“You might have wanted to go out with your parents, what’s wrong with that? It was an accident. An accident! Not your fault!”

No, perhaps I now want to use Aaron as a shield to yell at the young Han Suyeon.

When she reached the conclusion she had tried to ignore, Eileen’s voice, which had started very low, gradually rose. By the time she finished her last words, it had transformed into a wail.

“……A child wanting to spend time with their parents isn’t wrong.”

The foolish Duke Aaron and the even more foolish me.

The young Han Suyeon continuously intersects within the image of Aaron.

The pain she had forgotten seemed to flood back because Han Suyeon’s life, hidden within Eileen’s brilliantly shining life, was too miserable.

Eileen tightly clenched her fist to hold back the tears bursting forth, but her trembling hands showed no sign of stopping.

“Neither I nor you, Duke Aaron, wished for our parents to die……”

Tears that seemed they would no longer fall after everything had been poured out dropped one by one onto the ground, unable to overcome gravity.

“……Yes.”

A somewhat strong wind blew. The wind quickly carried away all the complicated feelings, sorrowful emotions, and guilt from the two.

“Eileen, you’re right.”

The emotions of hurt that had long settled deeply in Aaron’s heart gradually lost their color at Eileen’s tearful words.

What exactly was this stirring feeling?

‘What’s the use of thinking about it now.’

Aaron stopped thinking deeply and simply followed his instincts.

He carefully extended his arms and tightly embraced Eileen, who was crying before him.

“I……”

Then he carefully whispered into Eileen’s ear the words he had never been able to say, words he had kept buried deep in his heart.

“I just.”

Losing his parents in an accident during childhood, Aaron had to become a duke overnight. He had no time to mourn his parents’ death. He had too many responsibilities, and eventually became colder and more detached.

Nevertheless, he always became a weak person in front of those who carelessly probed his wounds……

“Just wanted to spend time with my parents.”

Even after much time had passed, he calmly accepted the accusations that the accident that took the lives of the Duke and Duchess of Monston was his fault, believing it was a price he rightfully had to pay.

Because he had survived due to his parents’ deaths.

“Others either blamed me or simply pitied me. You’re the first to tell me it wasn’t my fault.”

Yes. He had always thought that was the right answer.

But Eileen’s tear-filled anger told him that the answer he had believed in until now was not the right one.

“Thank you. Lady Eileen.”

Her few words didn’t make him discard all the guilt that had accumulated over the years.

Back then, his parents had a choice.

Whether to save their lives or the life of their young child.

But his parents willingly sacrificed themselves to save him.

Honestly, he still couldn’t understand why.

“Thank you…… truly.”

However, Aaron could clearly understand one thing in this moment: that there was someone crying for him and getting angry for him.

Aaron smiled faintly and tightened his arms around Eileen.

‘W-what am I doing right now.’

When not even a minute had passed since she shed tears in Aaron’s arms, Eileen’s senses suddenly returned.

‘W-what have I done……?’

Embarrassment surged through her with heat spreading due to the vivid memories of what had just happened.

Her cheeks, gradually warming from the heat, felt hot enough to burn.

‘Ah…… I really can’t live with this!’

Either to fix her personality or to die of embarrassment. Cruelly, Eileen only had two choices.

“T-this is our secret! Understand?”

Yes. Better to fix her personality!

Eileen pushed against Aaron’s chest, unnecessarily raising her voice.

“L-let’s go back! Lady Cordelia and Count Luke must be waiting!”

I’m crazy, really. Truly insane.

Making a fuss about revenge, then not only getting angry on his behalf but even crying in his arms.

These were actions completely unsuitable for enemies. Eileen shook her head vigorously at the continuing embarrassment and walked wherever her feet took her.

“……Hmm?”

Suddenly, an alien sensation came over Eileen while she hastened her steps alone. It was a strange feeling, like floating in the air rather than treading on solid ground.

“Damn it, Eileen!”

Simultaneously, Aaron’s voice calling her name along with a curse reached her ears.

Wait a minute. Wait?

Eileen turned her head toward the sound with a sinking feeling. There was Aaron, running toward her with a face turned deathly pale.

“……No way.”

This time, she turned her gaze to look at her feet. Below her eyes were only densely packed trees; there was no ground to support her.

— Listen carefully, Eileen. Though Etoile Hill looks gentle—

— There are hidden cliffs, so be careful and don’t even glance at strange men. Dad, do you know how many times you’ve said this already?

Dad, I’m truly sorry for thinking your words were nagging.

Of course, you who have lived life longer than me are certainly wiser than I am.

Tears welled up at Duke Kyle’s words that quickly flashed through her mind.

‘So this wealthy, leisurely life in this lifetime is ending too.’

