Yuri summoned Graham to his residence.
His palace was rarely visited by others. From the start, its owner, Yuri, was always out and about except when he was sleeping.
So there wasn't much to offer a guest.
Yuri, facing Graham who sat across from him, whispered to Ena.
"Ena."
"Yes...."
"Shouldn't we at least serve some sweets or something...?"
"I sent someone. It'll be here soon...."
"None right now?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Well, that's because Your Highness doesn't usually eat sweets...."
"Hmm..."
"And you don't invite guests...."
"Hmmm..."
"It'll be here soon. Until then, you just have to use your silver tongue to distract from the emptiness. I believe in you, Your Highness."
"So it all depends on my skill."
"Yes. I'll take my leave then."
"Kh..."
Ena walked away with quick steps.
With just the two of them left, the atmosphere felt awkward.
Yuri cleared his throat.
"Sir Graham. Visiting me all of a sudden—I wish you had given me a bit of notice..."
On the table, two cups of black tea sat alone.
Yuri forced a smile and picked up a cup.
"This is called Helgray tea. It has a really nice aroma."
"Is that so?"
"I quite enjoy it. Drinking it feels… calming, I suppose."
The two of them, as if making a toast, raised their cups and took a sip.
Graham, who had closed his eyes as if savoring the tea, soon wore a faint smile on his lips.
"It's lovely."
"Isn't it?"
"Yes."
And once again, silence followed. The atmosphere was strangely heavy.
Yuri's plan to dazzle him with eloquence had already failed at the start.
As Yuri was contemplating what to say, Graham spoke first.
"Your Highness."
"Hmm?"
"You don't need to serve sweets."
"Huh?"
"I just wanted to speak with you alone."
"You heard all that earlier?"
"Yes."
"Ugh..."
He'd heard that pitiful exchange. Yuri was a little embarrassed.
Yuri picked up his teacup and stood.
"If you want to speak in private, let's head inside."
"Yes."
The two left the reception room and moved deeper into the palace to a study.
Between neatly arranged bookshelves, a table was placed, and through the window beside it, a deep blue sky unfolded.
With the open sky beyond the window bars as backdrop, Yuri and Graham sat facing each other.
"Is this something secret?"
"You could say that."
"All right."
Yuri reached under the table and touched a mana stone. A magic embedded within activated, and all sound from outside the study was cut off.
Now, nothing of their conversation would leak outside.
Yuri took a sip of his tea and asked,
"I was surprised you came without notice. But saying you have a secret to share makes me even more tense."
"Hahaha..."
"My offer still stands, you know. So, have you decided to come to Briol?"
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I figured..."
Yuri knew well that Graham wouldn't do that.
Which only made him more curious.
"Then, for what purpose did you come to see me?"
Instead of answering, Graham lowered his gaze to the teacup. Something stirred in his eyes as he looked into the tea.
"Your Highness."
"Hm?"
"There's something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Your Highness, are you perhaps..."
"Perhaps?"
"From the future?"
"What?"
Yuri nearly spat out the tea he was drinking. He barely managed to maintain his composure. His heart pounding, he calmed himself using the mana method.
Yuri forced a smile.
"T-That's ridiculous. Sir Graham, you say the strangest things."
"Right. Hahahaha..."
Graham laughed softly.
"It's just something I thought. You seem like someone who doesn't make mistakes."
"Me?"
"Yes."
He leaned back in his chair, his eyes drifting as if reminiscing.
"In the Allied Army, Your Highness was unusually calm for your age. Whatever you attempted, you succeeded in. Looking at your actions so far, you seem like someone moving with knowledge of the future."
"I was lucky."
"That's a bit hard to believe, considering how confident you always are."
"I was just pretending to be."
"Is that so..."
Graham lowered his eyes.
"My decision to come here was impulsive. I suddenly wanted to ask you. Of all the people I know, you're the one who least doubts his own decisions."
"There's someone in the Empire who fits that description better, isn't there?"
Yuri's joke made Graham shake his head.
"That's not self-confidence. That's faith in power."
"You're surprisingly bold with your words, Sir Graham."
"I didn't name anyone, though."
"Neither did I."
The two chuckled at the same time. Yuri spoke again.
"Let's say, though I don't agree, that I'm the kind of man who never doubts his decisions, as you say."
"Yes."
"What advice do you seek from such a man, to come all this way?"
"Your Highness…"
Graham paused, choosing his words.
"Do you believe in a meaningful death?"
Yuri, startled by the sudden question, put down his teacup.
"Let me ask again. Between surviving while forsaking honor, and dying while keeping it, which would Your Highness choose?"
