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A response different from the past.

Knowing that the hospitality I would have received if I hadn’t thrown punches before was something from my previous life made me feel a slight sense of regret. However, it wasn’t just regret.

Being acutely aware of my past mistakes gave me the confidence that I wouldn’t repeat them, and just as he smiled at me now, I would change things so that he could only look at me among the many things to come.

Thinking too much had made me forget that I had to greet him. I hurriedly gathered my thoughts and replied to his greeting.

“….It’s nice to meet you, Count Kraus. I am Elena Edelweiss, the eldest daughter of the House of Edelweiss.”

Ahhh!!! That was way too stiff!!!!

I worried that even though I smiled, it might have looked too forced. The words that came out of my mouth felt as hard as stone because I said them in a nervous state.

I wondered if I seemed to dislike talking to him. What if he suddenly suggested breaking off the engagement like before because of this? All kinds of worries flooded my mind. Fortunately, contrary to my concerns, he didn’t seem particularly displeased.

Instead, thinking I was tense due to the people around us, he spoke to the butler standing next to him and sent Hailey outside with him. As Hailey went out, she winked at me with a playful smile, encouraging me to do well.

Once the door closed, silence took over the room. Now, the only ones left in this room were him and me.

Just the two of us.

‘Huh?’

Realizing this fact made my head start to heat up again.

Today, for some reason, I couldn’t shake off the risqué thoughts, making me reconsider if I had always been such an indecent person. I understood with my head that he wasn’t that kind of person, and definitely wasn’t someone who would behave like that towards a fiancée he was meeting for the first time, yet it was desire, not reason, that dominated my thoughts right now.

A man and woman in the prime of their lives sitting alone in a room.

The servants had already left, and even the transcendent senses that surpassed human understanding indicated that only he and I remained here. Even if someone were to come, the recognition barrier would handle it just fine.

The important thing was that no one would know what could happen in this room.

“Honestly, isn’t it normal for a woman like me to be approached?”

Elena, having lived three lives, was well aware of her beauty. Swordmasters, great magicians, emperors of the Empire—regardless of honor or status, there was no man who wouldn’t glance her way.

Even the priests who worshipped the goddess of beauty seemed inferior to her. Hadn’t she once been cursed by the goddess for this very reason? Of course, she had swiftly taken revenge, throwing the goddess off her divine pedestal with a fiery slap.

Among the so-called transcendents, some had been enthralled by her beauty and had succumbed to desires, sometimes becoming the prey. He wasn’t among them, but currently, he had no lover and bore her no hostility.

Well, doesn’t that make it quite possible?

Had she thought rationally, Elena would have known that such things wouldn’t happen. However, at this moment, it was impossible for her to think that way. While she was lost in her fantasies, Damian moved first.

His slight movement made her body flinch.

Could her delusions be turning into reality? That thought briefly crossed her mind, but of course, that couldn’t happen.

He merely took two teacups from the tea set beside him, poured one for her and one for himself. Then, handing her the fragrant tea, he sipped it with the same calm demeanor as when she first met him.

At that moment, she realized how absurd her fantasies had been.

A great magician who surpassed even the gods, losing his reason to desire… If the otherworldly gods and many spirits he had slain had seen this, they would have been dumbfounded and descended from their divine seats in disbelief.

If he had truly been a man consumed by such desires, she wouldn’t have fallen for him this deeply. How shameful to forget that and harbor expectations!

Yet, separate from that, a feeling of regret stirred in her heart, making her wonder if she wasn’t as attractive to him as she thought. As a result, she sulked and fidgeted with the teacup he had handed her when he broke the silence.

“Although we’re engaged, this is actually our first meeting, right? Lady Edelweiss.”

“Yes…”

But the conversation didn’t extend from there.

He thought my reaction showed I was still nervous, while I was too embarrassed from my fantasies to even speak. As the room plunged back into silence, a sweet smell started wafting in from somewhere.

Turning my head to find the source of the scent, I saw it coming from the dish next to the tea set he had prepared. It had been covered, so I hadn’t noticed it until now. The desserts on the plate were comparable to those made by a renowned chocolatier from my previous life.

Now that I thought about it, I remembered there was a chocolatier who worked in the House of Kraus. The only joy I had felt in my first life here was knowing I could enjoy his desserts whenever I wanted, and that realization made me understand why such treats were here.

Seeing that I reacted to the desserts, he looked relieved and spoke.

“I enjoy sweets, so it’s a bit embarrassing, but I prepared these to share with you. Do you, Lady Edelweiss, also like sweets?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, I do.”

‘Lie. I can barely eat anything sweet…’

The fact that he couldn’t handle sweets was one piece of evidence that he wasn’t Damian. Damian was someone who could wolf down sweets that even she found too much to handle.

He had likely prepared these for her sake, to help her relax. But looking at what he said and those desserts made her suddenly recall that time from her previous life.

In the same place, back when it had a completely different atmosphere, a tense one.

Those desserts had been there too. Although they had ended up a mess on the floor because of her.

‘What a mess out of all the effort he put in.’

He gazed at the mangled desserts, no longer recognizable, and his eyes were sharper than they were now, like a blade ready to cut.

“Seems there’s no need to converse… well, there’s no need to use honorifics either. Elena Edelweiss. If you wish to break off the engagement, I shall grant your wish.”

That was the end of it. There were no further words exchanged, and without looking back, I left the House of Kraus with Hailey.

Thus began the relationship between the former me and him, one that was irreparably misaligned from the very start, bound to remain impossible. I know that it’s not like that now, but the lingering regret deep within me arises again and again, nagging me, no matter how often I try to bury it, especially as I see how different the present has become.

He began to carefully arrange the desserts on the plate. Once every type of dessert had been placed, he finally handed them to me with a smile.

Had the previous him acted like this if I hadn’t acted differently? Looking at these perfectly arranged treats, the ones I had crushed came flooding back to me.

I had smashed them. His goodwill.

Even if it has now become something that no longer exists, I still remember that I once trampled on his kindness, feeling remorseful and grateful.

I chose a piece of cake from what he had given me, cut it small with a fork, and placed it in my mouth.

“Mmm~”

Sure enough, the cake was fantastic, as expected from a skilled chef. The supreme chocolate and whipped cream, along with the fluffy, moist batter, were nothing short of perfection.

As I slowly savored the cake, I hoped to feel this sweetness in my mouth for a long time to come.

 

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