Ch#82
‘What the hell is this doing here?’
This magic circle had originally been inscribed by Rudvil for Odellie’s sake.
Rudvil himself had no need for a barrier, as he wouldn’t even notice intruders, let alone evade assassins….
It had been set up so that if danger ever struck while Odellie was alone here, she could hold out safely.
Normally, her guard knights stood right outside the door.
She could stay safe on the bed until they noticed and came in to rescue her.
So in principle, only Odellie should have been trapped inside this barrier.
But Rudvil, having no idea, had pulled her in to protect her, and they’d both been thrown onto the bed.
Because the bed had been designated as the safe zone.
“A protective barrier in the first place? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Maybe it was already here?”
Odellie rolled her eyes and brushed it off vaguely.
‘But why in this room?’
The fact that a barrier existed here meant it had been set by Rudvil before her regression—before he lost his memories….
In her immediately previous life, hadn’t Rudvil had no intention whatsoever of letting Odellie into this room?
To fulfill the activation conditions of the Life Transfer Conversion Ritual, hadn’t he confined her to the annex without even letting her take a single step out?
That’s why he’d hammered in that their marriage was merely contractual.
So why….
It was full of questions.
Rudvil, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, spoke up.
“It doesn’t seem like a malfunction.”
“Pardon?”
“This barrier reacted precisely to my anger.”
Not a malfunction judging external intrusion, but a reaction to Rudvil’s anger?
Even Odellie, who held memories of thousands of regressions, hadn’t anticipated that.
Odellie rummaged through her memories.
In Rudvil’s memories, it only showed him inscribing the magic circle in this room, but not the purpose behind it.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. And the barrier only pulled me toward the bed.”
It had tried to protect Rudvil.
So Rudvil hadn’t been drawn to her—it was she who’d been drawn to Rudvil?
As her expression grew more baffled at the incomprehensibility, he continued.
“It didn’t seem like a protective barrier. More like a device to temporarily seal me away.”
“......”
The moment she heard his explanation, Odellie understood what was going on.
Rudvil had prepared this place as a space to isolate and calm himself in case he ever lost control or his reason.
The bed was designated as the center point of that barrier.
This barrier was a device he’d installed to lock himself away.
Because the Life Transfer Ritual was that dangerous.
‘Rudvil had to keep the ritual active even during the five years he isolated me in the annex.’
Mana depletion, or in worse cases, rampage.
Perhaps even to prevent himself from taking his own life.
When he couldn’t bear the weight of his emotions, he’d designated this room as the final place to lock himself away.
This room of all places….
This room where he’d spent countless newlywed days with Odellie….
This room piled high with their memories like a mountain….
“......”
While she was lost in thought, unable to utter a word….
“Are you alright? I felt vibrations from inside! Was there an intruder…!”
Knight Captain Gares pounded urgently on the door and shouted.
Rudvil, his head throbbing from not understanding the situation, let out a sigh and yelled back.
“The barrier malfunctioned. I’ve been forcibly isolated on the bed with the Duchess. It seems there’s some secret barrier passed down in the Excepcion family.”
Like a soldier, he reported his situation first.
He couldn’t very well say, ‘A device to seal me activated,’ so he’d covered for it that way.
It was just trapping them with no immediate danger.
No sooner had Rudvil finished than Gares shouted without hesitation.
“I’ll fetch a mage right away!”
That was when faint whispers were heard.
“Fetch who?”
“Does the Captain have no sense at all?”
The following voice was Edwin’s, and the retort from beside him came from an unidentified knight.
“A barrier malfunction means no immediate danger.”
“And if it were dangerous, His Highness would protect the Madam just fine.”
After a brief silence, the knight cleared his throat and spoke.
“Uh… we don’t know where the mage is, so it might take a bit to bring them!”
A small cheer of ‘That’s right!’ followed.
“It might be inconvenient, but please wait a moment! No idea how long it’ll take!”
And soon, their presence vanished.
Only silence remained.
“......”
“......Knight Captain Gares?”
Odellie called out the Knight Captain’s name through the silence, but her voice echoed emptily.
She was speechless at the absurdity.
They’d even left without calling a mage.
‘It’s a magic circle made by Rudvil before he lost his memories, so even a mage might not be able to dispel it….’
For that reason, Odellie herself couldn’t dispel it either.
She’d been able to dispel the spell circle before because she had the gem acting as the sole key, but the situation now was completely different.
What kind of messed-up subordinates are these….
She soon concluded that with Edwin, it was entirely possible.
Rudvil spoke coldly.
“It seems… it’s time to replace the retainer.”
“......Ha.”
“......”
“......”
Heavy silence.
The space inside the bed was so quiet even breathing felt awkward.
It looked like they’d have to spend the night like this….
They’d planned to share a bed anyway, but actually trying to sleep trapped immovably on it….
‘This isn’t right.’
While Odellie fidgeted on the bed, unable to settle properly….
Rudvil seemed to have fully accepted the situation in just a few minutes, leaning languidly against the headboard as he asked.
“......So, what was that man’s name.”
He was still going to bring that up?
How persistent.
That’s what started the argument in the first place, and now the barrier had activated too.
Odellie shot him a blank look, then let out a deep breath.
And slowly parted her lips.
“Would you even know if I told you? That person….”
She lowered her gaze for a moment, then continued a beat late.
“That person… was just a nameless slave.”
“......”
“And now the only trace left is this ring I have. Well, nothing’s left at all. No name, no body, no records…. I’m the only one in this world who remembers him….”
The regressor Rudvil.
All he’d left behind was, yes, this one ring.
A completely different person from the man before her now.
Ten years change mountains and rivers, but thousands of regressions were like living ten thousand years.
And all those ten thousand years of memories had vanished.
The Rudvil she knew might be a separate entity altogether.
No, she had to believe that.
To stop caring about the man in front of her, she brainwashed herself.
“......You said not to care.”
Odellie flinched, recalling the words she’d uttered in her drunken state.
Rudvil recited her exact words without missing a syllable.
“You said he’s dead anyway, and even if it’s a contract, the one you married is me….”
The tone of someone who’d mulled it over and over in that brief moment.
He didn’t wait for her reply.
Instead, he yanked out the necklace hidden in her clothes.
This time, he didn’t explode in anger asking if she was still wearing it.
Simply.
“So you stop caring about him too.”
With those words, he swiftly pulled the necklace.
Snap. The thin cord, replaced for the wedding, broke in an instant.
