“Rena…”

A handsome man was crying while looking at me. The outstretched hand was shaking pitifully, and the black eyes shook helplessly.

“Rena, it’s you, isn’t it? Or have I finally gone mad?”

“…”

“Say something, please.”

I was frozen, speechless until a man approached me and rubbed my cheek.

‘I’m doomed.’

It wasn’t part of my plans to meet Calix here. How did this happen? I bit my lip in frustration. As if he didn’t care about my silence, the man continued to say what he wanted to say.

“I knew you were alive. Even if everyone else told me that there was no possible chance… I knew you were alive.”

The trembling voice was filled with anxiety and joy to meet me again. The man raised my hand and kissed it.

While listening to his desperate words, I was occupied with different thoughts in my mind. How can I deal with this situation?

What should I say to a man who met his first love again after five years, whose disappearance was disguised as death?

When I didn’t answer, the hand of the man who held my arm slowly became tense. There was only one thing to say to him, who was anxious that I would disappear again at any time.

“Rena, I really…”

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“What?”

The man’s voice snapped.

“I don’t know you. I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

“Are you kidding?”

“I’m not kidding. Today’s the first time I’ve ever seen you.”

‘Just pretend you don’t know. The man wouldn’t believe it, but I thought I could buy some time with this.’

I thought I could pull it off.

“Rena, have you forgotten me?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you.”

But I was naïve, and he was more clever than I thought.

As soon as he let go of his initial shock, Calix, the male lead of this novel, spoke with his eyes drooping sadly.

“…Rena, we were married.”

‘When did we ever?!’

This was all because I failed to escape this novel five years ago. If I were to choose a more fundamental reason, I could point out that I suddenly transmigrated into this novel one day seven years ago.

I recalled the first time I transmigrated into this novel, seven years ago, while in the carriage I was forced to ride in after being caught by Calix.

***

It was the day after I fell asleep after reading a romance novel, which was my usual hobby. When I opened my eyes, the ceiling in front of me was strange. As soon as I recognized the abnormality, the hand I lifted and looked at wasn’t even my hand.

‘It’s small, like a child’s hand.’

Immediately after, a loud voice was heard from somewhere.

“Regina! Didn’t you say that today is the day the son of the Hertrio family is coming?”

‘The Hertrio family?’

As soon as I recognized the name, a strange feeling of déjà vu came over me.

“If it’s Hertrio, it’s the family of the male lead in the novel I read yesterday…”

At that moment, the door burst open. Suddenly, I looked up and saw a man appearing.

“Regina, how long are you going to stay asleep? I’ve told you many times that you should wake up early today to get ready.”

The red-haired woman looked at me with a scolding expression. I looked down at my little hands again, still confused about the situation.

My head was spinning due to the overflow of information. A thunderbolt of realization struck me.

“The romance novel I was reading yesterday…”

I groaned and closed my eyes tightly. I could feel the woman in front of me getting confused when she saw me not even thinking about getting up, but she had no time to care. It was my top priority to understand this absurd situation.

Regina Rohelo Troxia. A supporting character in a romance novel I was reading until yesterday, and the first love of the male lead, who dies before the story begins in earnest.

I possessed that body.

The male protagonist of the novel is Calix Axel Hertrio.

When he turned 14, he lost his first love, a childhood friend. It was because Regina’s family, the Troxia family, was falsely accused of treason and therefore, destroyed. Afterwards, the main plot of the novel was Calix, who had lived with his heart closed to others, meeting Frenia, the heroine of the original novel, and together finding out who was behind the false accusations against the Troxia family and uncovering the truth. In the process, the budding affection between Frenia and Calix was a familiar and natural development.

And I possessed the first love of the male lead, Calix. Who died at 14!

I was 12 years old at the time of my possession. As planned, I was destined to die two years later and leave the novel.

But I wasn’t too worried. Wouldn’t it be possible to return to my original world if I exited the novel by dying? That idea came to me all of a sudden.

