🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 8
A trembling breath slipped past Melia’s lips.
‘I heard it from the head maid, but I never imagined it would be today. They said the knights were still near the Kingdom of Arisa….’
Melia glanced around. Behind Royden, servants were running over in a panic.
‘Did he return immediately without even resting, just for Ruby’s sake?’
If that were true, it explained both the servants’ flustered state and his incredibly early return.
“Nu-Nanny.”
Ruby called to Melia softly from her arms, but Melia could not answer at all.
“Step away from my daughter immediately.”
Because Royden suddenly seized Melia by the wrist.
In the end, they had touched again.
They had met again after all.
“Ah—!”
His grip was so strong that Melia’s face twisted in pain.
Had he lost the ability to control his strength after spending so long on the battlefield?
Or had Melia become someone he felt no need to be careful with?
Either way, both possibilities hurt her deeply.
“Kyah!”
A moment later, Melia fell hard onto the ground.
“Na-Nanny, waaah!”
Watching this, Ruby burst into tears again after barely managing to calm down earlier. Ironically, the one startled by Ruby’s crying was Royden himself.
“Nanny…?”
Royden repeated Ruby’s words under his breath before looking at Melia, who had fallen to the ground.
Silver-white hair fluttering in the wind.
Red eyes filled with anxiety.
A uniform stained with dirt.
‘A nanny?’
A deeper crease formed between Royden’s brows.
“Don’t tell me… you are….”
After a sigh, Royden finally withdrew his hostility. The tension constricting Melia’s body loosened, and she staggered weakly.
“Nanny, Nanny.”
As if she had been waiting for the chance, Ruby spread her arms and ran toward Melia. Hugging her tightly, Ruby tried her best to support Melia’s swaying body.
Melia also desperately tried to steady her collapsing consciousness, worried she might leave Ruby with another terrible memory… but sadly, Melia was already in a terrible state.
Endless exhaustion.
The sudden aggression and hostility.
Even her reddened wrist was trembling.
“……”
Before long, Melia’s consciousness scattered in an instant.
* * *
She saw a room swallowed by dark evening.
The moment she saw it, she knew.
It was the very day she had died.
—or rather, the moments after her death.
Thud.
Vanessa’s blood-soaked hand slowly slipped to the floor. Royden, entranced, grabbed her hand again. But nothing changed.
Thud.
Royden looked at Vanessa’s blood-covered body in his arms. Her once-soft sky-blue eyes were hidden beneath pale eyelids, and the sight of her skin drenched in blood sent chills down his spine.
—Why?
Rather than recoiling in horror, Royden looked completely lost.
She was never supposed to die like this.
—Lies.
Wasn’t she the person most obsessed with her own survival?
Wasn’t she someone who hated Ruby so much she could barely stand it?
That was how she used to be.
—I only want our child to become the happiest child in the world.
How could she say something like that and leave?
It was ridiculous. Hypocritical.
—Did you really… not hate Ruby?
It was obviously a disgusting lie.
—Please answer me.
Then why did he want to believe her words so badly?
Was this another act of hers, or was it sincere?
With trembling hands, Royden wiped the blood from Vanessa’s lips.
But Vanessa never answered.
Then, the feelings he had never confessed to anyone spilled out.
—I… wanted Ruby to be happy in this life.
If she were born again, he wanted her to grow up surrounded only by love.
He wanted to give her a home filled with people who loved her.
—Ruby was a child who came to us with such difficulty.
That was all he wanted.
Only that.
—This isn’t what I wanted.
Royden cradled Vanessa’s head in his arms. Unable even to wipe away the tears endlessly falling from his face, he let out a broken groan.
—I never wanted you to die.
He had only wanted her to leave Ruby’s side.
Not to leave through death like this.
—I just wanted you to start over too…!
At that moment—
[The price has been taken.]
A familiar whisper brushed against Royden’s ear. He froze completely.
—No.
No. Not yet.
—Not like this.
Royden refused to accept reality and held Vanessa even tighter.
Had that desperate longing reached someone?
Tick.
Tick.
