Episode 80
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The distance had closed again so suddenly, but Odelia could no longer avoid it.
She had stepped into the Noose he had cast, herself.
* * *
As expected, it was the bridal chamber.
Befitting the status of the Grand Duke's bedroom, it was dazzlingly ornate, but its essence was no different.
Anyone could see that this was a space meticulously decorated for a newly married couple.
'Ugh.'
Odelia stopped at the threshold without realizing it.
On the table, a crystal candlestick with a soft glow and two wine glasses were placed side by side.
And...
'Rose petals... on the bed.'
Red rose petals were piled high on the pure white duvet.
The intention was obvious.
The servants must have decorated it.
If it were just for a single decoration, she wouldn't be this flustered.
'This room... I know it...'
Because she knew it was the same room she had lived in once.
Actually, it was no surprise.
Ludville was a regressor who had repeated the same time thousands of times, and he had lived as Archduke Excepcion in those repeated times hundreds of times.
Unless it was a life where he died before meeting Odelia.
Or unless it was a life deliberately thrown away for some experiment.
They were always, without fail, a couple.
They married, lived together, and spent the night in this room.
Memories flooded in.
More than she could bear.
"I told you to cry only in my arms, my wife."
"Don't hold your breath and endure it."
"Is it very hard? I'm sorry. Just a little more..."
Between breaths, the warmth of the two touched and intertwined.
This place was where the most intense time of all those lives was accumulated.
The room where the longest and hottest moments were melted.
"What are you doing standing there like a statue?"
Ludville cast a questioning gaze at Odelia, who was standing without crossing the threshold.
"...It's nothing."
Odelia forced her stiff legs to move and stepped into the room.
Why did they have to decorate this place as the bridal chamber?
Well, the Grand Duke and Duchess of Excepcion traditionally began their married life in this room.
Odelia, who always met an early death, and Ludville, who invariably turned back time and started again.
In the end, the two were always newlyweds.
So the most memories were accumulated here.
Odelia knew it in her head, but she began to resent the head butler for simply following tradition.
"Would you like a glass of wine?"
"..."
"You couldn't even have a proper sip of alcohol at the banquet hall because you were preparing for Cardel's attack."
Yes, let's drink.
She felt like she couldn't bear it sober.
"...Okay. Just one glass."
Ludville raised his eyebrows slightly, as if unexpectedly, and then poured the wine.
The red liquid slowly pooled into the transparent glass.
Odelia carefully approached and picked up the glass.
This composition, this air, the cold touch of the glass, the man standing opposite...
It was clear. This scene was also familiar.
Déjà vu, no, another memory was revived.
"Odelia, are you drunk?"
"Yes, I am. My wife is not drunk."
"How cute you are babbling. If you're like this, I can't even touch you."
"I can't give up the first night... Hmm, should I endure it this life?"
Ugh.
Dizzying memories seeped through the cracks of reality.
Odelia put the glass to her lips and gulped it down.
"You don't have to drink so quickly, I won't take it away."
"..."
Ludville's low and playful voice followed.
Instead of answering, Odelia refilled the glass.
She had said she would only have one glass, but that was meaningless.
'Let's drink until the alcohol kicks in a little. And then just pass out.'
In the first place, it wasn't the first time they were sleeping together in this life either.
There was a day when Ludville entered her bedroom without permission, pulled her into his arms, and fell asleep, wasn't there?
She could do the same as then.
She was terribly surprised at first, but after that, she responded calmly.
Even now, she was just flustered by the memories that were pouring out without permission.
'...Yes. It's a little better after drinking.'
Odelia relaxed and leaned back against the chair.
The place was the same, but the situation was different.
Only then did her foolish heart seem to realize that the relationship between the two was completely different from then.
In a slightly slower voice, she said.
"I'll drink for 10 more minutes and then go to sleep. It would be difficult if you hugged me. We're just going to sleep in the same bed..."
"I don't know if I can sleep with just that. Wouldn't you need the same conditions as last time?"
When Ludville retorted playfully, Odelia replied with a serious face.
"You can sleep. I made a diet to suit your taste. I can adjust the sleeping environment."
That was also the beginning of everything.
From the time she made the blatant lie that 'I made it up thinking of someone who resembled you' when he asked how she had matched his taste at first, things started to get twisted like this.
Odelia threw the words dryly, as if giving up.
"Hmm."
Then, Ludville, who was staring intently at her, tilted his head and asked.
"Did that man also have insomnia?"
"He wasn't as bad as you... Yes, there were definitely nights when he couldn't sleep."
"...You're not even denying it now."
He let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.
But Odelia shrugged her shoulders as if to say, so what?
'Even if I deny that such a man doesn't exist, you won't believe me. And I can't tell the truth that that man was you.'
You wouldn't believe it anyway.
In the end, she had no choice but to become a brazen woman who appeared at the wedding wearing the belongings of her ex-boyfriend.
And thinking about it that way...
Suddenly, she felt a surge of anger.
In the life right before this one, Ludville also wore a ring on his wedding day.
He even wore it proudly on his left ring finger and skipped the ring exchange.
'Was it really necessary to go that far?'
Even if it was a contract marriage, even if it was intended to make them break up.
'Isn't that really too much?'
Because of that, Odelia suffered so much, thinking that she was desperately in love with someone who had a lover!
Besides, how much was she subtly looked down upon as a pitiful bride who couldn't even exchange rings after getting married?
Did he know? Of course, he wouldn't know.
He died in the last life, and he lost all his memories in this life!
'And you can do it, but why can't I?'
Odelia had hidden the ring inside her clothes out of consideration for Ludville.
There was no way the person in question would ever find out.
But just because she touched her chest once, he recognized it with his animal-like senses and blamed her!
'Ugh...'
Odelia suddenly had a problem with her emotional control.
It was because the alcohol suddenly kicked in.
But outwardly, her rushing emotions were not noticeable. She was just calm and quiet.
But for a moment, her eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Yes, he did have insomnia."
She said expressionlessly, with her arms crossed.
"He said that he could fall asleep if he kept listening to my voice. At first, I thought he was indirectly insulting me by saying I was a boring woman... But he literally meant that my voice was calm and had a flat pitch, so it was easy to fall asleep."
Odelia paused, as if recalling a memory, and stared blankly into the air before continuing.
"Maybe it meant that he felt reassured and comfortable enough to fall asleep in my arms."
"..."
"So, if you close your eyes, I'll read you a book or something. And..."
She said, tilting her head slightly.
"There was a lullaby that that man liked. I'll sing it for you."
