I could only mutter in shock.
"How… why…?"
My questions couldn't even form proper sentences. They just spilled out.
Lloyd looked at me, eyes filled with pity, and gave a bitter smile.
"Well… maybe it's something like your regression."
He… even knew I had come back in time?
My eyes shook with disbelief as I stared at him.
"How do you know that…?"
Just as I tried to pull away in confusion, he gripped the coat tighter around me.
Trapped in the coat he had wrapped around me, I couldn't move.
He looked down at me and smiled emptily.
"The orphanage."
His one word made me frown in confusion.
Then he added more.
"Helloica Orphanage. The place you kept trying to investigate."
I couldn't say a word.
After I successfully married Lloyd in a past life, I had tried to trace Denian's death.
I hired the Bas Merchant Group to find the culprit, and we looked into Helloica Orphanage.
Since Lloyd had been the one to handle communications with the merchant group, it was only natural that he knew what I was up to.
"I wanted to see for myself what kind of place it was—the orphanage you were so obsessed with. It was before the fire."
He looked up at the sky as if remembering the past.
"I never expected to meet you there."
Then his eyes slowly came back down to meet mine.
"At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. You could've been investigating the orphanage long before we met."
I swallowed hard without realizing.
My hands trembled with tension.
He looked at me with a bitter expression and pulled the coat tighter around me.
"After that, I approached you on purpose. I wanted to know if you were really the Yuliana I once knew. You were always unhappy beside me, and I wondered if you were finally happy there."
His face darkened as he spoke.
"But the more I watched, the more I realized. You remembered our past life too."
Suddenly, I recalled the things I had said to him.
I had warned him about his mana going out of control, like it had in the previous life.
Thinking he wouldn't know, I had spoken and acted just like I did in the past.
While I stood frozen from the shock, he added in a quiet, serious tone,
"And I saw that you weren't happy at all."
Everything finally made sense.
The mysterious man I saw at the orphanage.
How Lloyd had approached me, even when we had no real connection.
The strange words and actions that reminded me of the past.
The intense and persistent gaze he had always fixed on me.
"So that's why you brought me here."
You wanted to trap me in the past we shared.
Once I understood everything, I let out a hollow laugh.
Yes, I had felt guilty and sorry for what happened in our past life.
But that didn't mean I wanted to give up my present to repay him.
That would only make us both miserable.
I could only be happy if I met Denian.
Even if I stayed with Lloyd, it would just repeat the unhappiness of the past.
Knowing this clearly now, I spoke firmly.
"I'm not the same person I was back then. A lot has changed."
"What's changed?"
Lloyd looked at me with distant eyes.
Like he was still stuck in the past.
"You and I remember everything from that time."
I avoided his gaze.
"I have other memories you don't know about."
Then I added, a little coldly,
"And I chose that past—not the one with you."
He stayed silent for a moment, then replied in a calm voice.
"So… you mean Valdormer?"
"…Yes."
At my answer, his face turned cold.
Even so, his hand still held the coat tightly around me. He didn't let go.
I kept avoiding his eyes, and after a long silence, he asked in a hard tone unlike him,
"You hate Valdormer."
His confident voice startled me, and I looked up at him in surprise.
He stared down at me with a blank, unreadable face.
"I can tell. Just from the way you look at him."
I instinctively lowered my head, avoiding his piercing gaze.
And I answered with a cold tone.
"That's none of your business."
"None of my business…"
Lloyd mumbled, sounding completely defeated.
"So in the end, you really plan to go back there?"
I clenched my cold hands tightly and nodded firmly.
"Yes."
That was the only way I could see Denian again.
He looked at me for a long moment, then finally said in a low, sunken voice,
"…Alright."
Surprised by his calm response, I looked up at him.
He still looked like he was holding back a lot of anger, but…
He didn't show it openly.
Instead, he spoke in a quieter, more composed tone.
"Then let's wait until the snow lightens a little. It's too cold right now."
Just as I was about to argue, he quickly added,
"I'll take you myself."
At that, I had no choice but to close my mouth.
Unless Lloyd truly intended to let me go, I had no way of leaving this snow-covered mountain.
Just then, something caught my eye.
A skinny tree nearby—with a small mark carved into the trunk.
If you weren't looking carefully, you'd miss it.
The mark looked like the letter 'J.'
Suddenly, I thought of Jared.
Maybe he was worried because we'd lost contact through the Bas Merchant Group.
It was possible Jared had come looking for me.
I didn't want Lloyd to notice the mark, so I quietly nodded and turned away.
"…Alright."
***
Dinner at Saint Paul.
Once, this place had felt so warm and comfortable.
But not anymore.
A heavy silence filled the room.
I glanced at Lloyd, who was quietly eating across from me, then returned to my meal, pretending nothing was wrong.
That 'J' mark carved into the tree in the woods…
The more I thought about it, the more I felt certain it was Jared's doing.
If Jared had left that mark nearby, maybe he had already figured out I was in Saint Paul.
Jared had become Kallion's man, just as I had ordered.
That actually worked in my favor now.
Because I needed to return to Valdormer.
Even if Lloyd broke his promise, if I waited a little longer, Jared might come and rescue me from Saint Paul.
The best outcome would be making contact with Jared without Lloyd noticing…
As I was deep in thought, I heard a loud noise from outside the dining room.
It sounded like a scream—and then something breaking.
Lloyd frowned and stood up cautiously.
"Stay here. Don't come out."
He left the dining room right after saying that.
Alone now, I anxiously stared at the door.
What if Jared had broken in to rescue me…?
No, Jared wouldn't do something that obvious…
I nervously fidgeted with my fork, but in the end, I couldn't sit still anymore.
I jumped up and rushed to the door.
As soon as I opened it, a chilling aura swept in, sharp like a blade.
I ran down the stairs, startled by the unfamiliar, powerful energy.
And then I froze when I saw what was happening on the first floor.
"Where is Yuliana?"
Kallion stood there, surrounded by a dark, deadly aura.
The ominous energy coming off him seemed to slither and twist in the air.
In front of him stood Lloyd, releasing a cold, icy magic of his own.
"You broke through Silverstel's barrier and invaded. Are you trying to start a war between noble houses?"
Lloyd spoke coldly, while Kallion scowled.
"You're the one starting a war. You kidnapped Valdormer's mistress and didn't say a word. Do you take us for fools?"
The murderous aura around Kallion exploded.
I was surprised—not only that Kallion himself had come instead of Jared, but also by the intense anger on his face.
Before I left the mansion, he had been furious because I slapped Layla.
"I'm asking again—where is Yuliana?"
This house wasn't just mine—Silverstel's servants lived here too.
If this continued, innocent people could get hurt.
I quickly stepped forward.
"Stop, Kallion."
Wearing a white dress, I slowly walked down the stairs.
Kallion looked up at me, stunned.
The way he stared at me looked so emotional, like someone finally reuniting with a long-lost lover.
I couldn't help but frown deeply at that.