Upon opening her eyes, what greeted her was not the dead world, but the ceiling of her bedroom.
It was only then that she remembered that it was all a dream.
Could it be possible that she met Richard last night? Despite knowing that such a tragedy would not occur in the future, her subconscious mind kept retrieving memories from her past lives.
Perhaps it was because of the nightmare, she felt suffocated.
After the regression, every time she dreamed of her past life, it was always filled with sadness and regret.
Because the dreams that illuminated her previous life had never shown a single moment of happiness. Dreams always showed her the moments that were full of pain.
If she had to dream, why couldn't she dream of something happy? Why did she have to keep seeing such sad scenes? However, if there was an advantage to it, it was that it motivated her to never let that tragedy happen again.
Elena stood up and looked at the paper on the desk.
There, things she had done with him and the things she had been thinking about doing with him were written there.
When she recalled the fact that she wrote them down in front of him belatedly, she felt ashamed. Of course, her desire that she didn't want him to see was still kept deep in her heart, but even so, writing down her wish, especially in front of him, somehow made her face hot.
Touching her blushing face, she carefully looked at the back of the paper he had written on.
Just as she watched him write it down, Elena already knew what was on the back of it, because she watched him write his wishes on paper. But even so, she seemed to be secretly peeking into his secret, and her heart trembled strangely.
"Hehe…"
The number of wishes he had written was incomparably smaller than those of Elena, but the small wishes written there were enough to make her smile.
Remembering the memories of writing down wishes together with him in the garden last night, Elena no longer had any nostalgia or regrets in her head.
The past was just a page that had already passed.
If she continues to dwell on the past, then what was the point of going back in time by regression? So let's think only of good things. For her own future, who erased her destiny, there was only one thing left to fill with him, as written here.
"I'm looking forward to it today."
Outside the window, today's sun was gradually rising.
Elena carefully folded the paper in her hand and put it in the drawer.
Then, like yesterday, she started to prepare to go out, imagining the days she would spend with him in her head.
***
I spent a surprisingly long time in the training hall, but thankfully I didn't end up being late for breakfast.
Entering the dining hall, I bowed lightly to Joachim, who was sitting at the head table and took the seat next to Elena, which was naturally assigned to me while staying here.
"Good morning, Damian."
"Good morning."
As I approached, she greeted me with a small smile. Receiving her greeting every morning was a source of new energy for me since I started living here. I replied softly and smiled back.
Before taking my seat, I glanced over the breakfast table for a moment.
There were only three people present here, Elena, Joachim, and myself. But since I had met the Twilight Tower master at the banquet yesterday, I thought he might appear in the breakfast room as well.
Unlike the banquet, this place was solely reserved for the family, so no matter how close they were, he couldn't suddenly intervene.
Nevertheless, there was always a possibility, so I felt a sense of relief that no one else was present.
I didn't have any ill feelings towards the twilight tower master, but I wanted to refrain from intruding like yesterday.
The menu for today's breakfast was very simple.
It consisted of warm meat stew and soft bread for a simple appetizer.
Someone might see a menu like this and think that Edelweiss was poor, but how could the only three dukes in the empire not have money? The selection of the menu must be because of the banquet held yesterday. Above all, this amount was appropriate in the morning when there was no appetite.
I picked up a spoon and poured the stew into my mouth. Then the aroma of the warm soup slowly began to fill my mouth. Since there was no appetite, it was better to savor the taste slowly in this way and awaken the taste buds that had not yet woken up from sleep.
'The taste is good, but… something is missing.'
It was clear that the head chef responsible for Edelweiss' meals was truly a top-notch chef. I had never thought the food here was bad, whether it was the meat stew I was currently tasting or any other meal I had during my stay in Winter Castle.
Still, home-cooked meals were always the best.
Perhaps I had become accustomed to my family's head chef's cooking over the past five years. Whenever I ate food that was similar to what I had eaten in Kraus, I would find myself favoring our head chef's version, which always left a burning sensation in my stomach. Sometimes, memories of my family back in Yeongju-si would come flooding back as well.
Darn it. Was this the early onset of nostalgia?
I wasn't some kid crying for their mom at a retreat or anything.
Anyway, it was probably because our head chef had made the meat stew so incredibly well that I was feeling this way. If not, how else could I suddenly be reminded of Yeongju-si like this? I erased the thought that came to my mind as I watched Elena munch on her stew, giggling as she blew on it to cool it down.
While the meal was in progress, Joachim suddenly spoke to me.
"So, how was the banquet last night?"
