Chapter 30

The only person he had considered his ally—his mother—was locked in prison, and his relatives were hell-bent on dragging him down by any means possible.

All the siblings who had tormented him were dead, yet the hell had not ended.

Only then did Noel realize.

Holding his breath would not keep him alive.

As long as he bore the name Averon, people would endlessly try to kill him.

So to survive, he had to trample them first.

The moment he realized that, Noel firmly bolted the door of his heart.

Then, without blinking an eye, he dealt with those who opposed him one by one.

There was no hesitation.

After all, in people’s eyes he had already been branded the son of a slaughterer.

What did it matter if a reputation that had already hit rock bottom grew even worse?

As he eliminated his enemies one by one like that, before he knew it, he had become the ‘Duke of Averon.’

The nobles feared him while simultaneously coveting the power he held.

Those who had once not even spared him a glance now knelt before him of their own accord.

From then on, Noel ruthlessly pushed away anyone who approached him.

Because their motives were plain as day.

But there was just one person.

Someone whose purpose he could not discern no matter how long he kept them by his side and watched.

That person was Yvette Blanche.

‘……Come to think of it, I first met her in front of that tree.’

Noel let out a soft laugh.

Truthfully, his first meeting with Yvette had been nothing special.

The two of them had been approached by a newspaper for an interview because they were the top students of their respective years.

At the time, Noel was about to graduate, and Yvette was a freshman who had only just enrolled.

The reporter suggested conducting the interview outdoors, citing the good weather, and Noel and Yvette readily agreed.

Even top students would rather get some fresh air than be cooped up in a lecture hall.

‘Back then, she was on the quiet side.’

If his memory was correct, the Yvette of the past had been someone of very few words.

She never opened her mouth except to answer the reporter’s questions.

Her face, without even the slightest hint of a smile, was stiff to the point of being chilly.

Because of that, the sight of the reporter treading carefully was still vivid before his eyes.

[One last question. What are your dreams, both of you?]

It was near the end of the interview.

The reporter threw them an obvious question, and Noel gave a hollow lie about wanting to become a good lord.

Because he knew that being honest here would not interest anyone.

But unlike Noel, Yvette answered with utter sincerity.

[Dreams are something you can only have if you have a future.]

In her flat voice was a resignation unbefitting her age.

At the unexpected answer, Noel unconsciously turned to look at Yvette.

An empty gaze met his.

[I have never once thought about the future. So I have no dreams either.]

With those words, Yvette excused herself first and left her seat.

It was a rather rude exit, but no one stopped her.

Because the expression on her face as she said she had no dreams was colder than it had ever been.

* * *

‘That was already seven years ago.’

Having finished his reminiscence, Noel slowly ran his hand along the tree.

Though many years had passed, the old tree seemed not to have changed at all.

‘Unlike someone else, that is.’

Noel clenched his fist.

At the time, he had not understood Yvette’s attitude.

But now he understood why she had been so cold.

From the moment she was born, Yvette’s day of death had been as good as decided.

Asking such a person to speak of future dreams was far too cruel.

‘Should I have asked for a handshake back then?’

Then perhaps Yvette would not have had to live in anxiety all this time.

The thought that rose unbidden made Noel pause.

‘……At this rate, I’ve got it bad.’

Since when had he worried about others so much that he was thinking things like this?

Noel laughed self-mockingly and turned his head.

And in that moment.

As if on cue, a familiar voice came from not far away.

* * *

After parting ways with Kerbel.

Yvette went straight back to the party hall to find Liliana.

But wherever she had hidden herself, Liliana was nowhere to be seen.

‘Noel still seems busy too.’

Yvette glanced at Noel, who was still surrounded by people.

‘If I go now, I’ll get caught up too.’

She was not yet accustomed to the rhetoric of nobles.

Rather than stepping in and saying the wrong thing, it seemed better to take refuge for a while until Noel freed himself.

With that, Yvette left the party hall and took a short walk around the academy.

She intended to soothe her unsettled feelings and also see the places from the original work.

The first place she headed was a small fountain near the party hall.

She had been a little worried there would be many people, but fortunately, the area around the fountain was quiet.

As she drew closer to the fountain, the colorful pebbles were the first thing to catch her eye.

Thanks to that, the water’s surface reflecting the sunlight sparkled beautifully.

It was exactly as the original work had described.

“I came just in case, and it really is here.”