When the shortest hand of the clock completed a full rotation—
—Ha.
A breath.
Vanessa was not dead yet.
Unable to miss that chance, Royden shouted immediately:
—Call a physician!
At Royden’s cry, people rushed into Vanessa’s room.
Terrified servants.
Sophie collapsing to the floor.
And finally, a pale-faced physician.
—Vanessa, save Vanessa.
Royden desperately begged the physician to save her life.
Never once realizing that the “Vanessa” now breathing before him was someone else entirely.
He truly believed it was a miracle.
* * *
“……!”
Melia’s eyes snapped open as air rushed into her lungs.
The first thing to greet her was the warm glow of candlelight. The flickering golden flames looked almost like a pair of butterflies.
And Ruby, asleep in her arms.
“You’re awake.”
Royden was looking at her.
For a moment, the Royden crying in her dream overlapped with the Royden before her now.
And at the same time, she saw the Royden from her memories—the one who used to smile so brightly.
His once-radiant purple eyes had grown dull.
Dark shadows lingered beneath his pale eyes.
The man who once carried a noble aura now gave off something almost dangerous.
Until now, Melia had never truly realized that six years had passed since her death. Ironically, it became painfully clear the moment she looked at Royden.
‘Am I still dreaming?’
No. If this were a dream, the warmth of Ruby sleeping in her arms would not feel this vivid.
Because the dream had felt so real, Melia let out a faint breath.
‘After my death… Royden….’
He had been crying.
Crying so bitterly.
‘That can’t be… can it?’
Her death had been Royden’s wish.
So this dream could not possibly be reality.
A Royden who grieved her death and denied it could not exist.
The hand clutching the blanket tightened.
The dream had felt even more real than reality itself, and Melia could not tell whether the turmoil inside her was joy or anger.
She simply wanted to leave.
“Stay lying down.”
Unaware of her thoughts, Royden urged her to rest.
“The physician said your fatigue has accumulated. You need rest.”
He had already removed his armor and changed into a neat white shirt and comfortable trousers. Letting out a small breath, he leaned back in the chair beside the bed.
“About what happened earlier… I apologize.”
Then came his apology.
“I knew your name from the documents, but your portrait was missing. There must have been some mistake during transmission because of the war.”
Royden hesitated before continuing.
“I had heard the previous nanny died, but your atmosphere felt so different that I didn’t recognize you at all. I have no excuse. I never imagined failing to confirm your face would lead to this.”
He muttered quietly to himself.
“I should have shown the child a better side of myself, but I failed. And I treated you terribly as well.”
Darkness settled into his eyes.
“I swore I would never repeat something like this again….”
Was it just her imagination?
Those eyes looked exactly like the Royden from her dream.
“……”
‘Why?’
Was there something wrong with her body?
Strangely, her throat felt completely blocked, and no sound would come out.
Panicked, Melia touched her throat. She was certain there was nothing physically wrong.
‘Then why can’t I…?’
“She sleeps well.”
Meanwhile, Royden’s gaze moved to the sleeping Ruby.
“The head maid and every servant in the estate says Ruby follows you very well.”
Carefully, he brushed back Ruby’s messy hair.
Startled by the sudden touch, Ruby frowned and mumbled in her sleep, but soon relaxed into the gentle caress and smiled faintly.
“That must be why she sleeps so peacefully in your arms.”
Worried he might wake her, Royden quietly stood up.
“Please continue taking good care of Ruby. Nothing like today will ever happen again. I’m sorry.”
Melia could not answer.
Her throat was still completely blocked.
Eventually, Royden turned away.
No—just before he did.
“……!”
As if possessed, Melia suddenly reached out and grabbed Royden.
Startled by her own actions, she froze.
‘Have I lost my mind? Why did I stop him?’
And yet… if she let Royden leave now, somehow—
Melia could not think any further.
“Is there… nothing more you want to ask me?”
The hand gripping him trembled.
Now even the words leaving her mouth had escaped her control.
Royden also looked surprised.
But only briefly.
Then he let out a quiet breath.
“In that case….”
Slowly, he returned to his chair.
