Chapter 31

Only then did Reinhardt slowly turn his head to look at me.

“What are you talking about?”

“Marquess Leopold is a distant descendant of the demon, and he was in seclusion until the ring was made because he couldn’t show his hair color to anyone. I took care of him while he was in seclusion. I awakened him.”

“…Brother Amil was also a half-demon?”

As he asked, as if he couldn’t believe it, I spoke breathlessly.

“Yes. I helped Marquess Leopold awaken, who didn’t even know it himself. He threatened to tell your mother that Reinhardt and I had a marriage of convenience, so I had to hold his weakness. Even so, I felt that I had to take responsibility for driving him into a corner.”

“Irovel.”

“And that was a very stupid idea. I didn’t know he would talk nonsense about Reinhardt and me getting a divorce!”

“…Irovel.”

“I gave in to his excessive demands because of my sense of responsibility, though I swear I didn’t do anything that could be called ‘cheating.’ Really…”

“Irovel. Let me say something for a moment…”

“So, please don’t get a divorce…”

“Irovel!”

Reinhardt called my name loudly, and his large hands clasped mine. Only then did I realize that my hands had been shaking.

“I’ve heard so much all of a sudden that I can’t sort out what you’re saying yet, but I can tell you this much.”

“….”

“I will not divorce Irovel.”

“…Why?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time, as if he was choosing his words in response to my question. Still, I thought I knew the answer.

‘It must be because my paintings were the only thing that worked in defeating the Tatars.’

It would be difficult for him to readily tell me this fact in front of me, who was trembling.

* * *

Why?

Reinhardt was lost in thought about what to say to that. As he came this far, he felt anger towards Irovel for betraying him in the end. However, he hadn’t thought about divorce at all, even though it would be common sense to notify her of the divorce.

Now that he knew it was all a misunderstanding, he had even less reason to do so, and there were many reasons for this.

First, he didn’t want to drive her into a corner when he knew what fate would befall her if she got divorced, second, he didn’t want her to be humiliated by Gerard, who thought of his wife as a trophy, and third, he didn’t want to not see her anymore…

As he thought, he finally found the answer.

“…Because I just don’t want to.”

In the end, he simply didn’t want to divorce her.

“What if what I said was a lie?”

“Yes.”

“You, who hate cheating so much, are saying you won’t get a divorce just because you don’t want to?”

“Yes.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. I’ll ask you the same question I asked before. Why on earth?”

Even if she betrayed him, he wanted to protect her. Even if she didn’t want to, he wanted to be hers… He had grown to like her so much that it was foolish.

“Irovel.”

Reinhardt hadn’t let go of Irovel’s hand despite her trembling ceasing, and he uttered softly.

“To answer that, I have to ask you something first.”

“What is it?”

“Irovel said it last time. You said that you fall in love quickly, so you can come to love me. You told me to cooperate so that you don’t fall into unrequited love.”

“I did.”

He spoke cautiously.

“What if, just what if… it’s not unrequited love, but mutual?”

“That sounds like you’re asking a question while assuming that you really love me.”

His wife wasn’t completely clueless after all.

“Though I guess I’m wrong again. I’m a severely ill patient who thinks the other person likes me just by making eye contact.”

…But even though she was perceptive, she didn’t seem to be very sensitive.

“R-Right. I’m just curious.”

“Hmm. If both of us are in love, we’ll be very happy, right?”

“Really?”

At those words, Reinhardt’s face lit up with joy and a myriad of imaginations bloomed in his mind in an instant.

‘How many great-grandchildren would she like?’

When his imagination reached its finale, Irovel spoke.

“Wait a minute.”

Reinhardt felt as if his heart had fallen to the ground. At the same time, his imaginary great-grandchildren said goodbye to him.

“Those who fall in love quickly, cool off quickly.”

“….!”

How could this be?! Then, even if he worked hard to become a couple with her, wouldn’t it end up as his one-sided love in the end?!

“Isn’t there a way to prevent it from cooling off?”

Reinhardt asked with an indifferent expression and voice. Of course, his heart was aching, yet he desperately hid it.

“If you constantly strive to maintain your appearance and figure, and if you flirt well, it won’t cool off.”

