Chapter 7
“You’re back, Sir Leandros!”
“Sir… I was just about to discuss the donation with you—”
“This week’s bishop meeting is on the topic of the saint—”
Leandros, having returned to the temple, passed coldly through the priests who greeted him.
His unusually stern and icy expression initially startled the priests, but recalling where he had been, they understood.
“So, he came back without even visiting her, just standing guard at the Apéredita estate gate.”
“The Apéredita family really went too far. Even if the lady was upset, he is of royal blood…”
“I heard the lady dislikes His Highness greatly. Perhaps she endured this because she got greedy for the wine, suffered, and now blames His Highness for no fault of his own.”
“Tsk tsk, what good is noble blood if the temperament is so sharp.”
The remaining priests, muttering curses at Grace, praised Leandros as the last hope of the crumbling temple.
Unaware of all this, Leandros finally entered the room and closed the door.
Alone, a wave of intense regret returned, and he sighed deeply.
‘Why didn’t I believe Grace’s words?’
When he had heard, with a composed expression, that she was dying and repeating regressions, he had been surprised but tried not to show it.
When she said it was connected to his death, he had assumed it was her usual mischievous joke.
He had thought she had been sulky because his birthday—meant to be his special day—was ruined by the sudden royal banquet, and that she came to celebrate it while he had to endure wounded pride.
But everything Grace had said was true.
The image of her collapsing, vomiting blood, was still vivid before his eyes.
‘They say basilisk blood causes pain like being shredded with a blade…’
What could she have been thinking, smiling at him through that agony?
When he finally met her, she looked as if she had just woken from a sickbed. Her face was pale, her lips rougher than usual, her body so thin that only bones remained after just a week.
Seeing her frail appearance again, regret threatened to consume him.
“Don’t blame yourself. I got a chance to be reborn because of you.”
The strong voice that saved him from collapse echoed in his mind.
“I’m glad the one I’m bound to is you.”
At the same time, memories from childhood arose—precious memories too fragile to even speak aloud.
“Don’t blame yourself. I enjoyed the new adventure because of you. I’m so glad you were the one with me.”
She shone just as brightly as she had in childhood.
“Until now, it was impossible alone, but if we’re together, we can overcome this.”
“If we’re together, we can surely get through this place.”
Unchanging, strong Grace.
“I want to stay by your side and protect you.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll protect you.”
His first love.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
Just thinking of her made his heart beat recklessly, and he slumped against the door.
Leandros and Grace’s bond stretched back ten years.
Leandros had come into existence from the Emperor’s provincial tour, during a fleeting day of play with the daughter of a crumbling viscount family.
His mother had kept Leandros’s existence a secret from both the royal family and her own relatives. She was cast out of the family and raised him alone.
Perhaps the family hadn’t believed her.
Despite a life of poverty and hardship, he grew up surrounded by his mother’s love and was happy.
His mother had apologized for giving the royal-blooded child such suffering, but Leandros didn’t care who his father was.
He thought she lied about his royal blood so that he, abandoned by his father, wouldn’t be hurt by the world.
With such a mother, he never lacked affection and expected none to be missing in the future.
Had she not died suddenly, happiness might have lasted longer.
At just ten years old, left alone in the world, he realized how hard his mother had worked to protect him, and he had to carry loneliness, sadness, and poverty by himself.
One day, running errands in a mine to survive, he was trapped in an accident and found himself locked in a collapsed mine, where he met Grace.
Though anyone could see she was out of place in the mine, her cheerful insistence that he come with her was irresistible.
Her small hand, offering comfort, was warm and more reassuring than anyone else’s.
Even if she was likely scared, her courage to stand up for his frightened self captivated him completely.
Recalling his first encounter with Grace, Leandros let out a bitter laugh.
“I thought you had completely changed.”
As a prince, when they met again, she had lost the light she once held as a child.
Selfish, indifferent to the pain of others, vengeful if her will wasn’t obeyed—feared as a villainess by society.
Though disappointed by her changed demeanor, he continued to believe in her true, kind heart.
And today, seeing that light in her again, he realized his hope had come true.
“Thank goodness.”
Leandros was genuinely happy.
The thought that she had been cursed because of him felt like the world was collapsing, yet when she said she wanted to be by his side to prevent it, his heart raced uncontrollably.
“Will you make a place for me at the temple?”
For such an absurd request, he could only answer:
“I’ll try my best.”
Perhaps it was the selfish desire to be with his first love. Indeed, it must have been.
Even if she did not recognize him or was disappointed by her hardened persona, his feelings never wavered, swelling at this moment.
The problem was that he did not want to ignore or suppress these feelings.
‘A person should always take responsibility for their words.’
Leandros sighed again, justifying himself.
‘If there’s a place worthy of Grace, there’s only one.’
At that moment, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Sir Leandros, Father Michael asked that you attend the bishop meeting this evening.”
‘The bishop meeting only happens twice a year. Truly, the gods seem to be cheering us on.’
Leandros rose, walking out with the determined step of a man who would get what he wanted, thinking thoughts Grace might have found laughable.
No sooner had Leandros left than the butler, arriving abruptly with a message that the duke requested my presence, escorted me to the duke’s office.
“Your Grace, the lady has arrived.”
“Let her in.”
As if waiting for it, the door opened at his command.
The assistant who had been working inside quietly left after closing the door, and I stood silently before it.
A heavy silence filled the space between the duke and me.
After finishing the last document, the duke finally looked at me.
“How is your condition?”
“Not well. My legs tremble just from standing.”
“Then why didn’t you sit earlier?”
“I thought it might upset you.”
The duke did not deny it.
He removed his glasses, pressed his fingers to his forehead.
“Why did you drink the wine?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“You knew it was poisoned. Why did you drink it?”
“Let me correct that. I wanted to drink poisoned wine.”
My blunt response sharpened his gaze.
“This was your request. For the sake of the future, I had to deal with Sir Leandros, so I had extreme poison placed in his wine.”
He spoke, swallowing the rising anger he felt.
