Chapter 104…………………………………
Liena glanced at the late Duke Cassius.
“Grandfather, I’m going to step aside and talk to someone for a moment.”
“To whom?”
“My sister-in-law over there.”
Roland Cassius narrowed his eyes and searched for me among the villagers.
“You mean your sister-in-law, as in Liandro’s wife?”
“Yes. I have something important to discuss with her.”
Terence also looked at me.
“Idel.”
“I have something to talk to Liena about as well.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. If anything happens, I have this one too.”
I tapped the pocket holding the Divine Beast. A soft purring sound came in response.
Liena and I faced each other.
This was our first direct meeting since the divorce had been finalized.
But I had been constantly aware of Liena’s intense presence through my dealings with Elliot, my fights with the Divine Beast, and my thoughts about the dream.
Now, we were meeting in person.
Since Liena, with her relaxed demeanor, let me choose the location, we headed to the lakeshore.
Terence and Roland kept enough distance so that they couldn’t hear our conversation but could still watch us.
Meanwhile, Baron Cainber, who had appeared earlier leading soldiers as if ready to start a war, remained idling at the village entrance.
I gestured toward the baron and his soldiers and asked Liena,
“What’s your angle?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been coveting that mine all along. Are you planning to take it from me by force?”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Liena put on an innocent, oblivious expression.
“I was just passing through the area for rest and wondered if my sister-in-law might be here.”
“Rest?”
“Yes. After the troubles in the palace prison last time, my health deteriorated.”
She looked perfectly fine. And she hadn’t really suffered much in the prison anyway.
Ignoring my bewildered expression, she continued boldly.
“Before leaving the capital, I visited the Leoc Embassy, but my sister-in-law wasn’t there.”
“Why did you want to meet me?”
“Since we’re family, I could meet you without a particular reason… but this time, I have business.”
Her fingertip pointed toward the mine.
“As my sister-in-law said, I want that mine. Sell it to me. I’ll pay generously.”
She quoted an enormous sum, unimaginable for an abandoned mine. Compared to the mine’s true value, it was a pittance.
“And if I refuse?”
“Why would you refuse?”
Liena stepped closer.
“Think about it. It’s an abandoned mine with no value, yet I’m offering this much money. How could anyone refuse?”
“I don’t want to sell it to you, simply because we don’t have good feelings for each other.”
“That’s strange. The sister-in-law I know is realistic. There’s no emotional reason to turn down such a huge sum in front of you.”
Without blinking, she said,
“Why are you so meticulous over just an abandoned mine? Even going so far as to sign agreements with your family.”
Ah, she’s already been to the Wallace family.
Liena had already figured out that using them wouldn’t allow her to claim my mine.
I hesitated for a moment. Her suspicion of my identity only deepened.
‘As long as I don’t sell the mine… there’s no helping it.’
As long as Liena continued to covet the mine, it was inevitable that she would view me with suspicion for refusing to sell.
Honestly, I expected that, given her other wealth, she might give up at an appropriate moment.
But her obsession with the mine was far stronger than I had felt while reading the books.
‘The only way to dispel Liena’s suspicion in this situation would be to sell the mine.’
But someone who knew the mine’s true value—someone like her, a returnee—would never do such a foolish thing.
Of course, I had no intention of making such a foolish choice.
It wasn’t just about money. The Andala Mine now held far greater meaning for me.
‘Not just for me, but Terence and Vineta risked their lives to defeat the Divine Beast and claim it.’
The Divine Beast recognized me as the rightful owner—not Liena.
I couldn’t predict how Liena would react now that she was convinced I wasn’t an ordinary person, but there was no way I would relinquish what was mine just out of fear.
Moreover…
“Liena.”
I looked at her steadily.
“Is this repayment for the kindness I showed you in your previous life?”
At that moment, any expression on Liena’s face vanished.
“Idel…”
For the first time today, Liena addressed me by my name instead of sister-in-law, and she took tentative steps backward.
