Chapter : 41
I had a long dream.
It was a strange dream, filled with the past I longed for and a past full of regrets.
There were even parts of the past she didn’t know.
Even though she clearly didn’t remember, tears kept falling.
Was it because of Kaiden’s monologue echoing in her head? Or was it because she was facing the foolish things she had done before the regression?
She felt a wave of nausea.
Jenayda hurriedly got off the bed and gagged. She couldn’t vomit properly, so the frustration remained.
She struck her chest until it bruised, then opened her eyes.
She was not in a snowy field, but in a warm room.
“How did this happen?”
She tried to remember what had happened before she lost consciousness.
Soon, she recalled herself muttering nonsense to Kaiden.
“I… I killed you.”
Jenayda clenched her fists.
“I killed you in my past life… You said you loved me, but I killed you.”
It was a statement that could easily have led others to dismiss her as a madwoman.
She exhaled softly.
“If only I hadn’t been so impulsive then.”
Right after leaving the mysterious cave, Jenayda had been out of her mind. After killing him once again, she felt there was no choice but to die.
And then she saw Kaiden, whom she had thought was just a spirit…
At that moment, the door opened, and a familiar face came into view.
“Milady? Milady, are you alright?”
Thankfully, it was Laura.
Seeing Jenayda awake, Laura hurried over. She embraced Jenayda and cried.
“I’m glad you came back, milady.”
Unable to push away the sobbing woman, Jenayda awkwardly patted Laura’s back.
After holding her tightly for a while, Jenayda wiped her tears with her fingers and began to speak.
“First, I should tell His Highness…”
“No. Don’t inform the Grand Duke.”
“What?”
Laura looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Jenayda pleaded in a trembling voice.
“Please… I don’t want to see him right now.”
Laura, seeing how unstable she was, adjusted her words.
“Will you have some food? Stay here. I’ll bring something simple for you to eat. But you must stay here.”
As if worried Jenayda might try to run, she insisted and then left.
Jenayda stared at Laura’s retreating figure, then turned toward the window and drew back the curtain. The sunset was fading.
“How much time has passed?”
From the Grand Duke’s castle to the Witch’s Forest, and the time spent wandering the mysterious cave—she couldn’t gauge any of it.
The only thing she knew was that even at the fastest, it took three days from the Witch’s Forest to Niveus Castle.
“Three days…”
What state of mind had Kaiden been in when he brought me here?
He could have left me to wander in the Witch’s Forest forever. Or at least, he could have locked me in some storage room instead of this unnecessarily warm room.
Jenayda opened the window.
Even in summer, Niveus was still cold.
She had intended to stay behind to be used, but it seemed leaving the castle might actually help Kaiden more.
She sighed softly, then reflexively turned at the sound of the door opening.
“If I beg Laura…”
She had assumed it was Laura, but an unexpected figure stood there.
“Your Highness…”
Kaiden quietly closed the door.
As he moved, her gaze followed. There was a reddish tint under Kaiden’s eyes.
“Did he cry?”
Could it really be because of me?
The thought flashed, but she immediately denied it.
“No way.”
Swallowing hard, she spoke first.
“I don’t even know where to start, but I’m sorry.”
He said nothing.
“You may call me crazy. I have nothing to argue with you. But please don’t divorce me. It doesn’t matter if you see another woman…”
Jenayda couldn’t finish the sentence. Kaiden’s face twisted in pain.
“Then I must be crazy too.”
“……”
“I also regressed.”
Regressed?
What did I just hear?
She muttered in disbelief at his words.
“You regressed and still protected me?”
I killed you. I tried to kill you again this life.
Had he gone mad after returning from the Witch’s Forest?
It wasn’t an unbelievable statement—some rescued from the Witch’s Forest had been haunted by nightmares or gone insane, unable to recover.
But even that theory shattered at Kaiden’s answer.
“Because you are the person I love.”
The trembling control she had barely kept over herself faltered violently at his desperate voice.
It couldn’t be…
Jenayda could only part her lips. Kaiden approached and embraced her.
He buried his face in her shoulder and wept silently.
Noticing this, her own breathing shook.
Don’t do this.
If you do this… I’ll want to stay by your side as your wife.
Eventually, she patted Kaiden’s back.
Time flowed slowly, as if forcibly stretched.
It was as if the space around them alone flowed differently.
His shaking shoulders gradually calmed.
Jenayda stepped back to face Kaiden. He looked down at her, his face marked with tear stains.
“Are you alright now?”
“…Yes.”
He held her hand tightly, as if fearing she would run away.
Jenayda spoke to reassure him.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m sorry.”
Kaiden apologized, yet did not let go.
Jenayda gave up trying to free her hand and tugged the leash gently.
As if waiting, Laura entered.
Jenayda saw Laura’s wavering gaze but ignored it.
“Bring some food, Laura.”
Jenayda, still a bit dazed, lifted her spoon. Kaiden offered her a spoonful of soup.
“Am I supposed to eat this?”
Seeing her puzzled expression, he simply said:
“Eat.”
“I can eat with my hands too.”
“My arm hurts.”
The man who had been crying earlier was gone, leaving only the teasing one offering food.
Hesitant, Jenayda carefully accepted the soup.
Kaiden shamelessly continued feeding her.
Though she signaled her discomfort, he ignored it. Instead, he offered her the bread he had.
“It’s fine, eat.”
Not having much appetite, Jenayda gave most of the bread to Kaiden.
He muttered, displeased:
“You should eat more.”
“There’s no room left.”
When she spoke firmly, he finally stopped. After finishing the bread, he said:
“Speak casually.”
“Speak casually?”
“Since we both regressed, it doesn’t matter.”
At some point, Kaiden had been speaking casually. She would have remained quiet even if he had cursed.
“Can I really?”
She hadn’t used casual speech since she was young. Adding the polite “-yo” was already awkward, and now casual speech?
But Kaiden stared at her insistently, as if refusing to yield.
Jenayda eventually gave in.
“Then I’ll do that.”
Satisfied, Kaiden smiled and offered his hand.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
After their walk, Kaiden returned to his office with a stern expression.
Maurice, working inside, stood and saluted. Kaiden waved him off and asked concisely:
“What about Ellen’s wanted order?”
“We requested cooperation from nearby lords, as well as Niveus.”
“Did you also tell them to execute on the spot?”
“I conveyed that.”
“Good.”
Though his words praised, Kaiden’s eyes were filled with fury. He stared into the void.
‘He will come again.’
He didn’t know why Ellen obsessed over Jenayda, but he realized it when she sent the monster back with a single word.
Ellen wanted Jenayda.
It was uncomfortable, feeling like she was being used as bait, but there was nothing he could do.
‘I’ll have to cut him down myself.’
All Kaiden could do was take merciless revenge if Ellen appeared.
He regretted not killing Ellen during the monster hunting competition.
If he had killed her then, Jenayda wouldn’t have suffered.
If she ever searches for Ellen…
‘I’ll just have to say she ran away.’
There would never be another meeting between Ellen and Jenayda.
‘I won’t allow it.’
Kaiden’s hand trembled slightly.
At that moment, the closed office door opened, and another aide, Zeira, entered.
Zeira bowed to the Grand Duke and Maurice before reporting:
“I’m reporting requests from the lords regarding the Flower Festival.”
Kaiden’s previously furious gaze softened instantly.
‘Right, there’s a festival.’
Maurice, watching the Duke’s reaction nervously, added:
“This year, too, remarkable works will be presented.”
Kaiden let out a small laugh at his subordinate’s earnest attempt to lighten his mood and replied:
“Very well, I’ll attend personally.”
