened?”

Tervan asked, regretting the past. He carefully glanced to check Rachel’s expression.

But her eyes remained utterly calm.

If there had been even the slightest hint of emotion, he could have hoped that she still had some feelings left for him, but it was hard to find such a sign in her now.

“No, forget it. I’ve finished my tea, so I’ll get going now.”

Tervan stood up before Rachel could coldly cut him off.

Rachel didn’t mention the topic he had brought up and simply rose to see him out.

“I’ll visit again sometime.”

Rachel nodded at Tervan’s words.

“Anytime.”

Fortunately, Rachel didn’t reject Tervan’s future visits. Inwardly relieved, he smiled.

“I’ll be going then.”

“I won’t see you out.”

Rachel watched from the study door as Tervan walked away.

Then she mulled over what Tervan had said.

‘What if Tervan had accepted my feelings before I gave up?’

Rachel followed Tervan with her eyes until he disappeared around the corner, then closed the door and entered her study.

Instead of sitting at her desk, Rachel sat on the sofa and scanned the spot where he had been sitting.

“Would things have been different?”

Rachel asked herself.

But her voice was skeptical.

Twenty-seven times.

That was the number of times Rachel had turned back time to save Tervan.

No matter how many times she reversed time and tried to change Tervan’s heart, nothing changed.

If only Tervan had acknowledged Rachel’s feelings just once, they wouldn’t have reached this point.

It was inevitable since it was a predetermined setting from the beginning.

For the past to change, they would have to return to the fundamental premise.

The premise that he was merely a device to create trauma for the female protagonist of this novel, and Rachel herself was the villainess who imposed trials on the female protagonist.

It was a predetermined course from the start.

Unless this setting was broken, their past would never change.

Rachel had realized, painfully and thoroughly, that Tervan’s very thoughts were meaningless.

She had no choice but to accept this.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought the same thing while reversing time so many times to save Tervan.

‘What if Tervan had chosen me instead of Viola?’

‘If Tervan had loved me, would he have given up on joining the monster subjugation team?’

She had asked herself these questions countless times at the moment of death while repeating regressions to save him.

She had held a faint hope that she could change the past to avoid their current misalignment.

But after repeating the regression many times, she realized that such thoughts only made her more miserable.

Because in the end, nothing changed.