This fountain was the place where, about half a year from now, Noel would confess his love to Liliana.

“Seeing it like this makes it feel a bit strange.”

Yvette muttered as she stared blankly at the fountain.

Seeing this place made her realize anew that she was inside a novel.

‘……If I hadn’t possessed this body, would Noel and Liliana have fallen in love like in the original?’

Because she had survived, many parts of the original story had changed.

Baron Larishi, who should have become the Count of Blanche, had become a man hounded by gambling debts, and the male lead, Noel, had become the fiancé of an extra.

Now it had become impossible even to guess how the future would unfold.

‘All of this is because of that damned curse.’

Yvette gazed at the fountain and let out a sigh as if the ground were sinking.

If only Kerbel had not placed such an absurd curse, things would not have turned out this way.

‘What on earth did Blanche’s ancestors do wrong for Kerbel to cast such an absurd curse in the first place!’

The reason he had cursed Blanche was not specified in the original work.

She could only vaguely guess that they had done something wrong to Liliana.

‘Because the only person who can move Kerbel is Liliana.’

If his way of thinking were even a little ordinary, she might have thought of him as a man of pure, devoted love.

Unfortunately, in Yvette’s mind, Kerbel was filed away as nothing more than a madman.

“May he trip over a stone on the road and smash his nose flat.”

It was the moment she made that heartfelt wish.

“……Surely that wasn’t about me, was it?”

A familiar voice rang out behind her, and a shadow fell over her head.

“Noel?”

Yvette flinched and turned around.

There, she saw Noel looking at her with a slightly furrowed brow.

“I wondered where you’d gone, and here you were.”

At his blunt remark, Yvette felt a pang of guilt.

She had intended to look around only briefly.

It seemed more time had passed than she had thought.

“I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything. You looked so busy that I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.”

Yvette smiled awkwardly and avoided his gaze.

Perhaps it was because her hope of breaking the curse today had been crushed.

Somehow, she could not bring herself to meet his eyes directly.

“And here I thought you’d abandoned me and run off.”

Noel muttered in a tone that could have been joking or serious, looking at Yvette.

Feeling another pang of conscience, Yvette forced the corners of her mouth upward.

“Come on, as if. There’s no way I’d do that…….”

“Next time, even if I look busy, tell me before you go. Because I worry.”

“Yes, understood……. What?”

Yvette, who had been answering absentmindedly, jerked her head up.

There, she saw Noel smiling with an inscrutable expression.

‘Because I worry, he says.’

Yvette unconsciously looked around.

‘Is someone nearby? Is that why he’s saying that?’

But no matter how much she looked, there were only the two of them near the fountain.

‘What is this. Then does that mean it’s not acting, but sincere?’

The moment that thought reached her, her heart dropped with a thud.

‘……No, is it really all right to say things like that with that face?’

If this gave her arrhythmia, who was going to take responsibility?

Yvette forced down the words rising to her throat and met Noel’s eyes.

“It’s an honor to have the Duke of Averon himself worry about me.”

Yvette deliberately spoke more playfully to hide her bewilderment.

But contrary to her intention, Noel’s reaction was not very good.

“……Not ‘Duke.’ Noel.”

Noel furrowed his brow and corrected the form of address.

At that, Yvette opened her eyes in confusion.

“Why? You are the duke.”

“I don’t want to hear that title from you as well.”

Noel spoke firmly.

He looked so serious that Yvette, though puzzled, nodded.

“All right, then. I’ll call you only Noel.”

Only after receiving her confirmation did Noel regain his smile.

“……No one gave you trouble while I was gone?”

“Who would dare, knowing what happens to anyone who lays a hand on the Duke of Averon’s fiancée?”

Most of those attending the reunion were of noble birth.

And even if they were not, there was hardly anyone who did not know she was Noel’s fiancée.

“I suppose that’s true.”

Noel, who had readily admitted it, offered his arm to Yvette.

“Shall we head back soon? It’s cold.”

Yvette took his arm and spoke meaningfully.

“I don’t really feel the cold. Do you get cold easily, Noel?”

Noel, who had been matching his steps to hers, nodded.

“That’s why I don’t like winter very much.”

The day the Averon tragedy occurred had also been a cold winter.

Perhaps that was why. When the weather turned cold, his mood tended to sink more than usual.

“……If you get too cold, tell me. I’ll take off my clothes for you.”