I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

"Leave me alone… disappear!"

Raymond opened his eyes with a shout and exhaled heavily.

His heart was pounding with a hammer, and his forehead was covered with a film of cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?"

The butler, surprised by his shouts, hurried to the bedroom.

"Haa…"

With a deep sigh, he sat up and said.

"I’m okay."

"Should I call the royal doctor?"

Seeing Raymond's pale face, he asked a question, but he just waved it off.

Such things can’t be fixed simply by calling some doctor.

"It's all right, you can go."

"…Yes, Your Majesty."

The butler hesitated in the doorway and left the bedroom.

He took a quick sip of water from the bedside table and then leaned against the head of the bed.

"…Another nightmare."

After Ellie left, nightmares followed him every night.

‘Helpless little me watching father beat mother.’

Even after awakening from sleep, it seemed to him that the nightmare was clearly looming before his eyes.

These terrible childhood memories haven’t been erased, no matter how many years have passed.

Even if he can fall asleep again that night, his nightmare will only repeat.

"Ray, it's okay. I'm here."

Ellie was always by his side when he had nightmares.

On such nights, he lit candles in the room and took her by the hand. Oddly enough, after this ritual, his heart gradually subsided.

And, surprisingly, even when he fell asleep again, he was not tormented by nightmares.

But Ellie is no longer around.

"…Where are you now."

Raymond stared up at the sky with a full moon. And he always looked especially intently at the same star, everything in the same place.

After Ellie left, he stared up at the star every night. Ellie sees this star too, wherever she is?

"I miss you."

He quietly muttered these words, which he had already repeated hundreds of times, breathing deeply and closing his eyes.

Ellie's face and voice, which he could no longer reach.

Raymond didn’t sleep all night.

And when the sun finally rose, there was a cautious knock on the door.

“Your Majesty, may I come in?”

Raymond opened his eyes.

“Yes, come in.”

The servants and the butler, who had come with water to wash their face, knelt down and showed their manners.

"Hail His Majesty, the Sun of the Empire."

"Stand up."

"I'll help you wash your face."

"I’ll do it myself."

Raymond washed himself with cold water. He got up to wake up his broken body, because he still couldn't sleep.

"Your Majesty, you seem to be sleeping badly in the castle. Will you order to call a doctor?"

"Okay."

"I’m afraid I’ll wither like this soon."

The butler looked at him with worried eyes. Raymond, who was holding out a towel to the butler, suddenly froze.

‘It turns out that the time when I was told that he was not well…’

This was stated in the report of the knights who arrived with a report two days ago. They reported that Duke Croft is not feeling well.

Is that why I think about Ellie all night? This is because the Duke is having a hard time?

Maybe… I need to visit him.

For some reason, I was relieved to meet him in person.

"Your Majesty, your outfit is ready."

"Bring my cloak. I need to leave the Imperial Palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Raymond, dressed in a dark robe, hastened to see the state of the Duke and left the palace.

The darkness of the night sky receded, and a blue dawn appeared. Even before the morning sun had risen, there were carts on the road here and there.

This was due to the fact that fresh ingredients had to be delivered to every noble mansion even before dawn finally dawned.

And Ellie was now sitting in one of those wagons heading towards Duke Croft.

"Even if we find a carriage, it can be stopped at the gate. If you have problems, leave immediately."

Lumont returned early in the morning. He had a plan.

I was surprised. I thought it would take at least a couple of days, but Lumont was already standing in front of me and showing me an old shabby dress.

"These are the clothes worn by the workers. It is better to tie your hair too. As if you were a commoner."

He's adding such subtle advice.

‘So Jed was not wrong.’

The first impression of Lumont had already been forgotten.

According to Jed, Lumont was quite resourceful and had a wide network of useful contacts in the Agrita Empire.

Otherwise, it would have become difficult for him to find a way for me to get to the Duke's estate, and only in a day.

"Stop."

At that time, I heard a strange male voice. We have already arrived at the estate.

"I arrived with delivery."

"I was ordered to check everything, so wait."

The voices of merchants and knights were heard, and the approaching footsteps grew louder.

Then the knight lifted the frayed curtain.

"And who is this? I don’t remember this face."

"Oh, this is the new maid. That red-haired boy went to his village. So she will be his replacement."

The merchant came up and explained, but the knight's gaze was still fixed on me.

"Any problems?" the merchant asked cautiously, but the knight just stared at me in silence.

His eyes were focused on my face. The magic didn't work? That can’t be. If this were so, the merchant would be surprised too.

Then why are you looking at me like that?

I had brown hair and brown eyes, which were now the most frequent thing in the Empire.

Also, my facial features were different now. Even I was surprised every time I looked in the mirror.

At that moment, when cold sweat had already covered my back, the knight's lips moved.

"Ah, you looked a lot like my cousin, so excuse me. It looks like everything is okay, go through."

"Ah, haha​​… Yes, thanks."

The merchant pulled down the curtain with an awkward smile. The carriage passed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I’m looking like his cousin."

I laughed like crazy, and now my tension has eased. The carriage soon stopped in front of the mansion.

I went out and began to unload the groceries with the merchant.

"Everything is fresh. Let him tell the price."

That voice was familiar.

Harris's face was very emaciated. Since the position of the Duke was deplorable, it is natural that the faces of his employees were also not bright.

"Yes thank you. We will unload there."

"Yeah."

The moment I opened the kitchen door, I stopped. It was too quiet for the kitchen in the Duke's mansion.

"You can leave the vegetables there."

Said a servant passing by. I put the drawer down and looked around. The number of people in the kitchen has greatly decreased.

I expected the situation to be sad, but it was hard for me to face it.

"Marie, come and take everything here."

Then the merchant called me from the kitchen. He muttered softly as I approached.

"You’ll come out through this door."

The merchant thought all the time that I came from the family of a servant who worked in this mansion. The estate was now being guarded, and I had to sneak inside to see a relative.

Watching the bustle of the kitchen servants, he looked at me and asked me to leave.

"Don't take too long."

I really didn't have much time, because according to legend, we had to just unload the food and leave. I carefully opened the door and walked out of the kitchen.

I was very afraid to bump into someone while walking along the corridor and climbing the stairs, but I never met anyone.

Apart from a few knights who entered this mansion, it seemed that half of the people simply disappeared.

In front of the Duke's bedroom.

After looking around, I carefully opened the door. I heard a familiar voice.

"Who's there?"

"Father, it's me. Ellie."

Father was alone in a curtained room.

As I approached the bed, step by step, the vague silhouette of my father became a clear figure.

Emaciated face and lean body.

The same purple eyes as mine. My father looked at me intently.

He seemed to be looking for a magic bracelet on my wrist, but I was wearing a ring, not a bracelet.

"Ellie?"

I immediately took off the ring. My brown hair turned silver, and brown eyes turned purple.

Only then my father's eyes trembled violently, and he realized that I was the real Ellie.