It seemed like such a good idea to me that there was no reason not to give it a try. The role of ‘the male lead’s first love’ was given to me, and if I finished this role well, I’ll be able to leave the story.

If successful, it was an ideal way to return home safely without twisting the development of the original work in order to survive.

It bothered me a little that I possessed right before the first meeting with the male lead, but it wasn’t too much of an annoyance. After that, I lived steadily as Regina for two years.

After an impressive first meeting with Calix, the male protagonist, I became friends with him for a year while Calix was living with Count Troxia’s family.

The following year, Calix stayed with Count Troxia for only three months. As he boarded the carriage back to the Duchy of Hertrio, he regretted our short meeting and parted ways after promising our next meeting.

I thought to myself as I watched the carriage with Calix ride away.

‘The next time you see me will be when I die.’

On that day, Calix would be heading to the Troxia Mansion the day the Troxia family was massacred, with only one single thought: to save Regina.

And in the following year, I could see the burning Troxia Mansion in the back and a sheer cliff in front. I closed my eyes for a moment and waited for the next person in the story to come.

That is, the male protagonist, Calix Axel Hertrio, who will be traumatized after witnessing my death right in front of his eyes.

‘I’m a little sorry for giving you such a direct impact, but…?’

In the original story, Calix saw Regina being executed on the gallows.

Wouldn’t jumping off a cliff be a more reasonable death?

As someone who just has to somehow finish the original role in its prescribed order, I chose that option because it was the best out of the few options I had.

As planned, Calix will be shocked after witnessing Regiana’s death. And seven years later, the original story will begin.

If that is the case, I can leave this world at the same time as Regina’s death and return to my original world. There was a sense of satisfaction as everything was going as it should.

The thick smoke from the mansion being burned by the flames travelled all the way here. I tried to ignore it because I felt like I would cry if I looked back at it. I glared at the black night sea waiting to swallow me. Not long after, I heard a rushing sound from behind.

“Rena!”

It wasn’t until the voice calling me got closer that I turned my back around. Close enough to hear each other’s voices, but still so far away that you can never reach out and grab onto each other.

Burning flames and smoke were visible in the dark night sky. With that scene in the background, Calix was reaching out to me.

It was as if it was a scene from a movie, but only feelings of admiration came out.

Calix’s eyes shook mercilessly as if he had an ominous feeling.

“Rena, why are you standing there in such a dangerous place? …Come here, huh? Let’s go back to the Hertrio estate together. I will hide you. No one, no one will find you.”

“…”

“Come here, Rena. You’re afraid of the sea. Please.”

Looking at me without waiting for an answer, Calix spoke again.

It was very desperate and sad, like he was soothing a child.

“Okay, you stay there. I’ll come. I’ll come over there, so don’t take a single step…”

Looking at his face, I had a slightly different thought.

‘I’m not afraid of the sea.’

Shortly after entering this novel, Calix stayed at the Troxia Mansion. Calix had caught me looking at the cliff I had chosen as the place I’d die.

“Why are you looking at that like that?”

Calix, whom I had just met, asked me such a question, and I just answered without hesitation or thought.

“It’s just that I’m afraid of the sea.”

“Are you afraid of the sea?”

‘Huh. I just watched it because I was scared of death.’

Perhaps at that time, Calix might have seen something like fear, regret, and determination that I couldn’t hide from my expression as I planned my death.

Tuduk.

The sound of breaking twigs brought me back to reality in an instant. As soon as Calix took a step forward, I took a step back.

“Don’t come closer.”

“Rena, please.”

“I’ll jump if you come closer.”

Those words held Calix in place as if it were magic. I nervously glanced sideways at the burning mansion.

There is no time to waste. Soon the knights will come and I will be taken away. Then they will find out Calix was here.

I looked down at the cliff behind me. Even with that simple movement of the head, Calix’s face was dishevelled, as if it was going to collapse.

“Rena, please. Let me come to you.”

