“Are you going to look for that guy as soon as you wake up?”
Her throat stung and hurt as she spoke loudly.
Karina held her sore throat and continued to speak calmly.
“He was only following my orders. He had no choice but to leave because he was carrying out my orders.”
Mikhail had been away because she had sent him on an errand, and Karina herself had left the Grand Duke’s mansion alone. She felt bad because it seemed like Mikhail had been hurt because of her poor judgment.
‘I didn’t know Mikhail would have suffered while I was unconscious.’
She thought it was a disaster.
Karina tried to go to Mikhail.
However, Jeremiah grabbed Karina who was getting up from her seat.
“Calm down. Your stability is the top priority right now.”
Then he sat her back down on the bed.
“You should just focus on recovering.”
Karina wrapped her arms around her neck again and opened her mouth.
“Let Mikhail go.”
“...”
“Michael did nothing wrong. He saved me whenever I was in danger. Last time I met a monster if Mikhail hadn’t been there, I would have already died.”
“You met a monster?”
Jeremiah, who was listening to Karina, reacted sensitively to Karina’s words that she had already almost died.
“When I went downtown a while ago, a monster appeared in the town. I didn’t know there was a monster and almost got into big trouble.”
“Then, that...”
Jeremiah froze and didn’t move as if he had been greatly shocked.
Karina continued speaking without paying attention.
“Michael is the one who saved my life so many times. More than I could ever repay in my entire life.”
“...”
“So please release Mikhail. Right now.”
“...”
Jeremiah’s mouth opened again after a moment of silence.
“He was just doing what was expected of him. He was the Grand Duchess’s bodyguard.”
“I don’t think so.”
Karina retorted.
“Just because he's assigned to be a bodyguard doesn’t mean that anyone can do it. This incident was no exception. The escapees originally intended to take me, the Grand Duchess, hostage.”
Karina still remembered the time when the escapees followed her into the building and asked her out of the blue if she was the Grand Duchess.
“Guarding me as the Grand Duchess requires a great sense of responsibility.”
Mikhail, a magician and not a knight, laughed and accepted her sudden unreasonable request to be his escort.
“As you said, he saved me just to fulfill his responsibility as an escort. But thanks to him, I didn’t die and was saved. I can’t repay him for saving me, but I can’t just leave him like this.”
Jeremiah, who had been listening to Karina silently, asked back.
“Is that all?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if that’s really all you feel for that escort.”
Karina was taken aback.
‘Are you still suspicious of the relationship between me and Mikhail?’
Karina glared at Jeremiah with a disapproving look.
“Do you know that you’re really rude? I told you no last time, but you still don’t get it?”
“Then why do you want to divorce me? ”
“...?”
Karina made a dumbfounded expression.
“You’re not asking because you really don’t know, are you?”
“...”
Jeremiah stared at Karina without answering.
“Ha.”
Karina let out a dull laugh.
“I want to hear the clear reason why you want to divorce me from your own lips.”
Jeremiah asked seriously.
“...”
Karina was speechless for a moment.
She thought back to all the unfair treatment and incidents she had suffered.
Even though things had changed now, the wounds she had suffered in the past had not completely disappeared.
If she had listed the reasons why she wanted to divorce Jeremiah, it would have been endless.
Karina let out a sigh and let out a hollow laugh.
'Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.'
So she decided to tell him the most basic reason.
Karina quickly regained her composure and answered in an indifferent voice.
"Because I no longer love you."
"Love?"
Jeremiah looked extremely flustered when the word love suddenly came out.
However, Karina didn't care whether he believed it or not, so she didn't care.
If it weren't for his subsequent questions, she would have been.
"Why did you want to marry me in the first place?"
"Are you joking with me right now?"
Karina suddenly frowned and asked in a questioning tone.
She didn't understand why he was suddenly asking her such a question when she had no interest or concern at all.
"Answer me. What is the real reason you married me?"
Karina glared at Jeremiah and bit her lower lip.
“...”
The past before regression. Even if it was true, it was something she never wanted to say again.
