CH 3

Just before jumping off the balcony, Ophelia had a stray thought.

What if it wasn’t a dream or hallucination?

What if she really returned to the past?

She wasn’t worried about the pain that would come once she fell, not even death.

She had already consumed a mermaid scale. She wasn’t concerned about that.

What she was afraid of was the possibility that… there was a new opportunity in front of her.

She was afraid to be shaken when she met Ian again while he knew nothing.

No matter how tired one was, anyone would hesitate when they’re presented with another chance.

In one way or another, Ian was still Ophelia’s first love.

He was the first who gave her affection, luck.

If Ophelia hadn’t taken his hand, she would have definitely been sold off to a politically arranged marriage.

When the same situation came again this time, would she not be able to take his hand?

How could she even think of such a foolish thing…

Ophelia wasn’t confident.

She still remembered the day Ian confessed his love to her.

She would never forget.

It was the first time Ophelia came to like another person.

Everyone back then talked about Ophelia and Ian a lot, considering what a scandal it was in high society, and they said that Ophelia must have confessed first. But that’s all that they could talk about because they didn’t know the real story.

Ophelia saved Ian at the coast, but she avoided him the whole time after that.

She knew about the rumors between Ian and her half-sister, and if she was caught in between them, she would surely see blood.

Just as she did all her life, she wanted to live in the shadows.

But one day, she succumbed to her feelings.

No, not day, but night.

A night on that coast with pure white sand.

A man sitting on the beach reef looked back and saw her, then called softly as if he himself were an ocean wave.

“Ophelia.”

The sea breeze fluttered and swept through his hair. With his focus entirely on Ophelia, it was like he had a silvery aura around him under the bright moonlight—as if he was a lighthouse for her.

Holding a lamp, Ophelia approached him without answering his call.

As she approached, there was a beautiful curve to his eyes as he smiled. Even more so than when he was under a chandelier’s bright light, he was a man who stood out more on the waves that had once threatened to erase his existence.

“I thought you’d come if I stayed here.”

“Of course. I went to turn off the lights, but you weren’t there. So I had to find you.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“Your Excellency is aware that there is a curfew within the fortress, so if you weren’t here, I would have informed the guards tomorrow.”

The man laughed. As though it was enough to turn the sand inside out, he had a loud, hearty laugh.

“But it’s hard to be alone with you unless I sneak out like this. If you’re my guardian, why aren’t you taking care of me more?”

“First, I only became your guardian because I have the highest status here. And second, doesn’t Your Excellency think it’s not just that it’s hard to find some time alone, but that I’m avoiding you?”

“I wonder. You did avoid me right away.”

“…If you’re aware, then will you continue to be persistent?”

“Yes. I’ll be persistent.”

Perhaps the sea breeze had erased his smile, but he placed his chin on his knee, his expression now almost devoid of laughter.

Ophelia turned her gaze towards the sea.

“Ophelia, have you ever watched the sea at night?”

“No, I haven’t.”

In the first place, the first time Ophelia saw the sea was here at Ladeen. Unsurprised, Ian opened his hand, which had been closed in a fist earlier.

“I knew it. That’s why I waited for you here. I’m sure you’ve never seen anything like this.”

Something like dandelion seeds flew out of his hands and went towards the sea.

Then, one by one, they began to glow under the water.

Those glowing lights quickly overshadowed the lanterns.

“It can only be seen at this time of the year. They react to magic stone powder, which makes it look like there’s a flower bed on the sea on a clear day like this.”

He looked somewhat awkward. Ophelia didn’t say anything, but it was obvious to her that Ian’s expression was rather stiff because he was embarrassed.

But she couldn’t show a reaction. No, she shouldn’t have noticed it.

Close your eyes. Cover your ears.

Don’t open the door to anyone. Don’t rely on them.

That’s how Ophelia lived her life.

But sometimes, the latch would come loose.

Especially when you’re given a white flower bed blooming over the blue waves.

…Or when an unexpected kindness knocks you down like a tidal wave.

“I wanted to show you this.”

He said so with a blushing face…

“…Why?”

Ophelia asked back, as casually as she could, but she regretted this immediately.

She shouldn’t have asked. She should have just walked away as if she didn’t see anything.

“Why do you think I’m doing this?”

But before she could dwell on regret, she was affected by how Ian’s smile was like a parched wave.

A slightly red face. A subtle smile that made it seem like he was frowning.

And a gaze that was entirely focused on her.

“Because I love you.”

These words washed away all of Ophelia’s efforts to avoid him.

With that, Ian managed to unlock the door that separated Ophelia from the world, which she had struggled to keep shut firmly for years.

Did Ian realize it at that time? Just how difficult it was to open up the door, yet so easy to abandon in the future.

It would have been better if he hadn’t said anything about love.

She never doubted what he felt.

Those feelings…

All she remembered was she hung onto it desperately.

That’s why.

Ophelia wanted this all to be a dream. Or a hallucination.

It would have been more merciful to let her open her eyes to an endless nightmare of falling into an abyss.

But if this wasn’t a dream, then it would be better to just fall off and die.

In the first place, that’s the reason why she swallowed the mermaid scale.

The pain to come would be good. As long as she didn’t return to the past.

And yet, she felt no pain at all after jumping off the balcony.

But it wasn’t because this was a dream.

Ophelia’s body didn’t hit the ground. Someone caught her.

The hands that caught her were warm. The heart near her was beating hard.

With her own chest pounding painfully, her body’s nerves woke up at once after having been so close to death.

She’s alive.

“In all my life, the women that come to me are all from the heavens…”

She raised her head to look at the owner of the muttering voice, but a face buried in her memories flashed in her mind.

Ophelia’s face crumpled the moment she recognized him.

‘Why are you here?’

The first time she met him was definitely in Ladeen.

Ophelia blankly uttered the name of the man who caught her.

“Alei…”

Then, one of the man’s eyebrows rose.

“What, you know me?”

“Maybe.”

The man who once told Ophelia about mermaid scales.

She met him in Ladeen, whether coincidentally or inevitably. He was a mage with the Grand Duke of Ronen.

During her solitary life at Ronen, he was the one who managed to anchor her down.

Alei.

Why is it always you.

—I told you so, Ophelia. You’ll regret it.

Why do you always show up in front of me whenever I want to die…

—Grand Duchess, you don’t need to deny this life. You don’t have to forfeit your life on this scale.

Yes.

You’re right, after all.

As soon as she saw his face, Ophelia admitted that she was wrong.

When she realized that she was truly alive, and when she realized that this was not a dream or an illusion, but reality—

What Ophelia felt the most was relief.

She didn’t want to die.

She didn’t want to live so miserably.