The two of them walked slowly, watching the never-ending illusion magic from the spot with the best view.

A brief bout of silence passed. Violet quietly admired the beauty of the scenery before speaking again.

“I wasn’t a good person in the past.”

Aldin listened to her words attentively.

“Even if I did say those things to you, I’m sure I had ulterior motives.”

“I understand.”

It was a simple response to what had been a difficult confession for her to make. Violet glanced at him, surprised.

“…You know that and yet you feel moved? You must have been truly isolated.”

“There was someone who pitied me.”

“Was it your older sister?”

“…Back then, even that sympathy didn’t feel welcome.”

Violet gave a small smile, feeling like she understood what he meant.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me more? About the past, or whatever you’d like.”

“…It’s not the kind of story someone like you should hear.”

“Is it something you’d rather not talk about? If so, you don’t have to.”

Violet’s calm voice prompted Aldin into a brief silence. But soon, he began to speak again.

“My childhood was ordinary. Except for the fact that I didn’t have a father.”

Despite his initial hesitation, he spoke about his past with surprising ease.

He told her about growing up with his mother, a famous actress and singer. Although they had no financial troubles, he faced ridicule and scorn because he was a fatherless child. And then, when it was revealed that he was the illegitimate son of Duke Aesir, everything changed.

Violet listened quietly, taking in his story. It was almost amusing—how could one truly understand the life of another, especially when they hadn’t lived it themselves?

Yet, within his story, Violet keenly felt the loneliness Aldin must have experienced.

If they were going to ridicule and scorn him, why bring him into their lives at all?

Why allow him to be humiliated by mere servants? How did it feel to live in a mansion where no one stood by his side?

Violet understood why he had grown to hate the world. She knew all too well what it was like to be unable to accept kindness, to see everything and everyone as an enemy.

What she couldn’t understand was how her words had somehow saved him.

Don’t let bloodlines rule you. Elevate yourself so that no one can look down on you. Stand above them.

It was a sentiment that’s so typical of Violet, really.

The words she had said to fortify herself had somehow saved someone else.

Ridiculous.

In reality, after those words, Aldin had lived with determination, creating a value for himself that wasn’t tied to his bloodline.

Once he realized he had a talent for swordsmanship, he threw himself into training, working tirelessly. And with a favor from his older sister, he had even started attending the academy.

“If not for what you said, I wouldn’t be anything today.”

His voice was filled with kindness as he said this. Violet knew that at his core, Aldin was a kind person.

“No—that was all you. You did all of it yourself, so you can take pride in it.”

“I wouldn’t have changed without that turning point.”

“There are plenty of people who don’t change, even when they have the chance.”

“Still…”

They circled around the same conversation. Violet smiled gently and responded differently this time.

“No one chooses to be born into this world. Children deserve to be loved, regardless of bloodline or family.”

She spoke words that were different from what she had once said.

In a way, she was talking to herself as well.

She wanted to whisper to that child who had felt so isolated at eight years old that they were worthy of love, even without all that desperate striving.

“…Is that so.”

Aldin neither confirmed nor denied her words, giving a vague answer.

Both the young her and the young him deserved to be loved simply because they were children. Even if the time had passed, even if that time had shaped who they had become, it was still a time that should have been met with comfort.

Violet didn’t continue the same line of thought.

But a sudden question arose in her mind.

What if—just what if Aileen had known she could be loved unconditionally? Would their relationship have been so twisted?

If she hadn’t fallen into that sense of inferiority, denying her own bloodline and her mother’s, and thinking she could only receive love by pushing someone else out of the way?

It was a pointless thought. Even if that were true, Violet would have still disliked Aileen. They were too fundamentally different.

Violet closed her eyes slowly, ending her train of thought.

What did she think of Aldin? It was a feeling she hadn’t clearly defined, something she had left unresolved after much thought.

Even though she hadn’t given an answer to his feelings, Aldin had waited. He had even said that it didn’t matter if she rejected him, that if his feelings became a burden, it would be better to sever them.

And he had worked hard on the unfamiliar, too. He said he could give up everything for her.