There was something strange about his words, like he was talking to himself, and Alice was returned by a smile of disbelief.
Somehow, Nocton Edgarâs mouth twisted with a face full of displeasure.
âSuddenly engaged, that means sheâs not in love with Sir Claymore.â
âIâm not sure, until nowââ
âThe lady is quite close with Valrose. You must have heard something about Aaron Claymore.â
âDid Roa really tell you nothing?â
âUnfortunately, thatâs the case. So, I want to know what she told you.â
Isnât it a little too far?
Alice sweetened her lips.
As she knew that the Duke Edgar and Roa were childhood friends, she invited him to her drawing room comfortably. She even brought up the story of Roa without much thought.
But the Dukeâs leisurely smiling words seemed rather tenacious.
Perhaps there is a special reason why Roa didnât tell him about her engagement.
She didnât hear much from her about the Duke, but she didnât tell Roa about everything either.
Anyone can have unspeakable circumstances. Itâs a mistake to talk to this person now.
In that thought, Alice tried to close the conversation with a proper excuse. It hasnât been long since she invited him, but she thought she should end their meeting right now.
As she was just opening her mouth, their eyes met.
âIf my request is troubling you, you donât have to tell me. I didnât mean to push you, Lady.â
The moment she looked into his eyes, Alice felt that she had just gone too far.
âAh ⊠No. Itâs not a big story.â
âIf so, can I hear the story?â
âAs much as you want.â
Everyone knows that the Duke of Edgar is a friend of Roa, and she herself called him a friend.
Just a little talk about her wonât cause any trouble.
Aliceâs mouth opened without resistance. She felt it would be fine, Alice felt obliged to speak.
âRoa said she didnât love Sir Claymore. She just accepted the marriage because she liked the external conditions.â
âWhat external conditions?
âThings like appearance, voice, and personality. The family, thereâs nothing wrong with him, so itâs not a matter of liking or not.â
âIs that so, I donât think it was that big of a deal.â
The opponentâs eyes sank. Alice was staring blankly at the figure.
âThank you for telling me. Next time, if Valrose says something else, please let me know immediately.â
âAnytime ⊠I get it, you can go ahead.â
âThanks for that. Just one more thing. Are you the friend who sent letters to Valrose since she was young?â
âYes, thatâs me.â
âI thought the ladyâs condition wasnât well so you need to recuperate in the secluded place. I wonder how did you get acquainted with Valrose.â
âThatâsâŠ.â
She didnât want to talk about Ernhardt.
A sense of defiance rose up and shook Aliceâs heart. Unlike a little while ago, her mouth was not open.
She didnât mean to reject it. Nocton Edgarâs eyes narrowed a little.
Soon afterward, he said soothingly, as if he was genuinely curious.
âItâs all right, Lady Alice. I already know that you are a dear friend of Valrose, and thereâs no way I asked something to harm her. You shouldnât doubt how much I care for Valrose. If I have bad intention, I would have asked someone to investigate it instead of asking it directly to the lady. But you still donât believe me?â
âItâs just like what you said, Your Grace. I met Roa whenââ
By the time Alice continued her words, she was stopped by a knock.
It was Aliceâs brother, Arhan Limorand, who rushed into the drawing room without a word of permission.
âIâm sorry I interrupted your conversation, Duke. There was an urgent situation, so I had to be rude. Alice has a place to go.â
Hearing the familiar voice, the light returned to Aliceâs dimmed eyes.
What, what just happened?
Despite what she was doing, Aliceâs face hardened without understanding the course of her emotions.
Nocton laughed like a sigh as he glanced through her brotherâs face, sliced with embarrassment.
âItâs been a long time, Lord Limorand. Whatâs the reason behind you came in here so suddenly?â
âI apologized. Â I canât tell you because itâs a family affair. I know Iâm being rude, but Iâd like you to make a promise to meet me next time.â
âI canât, I donât think itâs a situation where we can talk.â
At the end of his words, he stared at Alice and smiled softly.
âBecause we have a lot of time. I wish I could see you again next time, young lady.â
It was from that day that the precognition dream of Duke Edgar mingled with Aliceâs dream.
Dreaming in Duke Edgarâs perspective, not of the eyes of Roa, she vividly realized how different the Duke was from the Duke in Roaâs eyes.