"Well, to be honest, those kinds of gatherings don't really suit me. It just felt cramped."
"Looking at what you're saying, you're still young. Banquets are originally such places. Even if everyone's smiling on the outside, it's a gathering of cunning wolves ready to tear each other apart. But if you were Kraus, you shouldn't be afraid of those wolves."
"In that regard, you passed the test yesterday," Joachim suddenly complimented me. I nodded my head and thanked him, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that his compliment was somewhat ominous, almost like a bribe before asking for a favor.
It didn't take long for me to discover the true nature of this sense of incongruity.
"Well, now that the banquet is over, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look at Merohim in peace. In that sense, would you like to visit a place with a beautiful view that I know of?"
So that was the point.
No wonder he suddenly started praising me. He must have been trying to lure me somewhere.
More precisely, he probably wanted to take me and Elena together. Since this wasn't the first time Joachim had said such a thing, I was expecting this to come out today, the day after the banquet.
Given my father's personality, there was no way he would have hidden the fact that our family and Elena went out together. Joachim, who was known for being pushy, couldn't just let it go. Maybe he wanted to go out for a stroll with his daughter as well… What should I do?
"Well, I have a prior promise today."
"What was your prior promise? How long have you been staying here, does it make sense that you've become close enough to make an appointment?"
At my words, Joachim said he didn't understand and looked at me suspiciously.
First of all, my statement about having a prior appointment was not a lie. I had promised to spend the day with Elena. Probably the next day and the day after that as well.
While I was here in Merohim, I had no decision-making power. In order to accomplish what she told me, I would follow her wishes, and therefore, whether or not to go on an outing with Joachim was something that Elena, not me, had to decide.
I looked at Elena without hiding my embarrassment. She shook her head and answered me.
"Father, I'm sorry, but Damian made plans with me first today."
"Uh huh..? Really? If you're going somewhere, won't you tell your old man?"
"The night market. It's the night of the week when the night market opens. Damian has never been out in the winter castle, so I thought it would be the best way to introduce him to Merohim's sights…"
"Then! You've thought it through very well!! When it comes to Merohim's specialties, it's the night market. There are many things that are hard to find in the South, so it will be a very good experience."
As Elena finished speaking, Joachim immediately backed off. No matter how strong his desire was to go out for a walk with his daughter, he couldn't force her to do something she didn't want to do.
However, the disappointment lingering around his eyes had not disappeared. As his daughter had chosen her fiancé over him, he must have felt bitter as a father. Knowing this, Elena smiled and said to Joachim:
"Thank you for the compliment, Father. Oh, by the way, I was reading a book about the starlight magic spell 'The Light of the Stars' at the Mage Tower's library, but there were some parts that I didn't quite understand… If you have time after the meal, could I ask you to explain it to me?"
"What are you talking about! Of course, you can!"
Joachim was very excited by Elena's words. Elena secretly looked back at me and closed one eye. That made me realize that what Elena said to Joachim was a lie.
Until now, she had never talked about magic in front of me, but I knew better than anyone how much she had knowledge about magic.
What Elena had just said to Joachim was just an excuse to spend time with her father.
She had taught herself everything so far, but it seemed that Elena also knew that Joachim wanted to teach her, even though he didn't say anything.
After all, Joachim's desire to go on an outing with us stemmed from a desire to spend quality time with his daughter, so there was nothing that could satisfy him as much as Elena's words.
"I'm sorry. Damian. I wanted to show you different aspects of Winter Castle before the night market opens."
"No. Education is an important issue for knights as well. Then I can't just sit still."
Originally, Elena promised to show me the rest of the winter castle that I couldn't see last night, but it couldn't be helped. I would have to continue my training from this morning.
However, Joachim unexpectedly told me a surprising story as I was thinking about it.
"Ah, come to think of it, Damien. There's something I need to tell you."
"Yes? What is it, all of a sudden…"
"You probably already know since you met yesterday, but The Twilight Tower master. He wants to meet you."
Wait, why was this old man's story suddenly coming up?
More importantly, who was the person who just asked me out for a walk a moment ago?
I looked at Joachim with that doubt, but he just shrugged and smiled warmly at Elena, as if he didn't know anything. What was going on? Was there no more use for me?
Anyway, our morning quickly came to an end.
As soon as the meal was over, Joachim hurriedly took Elena and left-
"See you again, kid."
"Ah, yes. Uh, goodbye…"
-Leaving me in front of the archmage who chewed me up.
I felt like I'd been screwed over.