Episode 13. I Couldn’t Wish for His Happiness
Henderson couldn’t understand why Helena spread such rumors and got punished.
The Helena he knew wasn’t someone who would do something so foolish.
He first met Helena years ago at the academy in the Remzi Empire.
Back then, she was kind to him when he had nothing, and he liked her. But those feelings never grew into love.
Even after graduation, they met sometimes, but he never felt excitement toward her.
They stayed just friends.
‘What could have happened to someone as smart as her…?’
Of course, he didn’t deny that Helena deserved her punishment.
She had done wrong, and she had to pay for it.
But the person that truly bothered him was Lylie.
He hadn’t gone to see her, and maybe that’s why he kept dreaming about her.
So he decided to stop waiting for her to come find him.
‘I need to go see her myself.’
At that thought, Henderson’s face twisted.
Because he remembered the rumors about her.
They said Lylie would soon marry another man.
The news unsettled him.
Before she became someone else’s wife, he wanted to meet her at least once.
That desire finally made Henderson leave his mansion, heading to the palace.
I had wanted to go on a picnic someday with Henderson and Eddie.
If only we could survive the coming winter and welcome the spring.
Back then, I imagined walking side by side with Henderson, holding Eddie’s tiny hand together.
I dreamed of such a happy future and foolishly believed time would fix our broken relationship.
After all, even good relationships sometimes grow distant.
But while I waited idly, hoping he’d look at me again, my child died.
I regretted it deeply.
‘If I had known you would die so soon, I wouldn’t have just waited.’
Now that I had returned to the past, I didn’t want to make the same mistake.
I would no longer hesitate or regret. I would act first. I would protect Eddie myself.
Thinking of my beloved child, I looked up at Matilda.
“Tell Duke Graham I won’t meet him. Or better, say I’m out.”
I couldn’t face Henderson—the man who had driven Eddie to death.
Even if it meant never seeing him again.
“Yes, I understand,” Matilda replied, leaving the room without asking why.
As soon as I was alone, I sighed heavily.
Perhaps it was because I had heard that name again—Henderson.
He had loved another woman and slept apart from me, but still, our memories together hadn’t lost their shine.
Those passionate days remained in my mind, even more beautiful than they had been.
My head told me not to see him, but maybe my heart secretly wished for a reunion.
But no, I no longer loved Henderson.
Ever since we began sleeping separately, my feelings for him had slowly faded.
What lingered was not love but unanswered questions.
I still didn’t know if Henderson had taken part in Helena and Father’s crime—the death of Eddie.
The only thing I was certain of was that Henderson and Helena had shared feelings.
When I first came back to the past, I was too desperate to save Eddie and ignored this matter.
‘But still, I don’t think Henderson killed Eddie.’
It seemed far more likely that Helena and Father acted alone.
Even the sorcerer hadn’t mentioned Henderson.
“…The sorcerer…” I murmured, pulling myself up.
From a drawer, I took out a letter I’d received from the back-alley guild a few days ago.
It was the result of a long investigation:
“Sadly, we could not find the sorcerer’s residence in the Lopez Empire. However, sorcerers are said to live more commonly in the Remzi Empire.”
It also noted:
“Some nobles from the Lopez Empire have even crossed into the Remzi Empire to seek sorcerers for help.”
So even the guild couldn’t do much about sorcerers.
But at least I had learned something useful.
‘Some nobles travel to Remzi Empire to meet sorcerers.’
Reading that line reminded me of Helena.
I had once heard that during her breaks, she often traveled to Remzi while working as Eddie’s tutor.
Had she gone there to hire the sorcerer who cursed Eddie?
Fate was strange—I too was planning to go to Remzi soon.
‘Will I find both—the sorcerer who cursed Eddie and the one who once helped me?’
I wanted to see that sorcerer again—the one who had spoken sternly, yet helped me without asking for much.
If we met again, the first thing I wanted to say was thank you.
But what about the one who cursed Eddie?
Could I leave him alive like Helena?
Or if I killed him, would I create more hatred and bring Eddie’s death again?
My head ached from too many thoughts, and I sank into the sofa, eyelids heavy.
Dark silence surrounded me.
Late that night, I finally heard that Henderson had gone back home after waiting long outside.
For several days, Henderson came to the palace, but I never met him.
I avoided him completely.
Even when told I wasn’t there, he still waited until late at night before leaving.
His stubborn persistence spread throughout society as gossip:
“Duke Graham is deeply in love with Princess Lylie, who is to marry Prince Gran of Remzi.”
At least the rumors didn’t mention that Henderson and I had once spent a night together.
What did Henderson want to confirm by seeing me?
Did he just now realize that the woman he had spent that night with was me?
Did he want to ask why I disappeared that night?
I couldn’t punish him for coming every day.
Though I still felt betrayed, I couldn’t be cruel to the Henderson of the past, who hadn’t yet cheated.
So I simply chose to ignore him.
But I couldn’t wish for his happiness either.
As much as he hurt me, I wanted him to feel pain too.
Maybe waiting for me in vain these past days had already hurt him.
My thoughts were interrupted by Matilda.
“Duke Graham left early today. Perhaps because tomorrow is your wedding day.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Prince Gran is expected to arrive in the Lopez Empire at dawn tomorrow.”
Tomorrow would be my wedding day with Gran.
I suddenly wondered what kind of face he would make when he found out his bride had run away.
Would he hate me?
But still, wasn’t it better for him to find another woman than to marry me, who already carried Henderson’s child?
It was only a shame I couldn’t tell him the truth.
Looking out the window, I saw the horizon stained red with the setting sun.
‘This will be the last sunset I see here.’
It was time to finally put my plan into action.
