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Chapter 11
The sound of a door opening came from a direction different from the one Anna usually used, and Selene turned her head.
A man emerging from a small room beside the corridor looked as if he had just been digging through dirt somewhere.
Only four people were allowed access to the inner castle: Selene, Barras, Zart, and Anna.
Unaware that access for others was strictly controlled, Selene simply assumed he was a maintenance worker for the outer walls or someone tending the garden with fertilizer.
She quickly looked away and spoke to Barras.
“By the way, I can’t ride a horse.”
Barras lowered his gaze slightly, then closed and opened his eyes. His expression suggested he couldn’t quite understand what he had just heard.
“You… can’t ride a horse?”
Selene’s expression mirrored his in confusion.
“Is that strange?”
His reaction suggested she had said something completely unexpected, and Selene became flustered. Could it be that even women among commoners here rode horses? Why? Ah—because there were no carriages?
Then the man who looked like a gardener approached Selene and suddenly dropped to one knee in front of her.
Startled by his abrupt action, Selene tried to stand up, but caught her dress hem and the edge of the table and fell backward onto the floor.
She let out a groan as she hit the ground rather loudly.
Barras clenched his fist tightly, restraining the impulse to move immediately.
He watched her expression with obsessive focus, as if he couldn’t afford to miss even a moment.
At some point, the pupils of her crimson eyes widened.
There was nothing in her expression—only surprise and confusion. No trace of recognition toward the man.
Selene, realizing the kneeling man wasn’t approaching her, looked at him cautiously and got up.
Then she slowly moved to find a safer place. In her mind, the safest place here was behind Barras.
Barras thought she might attack from behind him.
He considered the possibility that she might use a moment of distraction to flee with that man—or at least help him escape.
Still, he allowed her to walk behind him until she completely disappeared from his field of vision.
If it was this sugar-rabbit-like woman, he didn’t care what she did behind his back. Even if she had a hidden hammer under that heavy dress and struck his head, it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t trust. It was indifference.
No matter what she chose or did, it didn’t feel like it would change his mind.
He had no intention of ever letting her go.
His mind, unsure whether he was bewitched or insane, recalled Selene’s face as she had just passed by him.
He had thought she was small, but her height was close to his while seated on the small chair.
Seen at eye level, her face looked different—more youthful than when viewed from above. Fresh, almost innocent.
Like a flower bud, he thought with a faint laugh. She was right behind him, yet he was already reacting as if he couldn’t see her.
Still, he didn’t turn around. If she tried anything, he needed to be ready.
Meanwhile, Robin felt as if the sky was collapsing.
He had considered that she might be angry at his sudden appearance as a person from her past.
As expected, she barely looked at him before turning away. He dropped to his knees immediately. If she slapped him in anger, he would have nothing to say.
Before coming into this massive castle, he had thought she had married into a wealthy merchant family.
But this was different. The man beside her appeared to be nobility—and from Selene’s perspective, likely a very satisfactory match.
As a commoner, Selene had always carried some hidden inferiority, so if she had become a noble lady, she would likely have no desire to reconnect with him.
He understood it logically—but his heart hadn’t accepted it yet.
He had thought that even if she didn’t run into his arms, they could at least talk.
If she got angry and asked why he assumed a future with her, he planned to dismiss it as a misunderstanding caused by his one-sided feelings.
As long as she was happy, he would live holding onto their memories alone.
But this reaction was too much. She looked at him like a stranger. And hiding behind that terrifying man…
Was this really the love she had once searched for?
After despair came anger.
“Selene!”
At his shout, Selene flinched and moved even closer behind Barras, pressing against the back of his chair.
She could not understand what was happening.
Who was that man? Did he know Selene? A character who never appeared in the original story—maybe a later introduction?
She had no idea, and it frustrated her.
Barras leaned slightly toward her and spoke low.
“So he is your promised lover from your homeland.”
Selene’s mouth fell open.
“What… what did you say?”
Barras signaled with a snap of his fingers. Zart appeared out of nowhere and dragged Robin away.
The sound of shouting and struggling faded into the distance, but Selene barely registered it.
Her mind was already elsewhere—consumed by confusion and fear.
What exactly was happening to her future?
Barras Velias—this man who had bought her—had just facilitated a reunion with her supposed former lover?
This made no sense.
There had to be some hidden intention. He would never tolerate such a scene if he suspected anything about her past.
Unless he had already investigated her.
Selene collapsed to the floor, strength leaving her legs.
Only then did Barras turn around.
Their eyes met. Selene stared blankly.
When had he started suspecting her?
“Did you think I was testing you?” she whispered inwardly.
A strange despair washed over her.
Tears slowly filled her eyes, then spilled over and fell.
Barras froze.
His mind went completely blank.
He could not think. He could not move.
Her voice came out trembling.
“What is all this?”
Was it resentment? Sadness? Even she didn’t seem to know.
Seeing her tears, Barras wondered if he had made a mistake.
“Did you… try to send me to that man?”
“I have never had such thoughts,” he said.
“Liar.”
It was a lie. He had intended to kill the man in front of her.
But he didn’t say it.
“I only asked to see your face once,” he said instead.
Selene frowned.
“Do you show your face to anyone who asks? Should I put a giant portrait at the castle gate instead?”
Her voice was calm, but clearly angry.
Barras lowered his voice.
“He said he was your lover.”
“Did you believe that? Why didn’t you ask me? You just believed him and brought him here, to meet me at such close distance? A man you don’t even know?”
Her disappointment deepened, and Barras finally revealed something he had intended to keep hidden.
“I used a drug.”
“…What?”
“There is such a thing. Something that prevents lies. I also investigated him. Overall, his words were credible.”
It wasn’t as if he had blindly believed him.
The moment he realized she held no affection for that man, something in him began to melt.
And into that empty space came anxiety.
He didn’t even know what he was anxious about.
He knew he had to explain himself, but he didn’t know the correct answer.
Nothing was going as planned. His excuses were clumsy.
And she had just learned about the drug used on her supposed ex-lover.
……
He should have kept her locked away from the very beginning. That would have been simpler.
Meanwhile
Selene fell silent.
Of course, this world probably had everything—truth serums, love potions, anything.
She didn’t even care that much. In a fantasy novel, anything was possible.
Given that this was originally a dark, tragic story, nothing would be surprising.
In the end, the fastest thought that filled her mind after realizing that man might truly be “Selene’s former lover” was this:
He was indifferent enough to her that he wouldn’t even care if she met her past lover.
