Chapter 130
When I opened my eyes, it was morning.
“…?”
Lycian was sitting beside me.
“You’re awake?”
His voice was as calm as ever.
The explanation that followed came just as evenly, without a trace of agitation.
“Master and Dante are sleeping in the living room. …Want some water?”
“Uh… yeah.”
The answer slipped out before I could think, and Lycian smiled faintly as he handed me a glass.
…Something’s off.
Did I do something stupid last night?
‘I—I can’t remember.’
I only had one drink yesterday.
It was strong wine, sure, but just one glass. I didn’t think I’d get drunk from that….
‘Don’t tell me I got wasted and started babbling again?!’
At this point, maybe I should just swear off alcohol entirely….
No… I really thought one glass would be fine….
‘I even ate plenty of that damn grilled trout, too…!’
That dish’s effect was to make you spill the thoughts you’d been hiding—no filter whatsoever.
And if there was someone I’d bare my heart to….
“…….”
A chill ran down my spine.
‘No way….’
I didn’t say anything unnecessary to Lycian, did I?
Like talk about my past life or something….
‘No! I would’ve sounded completely insane!’
Or at the very least, incredibly suspicious.
Thud!
I set the glass down on the bedside table and grabbed Lycian by the shoulders.
“S-So. About yesterday. What did I say? I can’t remember…. I didn’t say anything weird, right?”
“…You don’t remember?”
“N-No….”
The look on Lycian’s face turned strangely unreadable.
He briefly avoided my eyes, then met them again a moment later.
“You didn’t say much. Don’t worry about it.”
“…Really? Seriously?”
“Mm. You’re hungry, right? Let’s wash up and have breakfast.”
“You’re not hiding it because you think I’ll be embarrassed, are you? If something weird came out of my mouth, you can tell me….”
“Weird? It was just drunken rambling. You don’t need to worry.”
“Really? I can trust you?”
“Of course. Come on. Let’s get you bathed.”
When I hesitantly stepped closer, Lycian scooped me up with ease.
I looped my arms around his neck and stared at him.
All the way to the bathroom, his expression remained calm—so calm it almost felt cold.
Steam billowed thickly over the hot bathwater.
The white marble tub was spacious enough that even with both of us inside, there was room to swim.
And yet Lycian stayed pressed close to me, arms wrapped tightly around my body.
“Come to think of it, what about you? You had the trout too, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t. I just pretended to.”
“What?!”
His unexpected confession filled me with a crushing sense of betrayal.
We said we’d eat it together…!
“Hey! How could you let me be the only one who actually ate it? Traitor!”
“Me? I didn’t expect you to actually eat it.”
“We agreed we both would! So Dante wouldn’t get suspicious…!”
“Oh, did we?”
The way he shamelessly shrugged made me want to punch him.
My clenched fist trembled as I ground my teeth.
“You… you broke your promise, so you have to stay in your thirteen-year-old form for a whole day.”
“Then will you turn into a hamster for me?”
“That’s tomorrow!”
“Alright.”
He agreed far too readily, grinning.
…Why do I feel like I’m the one losing here?
Because I was.
Thinking about it, that kid I met in the past was adorable because he was mentally thirteen, too!
An adult Lycian stuck in a boy’s body wasn’t cute at all…!
“Never mind! Cancel! Just go back to being twenty-three! I don’t want you ruining my beautiful memories…!”
“‘Ruining’ is a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Ugh, the way you talk is exactly like adult Lycian. It’s giving me chills!”
I clutched my head and shouted, and Lycian let out a baffled laugh.
“Should I regress mentally too? Noona.”
“Eek.”
Hearing him call me noona made it even worse.
I shook my head violently, refusing to accept this reality.
“That adorable kid exists forever in my memories…. Not this disgrace standing in front of me….”
“Muriel, that kid grew up into me.”
In the end, Lycian granted my request and returned to his twenty-three-year-old form.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief. Yes. This is right….
“Then it’s your turn to become a hamster.”
“? What are you talking about? I said tomorrow.”
“Is there any reason to put it off? Better to get it over with.”
I-Is that true?
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense…!
‘It’s always better to deal with things you don’t want to do as soon as possible.’
Hoo. After taking a deep breath, I pulled out Morpheus’s sacred relic and muttered timidly to myself.
‘Transform…!’
Meanwhile, at the Winterberg ducal estate.
Upon hearing the shocking news, Raul let out a hollow laugh before he even realized it.
“Tyren has notified us they’re terminating the contract?”
“Yes. And Diamin as well….”
Tyren and Diamin.
The two magic tool development companies that vied for first and second place in the Grastea Empire.
A year ago, Raul had drawn up a long-term plan to develop his territory through magi-engineering.
