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chapter 58
Aiden discovered a solitary house atop a hill, surrounded by nothing.
The note he had received from the guild master had undoubtedly pointed him to this place.
He stepped toward the isolated house, and immediately, an unusual wind wrapped around him.
“Do people really live in a place like this?”
The location was far from any village, unsuitable for habitation.
Aiden’s blonde hair whipped about in the wind.
Pushing his way between some tents, someone appeared.
It was a face hidden behind a mask, impossible to identify.
“You found me sooner than I expected. I’ve been waiting,” the figure said.
“And who are you?”
Aiden’s question slipped out instinctively.
He knew the person in the note had been waiting for him, but he didn’t know their true identity.
Slowly, she removed the mask and extended her hand for a handshake.
“I’m Mrs. Melton. I occasionally read fortunes as a hobby.”
Mrs. Melton, renowned in high society for her golden connections.
Although Aiden had not interacted closely with her in Leo’s time, he was well aware of her name.
Rather than gradually building connections from youth, she had suddenly appeared in society.
Her sudden rise earned her even more praise, because in the stagnant world of high society, a new figure always drew attention.
And now she claimed to have been waiting for him? Aiden’s curiosity grew.
He refused the handshake and asked,
“Are you the one giving orders to the guild master as well?”
“Let’s just say we’re collaborators,” Mrs. Melton replied with a sheepish smile.
Her answer was deliberately vague.
Without giving Aiden time to ponder, Mrs. Melton pulled out a chair and shifted the topic.
“Let’s set aside the reason you came for a moment. May I read your concerns?”
“I don’t need my concerns read. I want to know why you’ve been waiting for me.”
Aiden sat reluctantly. Mrs. Melton ignored his protest.
“I could see from your face that you have worries. You want your body back, right?”
The sudden question left Aiden momentarily speechless.
He instinctively hid the fact that his body had changed.
Since this was a matter between Aiden and Leo, he decided that no one else should know.
Even trying to hide it, however, was useless against Mrs. Melton.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Trying to deceive me too?”
Aiden’s eyebrows twitched.
Mrs. Melton’s knowing smile felt like she could see right through him.
Though she claimed to read fortunes as a hobby, it seemed she genuinely knew everything.
Aiden shook his head in disbelief.
“I know it’s hard to believe. But if you want to return your body to its original state, you’ll need my help, Your Grace, Duke Winston.”
“!”
Aiden stared at Mrs. Melton. There was no deceit in her eyes.
The smile that had once been on her lips had long since vanished.
She had known all along that he was Duke Leo Winston, even before he spoke.
How on earth?
A crystal ball for divination sat before Mrs. Melton, but it showed nothing.
Aiden looked around for anything suspicious, but found nothing.
The only thing unusual was Mrs. Melton’s unwavering gaze on him.
Could it be that his unconscious actions revealed the habits of Duke Winston?
Even so, ordinary people would hardly imagine a body swap from a few behavioral quirks.
Yet Mrs. Melton had predicted the swap naturally.
[She said she would give you a decisive hint.]
Could this person explain the bizarre sequence of events that had occurred?
Why the two men had switched bodies, and how to return them.
Aiden felt a burning curiosity. Even though he had no intention of swapping bodies yet, he wanted answers.
He loosened his tight cravat, though it did little to ease his restless mind.
Mrs. Melton smiled faintly, seeing that Aiden was finally ready to listen.
“Do you really think the body swap happened randomly?”
“Then there must be a reason. It was clearly an accident.”
Aiden recalled the day of the Riera building demolition, the final negotiation with Aiden Spencer.
He had been firmly refused when he pleaded for reconsideration, but Aiden had come directly to him.
That night, the collision between the unyielding “Leo” and the persistent “Aiden” had escalated.
Thunder roared in the dark sky, the horses went mad, and the carriage tumbled down the slope.
Both men rolled to the ground, losing consciousness instantly.
Recalling the accident, Aiden tightly closed his eyes, the shock vivid in his memory.
“It wasn’t just a carriage accident. Too many things were coincidental. Your desires were exchanged.”
“…Desires?”
Mrs. Melton nodded without hesitation. She spoke as if even the accident had been predetermined.
But Aiden refused to accept it.
“That’s impossible.”
That night, they had only clashed over a single matter. How could their desires have swapped?
Mrs. Melton spoke gently to him.
“You wanted it so badly. What the Marquis Aiden Spencer possessed.”
Her calm words seemed to cast a spell, drawing even skeptical Aiden into deep thought.
He had never thought that way. Before the accident, he had never desired or envied anything belonging to Marquis Aiden Spencer.
He hadn’t considered himself superior or arrogant, living as Leo Winston with gratitude.
Even risking his life in the accident, he had not longed for anything of Aiden Spencer’s.
He had been unaware of Sara’s existence, hidden by the Marquis.
His mind had always been occupied with a girl from childhood whose name he didn’t even know.
He had always sought that girl.
“Then why now…?”
Confused, Aiden’s thoughts were consumed by Sara’s face.
Her dark brown hair and green eyes overlapped with the childhood memory of the girl.
“I must be going mad.”
Listening to Mrs. Melton, he realized he had been carried away by absurd imagination.
A candle flickered before him, perhaps contributing to his disorientation.
Even after he extinguished it, Mrs. Melton continued speaking.
“It’s not just desire that causes a body swap. Timing must align as well.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
Aiden rubbed his forehead as his headache returned.
Chasing Olga’s suspicious herbs to Mrs. Melton via the guild master had seemed far too orchestrated to be mere coincidence.
It was like a carefully designed game.
And she was telling him exactly what he wanted to know—without asking for anything in return.
“For the next three months—three months—you must face each other on this hill.”
“What happens if we miss the timing?”
“I can’t guarantee, but you’ll remain trapped in that body. Forever, with no change.”
Living in Aiden’s body.
Aiden opened his hands.
Even now, living as this person was not ideal for him or Sara.
He could endure it until Sara left the Marquis’ house, but eventually, he had to regain his original body.
“So you must persuade him. He’s obtained what he wants through your body, so he’ll likely resist returning. He’ll fight to keep it.”
“…”
Bringing the bulky Leo here by force would be nearly impossible. Persuasion was the only option.
It wouldn’t be easy; after all, he had come to find Aiden even on that night of the accident.
What exactly did “Aiden” want from him?
Did he desire the wealth and honor of the Winston family more than his beloved wife?
A bitter smile crossed Aiden’s lips.
The premise was flawed.
If Aiden truly loved Sara…
He would never have left her to wither away.
He wouldn’t have trapped her in the Marquis’ house, left her alone, ignored the servants’ torment, or overlooked Olga’s malice.
“Then why are you telling me all this?”
Even knowing about the strange events, Mrs. Melton was a third party.
Why reveal the truth while waiting for Aiden to come to her through the guild master?
Aiden, however, chose not to pry further, as the information was useful.
“I only wish for your happiness.”
“Your happiness?”
While Aiden tilted his head, Mrs. Melton added one more warning.
“Remember: both timing and desire must align. Only then can you return to your original bodies.”
A task was set before Aiden. He had three months to decide: to swap bodies back or remain in this one.
The decision would be short. Timing was everything.
