episode_0134

The night before the engagement ceremony.

On the eve of the impending engagement ceremony, Eleanor gazed out at the night lake beyond the window, soothing her heart with the tranquil view.

The lake, bathed in the blue moonlight, resembled a scene from a movie, calming her fluttering heart in anticipation of the ceremony the next day.

“Tomorrow is already the engagement ceremony.”

Her excited voice was carried away by the blue moonlight. Leaning against the headboard of the bed, her gaze was fixed on the shimmering moonlight on the lake.

It was a somewhat surreal experience, but with the ceremony drawing near, memories of everything that had happened since she arrived in this world, the faces of the people she had met, began to flood her mind.

Sophie, Manuella, and her older brother Albrice.

The monks who had taken care of her diligently when she had just woken up in the bed. Eleanor wondered if she would be where she is now without their warmth. If even that wasn’t there in this unfamiliar world…

And then her parents who had come up to the monastery.

Initially, she had kept her distance from the heavy emotions directed towards her. But now, with her body capable of bearing that weight, her mother and father had become so precious to her.

Dominique.

Like the vibrant vitality flowing from her jet-black hair, she had brightened Eleanor. Even in the short time they had spent together, she could feel her emotions expanding in various ways.

Dmitri.

Her beloved partner, no words needed. As his image came to mind, her heart stirred once again.

I never thought I would be embraced by a man…

“Just like Dmitri.”

As precious to her as Dmitri, Eleanor held onto that name.

Eleanor had spent more time with Eugenie than anyone else. Naturally, her feelings towards her were heavier than anyone else’s.

Even more than her parents.

Even more than her lover Dmitri.

Come to think of it, spending a week with Dmitri had distanced her from Eugenie. It was the first time she had been separated for so long since meeting her. Eleanor, who had not yet revealed the truth to herself about the weight of this fact, felt it growing inside her.

“And Eugenie can’t always be by my side like this…”

That’s right.

Eugenie was a very precious person to her. But as an excuse, she couldn’t keep her tied to her side forever.

For her happiness, she would have to let her go someday. She had a family, and she couldn’t make her live alone for the rest of her life.

Knock knock-

The sound of a gentle knock on the closed bedroom door brought Eleanor back from her reverie.

At Eugenie’s voice that followed, Eleanor dispersed the memories that had just resurfaced and responded softly, “Hmm? What’s the matter, Eugenie?”

In the dark room, Eleanor’s pure voice echoed, and soon, the closed door opened.

Eugenie, with her ivory hair cascading down to the left, stood in a thin cardigan and a pristine night dress. On the tray in her hand were two teacups, a glass bottle of herb leaves, and a teapot.

“I thought you might have trouble sleeping, Eleanor.”

With a bright smile, she carefully stepped into the room.

“How did you guess my feelings so accurately?”

“Oh, well… we were childhood friends.”

“Childhood… friends.”

Eleanor quietly rose from the bed. Her platinum blonde hair, meticulously prepared for tomorrow’s engagement ceremony, flowed down on her silk slip like a top-grade golden thread.

Eugenie looked at Eleanor with surprised eyes.

She was wearing a short pink slip over her white body.

With a thin shoulder strap, her pride, the feminine shoulder line, was fully exposed. The hem of the slip, falling just below the hip line, was lifted up high thanks to the curves of her plump buttocks. The deeply carved chest revealed a hint of pale white flesh.

It was a style of nightwear that Eleanor usually didn’t wear. Eugenie, who didn’t even know if her mistress had such a slip, was taken aback.

That’s why her violet eyes were fixed on Eleanor.

“Don’t just stand there, come in.”

Eleanor, who had gotten up from the bed, approached Eugenie and called her to the small sofa in the room. Folding her legs close to her chest, resting her knees on her head, she smiled gently.

“Ah, um….”

Eugenie’s face turned red at that sight.

Even though they were the same woman.

No, even more so, she was a precious childhood friend.

Shaking her head, she concealed the emotions that surged beyond her heart.

Eugenie carefully approached the front of the sofa and placed the tray on the table. Then, she placed a teacup in front of Eleanor and leaned the teapot just as she was about to pour.

Eleanor reached out to the teacup on the other side with a smile.

“You’re acting strange today, Eugenie.”

Her outstretched white arm quickly moved the teacup on the other side next to her. Now, the white teacups were lined up next to each other.

“Why are you sitting so far away?”

“W-Well… What should I say…”

Eugenie stumbled over her words unknowingly.

The current emotion was not simply because of her attire.

Eugenie had been with Eleanor during her baths and had even applied ointment directly to her body.

She even knew that there was a small mole under the ripe pink fruit.

But the reason Eugenie’s heart was pounding so much now was that.

If Eleanor had looked like a girl in the violet eyes until now.

The Eleanor in front of her now was a seductive woman exuding an enchanting fragrance.

Eugenie shook her head again, just like when she opened the door. She pushed away the scattered thoughts and got up from her seat.

She was a maid and a childhood friend who had come to ease the tension of her mistress on the night before the engagement ceremony.

As she approached and sat down next to her, a pleasant weight was transmitted from the side. Their white skin touched each other, and she could feel Eleanor’s slightly elevated body temperature.

“Elli, wait. I need to pour the tea.”

“Ah, you used to do it so well.”