Tyren and Diamin were the ones who first approached him, expressing interest in investing.
The mines northwest of Vintzheim contained substantial deposits of magic crystals, and in exchange for their investment, the two companies had requested one-tenth of the annual yield.
It hadn’t been a bad offer for Raul, so he agreed.
For the past year, trade with the two companies had proceeded smoothly….
‘And now they unilaterally announce termination.’
There was no avoiding disruption to his territorial development plans.
‘It won’t be easy to secure another magic tool developer immediately….’
Tyren and Diamin had paid the contractual penalties for breach, but money wasn’t the issue.
The Grastea Empire’s magi-engineering—technology the Roblet Kingdom had yet to reach.
That was the very pillar of this entire project.
“Ha….”
Raul pressed a hand to his forehead, exhaling heavily.
There was no way Tyren and Diamin would abruptly cut ties without reason.
‘There’s someone behind this.’
He recalled the platinum-blond man he had encountered recently at the Second Mage Tower.
Lysianthus Epherene Grastea.
‘…There’s no doubt. This is his doing.’
As the Empire’s Second Prince—and a Grand Duke—it was only natural that he wielded immense influence.
This was clearly retaliation.
“Ha ha….”
A drained laugh slipped from him.
Raul dragged both hands down his face.
‘It seems working with Grastea’s corporations will be impossible from now on.’
Not merely difficult.
Judging by that man’s ruthless temperament, it would be outright impossible.
Vintzheim would suffer immense damage from this.
In that sense, it was a remarkably successful act of revenge.
‘And this won’t be the end of it.’
A dark premonition washed over him. This was only the beginning.
But there was nothing he could do.
Raul felt a crushing helplessness.
And the longing for the one who should have been his—who had been taken from him by that man—
‘Muriel….’
Why hadn’t he realized it sooner?
That his heart had always been pointed toward her from the very beginning.
Because she was his enemy’s daughter, he had shut his eyes and covered his ears, turning away from his true feelings.
Only after losing her had he understood.
‘I regained my memories too late.’
If only time would turn back once more….
Would he be given another chance?
“…….”
In Altera, every household displayed statues of the three goddesses of the Parakai faith.
Raul’s gaze wavered as he stared at the one placed atop the console.
“Muriel, want some sunflower seeds?”
“Chweeek!!”
The utterly furious hamster opened her tiny mouth wide and shrieked.
It probably meant, Keep teasing me and I’ll kill you—but Lycian ignored it lightly and held out a sunflower seed.
“Here.”
“Chwiiiek!!”
Screeching even louder than before, the hamster swung her tiny forepaw and smacked the seed away.
Tap.
Lycian raised a brow as he looked down at the sunflower seed on the floor.
“Mumu, you shouldn’t be picky.”
“…!”
The moment he even gave her a hamster-style nickname, Muriel froze in horror.
Lycian gently stroked the white hamster resting on his palm.
“If you don’t like sunflower seeds, what do you want to eat? Mumu.”
“Chwi… chweek…!”
She was so angry she was nearly in tears.
Too cute.
Lycian let out a soft laugh and pressed a kiss to the hamster’s pink nose.
An hour later.
After being thoroughly tormented, the exhausted hamster had fallen asleep.
Gazing quietly at the hamster sprawled on the plush cushion, Lycian smiled gently.
‘…The task I entrusted should be underway by now.’
Tyren and Diamin were fiercely loyal to the Imperial Family; there was nothing to worry about.
They hadn’t invested in Vintzheim because it was particularly profitable.
They had merely cooperated with an eye toward its future potential.
‘And that future is over now.’
Revenge, by nature, was selfish.
If it were Muriel, she would have considered every angle, worried herself sick, and eventually let it go.
She was too kind to commit something truly cruel.
‘That’s why I’ll do it.’
Lycian had no intention of allowing Raul Winterberg to live out his natural lifespan.
The same went for the minor members of the Winterberg family who had shielded Raul and tormented Muriel.
He would make them all live in suffering.
‘And the Tierney ducal house as well.’
That side deserved to be cast straight into the pit of hell.
Muriel seemed content with the fact that the direct Tierney bloodline had been severed….
‘That’s nowhere near enough.’
The devils of Tierney likely didn’t even possess hearts capable of remorse.
For beasts wearing human skin like them, there was only one fitting end.
An endless fall. A miserable death.
“…This is only the beginning.”
As he looked at Muriel, sleeping without a care in the world, warmth flickered in Lycian’s golden eyes.
A warmth permitted to one person alone.
Time passed, and June 17 arrived.
‘Ah… I’m a little nervous.’
Pressing a hand to the left side of my chest where my heart was pounding, I let out a long breath.
Today was the day Lycian and I would hold our engagement ceremony.