“I’m sorry.”

What should I say to him?

You’ll be alright?

It was supposed to be like this.

But I felt that whatever I said would be considered deception. No matter what I say, I will die anyway, and nothing will change. I finally stopped talking and took a few more steps toward the cliff. As I approached the edge, there was empty space with nowhere to step.

My heart was beating like crazy, as if I had a premonition of the end. It was a struggle to breathe in a little more oxygen in this world. Now this body will be of no use and will cool off at the bottom of the sea.

I looked at Calix’s face one last time. I am also a human being, so when I spoke for the last time, my heart was inevitably pounding.

I didn’t know what kind of pain my death would give him, so I suddenly felt choked up.

But there was nothing I could say. My decision was the same, and my determination of returning to my daily life hasn’t changed. In the end, the same words came out.

“I’m sorry, Calix.”

“Rena!!”

Hearing the male lead’s pitiful cry, I threw myself toward the cliff without hesitation.

****

In conclusion, my su!c!de attempt failed.

I was discovered by fishermen who were out fishing. You wouldn’t know just how surprised I was when I woke up relatively intact in an unfamiliar cabin.

I thought I’d be back in my original world the next time I opened my eyes…

The embarrassment and frustration I felt while looking at the unfamiliar ceiling that day was comparable to what I felt the day I came into this world.

Was I being too hasty? But I thought that was the only way. It should have been.

That day, I began living with a mindset of counting down the days, my only hope being able to escape from this world.

The failed escape attempt became a bitter memory of defeat for me.

For the next five years, I quietly lived in this world.

It could be said that I had finally adapted to living in this world. I didn’t have the courage to try the same thing a second time, especially when the first su!c!de attempt had failed.

My hair, which was nearly coral, was dyed black and my long hair was cut short. As Regina, I was stuck in a rural village and worked as a healer with the magic I learned when I was living in the Troxia mansion. It was enough to make a living because I had a talent for magic in my own way.

The past five years were spent like that.

‘I thought I was hiding well!’

As soon as Calix confirmed that it was me, he hugged me for a long time so that I couldn’t run away, and then he dragged me back to the carriage.

I looked out the window, pretending to be awkward while thinking about this major accident.

Pretending to be amnesic right in front of Calix.

“Rena, what are you thinking?”

“…”

Calix has been sitting close to me, not leaving me even for a second since he entered the carriage. He looked at me, certain that I was Regina.

I thought hard and opened my mouth. I want to know how he found me.

I lived in silence for as long as five years. The Troxia family was destroyed for treason, but no one knew my whereabouts and so they couldn’t find me. No one even recognized me. But what about Calix?

“…As expected, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

The response was quick even to the sudden words.

“No way. Do you think I wouldn’t recognize you?”

“Then…”

At this part, I remembered his crazy lie.

“…What does your wife look like?”

My words made Calix put on a sad expression. He whispered with a face reminiscent of the past in an instant.

“Rena had coral hair and green eyes.”

Calix’s face was red as he recalled the past.

“Every time you ran in front of me, your flying hair shone brightly in the sunlight, and whenever I looked at it… I was mesmerized.”

“My hair is black.”

I cut off his recollections and answered with a grump. That was a relief. The last time I dyed my hair was a week ago.

Calix, who quickly returned to reality at my rebuttal, closed his mouth. He murmured stubbornly.

“You could have dyed your hair. The color of your eyes remains the same.”

“I didn’t dye my hair. The color of my eyes is just a coincidence.”

Green eyes were also common.

“Then you might have changed it using magic. You were good at magic.”

“I don’t know how to do such high-level magic.”

“…”

Calix closed his mouth at the stubborn words I uttered as if he were at a loss. I thought he would understand if I talked to this extent, so I asked questions straight away about what I had always been curious about.

“How did you find me?”

Calix’s face lit up at my question.

“Are you admitting that you are Rena?”