The moment she realized the situation, time that had felt slow, stretched out by someone, instantly returned to normal.

Eileen humbly accepted her approaching fate, unable to even resist the gravity pulling her down.

“Damn it, Eileen!”

Aaron called her loudly with a short curse.

Eileen gradually disappeared below the cliff.

Aaron hurriedly jumped down the cliff but couldn’t quite reach her.

Eileen vanished among the bushes at some point, becoming unfindable.

From the moment Eileen slipped and fell down the cliff, only Eileen existed in Aaron’s mind.

“Eileen, answer if you can hear me!”

His silk shirt tore from protruding branches everywhere, and blood seeped from various cuts. However, Aaron frantically searched through the forest like someone who had forgotten pain.

“Please…… please answer, Eileen.”

His breath caught. He had already searched the forest for several minutes, but not even a strand of her golden hair was found.

Would they part forever without saying anything?

He hadn’t yet said thank you or sorry.

“I again…… because of me, again……”

The guilt that had lost its color began to regain it.

In the end, she died because of me.

The overwhelming wretchedness tied Aaron’s feet, making him unable to move.

“Ugh……”

Then, a small but clear groan was heard in the forest gradually being consumed by misery.

“Eileen……?”

* * *

“……This unfilial daughter goes first. Dad, I’m sorry for thinking it was nagging…… Mom, please take care of Dad……”

Her whole body ached. Though she had experienced death once before, unlike that time, this was extremely painful. Eileen struggled to get up, flailing her arms and legs that felt like they didn’t belong to her.

“Sob…… it hurts so much.”

It would have been better to die by God’s mistake like in her previous life.

Now, pain kept coming like she had been thoroughly beaten with a club. Finally giving up on standing, Eileen tightly closed her eyes, hoping for God to appear soon.

“……Eil, Eileen……”

“Sob…… meeting that damned God again.”

Though it wasn’t very clear due to the distance, it was definitely her name.

“Eileen!”

Her name, which had been heard from afar, grew louder until it sounded as if someone was speaking right beside her.

Is it time to leave now?

Eileen slowly lifted her eyelids.

“Eileen, are you an idiot? Where did you leave your eyes!”

“How noisy! If this is our second meeting, you could be a little kinder…… Aaron?”

Why is Aaron here?

Even rubbing her eyes with her aching arm or blinking, what stood before her was Aaron, not the God she had met in her previous life.

Could he be a hallucination appearing in her final moments because they were together?

“This is too much……!”

No, Mom and Dad should be here, and Mary too…… Out of all those people, why does Aaron appear?

Eileen burst into tears from the overwhelming sense of injustice.

“You’re not dead.”

“Sob…… the hallucination even speaks. If that damned God wanted me to see hallucinations, how nice it would be to see someone kind.”

“Hah……”

Aaron exhaled a frustrated sigh at Eileen’s grumbling words.

It was good that he had found Eileen by following the groans echoing through the forest and that she was safe.

However, he hadn’t expected her to shed tears while talking about hallucinations.

“Do people die falling from a cliff that’s not even that high?”

Five minutes ago, Aaron had completely forgotten his guilt-ridden self who feared Eileen might be dead, and now chuckled in disbelief.

“The god who oversees death makes many mistakes, so death is possible! For a hallucination, you talk a lot without ever having died!”

“What nonsense is that?”

Eileen was more remarkable than Aaron thought. Despite his outburst, she continued to spout nonsense about gods overseeing death.

“If you’re going to take me to the afterlife, take me quickly! I’m not afraid anymore!”

“Tsk. She’s gone completely mad.”

Aaron let out a small sigh and brushed up his bothersome bangs.

“I’ll take you to the afterlife as you wish, so get up.”

This is the only way.

Aaron approached Eileen, who had fallen, and extended his hand.

However, Eileen only looked at his hand with suspicious eyes.

“What? Didn’t you say you wanted to go to the afterlife?”

“Fine, let’s go.”

Eileen suppressed the tears that welled up and pressed her hands to the ground to stand.

“……Ugh”

The moment Eileen tried to stand, a throbbing pain rushed to her right leg. Eventually, the unbearable pain spread throughout her body, making her lose balance.

“Ugh, it hurts……”

White dust rose all around, and a loud thud echoed throughout the forest.

“Eileen, are you alright?”

“I’m fi—!”

The moment Eileen raised her head while rubbing her aching waist, a gelatinous sensation spread throughout her body through her lips.

Eileen just blinked, momentarily frozen by the unfamiliar sensation.

“Huh?”

When Aaron’s purple eyes entered her vision so clearly, Eileen’s halted thoughts began to race rapidly.

“Ahhh!!”

Aaron’s lips meeting her own.

It was unmistakably a kiss.