Never. Even if she died.
However, seeing him ask so persistently, she felt it wouldn’t be bad to answer.
And then she suddenly became curious.
‘How would you react if you heard my answer?’
Karina’s eyes sank deeply.
The atmosphere between them turned cold in an instant.
Karina opened her mouth.
A dry, emotionless voice flowed out.
“Because I loved you.”
“...”
Karina’s face as she spoke was so cold that it was hard to believe she was someone who would say the word love.
Maybe that’s why Jeremiah didn’t really understand the meaning of Karina’s words for a moment after hearing her answer.
No, he understood the meaning itself, but he didn’t actually feel it.
“Back then.”
Karina added a word and snorted as if it was funny.
As if she had said something really ridiculous.
Jeremiah's expression became strange.
He looked as if he was extremely confused and very upset.
Seeing his expression, Karina raised the corners of her mouth, smiled brightly, and said again.
"Don't worry. It's not now."
His expression became even more sinister at Karina's words.
It seemed that he felt extremely unpleasant that she had liked him even for a moment.
'I said it for nothing.'
Her eyelids fluttered thinly.
'What is this!'
She didn't know why she felt the same way again. She didn't love Jeremiah anymore.
'I don't love him anymore, why!'
Karina clenched her hands tightly.
Her hands turned pale from the excessive strength.
'For saying such things for no reason.'
Thanks to that, she was immersed in useless sentimentality.
Just like right before she drank the wishing potion, she felt a sense of injustice and resentment. She felt a terrible feeling as if she was falling dizzyingly down a cliff while her breathing became short.
Anger was rising inside her, but tears were welling up in her eyes.
'Why are you doing this, like an idiot!'
Karina glared at him and clenched her teeth to keep her tears from falling.
'That foolish woman back then is already dead. Dead!'
Karina shouted inwardly and clenched her fists even harder.
Her nails dug into her palms, making wounds, but she didn't even feel it.
"I really hate you right now."
She thought she had said it confidently and without any worries, but her voice cracked and trembled.
The tears that filled her eyes at that moment didn't help her.
The tears that had been welling up in her eyes and threatening to burst finally flowed out one by one.
'No!'
She had no intention of showing her tears while saying no.
Karina quickly raised her hand and wiped away the tears that had flowed down.
Then she pretended as if nothing had happened, put strength into her eyes, and faced Jeremiah head-on.
Jeremiah leaned close to Karina.
Karina didn't back down and just stayed where she was, but her body was visibly shaking pitifully.
Jeremiah slowly reached out and carefully wiped away Karina’s reddened eyes. Jeremiah gently wiped away the remaining tears and opened his mouth.
“...I don’t know if you’re crying or angry.”
“...!”
Karina’s heart sank at the overly affectionate voice.
For some reason, she felt like an alarm bell was ringing in her head.
Startled, Karina opened her eyes wide and slapped Jeremiah’s hand away.
“Don’t touch me!”
Karina warned Jeremiah, wary like a cat on edge.
“Calm down. Getting excited won’t do your wound any good.”
She felt confused.
Her wound hadn’t fully healed yet, so she felt like she wasn’t in her right mind. Maybe because she had screamed so loudly, her wound was throbbing.
“Ugh...!”
Karina bit her lower lip and cupped the wound on her neck with her hand.
“Whew.”
Jeremiah sighed and made a helpless expression.
“Yes. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“...?”
“I’ll release that escort.”
Karina was surprised by his words that he would release Mikhail without a hitch.
‘If you said no, I was going to go to the prison right now and release him with my own hands.’
Karina looked at Jeremiah with an expression that asked if he really meant it.
“So don’t make the wound worse.”
Jeremiah grabbed Karina’s clenched hand and carefully released it. He then slowly caressed the inside of her palm, where her nails had dug into it, with his thumb.
“...”
She looked up at him, feeling bewildered.
Jeremiah had returned to his usual expressionless face.
‘No, it seems a little softer than usual...?’
She couldn’t quite figure it out.