Hmm. So, if he maintained his appearance and figure and pushed and pulled well, it wouldn’t cool off…

It was definitely a tone of voice that suggested that she had such an experience in the past. Reinhardt tried hard to suppress the urge to find that d*mn bastard right away and grab him by the collar as he asked.

“…Was there someone in the past who kept Irovel’s heart from cooling off?”

“There was. He was cute…”

“Who is it? That son of a b—no, that person.”

“Well. Strangely, I don’t remember it well now.”

* * *

Because my heart would cool off as soon as the other person confessed, I had much unrequited love, though I had one dating experience.

‘I can prevent it from cooling off, so just reject him.’

The romance that began with that one word in my previous life lasted quite a long time, and it was also serious. Perhaps if I hadn’t been hit by a car and died, I might have gotten married. That was how serious I was about that person… but why couldn’t I remember it well now?

I wasn’t even sad that I couldn’t meet him because I was dead.

I couldn’t remember his name, face, age, or occupation… only some of the memories were scattered like afterimages. Not just about that man, but all the memories were like that.

Did my brain get hurt when I got hit by a car?

“Even the one who captured Irovel’s heart ended up becoming someone who couldn’t even be remembered.”

That didn’t seem to be the case. However, because my memory wasn’t certain, I just kept my mouth shut instead of correcting it. Maybe what Reinhardt said was true, and I was mistaken about being serious, and in fact, he was just someone who couldn’t be remembered.

“Well, anyway… I answered Reinhardt’s question. Now answer why you don’t want a divorce.”

“Ah, that is…”

Reinhardt looked around as if he was embarrassed. What on earth is the reason for that?

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to postpone the answer.”

“Yes? You said that if I answered first, you would answer as well!”

“To be exact, I said, ‘I have something to ask you first before I can answer that.’ I meant that I would think about my answer after hearing Irovel’s answer.”

“That’s mean!”

“I apologize.”

I felt embarrassed as he even bowed his head politely, so I couldn’t ask anymore. Well, I thought I knew the answer anyway.

‘Even if I cheat, it won’t affect the painting, so he doesn’t really want to get a divorce for that reason…’

Still, why was I so disappointed?

It was something that we both agreed on for our own benefit in the first place, so there was no need to be disappointed.

* * *

‘Oh? This feeling is…’

I hadn’t felt this vague yet vivid feeling for a while, but it had been quite a long time. Until now, what I had seen in dreams with this feeling had happened in reality.

Would this happen this time, too?

‘I told you. I told you that if I’m in love with someone I had a crush on, it’s easy to cool off quickly. I don’t want to date and then break up and become awkward, so let’s just be good friends.’

…Huh?

That was me from my previous life. Was this not a dream that showed me what would happen in the future?

‘How can I prevent it from cooling off?’

‘Just take good care of your appearance and work hard so that you’ll be loved even when you’re old.’

‘Will you date me by then?’

‘Well, I don’t really want to date you when I’m old.’

‘Hey. That’s not flirting, it’s just pushing away.’

‘…Is that so? It seems like flirting is difficult. Actually, I want to be with you until I see my great-grandchildren, so don’t hate me.’

That was right. I ended up flirting strangely for a while because I learned about love through writing. Ironically, I ended up accepting him because his appearance was cute.

…I was really happy.

Now, I could remember it a little.

* * *

“I heard you called me. Grand Duke.”

The moment Jade entered the office, he noticed that Reinhardt’s face was unusual. In fact, anyone who knew the situation in the Grand Duke’s Mansion right now could guess what kind of face he would have, even without seeing it.

“Jade. I have something important to tell you.”

“Even if you don’t tell me, I’ve already prepared the necessary things, such as a claim for damages to be sent to the Marquess of Leopold, divorce papers with the Grand Duchess, and so on.”

“What? Why did you prepare such things? Tear them up right now.”

“…Yes?”

He thought he would naturally punish the two of them who had an affair because he called him right after meeting with Irovel.

Was that not the case? Did he call him for something else?

‘…What’s more important than that at this point?’

Jade looked at Reinhardt with a puzzled face.

“I just wanted to ask you for advice.”

“Oh, I thought there was something more important than the Grand Duchess’s affair. You’re worried about how to deal with the two of them, right?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then, what is it?”

Reinhardt hesitated as if it was difficult to say. For some reason, his face was flushed before he finally opened his mouth.

“How do you flirt?”

—