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Chapter 55
The Way to Turn Back a Childhood Friend’s Heart
Trying to treat it as a joke didn’t work—Dante’s expression was far too serious. Was this what people meant by “out of the frying pan into the fire”?
Giulio sighed inwardly and spoke in a slightly uncertain tone.
“…After you become closer?”
“How close are we talking?”
“Just… when the mood feels right. Especially when the other person slowly closes their eyes—that’s your chance.”
“Did you do that too, brother?”
“I somehow ended up… no, why am I even telling you this? This is getting embarrassing.”
Giulio grumbled lightly, and Dante answered honestly.
“I thought you’d know better than me.”
“What do you mean I’d know? I haven’t even met a woman properly since I got engaged…”
He stopped mid-mutter.
After a long silence, Giulio added quietly,
“Don’t tell Vivi what I just said.”
“Why?”
“She already thinks I’m some guy obsessed with women.”
His voice had sunk a little. Dante looked at him with honest doubt.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just explain properly?”
“Better? No. I’m just a boring person.”
Giulio leaned back in his chair, stacking his hands behind his head. His blue eyes turned cold.
“I’m not good enough to be tied to a prestigious family like Crocus.”
“Vivi doesn’t think that way.”
“That’s just now. Who knows what happens once she actually has me.”
Giulio fell silent for a moment.
He remembered the time the engagement proposal from the ducal family had arrived.
The Crocus ducal house. One of the kingdom’s most prestigious families—so powerful that even the royal family had to be careful dealing with them.
They had once been promised marriage while still in the womb, but it was only a verbal agreement. Now that the mother who made that promise was gone, there was no obligation left to honor it.
And yet—
He remembered the girl who looked at him as if he were the most precious treasure in the world. Her eyes sparkling so brightly.
He had never understood it. There were plenty of men better than him in every way—so why look at him like that?
At first, he had refused. He thought something so excessive would only become poison. But Vivian was persistent—almost stubborn like iron wire.
“Are you scared of me?”
“…What?”
“If not, stop running away. It’s annoying to chase you.”
Her tone was indifferent, but he remembered how her lips had trembled. That beautiful face whispering softly, asking if something was wrong, if she could help.
The reason he accepted the engagement was that simple. So simple that even now, he didn’t understand why he agreed.
The two fell silent for a while.
Only the sound of Giulio gathering papers broke the silence.
When he finished organizing them, Dante spoke.
“Vivi said something.”
“Hm?”
“She said even if you died, she’d ask to be buried in the same grave as you.”
Giulio’s hand, which had been turning papers, paused slightly.
Dante continued without hesitation.
“Vivi only plans to marry you anyway, no matter what you think. Do you still not understand her? If you hate it, just break off the engagement.”
Just that alone was enough—she had even offered her own territory to help push the marriage forward. Even for a noble house with immense wealth, it was not a simple decision.
“You’ve been engaged for five years now. Father and I already accepted that your partner would be Vivi. What exactly is the problem that you’re still worrying about?”
“It’s about choosing someone to spend your entire life with. It’s not something to decide lightly.”
“Then why are you worrying about a future that hasn’t even come yet? Just being honest is already hard enough as it is.”
Dante said it—this man who was too honest for his own good. Even when Giulio looked at him like he was ridiculous, Dante didn’t flinch.
“And I’m an adult now.”
Not only that, if you added his past age, he was four years older than Giulio.
“I’m not a kid you need to worry about anymore. So don’t mind me, and just be honest yourself.”
Now that he had returned from traveling through time, things he had once ignored felt different.
In the past, Giulio would never have had this kind of conversation. He wouldn’t have even understood why he avoided marrying Vivian.
Back then, just dealing with himself had been all he could manage.
“……Dante, you’re getting bold.”
“I’ve grown up too.”
Giulio let out a small laugh at Dante’s calm tone.
Grown up? Nothing about him had changed—he was still just as carefree and lacking ambition as ever. And honestly, Giulio found that reassuring.
“Still… I felt like this day would come eventually.”
His calm gaze fell on Dante, who blinked innocently as if he understood nothing.
Since childhood, Dante had been exceptionally handsome. If not for his genius sword talent, he would have been too dangerous to let out into society.
Thinking about the incidents during his early academy days still gave Giulio chills. There had even been women who chased Dante all the way to the marquis’s estate.
Despite causing such chaos, Dante himself had shown almost no interest in any of it.
Except for one thing.
“You’ve always followed Fey around.”
Even since he dressed in girls’ clothing as a child. Someone usually indifferent to everything in the world would visibly brighten whenever he was with Fey.
“Still, be careful.”
“About what?”
“There are women who might try to drag you into something like a one-night mistake.”
“A one-night…?”
Dante tilted his head, not understanding.
Instead of explaining, Giulio cut it short.
“At parties, you never know what happens. Especially these days, opium is becoming popular.”
“Opium…? Like some kind of medicinal herb? I heard if you burn it and inhale the smoke, it makes your mind foggy. I’ve also heard you can eat it.”
“Oh? You know that? Since when?”
Of course he knew—because in a few years, that opium would cause a huge disaster.
Even among nobles visiting the temple, addiction cases would rise sharply. About two years after Fey left, the kingdom would officially ban it.
Even so, illegal distribution would continue, becoming a major problem.
There were even rumors that Fabian had formed an investigation team personally, but even until Fey returned as a corpse, it hadn’t been resolved.
“I just happened to hear about it.”
Dante brushed it off casually and added,
“I don’t think it sounds very good. Aren’t there any restrictions?”
“Well, if people want to enjoy it, there’s no reason to stop them. As long as they’re not secretly forcing it on others.”
“I see.”
“Why? Something bothering you?”
“It’s just that anything excessive isn’t good. Anything that disturbs the mind should be watched carefully. Alcohol too.”
“That sounds like you.”
Now that he thought about it, he had promised to drink with Fey. Maybe it would be fine… as long as he drank moderately.
He had no idea Fey might actually try to make him drink until he lost control.
Dante stood up from the sofa.
“Alright, I’ll get going.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Thanks for the advice. It helped.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Giulio waved him off with a relaxed smile as Dante left the office.
The moment the door closed completely, the smile faded from Giulio’s face.
After thinking over their conversation, he muttered,
“…Strange.”
The engagement itself had always felt suspicious. Especially since there had already been a prior engagement with the royal family.
Giulio clearly remembered the situation at the time—the father struggling to refuse an order directly from the royal court, the exchanged gifts, the negotiations.
The royal family had believed Dante was a girl. Most likely, their youngest daughter Fey had been the one pushing things forward.
Looking back, even their mother—who laughed boldly and suggested they simply wait and see when Dante would notice his own situation instead of revealing his gender—had been anything but ordinary.
But suddenly another engagement?
Dante clearly didn’t know anything, but Fey likely did.
“Did she change her mind?”
They had both been children back then. Maybe things changed as they grew older.
Eight years was a long time.
“The gifts can just be reused from the items returned after the annulment… might as well make a point of it.”
In any case, since their house was at a disadvantage, negotiations over engagement gifts would likely turn into a battle of pride from the very beginning.
It would be better to settle things early. If the king still had any sense of shame, he wouldn’t treat Dante too poorly.
Giulio quickly finished his calculations and pulled out another cream-colored sheet of paper, beginning to write.