“I guess I’ll have to apply some medicine here too.”
“No need.”
The real Karina quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp.
The tingling sensation still remained on her palm.
Feeling strange, Karina rubbed her palm against the back of her other hand to erase the remaining sensation.
Jeremiah, who had been staring blankly at her, opened his mouth.
“All the escapees have been dealt with, and the hostages you rescued are all safe.”
‘Ah!’
Now that she think about it, she had passed out and didn’t hear what had happened.
Still, it was nice to hear that all the hostages were safe.
“That’s fortunate. Really.”
Karina let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.
“The hostages want to thank you and want to see you. What do you want to do?”
“Well. Not really...”
She thought that there was no need to meet them.
‘It’s not like I really risked my life for them. I just wanted to live, so there’s no reason for them to thank me.’
Then she suddenly remembered the maid named Jen whom she had seen that day.
The main character shared the same room as the dead maid, and who had been kind to Karina in the past.
And the one who had stepped up for her this time too.
'I want to meet that maid named Jen.'
"I'll meet them! I want to meet them too. Especially that maid named 'Jen'."
Jeremiah nodded in agreement at her answer.
"I'll make a place for you. First, after your wounds have completely healed."
"Understood."
"Are you feeling calm now?"
Karina looked embarrassed, thinking she had gotten too excited for no reason.
"...Yes."
"Then lie down and get some rest. The patient absolutely needs rest."
'Who made me this excited up until now?'
Karina swallowed her complaints.
Still, she felt a little bit grateful to him for listening to her in the end. A little bit.
A little bit.
“It was Mikhail who saved me. I should at least thank him for saving me.”
Jeremiah made an expression that was so obviously displeased that it was obvious.
“That guy saved you...”
Jeremiah muttered as if he was chewing.
“Where is he? ”
He gritted his teeth and continued.
“If it’s him, he’s locked up in prison right now.”
“Huh? In prison?”
Karina was surprised.
“Why?”
“Because he failed to fulfill his duty as a bodyguard and left you, the Grand Duchess, in danger.”
“No! Ugh...!”
Jeremiah made an expression that was so obviously displeased that it was obvious.
“That guy saved you...”
Jeremiah muttered as if he was chewing.
“Where is he? ”
He gritted his teeth and continued.
“If it’s him, he’s locked up in prison right now.”
“Huh? In prison?”
Karina was surprised.
“Why?”
“Because he failed to fulfill his duty as a bodyguard and left you, the Grand Duchess, in danger.”
“No! Ugh...!”
Her throat stung and hurt as she spoke loudly.
Karina held her sore throat and continued to speak calmly.
“He was only following my orders. He had no choice but to leave because he was carrying out my orders.”
Mikhail had been away because she had sent him on an errand, and Karina herself had left the Grand Duke’s mansion alone. She felt bad because it seemed like Mikhail had been hurt because of her poor judgment.
‘I didn’t know Mikhail would have suffered while I was unconscious.’
She thought it was a disaster.
Karina tried to go to Mikhail.
However, Jeremiah grabbed Karina who was getting up from her seat.
“Calm down. Your stability is the top priority right now.”
Then he sat her back down on the bed.
“You should just focus on recovering.”
Karina wrapped her arms around her neck again and opened her mouth.
“Let Mikhail go.”
“...”
“Michael did nothing wrong. He saved me whenever I was in danger. Last time I met a monster if Mikhail hadn’t been there, I would have already died.”
“You met a monster?”
Jeremiah, who was listening to Karina, reacted sensitively to Karina’s words that she had already almost died.
“When I went downtown a while ago, a monster appeared in the town. I didn’t know there was a monster and almost got into big trouble.”
“Then, that...”
Jeremiah froze and didn’t move as if he had been greatly shocked.
Karina continued speaking without paying attention.
“Michael is the one who saved my life so many times. More than I could ever repay in my entire life.”
“...”
“So please release Mikhail. Right now.”
“...”
Jeremiah’s mouth opened again after a moment of silence.