“No. I don’t think she lives around here, but I’m just wondering how you knew that I lived in a rural village and therefore came all the way here.”

He soon sank into a depression.

“I was on my way back to the estate after the Emperor’s birthday party, and Lord Warrett had injured his leg. I decided to tie his injury up in a nearby village and asked if there was a doctor, and the village head said there was.”

“…”

“He told me, ’There is a young and talented healer in the next village, so visit her.’”

He made eye contact with me.

“The chief said that the healer knew how to use magic. Wishfully, I asked him what the healer looked like. He said her eyes were green, but her hair was black.”

“…”

“You can change your hair colour as much as you want. But the other characteristics…”

He was desperate for such a small clue. He said, lowering his head.

“I’ve been thinking about it the entire time I was riding on horseback coming here. What if it’s really you? But what if I’ve come running like this, and it’s not you? I’ve had so many flickers of hope and disappointments that followed over the past few years that I felt like giving up. But I couldn’t help but think that you’ll be sad because I gave up on you.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off Calix. I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn’t. I touched and examined his face without realizing it. Calix leaned his face into my hand, glad to see my gaze.

“What should I say when I see you again? I thought about whether to be angry, say okay, or say sorry dozens of times. I thought of tying you up as soon as I saw you so that you would never run away from me again, but when I saw you, all I could say was this.”

He smiled despondently and whispered.

“Rena, I missed you.”

Calix whispered softly and buried his face in my shoulder. I couldn’t bear to push him away as my body became stiff.

‘What do I do now?’

My mind went in circles.

Why I lived in hiding could be roughly narrowed down to two reasons. The first was because I needed to disguise my death because I failed to escape from this world with my death as I had planned, and the second was because I was destined to be executed for treason.

It was not good for it to be known that there was a survivor of the family who was destroyed because of treason. Both for me and for Calix.

He is someone who doesn’t know that. What the hell was he planning on doing with me?

I thought I had been hiding quietly and doing it well, but I didn’t expect to be caught like this.

After hearing that there was a young, female magic healer without any other distinctive descriptions, it was clear that Calix, who ran for her without giving up hope, was not an ordinary person.

My future does not appear in the original work. Because I was supposed to have died on the gallows.

However, if I caught the eyes of the Imperial family while living outside like this, I would be dragged away and sentenced to death. It would be fortunate if I didn’t die in a painful way, as the crimes of running away and repudiation would be added to my sentence as well.

I carefully pushed Calix away, who had been hugging me without moving. Falling in an instant, he made a wounded face.

I avoided his eyes with guilt. I bowed my head and imitated the innocent face of a country girl.

“As expected, I don’t think I am the one you are looking for. My magic skills are insignificant, my hair is black, and I’ve been stuck in the country all my life.”

“You’re lying.”

“You seem to have a lot of money and a high status, so don’t waste your time. I think you’d be better off going home now.”

“Don’t lie.”

Calix pressed his lips. He looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

“You can’t say that if you think about how hard it has been for me to find you.”

“…”

“I don’t know if you’ve really lost your memory or if you’re only pretending to lose it… …but please, Rena.”

I cut off Calix’s words, who was trying to gather compassion.

“Then how did I end up living in the countryside?”

“What…?”

I asked him in a defiant tone with a puzzled face.

“I heard I married you. How did I end up living in the countryside?”

“That’s…”

He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes slowly, and opened them. His eyes were red when we met.

“That’s because I couldn’t protect you, Rena.”

He spoke painfully, pronouncing every syllable.

“It’s my fault.”

I eventually turned my head away from his eyes.

‘It’s not that Calix couldn’t protect me, I ran away.’

I didn’t have the confidence to be indifferent when I saw Calix in such pain.

Somehow I had lost my temper. There may be no way to get away from him now since we met again like this; if only I ran away without being caught until the end… It was just best to be prepared for the future.

Turning my eyes to look outside the window, I opened my mouth quietly.

“…But I don’t think I would have married you.”

“…Why?”

