And so, Princess Marianne met Lionel.
Rumors spread that Marianne had gone crazy a few months ago after having a miscarriage.
Even if it wasn’t due to the miscarriage, it was clear that Marianne was insane.
When she recognized Lionel, Marianne began to look around wildly.
“Lionel. Riv, how’s that girl doing?”
Lionel’s body stiffened. The old Grand Duke asked, doubting his ears.
“Riv? Who is that?”
“Madame Katana! The girl who used to be my maid.”
Marianne snapped. She seemed to have regained her senses a little.
She rebuked her husband.
“Why don’t you remember that stupid girl? The girl who used to be my handmaiden and then became Lionel’s wife.”
“There was such a girl?”
Frustrated, Marianne grabbed a maid who was passing by and asked.
“You don’t remember? Lionel’s wife, Madame Katana, my maid!”
Everyone ignored her and thought she was crazy.
The maid tentatively responded.
“…Princess, the Duke has never been married.”
Marianne, whose eyes had been twitching, ordered Lionel.
“Lionel, I’m going to divorce Grand Duke Shantel, so marry me!”
Everyone turned away from Marianne.
“Crazy, Princess!”
Grand Duke Shantel slapped her cheek in anger.
Marianne’s thin body fell to the floor. Her maids froze.
Silence fell.
Lionel didn’t know whether or not he should be surprised.
The only people in this world who remembered Riv were Lionel, Marianne, and Philip.
Lionel thrust his hand into his pocket, which contained a ruby ring, the heirloom of the Duchess. The moment he touched the ring, memories that were not his own flooded his mind.
Riv’s first death was because of Marianne.
After that, she reversed time, encountered Lionel, and disappeared.
Those memories continued endlessly.
“Duke of Sentoren, you may enter.”
When his name was called, Lionel entered the King’s audience chamber.
The King was eagerly waiting for Lionel.
Their formal discussion about Ezul Plains ended quickly. There were a few minor incidents along the Southern border, but they weren’t very important.
The King sighed as he looked at Lionel.
“I was stupid. I wish I had made you Marianne’s husband.”
Even the King forgot about the existence of Riv Katana.
Lionel remembered Philip’s words.
“Your Highness, I have one request.”
“What is it?”
“I saw Princess Marianne. There’s something I want to ask Your Highness, the Queen and the Princess.”
The King, stroking his chin, did not think about his request for long.
The King seemed to have a lot of regret towards Lionel.
“Get ready for an audience soon. Go out and wait.”
The private conversation between Lionel and the Royal Family took place an hour later.
Marianne entered the palace with her husband, the Grand Duke, and Queen Selina arrived shortly thereafter.
Three royals and Marianne’s husband faced Lionel.
“You said you wanted to see us?”
Lionel looked at the drawing room and saw the head servant, the queen’s maids, and even Marianne’s maids.
“There are too many people here, Your Highness.”
“Hmm, are you going to tell me a secret?”
The King sent everyone else away, curious about Lionel’s intentions.
“What did you want to say?”
In the spacious drawing room, five people, including Lionel, remained.
No, if you included Philip, who suddenly appeared, six.
“Now, who are you? A priest?”
“You don’t have to worry about him.”
“What?”
“I just want to ask you one thing. Does anyone here remember Riv Katana?”
Marianne was furious.
“Why do you keep looking for that missing girl, Lionel?”
“Who is she?”
The King was seriously troubled, and the Queen was deep in thought.
After a few seconds of silence, Queen Selina clapped her hands.
“Ah, I think I had a maid like that.”
Lionel added.
“She was called Madame Katana.”
“Ah, Madame Katana.”
Queen Selina struggled to remember details about the girl.
“There was a big, slow girl, but… she hasn’t been around for quite some time.”
Marianne interjected.
“Why doesn’t anyone remember? She married Lionel!”
The King was even more puzzled by Marianne’s words.
“Wait, Lionel’s wife? Isn’t Lionel still unwed?”
Lionel questioned Philip, ignoring the confused Royals.
“Why do they remember Riv, Philip?”
“Perhaps her magic didn’t reach them, or her minimal contact with them allowed them to keep their memories.”