“He was just doing what was expected of him. He was the Grand Duchess’s bodyguard.”
“I don’t think so.”
Karina retorted.
“Just because he's assigned to be a bodyguard doesn’t mean that anyone can do it. This incident was no exception. The escapees originally intended to take me, the Grand Duchess, hostage.”
Karina still remembered the time when the escapees followed her into the building and asked her out of the blue if she was the Grand Duchess.
“Guarding me as the Grand Duchess requires a great sense of responsibility.”
Mikhail, a magician and not a knight, laughed and accepted her sudden unreasonable request to be his escort.
“As you said, he saved me just to fulfill his responsibility as an escort. But thanks to him, I didn’t die and was saved. I can’t repay him for saving me, but I can’t just leave him like this.”
Jeremiah, who had been listening to Karina silently, asked back.
“Is that all?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if that’s really all you feel for that escort.”
Karina was taken aback.
‘Are you still suspicious of the relationship between me and Mikhail?’
Karina glared at Jeremiah with a disapproving look.
“Do you know that you’re really rude? I told you no last time, but you still don’t get it?”
“Then why do you want to divorce me? ”
“...?”
Karina made a dumbfounded expression.
“You’re not asking because you really don’t know, are you?”
“...”
Jeremiah stared at Karina without answering.
“Ha.”
Karina let out a dull laugh.
“I want to hear the clear reason why you want to divorce me from your own lips.”
Jeremiah asked seriously.
“...”
Karina was speechless for a moment.
She thought back to all the unfair treatment and incidents she had suffered.
Even though things had changed now, the wounds she had suffered in the past had not completely disappeared.
If she had listed the reasons why she wanted to divorce Jeremiah, it would have been endless.
Karina let out a sigh and let out a hollow laugh.
'Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.'
So she decided to tell him the most basic reason.
Karina quickly regained her composure and answered in an indifferent voice.
"Because I no longer love you."
"Love?"
Jeremiah looked extremely flustered when the word love suddenly came out.
However, Karina didn't care whether he believed it or not, so she didn't care.
If it weren't for his subsequent questions, she would have been.
"Why did you want to marry me in the first place?"
"Are you joking with me right now?"
Karina suddenly frowned and asked in a questioning tone.
She didn't understand why he was suddenly asking her such a question when she had no interest or concern at all.
"Answer me. What is the real reason you married me?"
Karina glared at Jeremiah and bit her lower lip.
“...”
The past before regression. Even if it was true, it was something she never wanted to say again.
Never. Even if she died.
However, seeing him ask so persistently, she felt it wouldn’t be bad to answer.
And then she suddenly became curious.
‘How would you react if you heard my answer?’
Karina’s eyes sank deeply.
The atmosphere between them turned cold in an instant.
Karina opened her mouth.
A dry, emotionless voice flowed out.
“Because I loved you.”
“...”
Karina’s face as she spoke was so cold that it was hard to believe she was someone who would say the word love.
Maybe that’s why Jeremiah didn’t really understand the meaning of Karina’s words for a moment after hearing her answer.
No, he understood the meaning itself, but he didn’t actually feel it.
“Back then.”
Karina added a word and snorted as if it was funny.
As if she had said something really ridiculous.
Jeremiah's expression became strange.
He looked as if he was extremely confused and very upset.
Seeing his expression, Karina raised the corners of her mouth, smiled brightly, and said again.
"Don't worry. It's not now."
His expression became even more sinister at Karina's words.
It seemed that he felt extremely unpleasant that she had liked him even for a moment.
'I said it for nothing.'
Her eyelids fluttered thinly.
'What is this!'
She didn't know why she felt the same way again. She didn't love Jeremiah anymore.
'I don't love him anymore, why!'
Karina clenched her hands tightly.
Her hands turned pale from the excessive strength.
'For saying such things for no reason.'
Thanks to that, she was immersed in useless sentimentality.
Just like right before she drank the wishing potion, she felt a sense of injustice and resentment. She felt a terrible feeling as if she was falling dizzyingly down a cliff while her breathing became short.
