Chapter 2
Raios.
Only Raios.
“Dana?”
With a rattle, Raios pushed back his chair and stood up.
“What brings you here so suddenly?”
For a moment, Dana was overwhelmed by a sense of self-reproach and let out a hollow laugh.
Good heavens, how could she be so foolish!
For a brief second, she had actually doubted Raios. She had thought he might be doing something untoward inside his office!
“It’s nothing, Raios. Actually…”
Just as she was about to confess everything.
“…”
Her words trailed off. A scent had drifted past the tip of her nose.
The fresh floral scent of freesias.
…A woman’s perfume.
“Since you’re here, let’s have a meal together.”
Raios spoke nonchalantly as he took hold of her shoulders.
“I was just starting to feel hungry, so this is perfect.”
Dana stared intently at Raios’s face.
Wordlessly, motionlessly, silently.
“Dana?”
Now that she looked closer…
His black hair was disheveled.
He was a man who always kept it neatly swept back.
Why?
“Dana? Why are you looking at me like that?”
When Raios tried to pull her by the arm, Dana shook him off violently. It was an instinctive, animalistic rejection that came without calculation.
“Dana? What’s wrong?”
The back of her neck felt stiff.
From her fingertips, she felt as if she were slowly, very slowly, freezing over. In that moment, as she swallowed hard against a lump in her throat.
Dana had a premonition.
‘She’s here.’
In this room. Still. The owner of this scent.
“Dana!”
She had no thoughts, no rational reasoning. Half-insane, she simply began to tear through the room.
The sofa, the side table, the bookshelf, and.
“Dana! What are you doing!”
And… the desk.
“Stop it!”
As she headed toward the desk, Raios approached her rapidly.
“Dana, what on earth are you doing! Have you lost your mind?”
“Let go.”
“Calm down! Just calm down for a second—!”
He tried to spin her around, but it was already too late.
Because she had found the woman.
Under the desk.
The woman was huddled there, trembling, clutching a dress that had slipped down to her chest.
When their eyes met, a mocking laugh escaped Dana’s lips.
“What are you doing there, Alice?”
Alice Winzer. It was her own cousin.
“D-Dana, sister, I, well…”
It was then.
“Move.”
Raios shoved her shoulder.
Dana collapsed onto the floor right where she stood. She was utterly aghast at what had just happened.
He pushed me?
Raios… pushed me?
“Get up, Alice.”
“Y-Your Highness. But…”
“It’s fine, just get up. Quickly.”
In that moment, Dana thought:
‘Ah, of course. This is a dream.’
How could it not be? Otherwise, this made no sense.
There was no way Raios would push her aside to help Alice up and fix her disheveled hair.
In front of me—how dare he, right before my eyes!
“Go back for now, Alice.”
“But Dana…”
“I’ll handle this. Just go back and rest up.”
Click.
The door closed as Alice left. In that instant, Dana snapped out of her shock.
“Explain yourself, Raios.”
She stood up. Her legs were shaking, but she managed to stand.
“Explain this situation. Right now—”
“Don’t corner me.”
Her words were cut short.
“I’ll explain even without you badgering me like that.”
What… did Raios just say?
Raios let out a deep sigh and swept back his messy black hair.
“Why did you come without calling first?”
A chill suddenly ran down her spine.
“I’m sure I told you I was busy.”
The dark eyes she met were startlingly fierce.
“I’m truly sorry I couldn’t inform you in advance. I was planning to tell you soon.”
Was it because of that calm voice? Dana couldn’t find any sense of reality.
He wasn’t making excuses. He wasn’t flustered. He was simply… simply admitting it. Despite having betrayed her, he was so nonchalant, so composed—
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, an agonizing pain, as if her heart were being split apart, surged through her.
It was hard to breathe; she let out shallow, panting gasps.
“How could you… with Alice… an affair.”
“This isn’t an affair.”
Raios cut her off firmly.
“This is love.”
In an instant, the accusations filling her mouth scattered.
“I truly love Alice.”
How long did she stand there, pale as a ghost?
