WDYKM 10

Chapter 10

“Right….”

Melia froze at Eshion’s words.

‘Why….’

Why had she never considered that before?

‘If Royden truly wanted to kill me, he could have done it that very day.’

Nothing would have been easier than slashing her throat with the sword he had already raised against her. And if he had failed, he could have simply continued sending assassins after “Vanessa” even now.

But instead, he had ended things with a divorce.

‘Half of the ducal family’s fortune… the risk he took was far too great.’

It was strange. The deeper she thought about it, the more contradictions she found.

Did Royden really… want “Vanessa” dead?

Melia looked at Eshion with shaking eyes.

‘Even someone like Eshion, whom I just met, thought of that question immediately….’

The fact that she herself had never considered it felt both frustrating and bizarre.

‘No.’

She shook her head.

‘Don’t misunderstand this. This could just be me rationalizing things because of my feelings for Royden.’

“Ah….”

And of all times, it happened now.

Beeeeep—

A sharp throbbing spread through her head again.

The situation was bad.

‘And I didn’t even bring the medicine the physician gave me.’

“Are you alright?”

When Melia hunched over in pain, Eshion hurriedly removed the cloak draped over her head. His large hand lightly pressed against her forehead.

“You don’t have a fever….”

Melia squeezed her eyes shut as her vision distorted further.

‘Stay conscious.’

She couldn’t give up here. No matter how badly the headache spread through her mind, she couldn’t let herself black out.

“So.”

Melia slapped Eshion’s hand away.

“Tell me more about what you think.”

From what she could tell, Eshion’s reasoning sounded far more convincing than her own increasingly hazy memories.

“…There’s no need to overthink it.”

Soon enough, he answered calmly.

“If you truly want revenge for your friend, then confirm the truth first.”

Eshion continued,

“Why not investigate the assassination guild first? There’s no way they wouldn’t be connected to a poison capable of killing instantly.”

“But….”

Even if someone really had tried to kill her, wasn’t her body technically still alive?

‘Even though I died.’

To the world, she was remembered as alive. In that case, no law could punish the criminal.

‘And even if they could, it would only count as attempted murder.’

Besides, would the “Vanessa” currently inhabiting her body simply stand by and watch?

“In the end, nothing would change….”

At Melia’s defeated murmur, Eshion frowned in frustration.

“What do you mean nothing changes?”

The moment the truth is revealed, the target of your resentment changes entirely.

“Are you really planning to suffer alone forever?”

Melia stiffened at his sharp words.

“You said you even told him about the future, didn’t you? Then perhaps your husband secretly hoped for it too.”

Perhaps he believed things could change this time.

“…My intuition says your husband isn’t the culprit.”

Eshion clicked his tongue.

“It may have been a scheme devised by the person who would benefit most from your friend’s death. And as I said before, the former countess’s death wasn’t your friend’s fault either.”

His voice grew firmer.

“There were only two people who knew the truth.”

Royden and Vanessa.

“As you said, the former countess’s life may have depended on your friend’s choice….”

But conversely—

“Your husband could have stopped it too. Unless, of course, he wasn’t particularly pleased about the former countess surviving.”

After saying that, Eshion suddenly stopped and let out a sigh.

“…When you put it like that, he really does sound like a bastard.”

There was an odd sense of self-loathing in his voice, but Melia didn’t ask about it.

For some reason, Eshion looked as though he might burst into tears.

“Are you… crying?”

“I’m not.”

Eshion shook his head forcefully.

“You must never forgive him.”

Then, in a voice soaked with sorrow, he muttered,

“A man like that doesn’t deserve forgiveness.”

Melia quietly closed her mouth.

At that moment, Eshion looked more miserable than anyone.

His eyes were red, and though he insisted he wasn’t crying, he kept sniffling to himself.

Watching him somehow made Melia feel… comforted.

* * *

As time passed and the wind gradually turned cooler, Melia finally stood to leave.

Eshion remained where he was, replaying her final words in his head.

—“I think talking with you helped me organize my thoughts a lot. As for insulting the Lady… pretend you didn’t hear that. And sorry for speaking casually when we just met.”

Once.

—“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Melia. I work at the Garden Ducal Estate. If you’re alright with it….”

Twice.

—“Eshion, would it be alright if we talked again sometime?”

When the last sentence finally finished echoing in his mind, Eshion came to a halt.

Without realizing it, he had wandered into a bustling district somewhere in the city.

Then—

[You seemed quite absorbed in that conversation.]

A whisper tickled Eshion’s ears.

