Chapter 184: Heart to Heart Talk
The next day, Gregorius, Eva, and Geoffrey met with the nobles who supported King Gregorius. The negotiations took half a day, but ultimately, almost every noble agreed and supported Geoffrey as the new King of the Durnhill Kingdom to replace Gregorius. Meanwhile, Mirea—accompanied by Milia, Alicia, and Pyria—spoke with Prince Nikolai at his residence, which served as the rebel headquarters. They told Nikolai everything from the beginning to the current situation and their future plans. Nikolai listened seriously, nodding along. He smiled when he heard that Geoffrey was his younger brother and the crown prince who would succeed the King. Once everything was told,
"Thank goodness I don’t have to attack Papa... it turns out he was being controlled, and I think I know who the culprit is," Nikolai said.
"Who exactly do you have in mind?" Mirea asked.
"Viscount Oscar Russelhoff, Julius’s biological grandfather," Nikolai answered.
"Hmm... I see," Mirea replied.
"I’ve been suspicious since the beginning. From the moment the war between the Orthus Empire and the Ateras Kingdom was declared, he kept whispering in Papa’s ear. After I looked into it, it turns out he was one of the three people who proposed that the Durnhill Kingdom collaborate with the Orthus Empire and adopt the religion of the goddess Ophelia," Nikolai said.
"Then where is he now?" Alicia asked.
"Word is he’s already in the Orthus Empire; the dark elf spies were the ones who told me," Nikolai replied.
"I see. That means there are no more obstacles, because sooner or later we’re headed to the center to destroy the Orthus Empire and establish a new one," Mirea replied.
"That’s right, there’s nothing more to worry about," Alicia added.
The atmosphere in the room went silent. No one said a word. Then, Pyria noticed that Nikolai and Mirea seemed a bit uncomfortable around each other. She immediately looked at Milia and Alicia.
"Milia, Alicia, how about we step out for a moment?" Pyria asked.
At first, the two of them were confused, but after seeing Pyria’s face and reading the room, Milia and Alicia looked at each other and nodded.
"Alright. Forgive us, Prince Nikolai, but we’re going to step out for a bit," Milia said, standing up.
"Yes, please go on without us for a moment," Alicia added.
"Oh... where are you going?" Mirea asked, confused.
"The bathroom," Pyria, Milia, and Alicia replied in unison with a smile.
Without waiting for a response, the three of them dashed out of the room. After the door closed, the atmosphere became even quieter than before and a bit stiff. But then Nikolai spoke up.
"Mirea, I heard you’re engaged to Ard. Congratulations," Nikolai said with a smile.
"Huh... you... you know?" Mirea asked, shocked.
"Yes, I know. During our time apart since the academy, I’ve been keeping an eye on you, so I know the gist of what’s been happening," Nikolai answered, still smiling.
"I see... I’m sorry, Nikolai," Mirea said, looking down.
"Huh... why are you apologizing?" Nikolai asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Aren’t you angry? I broke the promise we made when we were children—our promise to get married," Mirea answered.
Nikolai fell silent. He turned his head to look away, his face flushing red as he covered his mouth. But it wasn’t because he was angry; quite the opposite. He was trying his absolute best to stifle his laughter, doing everything he could to make sure Mirea didn’t notice.
The room fell silent again, but the tension wasn’t as thick as before. Mirea sat with her head bowed, occasionally stealing glances at Nikolai, whose body was actually trembling from the effort of holding back. Finally, Nikolai turned back toward her, his expression returning to normal.
"Ahem... sorry, Mirea. I’m not angry at all. From the start, that promise was impossible to keep anyway. I couldn’t exactly leave the palace and run away with you—you obviously know that," Nikolai said.
"Yeah... I know. I know all too well," Mirea replied.
"So you don’t need to apologize to me, right? Just follow your heart. Ever since you first met Ard in the library, I’ve heard nothing but stories about him from you, almost every single day. I knew back then—one week in that library was enough to make you fall for him. Am I right?" Nikolai asked.
"Uh... you really can read me, can’t you? Was it really that obvious?" Mirea asked.
"Crystal clear. So, since then, I’ve actually been relieved. To be honest, with my position as a prince, I was struggling with how to tell you that we couldn’t be together. Maybe if we were born differently it would work, but clearly not in this lifetime," Nikolai answered with a smile.
"So you really don’t mind?" Mirea asked, lifting her head to look at Nikolai.
"Not at all," Nikolai answered simply.
