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chapter 3
Before the sun rose, Raphael Kairosen’s day began.
With a calm expression, he walked through the lands outside the outer castle walls.
Only Raphael’s power could clear away the remnants left by monster attacks most efficiently.
A faint light flowed from his fingertips,
and the empty ground was slowly, gradually being cleared.
On the site of a small house, there were traces that a child had once lived there.
After offering a brief moment of silence for the child—likely killed by monsters, without even a grave—Raphael turned away.
5:55 a.m. Dawn.
His perfectly scheduled day, measured down to the second, had begun.
With the same indifferent expression, he returned to the castle to follow his precise routine.
And then…
“Oh dear, oh dear, Lord Raphael!”
…he was met with an extremely bothersome commotion.
His aide, Tain.
He was a constantly restless, overly worried figure.
Throughout the work session, he kept glancing out the window nervously and calling out to Raphael.
“Lord Raphael, please take a look at Her Grace the future Grand Duchess. She’s wandering the garden listlessly—at least try talking to her once.”
“I don’t see her.”
“She’s right there outside the window!”
“She isn’t.”
“Oh dear…”
“I assigned Head Maid Melosi to Lady Rosemary. She’ll adapt to the household on her own. I’ve done enough. Is there a problem?”
Looking at Raphael’s unyielding attitude,
Tain’s concern shifted toward whether the future Grand Duchess might simply run away from the castle.
“But still, what should we do? She keeps taking walks. If she sees the collapsed buildings and gets shocked…”
“I see. Then let’s properly begin the reconstruction of <Kairosen Castle>.”
True to his nature of controlling even the smallest details, Raphael’s daily life was perfectly fixed.
And within it—
there wasn’t even a single second allotted to Serentia.
‘The poor future Grand Duchess…’
She would surely wither away.
Like wilted spinach.
Without even meeting Raphael more than a few times.
‘Raphael Kairosen, you probably think right now that you’ll never have any reason to meet me, don’t you?’
But I just remembered something.
How, in the past, you told me your entire rigid schedule in detail every day.
“W-where are you going, Lord Raphael?”
“Exactly 3:34 p.m. In one minute, I am scheduled to visit the Reconstruction Research Institute.”
“You really do explain it thoroughly.”
“I want to share my schedule with you. That’s all.”
You may not want to share anything with me now—but that can’t be helped.
You’ll just have to regret your past self.
‘Right now, Raphael should be at the research institute!’
And so, I arrived at the <Reconstruction Research Institute> where Raphael was supposed to be.
But what I found there, with excitement in my heart, was…
‘An axe?’
No—a sword?
Three rough-looking men stood facing each other, holding axes and swords.
‘Well… that makes sense.’
They were probably testing materials by forging them into weapons to see how durable they were for reinforcing buildings.
I knew this well since I had participated in the reconstruction project of Kairosen Castle in the past.
But…
“G-gasp… M-My Lady!”
Clatter—the axe fell to the ground.
A stiff researcher hurriedly spoke.
“I-it’s not true that our people attack each other with axes or engage in cannibalism!”
At the useless excuse of a poor speaker, the atmosphere sank even further.
I picked up the axe, handed it back, and smiled gently.
“Mhm, I see. It’s a very nice axe.”
I nodded, but why did he look so wronged?
Just as everyone fell into silence—
Raphael, having sensed the commotion, entered the laboratory.
“What is going on?”
My gaze snapped toward him like lightning.
His expression was still indifferent.
Well… there was a slight hint of irritation from his disrupted schedule.
But that wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was—
I met Raphael.
‘No wonder I don’t feel like coughing anymore!’
And then…
“What are you doing?”
…Was I too happy?
Before I knew it, I had stepped too close to him.
And his b-body…
‘W-what is this?’
His shoulders and arms moved beneath his shirt.
Because the thin fabric was damp with sweat, his body reflected the light like a sculpture.
As I stood frozen in place, Raphael spoke flatly,
“Leave. Outsiders are not permitted inside the <Kairosen Castle Reconstruction Research Institute>. And you are currently a guest—an outsider.”
Strictly speaking, he wasn’t wrong.
We weren’t married yet.
But his words still stung like thorns.
Before my regression, my family would hold parties without me.
Leaving all the burdens on my shoulders.
And one day, at my younger sister Evelin’s birthday party—
“Um, I’m sorry, but could you not come to this party?”
“Why?”
“My friends say you’re not very fun. And… you’re not exactly someone we can show off. We do have our family reputation to consider.”
Back then, I had simply accepted it.
“I see,” I had thought.
“Serentia Rosemary. Either way, you’re a part of the North now.”
Before my regression, I had never felt like I belonged anywhere—until Raphael said that to me.
‘But now, even Raphael calls me an outsider.’
It made me a little sad.
Even so, I looked at him bravely.
“I’m sorry for coming in without permission. But there’s something I want to say.”
“What is it?”
At this very moment, the thing I most wanted to say—
“I’ll work hard so that I won’t be an outsider, but your wife♡ instead, dear!”
“An insider? No. There is no chance of you becoming a member of my institute.”
Raphael stared at me and whispered,
“I told you not to call me ‘dear.’ You seem to make that mistake often.”
Cold. Dry. His gaze pierced through me—
‘But thankfully, the ‘your wife♡’ part went through safely!’
Yes, satisfied!
I lifted my chin proudly.
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
“What?”
“It was my calculated strike—pretending it was a mistake so I could properly introduce the term ‘dear’.”
“…?”
“What did you think?”
Raphael looked at me and slowly spoke.
“Leave.”
Recalling my fierce inner ambition, I looked at him.
“Yes! I’ll take my leave here for today!”
I walked away with light steps.
But that didn’t mean I was moving away from his heart.
Raphael Kairosen—you were like this in the past too.
Whenever I, having gained confidence, told you that you were handsome…
“Serentia Rosemary, have you always been this straightforward?”
“Not really… I guess I just became more talkative. Maybe because I resemble you, Lord Raphael?”
“It’s nice.”
…You liked this kind of honesty, didn’t you?
I know you very well!
Maybe because the situation is different, or because the timing has changed—
the way you speak feels a little different now, but…
‘One day, you’ll really let me call you “dear”!’
So until that day, I’ll keep pushing forward.
The three worst sins of unrequited love:
-
Being a nuisance
-
Causing harm
-
Stalking
Without any of those—I’ll make this beneficial for you and fun for me!
At the same time, my gaze landed on a bookshelf labeled <Enhanced Material Samples>.
‘…I’ve decided. The next meeting.’
After Serentia left with her firm resolve,
the members of the Kairosen Grand Ducal Reconstruction Research Team—commonly called the Institute—fell into despair all at once.
“Didn’t we look like complete barbarians, holding axes and swords like that?”
Silence fell over everyone.
“B-but didn’t Her Grace say something nice? She even used cute phrases like ‘my dear wife’…”
As the three researchers spoke, Raphael Kairosen clenched and unclenched his fist a few times.
“No. Your statements are merely unverified hypotheses.”
That word again—hypothesis.
At Raphael’s remark, cold silence descended once more.
Unbothered, Raphael checked the time and spoke flatly,
“Due to this unexpected incident, the <Enhanced Material Experiment> has been delayed by approximately five minutes.”
“Uh… well…”
“Resume work immediately.”
He spoke not to a person, but to the schedule posted on the wall.
As he calculated the day—now altered by a full five minutes—
‘…Already that time?’
One of the more important parts of his daily schedule.
That time.
