What should I have done?

In his grief, Alejandro asked himself numerous times.

As cause and effect intertwined so abundantly together within him, he tried to look for the exact instance when it went wrong. However, no matter how many times he asked himself, there was no answer.

It was only Ophelia who existed in that way, motionless, like a still-life painting upon a canvas.

He played that day’s events over and over in his mind. The day he had been exiled from Ophelia’s walls.

There was only one reason why Ophelia remained silent when he found out about the connection between Alejandro and Ariel.

Because Ophelia did not reveal her own tragedy.

Ophelia was an imperial princess, and a grand duchess. Those titles attached to her name were directly linked to her own dignity.

This upright dignity might have been what broke her before this, but what’s certain was that it’s also the sturdiest pillar keeping her up.

Ophelia was ashamed about showing any kind of weakness.

Even when he saw her crying after she had a fight with Ian, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and smiled nonchalantly.

—Where are you headed to, Alei?

—..Are you crying?

—..A little. But I’m fine now. I must look unsightly.

Ophelia tried to make excuses, saying that she wasn’t like this before, and that she was getting too emotional lately.

It was in the imperial family’s nature to teach their members to remain calm at all times, and even crying or showing any anger was something she considered to be disgraceful.

So, Alejandro couldn’t speak up first about how he knew Ariel, and about how he was already aware of what kind of position she had in the Ronen Castle.

The peripheral tower where the mages lived was a separate building from the castle, so it was easy to act like an eccentric mage who couldn’t read the atmosphere.

So it was in that way that he looked away—from Ophelia and to Ariel’s situation. And he told himself that this was all for Ophelia’s sake.

‘Back then, I thought it was the best way.’

He wasn’t so sure anymore. If, instead of thinking that Ophelia considered him as an outsider, would the situation have changed?

If he had revealed that he knew all about her situation and if he advised her to leave that place.. At the very least, Ophelia wouldn’t now be in a situation where she couldn’t wake up.

With her red hair and closed eyes, she looked like an intricately made doll.

However, even when her eyes were shut like that, when she looked so calm, her complexion was still present. She was unconscious, but her hands were soft, and her warmth remained.

So it made sense why word about her being ‘comatose’ was circulating, and so were rumors about the other man who was waiting for her to wake up, unable to give up hope.

Her husband. The one who took her life.

He had no idea how long it’s been since Ophelia collapsed, but Ian looked quite different from how Alejandro remembered him.

Although he looked rather obstinate, there were scars around his alabaster face, and his deep-set eyes and hollow cheeks reminded him of the dead.

Besides that, the faint sound of crying that could be heard every night, somewhere in the castle, was his.

“Find out the cause right away. Why can’t Ophelia open her eyes?”

Though his voice was originally a baritone that had a nice tone, his voice now cracked and even sounded like the cry of a monster.

It was quite the pathetic sight.

Seeing his bloodshot eyes and that fragile expression made Alejandro flare up in disgust.

It was all the more so because Alejandro knew better than anyone how much of a hypocrite this man was after leaving Ophelia alone all that time.

And so, too, did he know very well just how much Ophelia loved Ian.

—If it’s with Ian, I feel like I can live. I didn’t know this before, but.. there is such a person like that. A person who could become the reason for someone else to live.

Ophelia looked so happy while she loved Ian. With her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling with affection, everything about her was beautiful.

This memory was still clear to him. He didn’t know what it was like for Ian, who, in the most horrible way possible, ruined the jewel who Alejandro loved.

An enraged voice slowly flowed out.

“..How long has it been since the Grand Duchess was last conscious?”

“Is that important? I have ordered you to do a completely different thing.”

As Ian retaliated, his eyes indicated his clear vigilance and desire to monopolize Ophelia.

Seeing this, Alejandro laughed in vain. And with his expression distorted, the derisive chuckle that trickled out of his lips was sharp.

Ian seemed to be hopeful just by the fact that Ophelia was not dead just yet. But Alejandro was not the same.