Although she said that, Eleanor immediately straightened her body away from Eugenie. As the warmth of Eleanor drifted away, the woman with violet eyes poured the tea regretfully into the teacup.

“But what’s with that outfit?”

The fleeting glance of the violet eyes turned to the body of the woman sitting next to her. Even though they were supposed to have the same body, Eleanor’s white body, bathed in the blue moonlight, looked mysteriously different.

“Oh…. This is just…”

Blushing slightly, Eleanor lowered her eyes. She knew that this dress was not an ordinary one. She fidgeted with her fingers and raised her lips.

It seemed like she wanted to confide in her dear friend about her current appearance.

“When I was in the West, I ordered this engagement dress and tried it on… It feels a bit uncomfortable, so I’m trying to get used to it.”

With a bashful smile, Eleanor hid her embarrassment. Eugenie thought she shouldn’t delve too deeply into that smile.

The friend sitting beside her was no longer the Earl’s daughter, but a man’s lady.

The teacup was filled to the brim with tea. Eugenie placed a small green herb leaf on top of it.

“You know, Ellie. This tea, it’s the one Ailey gave you back when we first arrived in the North, and you fainted, remember?”

“Fainted, really?”

“Well, you did faint. That’s what happened.”

Chuckling softly, Eleanor accepted the teacup Eugenie offered. The fragrant herbal scent calmed the fluttering heart in anticipation of tomorrow’s engagement.

Or maybe it was the warmth of her precious friend beside her, Eleanor thought as she swallowed the refreshing tea.

Eugenie Loelcelar.

She was the woman who had opened up her heart for the first time in this unfamiliar world. At first, Eleanor had kept a bit of distance due to her beauty, but now she had become an essential part of her life.

“You know, Eugenie.”

“Yeah, Ellie.”

Eleanor carefully placed the teacup on the table. Listening to the clear resonance when it touched the glass, she leaned towards Eugenie.

“After the engagement, I plan to stay here with Dimitri for about a week.”

At Eleanor’s quiet confession, Eugenie turned to look at her. Her violet eyes were filled with surprise.

“Just the two of you?”

“Even though it’s just the two of us, that man worries about many things. Maybe we’ll leave some guards and maids behind.”

And Eleanor also turned her head slightly to embrace Eugenie with her sky-blue eyes.

“Eugenie, will you follow me to the North even after I get married?”

Eleanor’s hand subtly intertwined with Eugenie’s. Eugenie didn’t refuse the touch and accepted it.

“Yeah. I’ll be by your side.”

“What about your life then?”

“My life?”

Eleanor’s ivory hair swayed gently. Eugenie smiled wryly at Eleanor’s words.

My life…

When she turned back time and returned to the past, this life was dedicated to Eleanor. Despite the passage of time, her commitment remained unchanged.

But she couldn’t reveal that fact to you.

Not only because revealing that fact meant that the price of turning back time would fall on Ellie. Revealing such a kind childhood friend would only burden Eleanor with self-blame.

“Well… I guess for now, it’s most important to me that Ellie lives happily.”

So, wrapping it up with a joke, Eugenie shared her inner thoughts with her.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re like a mother.”

Laughter filled the dark room. Eleanor seemed to like Eugenie’s wrapping.

Finally, Eleanor hid her laughter and revealed the words she had been holding in her heart.

“You know, Eugenie. So, after tomorrow, you should come down to the West for a while too.”

“Huh?”

Eugenie’s eyes widened at Eleanor’s words.

“I have a new family to go to the north. You’re different. So…. So.”

As she repeated the same words, her sky-blue eyes looked downward.

“Of course, I may be a foreigner, but I consider you as family. You have other family members besides me.”

Her voice, now smaller, matched the blush pink slip that revealed her shoulders as she hunched slightly.

Her ivory hair swayed gently up and down with her movements.

“Alright. But you shouldn’t do anything dangerous. I’ll leave Sophie behind, so make sure to listen to Sophie.”

Honestly, she wanted to shake her head and say she didn’t want to stay by your side. She was worried about leaving Elly alone….

No, honestly, the desire to shake her head was closer to jealousy.

Nevertheless, the foreigner nodded and smiled broadly. She was her lady’s maid, so she couldn’t make her lady uncomfortable.

Moreover, she had seen how happy Elly looked by his side all this time.

“Chi…. If you say that, I’ll look like a child.”

“In my eyes, you are a child.”

“What! A woman who hasn’t even dated yet!”

Eleanor’s playful voice.

Eleanor’s elbow gently nudging her side.

Smiling at her words and actions, the foreigner took a sip from her teacup, hiding her feelings from her friend sitting beside her.

The words she had just said.

The promise to follow Elly even after going up north.

In this life, she had promised to make her happy by Elly’s side.

Could she really take care of her completely by Elly’s side?

Could she continue to smile by Elly’s side like this, hiding the fact that she had rewound the past?

Wasn’t the price of turning back time possibly burying herself, not Elly, who was living happily and peacefully?

So, for Elly’s happiness, shouldn’t she step back a little like her colleague who had turned back time together with her?

Elly was happy and safe by Dmitri’s side.

Setting down the teacup in her hand on the table, the foreigner added a little more green leaf herb on top of the teacup.

Certainly, this fragrant herb tea was the one that made her forget her nausea, but her scattered mind remained the same as it was now.