This was my strategy to probe her intentions.
If the secret was going to be revealed anyway, it was advantageous for me to control the situation.
‘Above all, it’s also an opportunity.’
An opportunity to peek into what happened during Liena’s first life.
Since that life disappeared when she returned to the past, Liena was the only person who knew the truth of that time.
“How could you do this to me? Taking a friend’s things—that’s your idea of friendship?”
To shake Liena’s resolve, I decided to act as the real Idel.
“You… you didn’t also travel back in time…?”
As I expected, Liena was flustered—more than I had even predicted.
“Yes. My memories recently returned.”
A sharp intake of breath sounded. Liena shook her head in disbelief.
“It’s not that I sent Liandro to Wallace to take the mine from you. I really didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?”
“That you were part of the Wallace family.”
She hadn’t known my family? So Idel hadn’t revealed her surname to Liena?
It could be a lie, but the current Liena didn’t seem capable of fabricating one.
I stored this new information and spoke again.
“And what about Cassius?”
Since I didn’t know the exact relationship between Idel and Cassius in the first life, I refrained from giving details.
In situations like this, it’s better to hint at a topic vaguely rather than risk exposing inconsistencies. Liena would fill in the gaps herself.
“C-Cassius…”
Once again, my prediction was correct. Liena spoke of Cassius herself.
“What about Cassius?”
But her tone was quite different from when she spoke about the mine.
“He’s Cassius, whom you abandoned anyway. Why can’t I have him?”
What did she mean by “I abandoned Cassius”?
“You watched by my side, so you know—I lived unhappily. There was no happiness in my life.”
Liena spoke with indignation.
“I want to be happy! I have a right to be happy too!”
Then she hung her head low.
“…If you’re truly my friend, you shouldn’t blame me for Cassius.”
At that moment…
“Liena!”
Roland Cassius, still some distance away, bellowed at his granddaughter.
“What’s going on?! Why are you acting like this? Are you hurt?!”
Then he saw me and erupted in anger.
“You ungrateful girl! How dare you do this to our little bunny! I won’t forgive you!”
I saw Terence block Roland from rushing toward us.
‘Thank you.’
I silently thanked him and turned back to Liena.
I had to extract as much information as I could before any unnecessary interruptions occurred.
“…Yes, if you’re truly my friend Idel, you wouldn’t treat me like this.”
But then Liena muttered something and met my gaze, her expression calmer now.
“It’s hot today. On a day like this, raspberry juice is perfect.”
An unexpected remark—suddenly raspberry juice?
Before I could react, Liena grabbed my hand.
“You.”
She curled her lips upward.
“You’re lying about your memories returning, aren’t you?”
Ah—so now Liena was testing my reaction.
The raspberry juice topic must have been something both she and Idel knew in the first life.
If I were the real Idel, I would have reacted somehow—but I didn’t. Liena had noticed something was off.
“Exactly what I thought!”
Liena laughed brightly and waved my hand back and forth.
“If your memories really returned, if you’re truly my friend Idel, there’s no way you’d dislike me like this!”
Then, she suddenly hugged me.
“Idel, please believe me. I’m not your enemy.”
“…!”
“Someone must have told you about the previous life, introducing themselves as a returnee. They’re trying to drive a wedge between us!”
I could almost read her thoughts.
Though her memories hadn’t returned, she partially knew about the previous life.
She misunderstood, thinking another returnee had given me information.
“Did I ever say I took Cassius from you? That’s absurd. We were truly close friends.”
“Liena, let go of me.”
“If you remembered my unfortunate past, you would’ve willingly given it up to me, right?”
“Let go!”
I finally pried her off me.
‘She must have eaten a lot of expensive food as a child. Strong…’
Liena stared at her freed arm in blank frustration and ground her teeth.
“That man, right…?”
“What?”
“That man put unnecessary ideas in your head, didn’t he? Trying to separate us.”
Her resentful gaze turned toward Terence, who was still confronting Roland