“The Grand Duchess cannot come back. Her condition is no different from being dead. Please give up.”

“What? Right now, this—”

“Do you believe that the only requisite for a person to stay alive is for them to keep breathing?”

“Ophelia is alive! Don’t you?dare?say such ludicrous statements to my face. We have to think that Ophelia will regain consciousness, but are you trying to say that we should give up on someone who’s been living just fine?”

Ian blew up and shouted at Alejandro, accusing him of not remembering how he was close to Ophelia while he was staying at Ronen.

Without the slightest clue about how, between them, Alejandro was the one who wanted to get angry.

With clenched teeth, Alejandro explained why Ophelia could not return alive.

“You still don’t seem to understand the situation, so let me explain. There is a spell on the Grand Duchess. Because of that, her time has been halted. She is in eternal sleep.”

“Then shouldn’t you know how to solve this?”

How he wished that he did.

“There are some kinds of spells that no mage can undo.”

As long as certain conditions were not met, a conditional spell could not be undone.

‘Ophelia had that mermaid scale in her possession.’

Considering that she had that scale, which contained the final thoughts of a mermaid, and the nonhuman magic surrounding her body right now, he could come to only one conclusion.

‘I explained it to you on purpose so that you’re aware of its dangers, but.’

It’s become like poison. In the end, Ophelia swallowed the mermaid scale after Alejandro left.

The explanation he had given to her was straightforward, so it was obvious what she wanted.

Death.

The person who swallowed the scale wished to die, and it was the same case for the owner of that scale, Ariel.

“So unless a miracle happens, the Grand Duchess will not open her eyes ever again.”

The cold voice flatly delivered the woman’s obituary. But unlike the tone of his voice, he was a mess inwardly.

As Alejandro connected the chain of events that lead to Ophelia’s death, the more it became painful for him.

He listened to Ian denying Ophelia’s death, then he returned to the magic tower. And ultimately, he was able to let out his emotions.

The thought that he left Ophelia to die alone—it was unbearable.

Alejandro’s unraveling was not as loud as Ian’s, but the ruptures could not be hidden.

His eyes were open, but not open. And when emptiness and darkness pulled him down, tears were shed endlessly.

Because he couldn’t die, time just went by. Even when he knew that it was beyond the point of no return, there was nothing he could do.

Only the individuals involved would be able to solve conditional magic.

And the only way to glean anything new was to perhaps read Ophelia’s mind.

‘Wait.’

As he went down on this train of thought, Alejandro suddenly realized this distinct point.

About Ariel’s scale.

Swallowing Ariel’s scale was what caused Ophelia to be in that indeterminate state, neither dead nor alive—and this truth was certain.

Then,?why?did Ariel’s scale put Ophelia in that state?

‘Didn’t Ariel blame Ophelia until the moment of her death?’

Wouldn’t it have been more plausible for the mermaid to lead Ophelia straight to death without making her like that? Why was it only deep sleep? Why, of all things..

‘..What if Ariel’s wish was?not?Ophelia’s death?’

Alejandro jumped to his feet. He strode to the bookshelves and took out some books. Then, in the middle of doing so, a hidden letter slipped out.

It was Ariel’s letter. Had it not for the conservation spell placed upon it, it would have already corroded beyond touch.

Truthfully, Alejandro didn’t read this letter very carefully.

He didn’t have much to do with Ariel. They struck a deal, he gave her legs, and that was all.

The important part in this letter was that Ariel pointed out the mage staying at Ronen who was actually from the magic tower, but that wasn’t all that she said.

This was the same as Ariel’s will. And as the person who received her will, he put a conservation spell on it out of courtesy.

And in that letter, there was one part that Ariel had roughly blurred out.

「 But how can I stab Ian? If I had to stab someone, then.. 」

The latter part of the sentence was unevenly obscured by ink. It was also something that he didn’t particularly care about before.

Alejandro used magic to remove the ink that stained the part that Ariel tried to cover.

And so, that sentence became complete.

「 If I had to stab someone, then it would be no one else but me. 」