“Your face is not to my liking.”

“…”

He looked really shocked this time.

***

The place where Calix took me was the village where his party was supposed to stay overnight. It was a place I had been to a few times because it was the neighbouring village. It was not unfamiliar to me because I had been asked for help a few times when someone was injured or sick.

The village head who recognized me looked happy.

“Oh, I told him that there was an outstanding healer in the next village, it’s good that he found you and brought you here.”

“Haha, yes…”

I didn’t want to blame the chief because he said it out of kindness. I’d just have to blame my bad luck.

“This is Lord Warrett.”

Calix clasped my hand and introduced me to Sir Warrett. I could see the knights of the ducal family waiting for him, their eyes expressing concern, but Calix shook his head briefly to block all the questions.

I pretended not to know and went to Lord Warrett to examine the wound. It seemed to be broken.

“How did this happen?”

My question was answered by Sir Warrett, who struggled to rise.

“I was chasing a rabbit while camping, and I fell off a small cliff.”

I could hear the knights waiting next to him each adding their thoughts.

“Why weren’t you being careful?”

“That’s why I told you to stay alert.”

“From now on, I’m not going to send you on a night hunt. I’m going to get worried sick.”

Most of them were affectionate quarrels.

A simple healing spell was performed to attach the broken leg together and a splint was applied.

“Still, it’s better to be careful so that you don’t die”

Sir Warrett bowed his head and said thank you. I bowed my head and answered that it was nothing, but there was a sudden hand that wrapped around my waist.

Even though it was not an unfamiliar touch, I was surprised and jumped. I saw the faces of the flagship knights.

When I turned my head to the side, I saw Calix’s face, which was close by. We were close enough that our breaths mingled. For a moment, my legs almost turned into jelly.

Calix whispered into my ear in a captivating voice.

“Then shall we go up to the room?”

“Room?”

“We’re going to stay here today.”

“But why me as well…?”

“Why not?”

Calix interrupted me and smiled.

“It’s natural for a couple to use one room.”

Without a moment to say anything back, Calix dragged me up to the inn room. The knights seemed to be shocked by their Lord’s reckless attitude. Calix ignored them all.

As soon as I entered the room, Calix, who closed the door tightly, turned toward me.

“Now it can just be the two of us.”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something…”

“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”

“I am not the person you are looking for.”

“Ah, are you talking about that again?”

Calix smiled. It was a smile, but it didn’t look like a smile that was genuinely happy.

As he approached me, I had no choice but to step back. I was too focused on the face of Calix, who was approaching me, so I couldn’t look behind me enough. When the bed touched the back of my legs, I naturally collapsed.

Calix leaned over me as I sat down. At close range, he opened his mouth.

“Tell me, Rena. Do you really not know who I am?”

“…I don’t know who you are.”

“Yeah? Then why didn’t you ask me for my name?”

“Yes?”

As I raised my head, I realized how close his face was to mine.

“When you meet a stranger, shouldn’t you ask for their name first? However, you didn’t ask me for any information about myself. No ‘What’s your name?’, ‘What are you doing?’, ‘Where are you from?’…”

“You didn’t even ask me for my name.”

“I know your name. Regina Rohelo Troxia.”

“…”

In shock, I forgot what to say in response to him being overly certain that I was Regina. I don’t think he was like this when I was younger, during the time we were both living in the Troxia Estate.

“…Ah.”

A sudden realization hit me.

The Calix in front of me is the Calix of the original work, whose personality darkened after the loss of his first love, not the innocent young boy I had known when I was younger. Originally, Frenia, the heroine of the original, would have been the one to deal with his temper.

‘Because I am alive, I’m the one who’s going to take the heat.’

Realizing that made me lament my situation, having been caught off guard and running headfirst into Calix. I raised my eyes and asked Calix, who was still waiting for my reply.

“Then what’s your name?”

“Calix.”

“…After that?”

“Calix Axel Hertrio.”

