Chapter 25
The Impassable Wall Between Them (Full English Translation)
“Where were you?”
“…I went to see a play. Staying in the house all day felt suffocating. Were you waiting for me?”
“I thought we might have dinner together for once, but you weren’t in your room.”
His voice, lower than usual, seemed to press down on the air around them.
Blair sent Lyna away first, telling her to go ahead and eat, then entered the room with Hedrin.
“I was worried when you left without a carriage or guards.”
Hedrin sounded as though he was genuinely concerned, but his eyes were not. They were suspicious.
The moment she met that gaze, a memory surfaced.
‘How could I possibly trust you?’
He still didn’t trust her.
And the realization made something in her chest flare sharply.
It had only been a few hours since she went out, yet he was already openly suspicious of her. It reminded her of the past.
“So you don’t trust me?” Blair’s voice came out sharper than intended.
She no longer watched his mood like she used to.
Now she spoke without restraint.
“Are you afraid I’m doing something behind your back?”
Hedrin frowned slightly. It was a version of Blair he had never seen before.
He let out a hollow laugh.
She knows everything—and still acts like this?
All the accumulated doubts inside him sharpened and spilled out.
“If you understand that much, then take knights with you wherever you go. So I don’t have to worry.”
But as he spoke, he saw her reddened eyes—and swallowed the rest.
He exhaled sharply, ran a hand through his hair, and forced himself to calm down.
“I—”
Before he could continue, he turned away instead.
“…Go wash up. You must be hungry.”
Blair watched his back leave the room.
Just like always.
They argued, then at some point he would simply turn away and leave.
As if avoiding the moment before things broke completely.
But that avoidance only made the gap between them deeper.
And Blair could only watch the door close.
That was the wall between them.
In her previous life, she had been too afraid to open that door.
Afraid that if she did, she would cry, scream, and ultimately end up at an ending where everything shattered.
So she never opened it.
But now…
‘I don’t want that anymore.’
She forced down the tears threatening to fall and walked toward the fireplace.
Hedrin in the dining room
Hedrin sat in the dining room, drinking pre-dinner wine.
Already his fifth glass.
His throat burned.
He replayed the earlier scene.
Her red eyes. Trembling body. Short breath. A woman who looked like she might collapse if touched.
And yet he had pushed her.
Pathetic.
Even now, he wondered if she carried the scent of another man.
A bitter laugh escaped him.
If she had another man… so what?
But at that thought, something in him went cold.
He downed the drink like whiskey.
“Master,” Mason said quietly.
Hedrin snapped back.
“You still see me as a child, don’t you?”
“If you were twelve, you wouldn’t be drinking at all.”
“…You’re an irritating old man.”
Their exchange was light—but then the door slammed open.
“Your Grace!”
It was Luth.
“Madam… has collapsed.”
Blair’s room
Melly had been waiting in the bathroom to assist Blair, but Blair never arrived.
A growing unease made her return to the room.
When she opened the door—
Warm air hit her skin.
The fireplace was blazing.
And in front of it—
“Madam!”
Blair lay unconscious on the floor.
Afterward
The physician arrived.
“It appears to be temporary unconsciousness caused by emotional shock. No other abnormalities. She will recover with rest.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Lyna broke into tears.
“Your Highness…”
Hedrin’s expression hardened at the address.
“Luth. Take her out.”
They left.
Only Hedrin and Blair remained.
Blair’s face was pale—too pale—but strangely peaceful.
That peace irritated him.
Why was she the one causing chaos everywhere, yet lying there so calmly?
His anger rose again.
Then—
Her eyelids moved.
She opened her eyes.
Slowly blinking, she turned toward him.
The first feeling that struck him was relief.
Annoyingly so.
“…Did I faint?”
“You really didn’t think before going near the fireplace, did you?”
“I wanted to recover my memories… I can’t keep ignoring it forever.”
The word memories made something in Hedrin’s chest drop.
A woman who feared fire had approached a burning fireplace.
Because of that memory.
Because of him.
Her voice was calm. Too calm.
Not even anger remained—only exhaustion.
Hedrin clenched his fist so tightly his veins stood out.
“If you’re trying to recover memories, there are safer ways. Don’t do something like this again.”
His voice was cold.
But it overlapped with a memory from his past life.
She had once tried hypnosis on herself and collapsed afterward.
And he had scolded her just like this.
“Stop doing anything. Just stay still, like you always have.”
Back then, she had stopped trying.
Afraid of their ending.
But not anymore.
“…What if I never recover them?”
“There are other ways. Lady Lorelain is working on it.”
“It’s been ten years already. And you expect a few conversations to fix it, while I just sit quietly and endure your suspicion?”
Her voice rose.
Her breathing became uneven.
Hedrin stared at her—silent.
And the wall between them remained unbroken.