His eyelids twitched violently at the sudden voice.

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

The hazel eyes vanished, replaced by gleaming golden irises.

‘The one who interrupted the conversation was actually….’

[But thanks to my power, you learned the full story in detail, did you not?]

Eshion grimaced harshly.

Passersby instinctively shrank back at the expression on his face.

The whisper seemed to notice and chuckled softly.

[Hehe. How was it? That feeling of peace after so long?]

“Why are you asking that?”

[I’m bored.]

Hearing that, Eshion sighed.

“If there’s anyone here with too much free time, it’s you.”

[That is good news. If I have time to spare, it means this world is at peace.]

The whisper’s laughter soon faded.

[That body is unstable.]

“By ‘body,’ you mean….”

[Yes. The woman from earlier.]

Melia.

[Her soul is barely holding together. I couldn’t sense any trace of the original owner anymore. Most likely…]

“She died and vanished.”

The whisper answered with silence.

“Does that have something to do with Melia?”

[Who knows.]

The whisper replied bluntly.

[If she hadn’t died in the first place, none of this would have happened.]

Eshion stiffened slightly.

“This time, I’ll definitely protect her.”

[Very well. I shall look forward to it.]

The whisper softened.

[Will she lose everything again in this life as well?]

Or—

[Will she reclaim everything she lost?]

But before that—

[It would be best to deal with the wicked curse rooted deep inside her mind.]

Before that sinister curse completely destroyed her soul.

“……”

Eshion bit down hard on his lip.

“I already gave her a hint. The curse will gradually weaken.”

[Yes… so long as you do not do anything foolish.]

There was pity in the whisper’s voice.

[Poor Vanessa.]

In the end, she lost everything in this life as well.

* * *

When Melia returned to the ducal estate, she hurried her steps.

The morning sun was already high in the sky.

‘Breakfast must already be over.’

She had never intended to stay out this late.

At the very least, she had planned to return before sunrise and witness Royden and Ruby eating breakfast together.

‘But I ran into someone I never expected.’

After speaking with Eshion, far more time had passed than she realized.

There wasn’t enough time to dry herself properly and change clothes.

‘This won’t do. I should at least take off the cloak first….’

In a hurry, Melia removed the cloak Eshion had draped over her shoulders.

Then she grabbed paper and a pen from the table in her room.

Unknown symbols and circular patterns appeared across the page, and moments later, her body became completely dry and fresh.

Cleaning magic.

‘I’m late!’

Normally she would have admired her own skill and checked her condition afterward, but Melia had no time for that now.

Bang!

“I’m sorry. I’m late.”

But when she hurriedly opened the door to Ruby’s room, she was met with an unexpected sight.

“You’re here, Nanny?”

Ruby was calmly eating breakfast.

Alone in her room, just as usual.

“Wha… Lady Ruby, why are you eating here?”

“So you haven’t heard yet.”

Ruby silently twirled her fork.

“Father said he’d be skipping breakfast because of the mountain of paperwork he has to catch up on.”

Apparently, she had decided that if she was going to eat alone in the dining hall anyway, she would rather eat in her room like always.

“At this hour…?”

“The head chef got caught embezzling funds. They said breakfast was delayed because the new chef was taking over.”

Ruby proudly showed her a plate of delicious ravioli.

“Maybe that’s why it tastes even better than usual.”

It seemed Royden had immediately begun reorganizing the internal affairs of the ducal household as soon as he returned.

‘That was fast.’

But then again, he had to act quickly. When it came to Ruby, Royden couldn’t afford delays.

“Please continue eating.”

Melia forced down her bitter smile and stood up.

“We’ll start your history lessons this afternoon, right?”

“Yeah. I’m excited because it’s a new teacher.”

Melia began tidying the books scattered across Ruby’s desk.

<History of the Olga Empire – Beginner Edition>

This must be today’s textbook.

‘Since it’s a history course, there’s some divine language mixed in too….’

Ruby hadn’t even entered the academy yet. Was it really alright for her to be exposed to divine language this early?

There were too many strange things about it.

‘And for a “beginner” book, the material is surprisingly advanced.’

It almost felt like—

‘An academy-level course.’

Wait….

“Lady Ruby.”

As if possessed, Melia asked,

“Do you perhaps have no intention of attending the Academy?”

Ruby tilted her head.

“You didn’t know? I can’t go to the Academy.”

Then she replied calmly,

“Marie said Father decided that from the moment I was born.”

The child revealed the chains binding her as though it were nothing at all.