“…You cried and begged me to stay when I was trying to return to my world, and now you say you love my cousin? Raios, you are my fiancé!”
“I have no intention of breaking our engagement.”
Raios spoke slowly.
“However, I also plan to marry Alice.”
“You… what?”
“I will marry both you and Alice. It is a common thing for cousins to share one husband—”
Slap—!
His face whipped to the side.
“Raios Grants.”
Her voice trembled. Her hands trembled too.
“Get a grip on yourself. Do you realize the nonsense you’re spewing right now?”
Raios, his head still tilted from the blow, slowly turned to look at her.
“…How dare you.”
The gaze she met was terrifyingly intense.
“How dare you lay a hand on the Crown Prince?”
Roughly, he grabbed her chin. He forced her head up, staring down at her as if to crush her.
“You’re just a possessor who crawled into someone else’s body.”
Dana’s breath hitched in her throat.
“I doted on you, and now you’ve become so arrogant that you’re climbing over my head.”
“…”
“Do you really expect my feelings to remain unchanged when you behave this insolently?”
“…”
“Don’t blame me. You brought my change of heart upon yourself.”
In the next moment, Dana heard a deafening roar.
It was the sound of her entire world shattering into pieces.
She didn’t remember much of what happened after that.
Ah, right. She and Raios had been shouting at each other, arguing.
“The Dimensional Gate is closed. Do you understand? You can’t go anywhere now!”
The memory made her feel faint again.
Because the person who said those words felt like such a stranger.
“Dana, you are a person of this world and one of my subjects!”
It felt as though a complete stranger had donned the shell of the man she loved.
“So behave yourself and follow Imperial Law, Danae Winzer!”
She had fled the room, boarded a carriage…
When she came to her senses, she was walking through the gardens of the Winzer mansion.
“Dana.”
Someone caught her by the shoulder.
“You have to be careful. There’s a pond right in front of you.”
It was her cousin, Lumie.
He checked her face and asked, startled.
“Dana, why are you crying? Did something happen?”
Before she could even answer, Lumie pulled her into an embrace. He patted her back, soothing her gently.
“What is it? Hmm? Why are you crying?”
Ah, finally, she had found someone on her side.
The moment she saw him, a surge of sorrow welled up.
“Brother Lumie. Raios…”
“Yes?”
“Raios… he’s having an affair with Alice.”
In that instant, his hands stiffened.
But it was only for a moment. Lumie let out a sigh.
“An affair?”
He gripped Dana’s shoulders tightly.
“How could you say such nonsense?”
He pushed her away.
“They simply love each other.”
…What?
“To condemn love as an affair, isn’t that a bit vulgar?”
Dana looked up blankly.
A face as delicate as a glass doll. Clear silver hair. Eyes like rubies.
It was strange.
This was definitely Brother Lumie’s face…
“In this world, that isn’t a problem at all. You’re a person of this world now, you should adapt.”
Then why was he talking like a different person?
“How… how can you say that?”
Dana’s voice came out cracked.
“You saw it too, Brother Lumie. When I was about to leave for my world, you saw Raios swear to me as he held me back. But now—!”
“Good heavens, Dana. That’s enough.”
Lumie laughed as if he were troubled.
“Your sense of entitlement is suffocating.”
“…”
“That was then, and this is now. Did anyone force you to stay against your will?”
“…”
“A man having multiple women is perfectly normal in this world.”
Lumie stroked her hair.
His touch was so tender that it made the situation even more bizarre.
“Since you won’t be able to return to your world anyway.”
“…”
“What else can you do? You’ll just have to adapt.”
He smiled brightly. Beautifully, as he always did.
And then, he walked away nonchalantly.
Dana watched his retreating back in utter despair.
That was Lumie?
That person who spoke with such biting sarcasm was the same kind Lumie who had always, at every moment, been on her side?
Dana muttered to herself unconsciously.
“No.”
The Dimensional Gate opens once every hundred years.
But that was just the natural cycle…
‘The Dimensional Gate, I can open it again.’
There was a way to open it through human power.
And she knew exactly how.
