TVIL 07

Chapter 07

Astrid’s face brightened instantly, and she could not suppress the corners of her lips from creeping upward.

If it hadn’t been in front of Lindelle, she might have jumped up and down on the spot without caring about her dignity.

Lindelle, who had been quietly observing her as she tried to restrain her excitement, spoke casually.

“By the way, your complexion looks good.”

“Pardon? My complexion?”

“I’m glad you look healthy, Your Highness the Princess.”

Astrid tilted her head.

Although her body was weak and she had some restrictions on outdoor activities, she was not so sickly that illness clearly showed on her face.

As long as she did not overexert herself, she could live like other people. That was why she found it strange that the Duke of Haimenwar suddenly brought up her health.

“I’m not a patient, you know.”

“Of course. I only meant that you look well.”

The moment she heard those words, Astrid felt a strange sense of déjà vu brush past the back of her neck.

Frowning slightly, she thought for a moment before asking,

“Did I look sick the last time you saw me?”

It was an impulsive and casual question. Yet Lindelle’s face stiffened as if he had heard something unexpected.

Soon after, he returned to his usual faint smile and answered calmly.

“I suppose you might have. While I was in Bipaltz, I often thought of Your Highness.”

“You thought of me?”

Astrid’s eyes widened.

They were filled with eager anticipation.

Interpreting Lindelle’s words in the way she liked best, Astrid twisted the fingers she had hidden behind her back.

There were so many things she wanted to ask him.

She wanted to have a lively conversation so that everyone could hear it—the rivals glaring at them from afar and whispering among themselves, the pleased matchmakers watching them, and even the petty people who envied Lindelle.

But things never seemed to happen at the right time.

Just like now.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Someone called for the princess.

Astrid looked around with wide, startled eyes until she met the gaze of the maid Harper.

“What are you doing here? His Majesty is looking for you.”

“My father? Why?”

“You’re joking, right? Please remember what day it is today.”

After saying that, Harper pulled Astrid toward the center of the hall without any further explanation.

As a result, Astrid was dragged away before she even had the chance to say goodbye to Lindelle.

While being pulled along by Harper, she glanced back slightly.

But Lindelle had already disappeared.

“Astrid.”

Hearing the Emperor’s voice calling her, Astrid snapped back to her senses.

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

The corners of the smiling Emperor’s eyes were filled with wrinkles.

Recently, his health had worsened so much that he rarely attended events. But it seemed he had come today because it was Astrid’s debutante.

“When did my daughter grow up so much? It would not be strange to call you a proper lady now.”

The Emperor embraced Astrid warmly before letting her go.

Astrid lowered her eyebrows awkwardly.

“You didn’t have to come out…”

“How could I stay lying in bed when it’s my daughter’s debutante?”

“You insisted again to your physician, didn’t you?”

“If I stay in the bedroom all the time, my head only aches more.”

The Emperor chuckled lightly as Astrid let out a short sigh.

“So? Have you found anyone you like?”

“Like someone… I haven’t even properly met anyone yet.”

“Look carefully. One of them might become your other half.”

Astrid’s expression darkened slightly, and the Emperor placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to learn what kind of people they are.”

“Even if I get to know them, it still feels like it wouldn’t be enough to entrust my whole life to someone.”

Astrid puffed out her lips as she spoke, and the Emperor laughed softly.

“Of course you can’t know someone in just a few months. All you need is a person who makes you feel that you want to spend your entire life getting to know them.”

“Want to get to know them…”

It was still early in the year, when the feeling of spring lingered in the air.

A time when she could still be just a seventeen-year-old girl.

Astrid gazed absentmindedly at the place where she had been talking with Lindelle earlier.

Even after hearing those words, it was still a feeling she could not quite understand.

News spread through high society that the selection to find Princess Astrid’s husband had begun.

Ever since the princess’s debutante, it had been a topic that gossip lovers could not stop talking about.

People even placed bets on the most promising candidates like wagering on racehorses. And the men who had met the princess even once proudly declared themselves the most likely candidate.

Among them, there was one man who watched the scene with sunken eyes.

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he hunched his shoulders slightly as if trying not to attract attention.

But his large build and overwhelming presence made him easy to spot even from afar.

That was why Caleb, the secretary of the Duke of Haimenwar, immediately found his master after arriving late at the banquet hall and quickly approached him.

“Your Grace. I have something to report.”

“Speak.”

“I believe we need to cancel the schedule planned after this party.”

At those words, Lindelle—who had been staring intently at the men in the center of the hall laughing loudly while chanting the princess’s name—slowly turned his gaze toward Caleb.

Under that silent question, Caleb continued with a troubled expression.

“I checked again because something seemed strange. The name is indeed Tatiana, but she’s much younger than you mentioned. She’s only about eight years old…”

“The family name?”

“It hasn’t been confirmed. But since she was found in a commoner household, it’s best not to expect much.”

Lindelle turned his gaze back toward the center of the hall.

The man who had most recently met Astrid was boasting like a hero about the expression the princess made while looking at him and which of his actions had made her blush.

Lindelle’s eyes, watching the scene, were as cold as ice.

“Eight is too young. She must be at least in her early teens. The name doesn’t matter. Look around near the Hennessy Count’s household for someone with a similar appearance.”

“The Hennessy Count’s household? But there is no girl with that name recorded in the family at the moment.”

“She might be an illegitimate child or from a collateral branch that wasn’t recorded.”

Lindelle muttered in a low voice, irritation clearly mixed into his tone.

It was a reprimand—Do I have to explain even that to you?

Caleb immediately closed his mouth, bowed his head, and withdrew.

Left alone, Lindelle remained in the same position without moving.

Then—

Crunch.

He ground his teeth.

Half in resignation and half in hope, Lindelle had accepted the confident claim of the young girl magician.

And it had turned out to be true.

Time had turned back for him.

The slender wrist of Astrid that had once been in his grasp vanished like an illusion.

The first thing that entered his sight was the corpse of his younger sister.

Moldy bread.

Spoiled stew.

Thin porridge as watery as water.

Even those things had been precious. Whenever he managed to obtain them, he pushed them into his sister’s mouth.

It was Lindelle who had chewed tree roots and swallowed dirt.

Yet the one who died from hunger was his younger sister.

Since their mother died, his sister had been the reason Lindelle kept living.

Holding the dead body of his sister in his arms, Lindelle let out a hollow laugh at the cruel trick of fate.

Of all times for time to turn back… it had to be this moment.

It felt as though fate was reminding him not to forget the purpose of his life.

Just as before, Lindelle met Andrew Haimenwar, the Duke who had come looking for him.

And he sent his sister away as nothing more than a handful of ashes.

After that, he received the necessary education to become the flawless next Duke of Haimenwar.

And soon afterward, he was presented before Astrid.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Princess. I am Lindelle, son of the Duke of Haimenwar.”