"Thank you, Nikolai. I feel so much better now. I wanted to send you a letter so many times to tell you about this, but the others stopped me because we were in hiding at the time, which I totally understood. Now I can say it out loud—I am Ard’s fiancee... the fifth one, hehe," Mirea said.
The room suddenly went dead silent. Nikolai, who had been relaxed just a moment ago, snapped his head toward Mirea, processing what he had just heard.
"Sorry... the fifth?" Nikolai asked, fearing he’d misheard.
"Oh... I haven’t told you yet, have I? Well, it’s like this: Eva, Alicia, Claudia, Beatrice, me, Milia, Rosalind, and Pyria are all Ard’s fiancees... we all fell in love with the same man, and there’s a reason for it," Mirea answered cheerfully.
"Huh... I’m just hearing about this. So Ard claimed everyone at once... wow... even as a prince, I’m actually impressed... though he’s a prince too... come on, tell me the reason," Nikolai said in disbelief.
Mirea immediately told him about Ard and Eva repeating their lives nine times. In each of those lives, Alicia, Claudia, Beatrice, Mirea, Milia, Rosalind, and Pyria had been Ard’s lover in their own respective timelines, and every single one of them had been killed by Eva. Alicia was killed during a rebellion with Ard; Milia was killed when Eva’s ship landed, destroying her village and everyone in it.
Beatrice was killed in the Rellios palace after Ard was slain; Claudia was killed fighting alongside Ard when Eva attacked her village; Rosalind was killed by Ard because she was his wife when he was a merchant and their caravan ran into Eva’s army on their way to war; and finally Pyria—she was killed while adventuring with Ard by Eva’s hand, who happened to run into them during a war and mistook them for spies.
"Wow... that’s incredible. I just thought Ard and Eva were heroes from 3,000 years ago and royals from 1,000 years ago. I never imagined it was like this," Nikolai said.
"I didn’t believe it at first either, but Ard and Eva finally explained why they repeated their lives nine times—and now a tenth. Back when they were Azroth and Evelina, they made a promise. As long as that promise wasn’t fulfilled, they would keep repeating. It seems like now, their promise has finally been kept, and we’ve all been dragged into their destiny," Mirea replied.
"This is... unbelievable. So what happened to you in your life with Ard in the past?" Nikolai asked.
"Hmm... I’m embarrassed to tell you," Mirea answered, looking away.
"Come on, tell me, I’m curious," Nikolai pressed.
"According to Ard... he and I lived together. Our relationship was teacher and student—with benefits, of course... and then... he and I were executed by Eva because one of her knight commanders died after eating at the restaurant where Ard and I worked. We were both sentenced to death for it," Mirea replied.
Nikolai seemed to sink into thought, reflecting for a moment. Mirea turned to watch him, her face full of questions.
"What is it? Why did you go quiet all of a sudden?" Mirea asked.
"Oh, sorry... it’s nothing. Teacher and student with benefits, huh?" Nikolai said, repeating the words with a smile.
"Hey... please don’t keep saying it! I was embarrassed enough when I heard Ard tell the story," Mirea said, her face instantly turning bright red.
"Hahaha... sorry. I was just curious. In that story, I wonder where I was," Nikolai mused.
"Actually... I know," Mirea replied.
"Oh? Really? Well, let’s hear it," Nikolai said.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Mirea asked.
"Positive. Just tell me. After all, that life never actually happened, right?" Nikolai answered.
Mirea looked at Nikolai, then she nodded and shared what Ard had told her about Nikolai’s past life. The reason Mirea had moved to the Orthus Empire and become a sage there was because Nikolai had been killed, and Julius had replaced King Gregorius in that timeline.
"So I was killed by Julius," Nikolai muttered.
"I’m sorry... but it wasn’t by Julius. It was by me," Mirea replied.
"Huh... you? What was the reason?" Nikolai asked, his curiosity growing.
"According to Ard, the me in that life once told him the story while I was drunk. Back then... you were possessed by a demon. While in this life it’s Edmund from the Orthus Empire who is possessed, in that life, it was you. Before you could become like Edmund, I killed you. That’s why I stayed in the Orthus Empire and never returned to the Durnhill or Ateras Kingdoms," Mirea answered.
"I see," Nikolai muttered, falling into deep reflection.
"Don’t worry about it; that’s not going to happen now," Mirea said with a smile. "And thank goodness when we met today, you were just your usual self. When I heard you were leading a rebellion, I thought you were possessed just like in Ard’s story, and I prepared myself to kill you—that’s why I’m here right now," Mirea muttered in her head, even as she kept smiling.