Calix Axel Hertrio. I quietly rolled the name on my tongue. I’ve thought about it a lot, but it’s a name I’ve never said out loud. The inner longing that I myself had forgotten about began to rise.

Looking at what I was doing, Calix spoke up.

“You’re not surprised.”

“What?”

“That my last name is Hertrio.”

“Should I be surprised?”

“It’s not like that.”

He shook his head and stood up.

“If this was your first meeting with the duke of this kingdom, you should at least be showing some sincerity by pretending to be surprised. That’s why I don’t believe that you don’t know me.”

“…”

I looked up at him blankly without answering. Calix also looked down at me without opening his mouth. It was as if he was trying to see how stubborn I could be.

Our invisible game of tug-of-war continued for a while before Calix declared defeat. At some point, he bent down in front of me with a completely ruined face. It was as if he had given up on holding on, that he no longer wanted to pretend that he was okay anymore.

Out of fear, I grabbed his arm without realizing it. But Calix lowered his stance without even looking at my face. He bent down in front of the bed, stretched out his arms and wrapped them around my waist.

Calix buried his face in my legs. I could feel his breath creeping in and out over my skin and tried to ignore it, but it was now faster for him to grab onto my hand.

As he held onto my body tightly, as if he was trying to prevent me from going anywhere, a weak voice that seemed like it could break at any time came out from below.

“Rena…”

“…”

“Rena, are you right?”

I looked down at the back of his head without saying anything. I had the urge to stroke his hair for a moment, but I couldn’t do anything. All I could do was leave my trembling hands alone, where they were.

It was fortunate that Calix kept his head down. If our eyes met now, he would surely realize that I was remembering him.

A mumble escaped from his chapped lips.

“I understand if you want to forget everything and pretend you don’t know. I won’t ask why. You can pretend you don’t know anything if you want.”

“…”

“Just let me stay by your side.”

It was a tearful voice. My heart became weakened.

“Calix…”

It was at that moment, when I unconsciously called out his name and reached out my hand.

Calix raised his head and grabbed onto my shoulders. In an instant, my angle of sight changed.

I was deceived.

While I was groaning, I ended up lying on the bed underneath Calix.

“Rena.”

He grabbed my defiant wrist and pressed it down onto the bed. I was stuck between his legs and couldn’t move.

The first thing that I thought was that I had made a mistake.

“If you don’t let go of me right away…”

I clenched my teeth, but Calix cut me off with a relaxed expression.

“What if I don’t let go? Are you going to shout and call for someone? If you do so, will there be someone who will come running to rescue you, a humble commoner?”

Was he going to use his magic to hurt me?

His face became clouded with frustration. Calix looked down at me, staying still. I could tell from the scrutiny of his gaze on my face that he was looking for traces of the past.

I shouldn’t have gotten swept up in the mood and called him by his name.

I tried to avoid his gaze, feeling as though he could see my raw emotions, but Calix was faster. He placed his head beside mine.

I felt a tingling pain in my ear.

“Ouch!”

A low-pitched laugh was heard. He lightly bit my earlobe again. It was like he was punishing a disobedient child.

Then, pressing his lips to my temples, he opened his mouth.

“Let’s go back to the Hertrio Estate together, Rena.”

“…”

“You will have nothing to worry about. I promise.”

He added that all I needed to do was just stay by his side.

I kept my mouth shut. When he did not hear an answer, he proceeded to kiss the bottom of my ear and the nape of my neck, as if urging me to answer him. His actions were tenacious; it was like he was testing how far I could endure.

Every place his lips touched felt hot, like my skin had been branded at those spots. The tingling sensation tingled down all the way to my toes.

“Wait, wait, wait…”

Without realizing it, I lifted my free hand and wrapped it around his wide shoulders. I held onto his shirt until it crumpled.

Somehow, in that brief moment of confusion, my brain couldn’t think straight. Using ragged gasps to breathe, it was as though I was running out of oxygen.