Lionel finally responded to the Royal Family, who were asking him what the hell he was talking about.
“Everyone forgot, but there was a woman called Madame Katana.”
“Hmm?”
“Why, what’s wrong with that girl?!”
“She was Queen Selina’s handmaiden and then Princess Marianne’s. And then she became my wife.”
“You, did you get married without me knowing?”
The King pointed at Lionel.
“Your Highness does not remember.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Lionel, are you crazy?”
Lionel casually dug into his pocket and pulled out two items.
The ring of the late Duchess, and Riv’s pendant necklace.
Marianne spotted the crude ring in Lionel’s hand and ran forward to snatch it.
Marianne held the ring with a gleam in her eyes, and smiled madly.
“This, this!”
What she once wanted madly, but couldn’t have.
“It’s shining!”
“Marianne!”
“Riv, that girl didn’t get this either!”
Philip was standing behind them, smiling.
“It all started with that ring and that princess. You won’t remember this later, though.”
Marianne burst into laughter.
“I could be the Duchess, not Riv. Me!”
Marianne didn’t even listen to Philip. He laughed.
“That ring has no power in the hands of an ordinary woman, Marianne. But the moment Riv Katana got her hands on it, that changed.”
Apparently, Riv died holding it.
She was the daughter of a witch, which were said to be extinct.
So, an unexpected event began.
The Duchess’ ring, which Riv had kept for a long time, became filled with her magic. Red light began to seep from the stone.
“Duke, the time has come.”
Philip threw magic tools at Marianne, which Riv had filled with her magic.
An intense light shone.
The magic tools resonated with the heirlooms and the ring.
Under their feet, a huge magic circle formed.
“W-What is this?!”
Philip’s voice cut through their cries of surprise. Lionel had a look on his face that was not surprising no matter what had happened.
“This is magic.”
Finally, Riv’s necklace glowed.
“W-What the hell is this?!”
Reality, illusion, and time all overlapped. Even Marianne’s screams disappeared.
The Royal Family who had opened their mouths in surprise also evaporated.
Only Philip and the magic circle were left.
Lionel couldn’t tell if Philip was even human.
“What is this?”
“A descendant of wizards yet an ordinary man, Lionel de Sentoren.”
“…”
“Your ancestors wanted to protect you. Shana wanted to save her daughter, the last witch. Their objectives were aligned.”
Lionel couldn’t understand.
“Now all the conditions are in place.”
Philip’s voice continued indifferently.
“It was I who informed Riv, your wife and the Duchess, of the side effects of magic. Riv chose to disappear for the sake of you and everyone else.”
“Why did you do that?!”
“That’s what I had to do!”
Lionel immediately tried to grab Phillip by the neck, but the red light grew stronger.
Philip whispered.
“Desire to regain your wife. Yearn for her. Only then can you get her back.”
As the bright light cleared, Lionel realized he was in a familiar place.
Riv’s room. The Duchess of Sentoren’s room.
Her room, where all traces of her had disappeared. All that was left were her old magic tools.
Those magic tools seemed to still hold magic.
The ring emitted a red light in front of Lionel.
The tools that contained Riv’s magical power united. The ring, the pendant necklace, and the magic tools all lost their shape and merged together.
Only Philip’s voice was repeated over and over again.
“Desire. Yearn.”
When he turned his head, Philip was right next to him.
“You!”
“If you want to get her back, wish for it and implore God.”
Even if this had all been a dream, Lionel thought of Riv.
His wife, his precious lover.
Lionel did not believe in God, but at that moment, he prayed.
That Riv would return to him, and that the magic they needed to bring her back would be strong enough.
“Riv! Riv!”
A woman began to materialize in Lionel’s arms. Lionel glared at Philip as he embraced the woman.
“What are you?”
Philip watched the woman slowly take the form of Olivia Sentoren.
He answered.
“I have been sent by her. After this, you and I will forget everything we’ve seen.”
“Her?”
Philip answered.
“Shana.”
Time had changed.
Space had changed.
The previous timeline returned.
Everything started going back to the beginning.
***
Note: 4 chaps of side stories left.