Elisia involuntarily extended her hand.
“Franz!”
“Ah…”
Franz collapsed to his knees, drenched in a cold sweat.
His broad shoulders trembled violently, and the veins on the back of his hand stood out as it pressed against the ground.
“Your Highness!”
The moment Elysia knelt beside him, servants rushed from the end of the corridor.
They were waiting outside the bedroom, and they hurried to help Franz up.
As soon as they reached him, he closed his eyes and fainted.
He seemed to endure the pain by sheer willpower until help arrived.
They quickly carried him to the bed.
“Get the doctor—right now!”
“Order, butler!”
One of them took off immediately, while the others took Franz to bed.
Elisia stood silently staring at the bedroom door, then clenched her hands.
Franz's bedroom.
She placed her hand on her left breast.
Just looking at the door stuck a dagger into her heart.
And at that moment, his voice rang in her ears—when he hugged her and cried:
“Liz, open your eyes!”
That call, at the moment her love ended in death, still haunts her.
And now, she had to step into that room again.
no.
Elysia turned around, wanting to get away from the room and everyone in it.
But the maids who arrived grabbed her arm.
“Are you Lady Elysia?
Please, help us!”
“We beg you!”
“You have to neutralize the mana!”
The strange thing is that they already knew who she was—Franz's bride, and the reason she was here.
They pushed her into the room.
As soon as she entered, she was surprised.
It wasn't what she remembered.
Unlike the cold room in her memory, this was warm and bright, as if it had been prepared for a wedding suite.
No trace of blood, no air frozen by mana.
As the servants placed Franz on the bed, they began to untie his neck and dry his chest with hot towels.
His athletic body, his drawn muscles, and his broad chest—swayed with his intermittent breaths.
While they were busy, the doctor arrived.
Panting, he looked at Franz and immediately ordered a hot bath to be prepared.
“It's too early for another shift.”
He mumbled anxiously and poured a red elixir into Franz's mouth, most of which ran down his chin.
But he did not stop, but gave him another dose.
Finally, Franz coughed and exhaled heavily, and the doctor breathed a sigh of relief.
“He's settled down now.
But he'll have to stay in the hot bath all day.”
“Understood.”
At that moment, a steaming ivory basin was rolled forward and placed near the fireplace.
The fire was lit, and the room became stiflingly hot, even though it was autumn.
They lowered him into the water carefully.
Elysia gritted her teeth as she saw him being carried away like a doll.
His pale face, his lips smeared with elixir, his naked torso... he looked like a statue of ivory in pain.
The scene stuck in her chest.
She knew that mana was tormenting him—but not like this, not this deeply.
Franz always looked perfect.
But now, her chest tightened as she saw him sinking into the water.
Is it pity?
no.
It can't be.
She had cried enough for him.
Indeed, very much.
All I felt...was bitterness.
To see you in pain...just after you killed me.
Despite being his wife, she was never allowed to enter this room.
Once, Patricia made her sneak in—and as soon as she opened the door, Franz slapped her.
“Elysia, how dare you?
If it weren't for the bond of souls between us, I would have abandoned you at this moment!”
He acted as if she attacked him.
While all I did was open the door and step inside.
He insulted her in the corridor, with words of contempt and sarcasm.
Elysia ran across the broken fountain to her separate palace, and there wept, fearing that another insulting epithet would be attached to her.
Franz called her many names, although he never used them out loud.
In fact, he barely called her by name.
Except when he gets angry...or when he asks to neutralize the mana.
"Liz"
That one word—awful… and yet, sweet.
She always wondered, despite his hatred for her, why he didn't give up on her.
And now, I know.
So that's why...
Because he needed it.
Until Naerys came, he needed her.
She didn't want to know this truth.
No doubt, he was celebrating when Naerys arrived—finally free of you.
He must have been happy when he got rid of the disgusting Elisia.
Old Elysia... how ridiculous.
How foolish she was.
"I apologize for the delay, Lady Elysia.
I am Lucius, head butler of the Second Prince's Palace."
"Nice to meet you, Lucius."
“…Excuse me?”
Lucius stammered at her bright smile, startled.
And of course—Franz is about to die, and she's smiling.
He must have thought she was crazy.
But Elizia was at the height of awareness.
Rather, seeing Franz's pain brought bright clarity to her.
Whether he went back in time or not...it no longer mattered.
You didn't need to be sure of anything.
Franz...is still Franz.
That man who betrayed her, trampled on her, and killed her.
The one who saw it as nothing more than a tool to neutralize mana.
“If you are able…could you neutralize His Highness’s mana?”
Elysia stared at Lucius.
She can do it.
But she didn't want to ease his pain.
She suffered for two years—neglected, abandoned, dying like a flower with a broken stem.
Seeing Franz suffer for one day, one moment, will not erase her agony.
"no."
She wished he would suffer more.
Longer.
"I can't before the wedding.
Aren't those the rules?"
“But...”
“If you will show me to my room, I will leave now.
Show me the way to the separate palace.”
Lucius's brown eyes trembled in shock.
She must have seemed hard-hearted to him.
But she cried more than anyone here—until her tears dried up.
"I have to change my clothes.
Where is he?"
She gently brushed the sleeve of her velvet dress.
She had chosen it for the cold, but the heat of the room made her drenched in sweat.
“Sorry, Lady Elysia.
There is no separate palace.
You will be staying here.”
“Here?
You mean...”
Lucius led her to a side door into the bedroom.
He opened it, revealing another room.
“I didn't know these existed.”
“And you weren't expected to know.
It's your first visit here.”
But it is not.
However, I didn't know.
His gentle tone silenced her.
Franz is still passed out in the tub.
How many things about you...that I never knew?
I guess I shouldn't have said I loved you.
She regretted her last confession.
Everything I knew now, it made that love seem ridiculous.
He must have laughed—when he heard the love confession from the woman he had killed.
What did he think when he discovered it was a curse?
Did he curse her in turn?
Or did he regret not killing her again?
I shouldn't have cursed you.
I should have killed you.
To drag you to the same hell.
I should have.
“…Elysia.”
While she was chewing her regret, a faint voice called her name.
She bit her lip.