Yuri stared at Graham with a stiff expression.
Etched onto Graham's face was the same melancholy expression he had worn when Yuri let him live in their past life.
It was as if the Graham from that past life had returned to ask:
You survived in disgrace.
So, how was it?
Was it worth it to live like that, or would it have been better to die?
Yuri already had an answer.
But he couldn't bring himself to say it.
So he dropped his gaze and stared into the surface of the tea, reflecting on the past.
In the end, it was fortunate that he had lived.
Because he survived, he was able to return to the past, and gained a chance to struggle for redemption.
But that was merely by chance.
Originally, he was fated to die—his throat slit by Laurent, his body left to rot in the wilderness.
Had he died there, he would not have found peace even in death.
After abandoning his honor, there was no place in the world where his heart could find rest.
So then, how fortunate would it be to die where one is meant to die?
However.
Graham Hartfall.
How could he give a simple answer to such a question, when this honorable knight came asking with such a face?
He wanted to say no instead.
Yuri raised his eyes to look at Graham.
He was smiling.
As if saying he was fine, go ahead and give me an answer.
Yuri opened his mouth.
"Sir Graham."
"Yes."
"I'd like to tell you the story of someone I once knew."
"I'd like that. Is it someone I know?"
"Maybe."
"May I ask who it is?"
"That's a secret."
"Are they dead?"
"You could say that."
"I see."
"Now that I'm trying to say it, I don't know how to begin..."
"You're the one who brought it up, Your Highness."
"That's true."
"Hahaha, then let me ask instead."
"Go ahead."
"First…"
Graham tilted his head slightly as he asked:
—What kind of person was he?
***
She didn't know how it came to this.
Rein was sitting across from the Emperor's daughter in her room.
The treasure of the Empire, Ekaterina.
Even as a fellow woman, Rein found her beauty beyond comprehension.
Rein, too, had often been called beautiful. She had always been quietly confident.
But now, staring at the imperial princess, she felt embarrassed for ever thinking such a thing.
She seemed to live on an entirely different plane.
"..."
Ekaterina silently sipped her tea.
"It smells wonderful."
"Doesn't it?"
"Helgray?"
"You know it?"
"Someone I liked was fond of it..."
Her green eyes were so unrealistically clear that she looked like a doll with gemstones for eyes.
At first, Rein had found the lack of emotion eerie.
But the moment Ekaterina smiled while speaking about the tea, her whole face lit up.
She was stunning.
Rein couldn't help but wonder—who was the one who could make her smile like that?
Just by changing her expression, she could make others entertain all kinds of thoughts—truly, she was blessed by the heavens with her looks.
But as a merchant, one must never be deceived by appearances.
"So then, what brings you to me?"
"I heard you brought in goods from the East."
"Yes, that's correct."
Rein took out a thin booklet she had prepared.
"In that case, you may take a look at this. It's a catalog with a rough list of the items—"
"No need."
Ekaterina shook her head.
"I didn't come here for the goods."
"In that case…"
"By the way, is this room soundproof?"
"Pardon?"
"I'd like to talk in secret."
"Ah, yes."
Rein hid her unease and took out an artifact from her inner pocket.
Mana stored in a magic stone spread a soundproof barrier within the room.
Now, none of their conversation would leak outside.
"It's reliable, right?"
"Of course."
As Ekaterina eyed the artifact skeptically, Rein explained,
"This item, you see, I received it personally from a Master Wizard of the Magic Tower—"
"Sorry. It's just that what I'm about to say is extremely secretive."
"I'm Rein Wood. I value trust more than life. Nothing will leak out."
"All right."
She had expected Ekaterina to speak right away, but the princess paused instead.
At times like this, it was best to remain silent.
Rein waited until Ekaterina chose to speak on her own.
"Can I call you Rein?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Rein. To tell you the truth, I've been watching you for a long time."
"…Excuse me?"
Rein looked up. Ekaterina had a vague smile on her lips.
"There's something I've thought about while observing you…"
And what followed made Rein momentarily speechless.
"Are you perhaps from the future?"
To fall into silence in a daze would be to admit you'd been caught off guard.
So in any situation, Rein was the type to always speak first.
But this time, she truly couldn't say a word.
It wasn't just that she was dumbfounded.
Because the truth was—Rein had once entertained the very same thought herself.
"When might you have come from?"
"Your Highness is more amusing than I expected. Hahaha…"
"Or perhaps it's not you who came from the future, but someone around you?"
"You have quite the sense of humor."
Rein barely managed to maintain her composure. Yes, it was something that could reasonably be suspected.