Anger was rising inside her, but tears were welling up in her eyes.
'Why are you doing this, like an idiot!'
Karina glared at him and clenched her teeth to keep her tears from falling.
'That foolish woman back then is already dead. Dead!'
Karina shouted inwardly and clenched her fists even harder.
Her nails dug into her palms, making wounds, but she didn't even feel it.
"I really hate you right now."
She thought she had said it confidently and without any worries, but her voice cracked and trembled.
The tears that filled her eyes at that moment didn't help her.
The tears that had been welling up in her eyes and threatening to burst finally flowed out one by one.
'No!'
She had no intention of showing her tears while saying no.
Karina quickly raised her hand and wiped away the tears that had flowed down.
Then she pretended as if nothing had happened, put strength into her eyes, and faced Jeremiah head-on.
Jeremiah leaned close to Karina.
Karina didn't back down and just stayed where she was, but her body was visibly shaking pitifully.
Jeremiah slowly reached out and carefully wiped away Karina’s reddened eyes. Jeremiah gently wiped away the remaining tears and opened his mouth.
“...I don’t know if you’re crying or angry.”
“...!”
Karina’s heart sank at the overly affectionate voice.
For some reason, she felt like an alarm bell was ringing in her head.
Startled, Karina opened her eyes wide and slapped Jeremiah’s hand away.
“Don’t touch me!”
Karina warned Jeremiah, wary like a cat on edge.
“Calm down. Getting excited won’t do your wound any good.”
She felt confused.
Her wound hadn’t fully healed yet, so she felt like she wasn’t in her right mind. Maybe because she had screamed so loudly, her wound was throbbing.
“Ugh...!”
Karina bit her lower lip and cupped the wound on her neck with her hand.
“Whew.”
Jeremiah sighed and made a helpless expression.
“Yes. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“...?”
“I’ll release that escort.”
Karina was surprised by his words that he would release Mikhail without a hitch.
‘If you said no, I was going to go to the prison right now and release him with my own hands.’
Karina looked at Jeremiah with an expression that asked if he really meant it.
“So don’t make the wound worse.”
Jeremiah grabbed Karina’s clenched hand and carefully released it. He then slowly caressed the inside of her palm, where her nails had dug into it, with his thumb.
“...”
She looked up at him, feeling bewildered.
Jeremiah had returned to his usual expressionless face.
‘No, it seems a little softer than usual...?’
She couldn’t quite figure it out.
“I guess I’ll have to apply some medicine here too.”
“No need.”
The real Karina quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp.
The tingling sensation still remained on her palm.
Feeling strange, Karina rubbed her palm against the back of her other hand to erase the remaining sensation.
Jeremiah, who had been staring blankly at her, opened his mouth.
“All the escapees have been dealt with, and the hostages you rescued are all safe.”
‘Ah!’
Now that she think about it, she had passed out and didn’t hear what had happened.
Still, it was nice to hear that all the hostages were safe.
“That’s fortunate. Really.”
Karina let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.
“The hostages want to thank you and want to see you. What do you want to do?”
“Well. Not really...”
She thought that there was no need to meet them.
‘It’s not like I really risked my life for them. I just wanted to live, so there’s no reason for them to thank me.’
Then she suddenly remembered the maid named Jen whom she had seen that day.
The main character shared the same room as the dead maid, and who had been kind to Karina in the past.
And the one who had stepped up for her this time too.
'I want to meet that maid named Jen.'
"I'll meet them! I want to meet them too. Especially that maid named 'Jen'."
Jeremiah nodded in agreement at her answer.
"I'll make a place for you. First, after your wounds have completely healed."
"Understood."
"Are you feeling calm now?"
Karina looked embarrassed, thinking she had gotten too excited for no reason.
"...Yes."
"Then lie down and get some rest. The patient absolutely needs rest."
'Who made me this excited up until now?'
Karina swallowed her complaints.
Still, she felt a little bit grateful to him for listening to her in the end. A little bit.
A little bit.
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