I reached out and pushed Calix’s shoulder once I came to my senses. Even though I could only push very weakly because I had no strength, he quietly backed away.

Even without looking into a mirror, I could tell that my face would be red-hot right now. I hated Calix, who, on the other hand, seemed so perfectly normal. He was even the one who started it all.

I glanced at his calm face, took a deep breath, and opened my mouth.

“There’s still a problem.”

“What problem?”

“I heard that my name is Regina Rohelo Troxia.”

“Right, that’s your name.”

Calix’s attitude was too calm. Couldn’t he see what the problem was? He saw the sight of the burning mansion with me that night.

“The entire Troxia family is dead because they had committed treason. Based on what you said, I think I’d be better off hiding in the countryside like this.”

“…Is that why you’ve been staying here all this time?”

Something didn’t make sense.

A big sigh came out without my knowledge. He must have thought that sigh had some sort of meaning, as Calix hurriedly stood up and helped me up.

“I know what you’re worried about, but don’t worry. You’ll be fine in my estate.”

“It’s not just anything, it’s treason.”

“It was a false accusation.”

“Even if it really is false, that statement is useless unless the truth could be revealed.”

Calix replied to me sadly.

“I’ll take care of that.”

He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he’s good at saying that he’ll fix it. I raised my finger again, wondering how he would address my next problem.

“I still have another problem.”

“Sh!t. What is it this time?”

“According to you, we are married. There must be someone at the Duke’s residence who would be able to recognize me, would that be okay?”

“Uh…?”

If I were really the Duchess of Hertrio, there would be no reason not to spread rumours about the Duchess returning home.

Calix looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. I could see his eyes blinking helplessly.

“Rena. You must have really lost your memory.”

“…”

“No, no. I was talking nonsense.”

He rubbed his face with his hands. His face, which was revealed again before long, had a degree of seriousness that I had never seen before.

“It’ll be fine. It’s been a long time since we got married…”

“…And when we got married, we lived in the Troxia estate, not the Hertrio estate…”

‘Look at him?!’

I managed to shut my mouth, which was about to open in response to his absurdity.

Did you think that the year you spent in Troxia was spent being a son-in-law?

I wanted to refute this nonsense immediately, but unfortunately, I was currently playing the role of an amnesic person. The show must go on whether he believed me or not.

Calix avoided my gaze and looked down. No matter how impudent his slightly blushing face was, he must have felt ashamed.

Calix cautiously opened his mouth.

“And, you didn’t use honorifics for me in the past. So, I want you to stop using them.”

“Aren’t I just a humble commoner?”

“Then this is an order.”

The word ‘bastard’ rose in my throat, but I just nodded obediently. I was reaching the end of my limit in terms of using honorifics for him while I had to pretend not to know him, anyways.

“Then don’t use them anymore. As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, we will depart for the Hertrio estate.”

This time, I also looked straight into Calix’s blue eyes.

‘It seems like nothing had been resolved.’

What has already happened is what had happened.

It happened that I, too, was starting to grow tired of living in such a rural area without being able to go out comfortably. I decided to think as positively as possible. I meekly nodded.

“…Yes, Calix.”

So, I made an irreversible choice.

***

Late at night, Calix Axel Hertrio was sitting by the low light of the lamp and looked down at the sleeping Regina lying on the bed.

His Regina’s face was exactly the same as the one he had pictured in his mind over and over again during the past five years. She was more mature than the last time he saw her, she had developed a womanly femininity, but aside from that she was not different from what he had imagined.

There was no way he wouldn’t be able to recognize Regina in the first place. Even in his dreams, he had seen her face. He thought he’d never be able to forget her face for the rest of his entire life.

There’s no way she doesn’t know that…

He thought of Regina, who had claimed she didn’t know him, and unconsciously clenched his fist.

“Rena.”

It was not that he didn’t know how she was pretending not to remember him.

“You don’t have to do that to me.”

There was no answer from the sleeping person.