PUBW 31

Chapter 31

Chase smiled with satisfaction, like a well-fed tiger.

“Sit.”

Leaning back casually on the sofa, Chase crossed his legs.

“Now, please tell me.”

“Going straight to the point, aren’t you? I’d like to enjoy the joy of reunion a little too.”

“Your Highness.”

“That attire suits you surprisingly well.”

Chase’s eyes swept over me in commoner’s clothes.

“If only you had been born a commoner, I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”

Suffer? What a joke. Even now he was trying to use information as a weapon to control me.

“No, that’s not right. Even if you had been a commoner, you would still have driven me mad with your lofty attitude.”

“Why did I turn into a cat? Was it black magic?”

Chase fixed his gaze on me and answered almost nonchalantly.

“A curse.”

A mix of excitement and impatience stirred in me.

“A curse so powerful that black magic can’t even compare.”

“Are you referring to the curse the first Lord of Redmond received from the Demon King?”

“…How do you know that?”

Chase’s face hardened, as if he hadn’t expected me to know about the curse.

“I had a dream. About Saintess Eluna and Hero Calix.”

“All of your memories have returned?”

The relaxed air about Chase disappeared; he straightened in his seat.

“Which means, you’re confirming that I really am Saintess Eluna.”

I had suspected it, but hearing confirmation gave me a strange feeling.

Then… doesn’t that mean Calix has also been reincarnated?

My heart thumped for some reason.

“Charle, answer me. Have all your memories returned?”

“No. Just fragments. That’s why I wasn’t certain.”

“How much do you remember?”

Chase asked urgently.

“Almost nothing. Only that Hero Calix was cursed by the Demon King, and that Saintess Eluna disappeared to completely eradicate him.”

I knew Eluna was me, but she still felt like someone else—it was strange to call her “I.”

“Then…”

After some thought, Chase spoke.

“This makes the conversation easier.”

“Yes. So please tell me what you know.”

But what Chase said next left me in utter shock.

“I am the first Lord of Redmond—Calix.”

“…What?”

“Saintess Eluna, your lover. That was me.”

That was absurd. Impossible. Chase was Calix? That couldn’t be true.

I hated Chase. The man who tried to take me by holding my mother’s life hostage disgusted me.

But in my dream, Calix had devoted himself to the Saintess—to me. That was true love.

And I too had loved him deeply.

“You don’t believe me, I see. But it’s the truth. Otherwise, how else would I know you’re the Saintess?”

My stomach churned at the harsh reality.

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t. Chase was right.

“…You seem very different in personality.”

“That’s because my memories aren’t complete either.”

“Then, Your Highness approached me because in our past lives we were… lovers?”

I clenched my fists at that vile word binding us together.

“No. As I said, I fell for you at first sight. Later, I regained my memories. Doesn’t it feel like destiny?”

“Then when exactly did you regain your memories? And why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“Would you have believed me if I had?”

Chase looked me straight in the eye, convinced that I would never have trusted him.

“You, who hated me so much, and had no memories yet—would you have believed me?”

His voice carried resentment.

But the reason I couldn’t trust him was entirely his fault.

“What woman would like a man who uses her mother’s medicine as a bargaining chip for an engagement?”

“Yes. It’s my fault. I know. Sorry I was born this way. It’s not like I wanted to grow up twisted.”

“I hate it when you talk like that too.”

No matter how I thought about it, it was impossible to believe Calix and Chase were the same person.

Honestly… if anyone, maybe Artif…

The thought made me flinch.

Chase, still watching me carefully, asked,

“Charle. If I acted like in our past life, would you love me again?”

“That…”

“Hm? Charle. I’ll live worshipping you.”

It was the first time he had spoken to me like this, and it felt strange.

If this was his true self, he would grant my requests.

“Then give me enough medicine. And annul the engagement.”

“Annul the engagement? But we’re lovers.”

“No. Eluna and Calix were lovers. If you truly are Calix, then you know marrying this way is wrong.”

“I can’t do that. Ask for something else. Anything else.”

Of course.

Whatever he once was, the man before me wasn’t Calix. He was Chase.

“If you won’t, then my answer won’t change. Even if I regain all my memories, my heart will remain the same.”

Chase frowned, then leaned arrogantly back into the sofa again.

“Do as you wish. In the end, you’ll fall into my arms anyway.”

What a wretched man.

At least, it seemed he didn’t remember that Eluna and Calix had once shared a night together.

“I have more questions.”

“What is it?”

“Why did the curse suddenly manifest in me? Have you lifted your half of the curse already? Please tell me how.”

I had many questions, but this one mattered most now.

“Then I should start from the beginning. This will take time, so shall we continue tomorrow? It’s getting late.”

“No. I want to hear it now.”

“Well, fine. It began when you were born sick.”

That caught me off guard. So even my unexplained illness was connected.

“Your soul was bound to my sword along with holy power—Calix’s sword. When a fragment of that soul slipped out, you were born. But the fragment was too small, so your body was weak.”

“Then why did I suddenly get better?”

“When I found the sword, part of the soul returned to you. But your existence was still too weak, so the curse didn’t manifest yet.”

Even after recovering and coming to the capital, I had remained frail.

But once the curse appeared, I grew as healthy as an ordinary person.

It meant my soul had fully returned.

“You didn’t return the soul earlier because you feared the curse would manifest.”

“Correct.”

Right before the curse appeared, Chase had dragged me around on countless dates.

Until I collapsed from exhaustion.

“You released the soul to restore my body.”

“I accidentally returned all of it. That caused the curse engraved on your soul to manifest.”

“And how do I break the curse?”

“It’s already broken. When I realized you were transforming into an animal, I returned the holy power as well.”

“…Holy power?”

I couldn’t feel any difference inside me, yet Chase said holy power flowed in me.

Wait.

If this was the Saintess’s holy power that once defeated the Demon King, couldn’t it heal Mother?

But his next words made me scowl.

“Yes. About half of it.”

“Why? Give me all of it. It’s mine.”

Excitement surged at the thought of finally curing Mother, but I glared sharply at Chase.

“Don’t tell me you’re keeping it so I can’t heal my mother? Just so I’ll marry you?”

“Of course not. If marriage were my goal, I’d have promised to return it right after the wedding. Besides, you already know holy power doesn’t work on the Duchess’s illness.”

“Then why only half?”

Chase looked displeased as he answered.

“Even with what you have now, you’ll be one of the strongest in the Empire. But if you had it all, your life would become unbearably troublesome. I don’t want you enslaved by the temple again. I want you in the palace. You sacrificed enough in your past life.”

I remembered Eluna leaving Calix behind.

Maybe Chase was right—Eluna had sacrificed plenty.

But still…

I wanted to find a way to heal Mother.

If Chase’s memories were incomplete, maybe he didn’t know every method.

“Give it back anyway.”

“No.”

“Your Highness. This is my decision to make.”

“No. It’s mine. Right now, it’s in my hands, which makes it mine.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Talking to him felt like talking to a wall.

“It’s late. Let’s stop here for today. If you have more questions, ask me tomorrow.”

“I’ll send a letter.”

“No. Come see me again tomorrow.”

Knowing he would do as he pleased anyway, I nodded halfheartedly.

“Oh, one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I know you’ve been staying at the Redmond estate. From now on, never get close to the Duke of Redmond.”