episode_0011

“… … Mr.”

Out of the haze, I heard a familiar voice whispering.

It was a somewhat cozy yet soft voice.

Hearing the faint voice, I lifted my heavy eyelids.

“Lady.”

The image of a woman calling out to me appeared in my half-closed eyes.

Short hair, freckles on both cheeks, and a familiar maid’s uniform.

It is an image that cannot be forgotten.

The dedicated maid, Erica, looked as if she had become decades younger, and Isabel’s eyes were colored.

“Miss, it’s time to wake up.”

As a familiar voice pierced my eardrums, my mind cleared and I began to understand the situation.

Before I lost consciousness, something translucent floated in the air, and the contents written within it.

That means…

“… Are you back?”

“Oh my, you too. The Count came back yesterday.”

“Really… Are you really back… ?”

“Of course!”

I didn’t even care about the conflicting conversation.

This is because what is important to Isabel now is not her reunion with Erica.

I turned my head and looked around.

The interior of the room is antique yet cutely decorated.

This is, without a doubt, Isabel’s room as a child.

“Ah.”

A short sigh came out from between my parted lips.

At the same time, realization struck me like a thunderbolt.

Isabel regressed.

And that was before her relationship with Kyle became distorted.

More precisely.

‘… Kyle’s alive.’

Before he killed Kyle with his own hands.

“Miss, would you like me to prepare some bath water for you first? Or would you like to eat first?”

Erica walked around the room with familiar steps and opened the window wide to provide ventilation.

The smell of cool wind tickled my nose.

I pinched my thigh, wondering if it was a dream, but the tingling pain made me frown.

I guess it wasn’t a dream.

My eyes got wet at the fact that I could start again from the beginning.

I wiped my eyelids with my sleeve several times to restore my blurred vision.

After a moment, Isabel took a deep breath.

Soon, he calmly stretched and stood up.

“Prepare the bath water first.”

“Yes, lady.”

“Prepare light meals. ah! and… ”

Back to the past.

Although still dazed by the overwhelming unreality, Isabelle clearly remembered her purpose.

Isabelle’s tightly closed mouth was carefully opened.

“Can you get me ready to go out?”

An innocent smile flashed across Isabelle’s face.

****

Kyle is alive.

The fact that she could finally see him gave Isabel an indescribable thrill.

I can’t believe I can see Kyle as he was when he whispered love to me.

What should I say first when I meet Kyle?

Words of atonement? If not that, a rather common greeting saying that you missed you?

Even now, my heart aches at the thought of being able to see Kyle.

You probably won’t be able to control yourself and burst into tears, right?

My eyes felt hot.

Useless imaginations were swimming through my blank mind.

“… Come to your senses.”

Kyle doesn’t know that Isabelle has returned to the past.

Isabel’s mistake and the future that is headed for catastrophe.

All of that is still just a piece of the distant future.

There was no need to worry for long.

Do it as naturally, calmly, and slowly as possible.

Just like Kyle did to me, you just have to approach it with sincerity.

The hand holding the teacup was shaking terribly.

Excitement, tension, and a sense of guilt.

The mixed emotions sprouted and bore fruit.

Let’s calm down.

You can’t be rude from the first meeting with Kyle, right?

Isabelle sighed and tried to maintain her composure.

It was then.

“… !”

Jet black hair and bright blue eyes that look like they were transported to the night sky.

And a unique slightly drowsy look.

It’s Kyle.

Kyle, who was alive and breathing just fine, was standing there looking at himself.

Isabelle greeted me with a cracked voice.

It was an unusual greeting, but Isabelle didn’t mind.

I swallowed deeply, looking forward to Kyle’s reaction.

“Kyle?”

Kyle remained silent without any expression.

Even with Isabelle’s sudden visit, he didn’t show any signs of surprise.

Isabel, unable to bear it any longer, encouraged the conversation again.

Soon, Kyle’s tightly closed lips slowly opened.

“… … It’s been a while.”

A profound yet profound voice.

It’s definitely Kyle’s voice.

It took a moment to suppress the overwhelming emotions, and when he raised his head and checked, Kyle’s face showed a look of discomfort.

It was probably his own mistake for visiting the mansion without warning.

Isabel carefully took out the apology and the reason she had come here.

It was then.

Kyle interrupted Isabel, saying he had something to say.

After a while, he raised his eyes and let out a frosty voice.

“Let’s pretend our engagement never happened.”

Isabel blinked her eyes stupidly.

Kyle, who wanted my engagement more than anyone else, suddenly asked me to break off the engagement.

Did I hear it wrong? Maybe a light joke to lighten the mood?

If not that, a reprimand to yourself for coming without warning?

Isabelle looked at Kyle with shocked eyes.

I felt dizzy and nauseous.

At the same time, a strong warning sound rang in my head that something was wrong.

“Are you serious?”

Kyle nodded with a calm expression.

Isabel did not believe it. No, I couldn’t.

You can’t be serious about calling off an engagement, right?