***
The light purple liquid moved slowly, sticking to the side whenever I tilted the glass bottle.
It must be a little viscous, but just looking at it was giving me unpleasant feeling.
The Memoriaâs Seal. A rare potion that restores a vague memory and corrects twisted memory.
The thing that costed half of my fortune was right in front of me.
I asked Duvel for help, but I didnât expect to see him in a day. I thought it would be difficult to obtain as much as it was expensive.
Perhaps they have a lot of stock or the demand for the liquid have dropped.
Even though I got the potion quickly, I felt more nervous than happy when I actually face it.
I wondered if it would have a side effect, and the words Duvel left behind while giving the potion was disturbing.
Passing the Memoriaâs Seal, he told me;
depending on how much memory you have, you may lose consciousness for hours or weeks.
Usually itâs about nap time, but once you drink the potion, you canât do anything about it if the effect is stronger.
I lifted and let go of the bottle several times, until I finally took a deep breath and opened the lid.
I am not sure either way.
Whether Nocton Edgar is a good or bad, whether heâs a villain or a hero as I remember him, or what is the actual role of Aaron Claymore.
I was not even sure if I could believe the results, if I could get the truth, or anything, even if my memory gave me a definite answer.
Hopefully, I wanted to make sure that Nocton Edgar wasnât that kind of person.
I wanted to be sure that even if I didnât believe the result that the man who I had seen for decades was only a little bit bad and twisted.
The bottle lid was set aside and the glass bottle was tilted.
Liquid flowed into my mouth. It feels like drinking sticky water.
Soon after such an impression, the world began to spin.
The whole world is drawn into a circle. I feel nauseous and dizzy as if Iâm drunk.
And the next moment, my memories began to flow upside down.
The feeling of my memory being settled was strange. It felt like I was suddenly awakened from my dream, like I was suddenly sober.
To bring out something in common, the mind became painfully clear.
Starting with what happened most recently, my memory set up the disordered things straight as it reversed time.
Even the moment I was just born. Even before I was born again. Even before I died in my previous life.
It was a good thing because I was worried that it would not have any effect on the memories of my previous life, but I was fortunate that the potion could recognize it.
As if I was being swept away by a tidal wave, I had no choice but to look at it.
Finally, the potion reached the original novel, which I wanted to know the most.
The title was
He and Alice
, a novel that I read three years before my death.
In a three-volume novel, I read up to two books, and the cover is the main characters.
I managed to match only somebodyâs hair color.
Instead of embracing the brown haired woman, the black-haired man stood on his back watching her.
His long hair almost covered his face, but his side eyes that looked at the woman glowed red.
The brunette woman, even though it was depicted as a picture, was quite similar to the real Alice.
This is why it was easy for me to recognize her.
The story begins with the revelation of Aliceâs birth.
She headed to capital as the youngest daughter of Limorand and she met Nocton Edgar and Aaron Claymore on several occasions.
As she makes her debut in the society, wears good clothes she has never worn, makes friends and enemies, Alice keeps encountering these two men.
She didnât fall in love with them.
Because Alice already had someone she loved.
When she was in Ernhardt, it was about a year after she became an adult.
Baron Momont was eager to somehow sell Alice at a high price.
A sick lunatic, an old man who seeks beauty , someone who likes to enjoy abusing women. None of the marriage candidates was normal.
In the case of the first marriage, it is a tradition of the empire for the couple to remain engaged for two years and then marry.
No matter how good she was, there was no one who could save Alice from the pit.
Thaâs why she sought a way to escape from Momont.
After being punished and locked up in the room, Alice dressed up in a way to kill her beautiful appearance and began to walk outside the castle.
She can sneak out and sell her familyâs jewelry. Thanks to Aliceâs good behavior, she has never been suspected. She also made money by helping small job.
She couldnât save a lot of money, but if she collected little by little, she was able to raise money for her escape plan.
In the meantime, Alice met a knight.
A young man with dark hair and a strangely blurred impression that he must have used a magic item.
Strictly speaking, he wasnât a knight yet, because it seemed he was on training, but it was obvious that he would soon become a knight.
Although he didnât say it himself, Alice was sure because of his accent and manner.
Even the alias was a common name for a young man whose face and voice could not be remembered at all after parting.