Odely felt wronged.
She wasn’t insisting. She had only made a few excuses.
The moment Theodore heard Leona’s tattling, he entered the room.
The first thing he did was examine Odely’s complexion.
Concern flickered across his usually stern face, forming faint lines on his brow.
“Your complexion is still poor.”
Theodore took out a small box and carefully placed it on the table.
“It’s medicine prepared by the apothecary. They said it helps restore your strength and reduce fatigue.”
After setting down the packet of medicine, he placed a small glass bottle of digestive medicine beside it.
Then, at a gesture from him, a servant waiting by the door carried in an elegantly wrapped box and set it on the bed.
“A gift for you, Lady Odely.”
he said politely.
Odely untied the ribbon with a puzzled expression and opened the box.
Inside lay a neatly folded navy-blue coat.
It had a double lining designed to retain body heat even in the harsh northern winter.
The lining was made of elk fur, while the outer fabric carried the subtle sheen unique to fine, expensive cloth.
Leona gasped in admiration.
“This must be really light and warm. It’s so soft… It looks pretty expensive too.”
Odely silently looked over everything Theodore had brought.
Then she asked bluntly,
“Did you buy all this with your own money?”
Theodore looked at her in surprise for a moment before lowering his head.
“I couldn’t very well use public funds without His Grace’s permission. Besides, taking proper care of a guest is also my duty as the head butler.”
The moment she heard those words…
An old memory suddenly surfaced.
In her previous life, after Leona died, there had been no one left by Odely’s side.
Ludville had practically confined her to the detached palace in order to keep her alive, so it was true that she rarely crossed paths with the household retainers…
Even so, Theodore would occasionally visit.
“This winter is especially cold. His Grace the Grand Duke… isn’t exactly attentive.”
“Someone has to remain by your side. As long as you are the mistress of House Excepcion, I will serve Your Grace, the Grand Duchess, until the very end.”
He had been the same back then.
He bought her gloves and scarves with his own money, brought her medicine, and quietly looked after her in countless small ways.
Perhaps it was only natural.
That was simply the kind of person he was.
Though meticulous and strict about everything, he could never overlook even a single servant.
Odely had been no exception.
He was someone who quietly cared for her without anyone knowing.
In this life, he had kept his distance at first because Odely had arrived as the blue-eyed woman.
But in the end…
He had returned to being the same man he once was.
Odely silently looked at him before reaching for the coat.
She carefully slipped one arm into a sleeve, then the other.
The fur lining gently wrapped around her body.
It was…
Far warmer than she had expected.
For just a brief moment, her blue eyes followed the falling snow outside the window.
This winter…
Wouldn’t be quite so cold after all.
****
Finally… I’m alone.
Leona refused to leave Odely’s side for even a moment.
As a result, it had taken quite a bit of effort just to send her outside the annex.
Apparently, Leona still couldn’t get over the fact that Odely had waited alone in the detached residence to catch Zeke.
She had remained suspicious until the very end, convinced that sending her away meant Odely was planning to do something reckless again.
But…
This time was different.
This was something she could accomplish without getting hurt.
As simple as…
Turning a key in a keyhole.
Odely let out a quiet sigh before walking deeper into the storage room.
At the end of the long-forgotten secret passage…
She once again stood before the forbidden magic circle.
Finally.
When she had first decided to destroy the magic circle, she had only felt impatient.
But now that she had returned…
Her heart was strangely conflicted.
Perhaps because…
…Once this is gone, my last connection to Ludville will disappear.
Even knowing that this magic circle had stolen half of Ludville’s life force…
She had hesitated, if only a little.
But this is something that can never be delayed.
Before her lay the dormant spell that had absorbed Ludville’s life force and transferred it to her.
And at its center…
Was an empty slot.
A hollow space that seemed to pulse, demanding life.
It was the keyhole capable of either activating or dismantling the spell.
A place where only a Blood Crystal could fit.
Odely took the necklace from her pocket.
She removed the blood-red crystal and slowly reached toward the center of the magic circle.
The Blood Crystal was the key.
Once it was inserted, which way it turned depended entirely on the one holding it—Odely.
If she activated the spell…
It would drain every last bit of life force from Ludville, the owner of the Blood Crystal.
…Ludville.
She remembered the moment he had handed over his life to her without the slightest hesitation.
At the same time…
A memory she had glimpsed through Ludville’s memories surfaced.
It was from thousands of years ago.
It must have been a spring evening.
Smoke drifted up from the chimney while warm light spilled gently through the windows.
“I still can’t believe I’ve finally left the Cardel family, Sir Knight.”
The Odely in his memory was smiling.
Hope sparkled in her blue eyes as she gazed at him with the blind devotion of a girl in love.
“I wish this moment could last forever.”
Ludville looked at her in silence.
After a long pause, he answered in a quiet voice.
“I do as well… I wish time would stop just as it is… I’ve always wished that…”
Odely smiled innocently.
There was no way she could understand the depth of that confession…
Or the desperate longing hidden within it.
So she asked,
“Do you have a wish, Sir Knight? Someday, I’ll make sure it comes true!”
Ludville remained silent for a long time.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as his lips parted again and again.
As though he feared that the moment he spoke the words aloud…
Everything would collapse in an instant.
“…I want to celebrate your thirtieth birthday together.”
At last, he said it.
A wish worn ragged after being carried for far too long…
Yet still desperately cherished.
Thirty years old.
In her previous life, Odely had reached that age for the first time.
Alone.
After Ludville’s funeral.
From the very beginning… it was a futile wish.
There had never once been a timeline where both of them remained alive until she turned thirty.
If Ludville lived, Odely died.
If Odely survived, Ludville died.
So…
Ludville’s wish to celebrate her thirtieth birthday together…
…I’m sorry.
Even in this life…
She couldn’t grant it.
In the end, Odely had no choice but to turn her back on his one and only wish.
Because you have to live.
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to erase those memories—
memories that had now ceased to exist—from her mind.
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