Kallion clenched his fists.
He had already suspected that Lloyd had helped Yuliana escape.
From the circumstances, it was almost certain.
But… he had never expected this situation.
A storm of indescribable emotions raged inside him.
Betrayal? Emptiness?
'Betrayal? Do I even have the right to feel that toward her?'
At least now he understood why Yuliana had suddenly run away with Lloyd.
'She must have been pregnant…'
She could never have given birth to Lloyd's child inside Valdormer.
She had already married into a rival house, enemies of her own family—if she bore another man's child, things would have become far too complicated.
His clenched nails dug into his palms until blood oozed out, but he didn't feel the pain.
He only gazed at Yuliana.
At her, smiling happily as she looked down at the child.
Slowly, his fists loosened.
She was holding another man's child, and smiling.
But it was the smile he had longed to see—her smile of happiness.
Kallion couldn't bring himself to shatter that.
Turning away, he walked slowly, heavily, back down the path he had come alone.
Yuliana felt the wind stir and absentmindedly turned her head toward the direction where Kallion had been.
Lloyd, holding Denian, asked, "What's wrong, Yuliana?"
Startled, she smiled faintly as if nothing was the matter.
"It just looked like the scenery was different today."
Lloyd smiled gently and opened the hut's door.
"It's chilly—let's go inside. You're still recovering, so you need to be careful."
At his kind words, Yuliana smiled back.
The carriage that should have carried Yuliana now held only Kallion.
The coachman stole nervous glances at him until Kallion spoke in a low voice.
"Back to the Valdormer estate."
The heaviness in his tone made the coachman immediately set the carriage in motion.
As it rolled forward, Kallion lowered his head and buried his face in his large hands.
'Yes… this must be punishment for letting Denian die.'
'God's punishment for a father who drove his own child to death.'
Ever since the 40th regression, when he had abandoned Denian to save Yuliana, Kallion had dreamed the same dream again and again.
In it, Yuliana stood on the edge of a burning cliff, flames raging behind her.
And she said to him:
'You killed our child.'
She was right.
No matter how he tried to excuse it as protecting her, the truth was that he had abandoned Denian to death.
It was no different from killing him with his own hands.
He had torn Denian from her arms, knowing what was to come, and forced the child to die.
Perhaps that was when everything changed.
The starting point of his regressions, once always the same, had begun to shift.
'Maybe God grew angry at what I did—something so vile even the devil would sneer at it. Maybe that's why He sent her another man's child instead…'
But even so, if he had to choose again between Yuliana and Denian, he would still have chosen Yuliana.
'If this is the price, the punishment for that choice, then I'll accept it. As long as she can be happy, it's a fair trade.'
He thought back to the child's shining silver hair under the sunlight.
And Yuliana's radiant smile as she looked at the baby.
And Lloyd standing proudly at her side.
It was the image he had dreamed of—her happiness.
The only difference was that the man beside her wasn't him, but Lloyd.
'But wasn't that always the point? I endured this hellish cycle only for her happiness. So maybe… this is enough.'
In past lives, Lloyd had loved Yuliana deeply as her husband.
And further back, though he had been an enemy, he had risked himself to save Denian from the Empire.
Kallion didn't know why Yuliana had still met such miserable deaths even with Lloyd at her side.
But compared to him—who had failed to protect her no matter how many regressions—perhaps Lloyd could give her the happiness she deserved.
Kallion lifted his head, eyes hollow.
'If she's happy, then that's enough. She loves children, so she'll surely live happily with Lloyd and their baby. As for me—I'll just do what I must in my place.'
Even in the regressions where he never married Yuliana, she had always been targeted.
The Heisters and the Imperial family feared her powers and hunted her endlessly.
So even without her by his side, he would continue what he had set out to do.
Through countless regressions, there had always been just one desperate wish:
To protect Yuliana.
That alone was his reason for existing.
"Where have you been, the moment you regained your senses?"
Darkin stormed into Kallion's office, demanding answers.
But Kallion only stared out the window indifferently.
"If you've recovered, then you should focus on winning back the loyalty of the vassals! Do you even realize how much Valdormer's standing has fallen among them?"
At his father's furious words, Kallion finally turned.
"If I restore the loyalty of the vassals and Valdormer's prestige, will you pass me the title of Lord?"
To defend Yuliana against the Imperial family and Heister, he needed the position of head.
Darkin fell silent at the unwavering resolve in his son's eyes.
The man before him was no longer the naive fool ruled by his emotions.
Clank—
The sealed door of the room infused with dark energy creaked open.
Inside, Layla shot upright in shock.
Only one man in Valdormer possessed the power to open it: Kallion.
As expected, he entered. Layla threw herself desperately at his legs.
"Kallion! Please forgive me! I was only deceived by Lloyd—I never meant to betray you!"
But Kallion already knew the truth.
Layla had conspired with Lloyd to hide Yuliana's whereabouts.
In countless past regressions, Layla had always schemed to drive Yuliana out of Valdormer.
Now, by helping Lloyd, she had tried to remove Yuliana completely.
In previous lives, Kallion would have cast her out at once.
But now, his plans had changed.
To protect Yuliana, he had to destroy both the Imperial family and Heister.
And among Valdormer's vassal houses, many had already been bought out by the Empire.
In past lives, Kallion had purged them immediately, together with Layla.
But that had only made the Empire more cautious and quicker to act.
And the Empire's powers were holy light, the direct opposite of his darkness.
'Darkness cannot defeat light. If I am to win, I need preparation.'
That was why, ever since the 40th regression, he had deliberately spared Layla.
He intended to finish preparations, then strike Heister and the corrupt vassals all at once.
If he attacked one piece first, the Empire would notice.
There was only one way to deal with them all at once:
War.
A war between great houses was something even the Empire could not intervene in without justification.
And to rally the vassals for that war, Kallion would use Layla.
"Stand, Layla."
His voice was calm, though laced with contempt.
"There is much work to do. Return to your duties."
Layla's face brightened with relief as she clung to his leg.
Ignoring her, Kallion turned away and spoke coldly:
"Call the vassal council at once."
Though his words were flat, Layla felt reassured.
'He won't cast me aside after all.'
But as Kallion walked down the hall, his expression grew colder.
'War… Yes, that would be welcome.'
For him, it was the perfect end.
If he couldn't be at Yuliana's side, then his life was an empty shell anyway.
To perish together with Heister and the Imperial family—her greatest threats—would be a fitting conclusion.