She had expanded her business without a single failure. From the outside, it might look like she knew the future.
"From the future, huh? That must mean you hold my judgment in very high regard. I appreciate the praise."
"I'm not speaking metaphorically. I meant it literally."
"You mean, asking if I'm from the future?"
"That's right."
"And may I ask why you're asking such a thing…"
"It just seemed that way."
"It just seemed that way?"
"Mm."
Now, Rein wanted to know what on earth the princess was thinking.
So she added weight to her voice.
"Your Highness."
Rein wasn't one to simply be intimidated just because the other person was royalty.
"You wouldn't have come to me in such haste, as if you'd been waiting for this moment, merely because it 'seemed that way.' That's not like you at all."
"You know my personality too?"
"I thought you might become an important client."
"Is there something you want to sell me?"
"There is, but let's return to the original topic."
"I thought you'd brush it off as a joke, but you're being serious?"
"Yes."
"Because it struck a nerve?"
"Your Highness, if you don't speak honestly about why you came here, I don't see a reason to continue this conversation."
"Fufu…"
Ekaterina laughed playfully.
It was a new expression she showed today. Rein, who had been ready to argue further, momentarily fell silent.
There was no special reason. She simply wanted to see that face a little longer.
To make her stop speaking just to admire an expression—truly, that face defied logic.
Rein let out a deep sigh.
"Anyway…"
She tried to consider Ekaterina's position in reverse.
She couldn't be sure how much was true, but she didn't seem insane.
She wasn't the type to show up just to joke around either.
"Please speak properly. I'm tired."
"All right. You're still on your guard, so I suppose I'll have to be the one to speak first."
Ekaterina stroked her teacup with her fingertips and said offhandedly,
"I'm from the future too. That's why I asked."
Rein once again lost her words.
Most people would assume the princess had lost her mind, or that she was just teasing.
But Rein, before she knew it, was taking it seriously.
This very reaction meant that she too harbored the same suspicion deep down.
From the moment Ekaterina brought up the future, Rein had been thinking of him.
Yuri Briol.
The business partner who always seemed to have the answers, as if he knew the future.
"Hahaha…"
As Rein remained silent, Ekaterina burst into laughter.
"I must've caught you off guard, saying something so sudden."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean."
"It's okay, I understand."
That unreadable smile—he had it too.
While Rein was still thinking, Ekaterina spoke again in a voice tinged with laughter.
"Well, what can you do at this point? I'll just tell you. You can take it with a grain of salt."
"Understood."
"This is just a story about someone I know, okay?"
"Yes."
"So then…"
She lowered her long lashes and said,
"Someone I know said that, one day, memories of the future suddenly came back. More precisely, it was like they had returned to the past from the future."
"I see."
"But those memories weren't complete. Just fragmented scenes, like torn pages. At first, they thought it was just a delusion. But the future they knew began to unfold exactly as they remembered."
"I understand."
"So they began to wonder if there were others like them, and searched the world. And then they found you. A merchant who was succeeding in business as if she knew the future."
"I've simply been lucky, that's all."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then you're not the one."
"Pardon?"
"There's actually another person like that. Someone who's walking a different path from the future I knew."
At some point, the subject had shifted—but neither of them minded.
"You probably succeeded in business early thanks to that person's help. Am I right?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"I'd appreciate it if you were honest."
"You speak as if you're certain someone is behind me."
"I am certain."
Rein couldn't deny she was intrigued by Ekaterina's story.
She too had her suspicions about Yuri Briol, and the part about her early success particularly stood out.
Now she wanted to know what kind of future Ekaterina had seen.
What was her own fate? Had she eventually built the Rein Trading Company?
And what about Yuri Briol? Was he as impressive a man in that future as he was now?
There were many things she wanted to ask.
But before anything else, Rein asked the most important question.
"Your Highness. Hypothetically speaking."
"Yes, hypothetically."
"This story is interesting, so I'll play along. Let's say, just as you claim, someone is behind me. And that person truly possesses knowledge of the future."
"If so?"
"What would you do with that person?"
It was just a light probe.
But the moment she asked, Ekaterina's face darkened. Like a flower wilting in an instant, the brightness in her expression gave way to a deep melancholy.
What had happened between them?
Rein waited calmly.
But Ekaterina couldn't bring herself to speak.
At times like this, gentle coaxing worked best.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"If it's difficult to talk about, I can rephrase my question."
"All right."
"We have plenty of time, so let's take it slow. First…"
Rein chose her words, then asked what she truly wanted to know.
—What kind of person was he?
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