I asked the reason in a suppressed tone.

The reason why Kyle, who loved him, changed his attitude and wanted to break off the engagement.

Soon a clear answer came out of his mouth.

“I loved you. But not now.”

Isabel’s pale face was filled with astonishment.

Those words, saying I no longer love you, tore Isabel’s heart to pieces.

I asked again and again.

However, his answer was the same again and again.

I no longer love myself.

Kyle was clearly saying that.

“You hate me.”

My heart sank to the floor when I saw Kyle’s questioning gaze towards me.

A terrible chill hit my whole body, as if I had been poured ice water.

Kyle doesn’t love himself anymore.

Isabel could never acknowledge those words, which were repeated over and over again.

No, I couldn’t admit it.

— I love you, Isabelle.

That voice is still clear.

That sweet voice that whispered love to me while blushing shyly.

“… I just wasted my time.”

Kyle’s sighing voice echoed in my ears like an auditory hallucination.

He withdrew his gaze from Isabel and immediately turned his back without hesitation.

Isabel stopped Kyle with an urgent voice.

And found it.

Something that was supposed to be on Kyle’s left ring finger was missing.

A strong sense of discomfort covered my entire body.

Suddenly, the lies he had told in the past to hurt Kyle passed by his ears.

— I threw it away. Because it’s cumbersome.

Probably not.

Please, it shouldn’t be.

Isabel repeated forcibly as if she were brainwashing herself.

However, Kyle shot back fiercely in a cold voice, as if he was mocking Isabelle.

“Ah, this.”

“I threw it away.”

Rattling—!

The door to the reception room closed, and the suffocating silence took her breath away.

Only then did Isabel realize.

[You may lose the most precious thing]

What precious thing have you lost?

****

Isabel did not give up.

She did her best to change Kyle’s mind.

However, there was a fact that was overlooked.

That’s right.

The wound he carved in Kyle’s chest was bigger and deeper than he thought.

— After looking at people like bugs all this time, what now? Clear up the misunderstanding?

Hatred and loathing were overflowing in Kyle’s eyes as he scolded me.

— Are you sure?

— My past behavior that you have been hearing about. Are you sure that it is the undoubted truth?

Kyle rebuked Isabelle for her ignorance.

Why didn’t you believe in yourself?

Why did you treat yourself so coldly, just because you were swept up in a rumor that was going around?

— trash. trash. A miserable human being.

These were all blades that he spat out with his own mouth.

— Shall I recite more? The human race. Terrible human being. A human being who deserves to be cursed…

The blade turned into a boomerang and cut into my skin mercilessly.

— Strange. Why was I so obsessed with you?

sorry.

That single word of earnest apology melted into a lump of fire in my throat.

— Throw it away or trash it.

— These are just words I hear every day, but the day I heard them directly from your own mouth, I became especially miserable.

— As if it were a real bug.

I couldn’t speak as if there was a thorn in my throat.

I couldn’t breathe properly.

Each word turned into a stone and hit me.

It was then.

The ring that Kyle had thrown away was stuck like a stake in Isabelle’s eye.

— He definitely threw it away on me—!!

For a moment, Kyle’s face turned into confusion.

In an instant, anticipation arose in a corner of Isabelle’s heart.

Just in case.

Could it be that he still has some affection for himself? And that’s it.

However, that expectation did not last long.

“Lady! Do you know what I just saw? No, I don’t know, Kyle Winfred was alone here at a jewelry store… ”

Isabel’s face was distorted.

Transparent tears flowed from her distorted eyes.

“Ah! engagement ring! Oh my god, you said something ridiculous like selling an engagement ring at auction? miss? miss! Why are you crying… !”

Erica didn’t know what to do and wiped the tears from Isabelle’s eyes with her sleeve.

Black regret grew like a tumor in my chest.

Isabelle, you bloody bitch.

I couldn’t handle it without cursing myself, so I held my head repeatedly.

“Aaaah! Lady, please calm down… !”

Erica didn’t know what to do and grabbed Isabelle’s arms.

The force of the swing was so strong that Erica struggled for a while before calming Isabel down.

“Selling a ring… ”

Isabel muttered in a low voice.

Erica, who heard the muttering, thought it was time to continue the conversation.

“Yes! It worked great! Just like the lady said, I finally went out.”

– it’s annoying. When are you going to leave?

Tinnitus-like auditory hallucinations sharply pierced my eardrums.

The content ringing in my ears was strangely familiar.

‘wife… ‘

Yes, I think I said something like that to Kyle one day.

Not through someone else’s mouth, but directly from this damn mouth.

Isabel exhaled infrequently.

Like a person isolated and trapped in a space where oxygen is scarce.

“… ”

His lips were trembling as if he was frightened, and his hands wrapped around his neck.

Kyle tries to erase his traces.

The few traces that Kyle loved her.

After a while.

Isabelle gave instructions in a stern voice.

“… Could you please tell me the exact schedule for that auction?”