# 26
We went back in time, to before the wedding.
Angelica couldn't fall asleep until dawn, after she accidentally left a bruise on Hugo's neck and ran away.
She buried her head in the pillow and moaned under the sunlight streaming through the window.
“At least so that the feeling disappears in my memory so that I do not feel regret... Please!”
Her expression of embarrassment was a fleeting moment, then her feelings quickly graduated through the five stages of anger until they reached the stage of acceptance.
Angelica sighed tiredly, her frustration at not remembering the feel of his lips now greater than her embarrassment at the bruise she left.
“All because of that strange dream.”
She lay on the bed recalling the details of the dream, which had not faded, but rather seemed clearer in her memory.
Even though half a day had passed, she was still worried about Hugo, making her wonder if that was why she couldn't remember that moment clearly.
“It's clearly not just a nightmare...”
The dream was not confusing or ambiguous like other dreams, but rather it was clear and real, as if she was experiencing a scene from the future.
The weather, the time, even the dialogue between her and Hugo seemed smooth and natural.
“But... I don't think I'll ever hate Hugo!”
She frowned slightly as she hummed to herself, then buried her face deeper into the pillow.
What's the point of thinking about this? The situation is already deteriorating... and now she has to focus on something else, like his feelings, for example!
“Damn it! If I had ignored the audience and stuck my lips to his neck, it would have been better.”
This is the condition of an unlucky lover.
She wiped her tears with her pillow and closed her eyes.
Perhaps because she gave up trying to think, she quickly fell into a deep sleep, but unfortunately, she came back to have the same nightmare again.
❈❈❈
“Angelica Ratlay.”
A familiar voice echoed in her ears as she stared at the garden in amazement.
She came out of her daze, wondering what she was thinking moments ago.
She nodded without looking at the speaker, frowning slightly.
“Sit down.”
As soon as he finished speaking, she heard the sound of a chair being pulled out, followed by the sound of something being placed on the table in front of her.
Finally, Angelica looked away from the blooming flowers and straightened up in her seat.
“Huh...”
Her features suddenly changed into an angry frown.
“You're trying to become a real monster now, aren't you?”
It was the first time in a long time that she had noticed anything other than Hugo Bernstein's face, scarred and scarred.
"Did you encounter a wizard? What's that wound on your eye?"
The long gash extending from his ear to the corner of his eye gave rise to an uncomfortable shudder.
What made the situation worse was the horrific wound on his neck.
“And what about your neck? It looks like you were wearing a collar and it was pulled forcefully.”
The overlapping, jagged scars looked as if they had been hastily stitched, which made them look even worse.
“I was dealing with a predatory beast... and I didn’t have time to receive treatment.”
Hugo spoke in a calm tone despite the clear displeasure on her face.
Angelica raised her eyebrows and looked at him with a look of anger and sadness.
But she picked up the thing that was on the table without any hesitation.
“Didn’t I tell you this thing is useless?”
“But didn't you also say it might be useful?”
“I said it might be useful, not that it was necessary.”
"Understood."
Hugo's expression did not change despite her harsh words.
In the past, she had been bothered by his coldness, but recently she had begun to feel something different...a strange feeling that she could not identify.
'Is this a positive development?'
She asked herself the question, then nodded slightly.
Her feelings for Hugo have begun to change, meaning that her abilities as a visionary may return to what they used to be.
“Your loyalty to your country cannot be underestimated.”
She spoke in a less harsh tone than usual, but suddenly she asked sarcastically:
“Or is it for her?”
Hugo remained silent, but sometimes his silence spoke louder than words.
The answer was clear.
He was busy thinking about what would happen if “that woman” saw those scars, which made him look like someone who had lost control.
Why did you feel upset about that? It was none of her business.
However, she was feeling disturbed.
“Mmm...”
She leaned her back on the chair and suddenly asked him:
“How does it feel to love someone you can't have?”
“…”
“Aren't you tired of wasting your feelings in vain?”
I knew Hugo well, and he was not the kind of person who kept chasing illusions.
“It's really weird.”
The more impossible it became to achieve, the more Hugo fell in love with that woman more, as if he was walking into the abyss with a smile.
Angelica did not wait for his answer, but merely stared at the red thread wrapped around her little finger.
Really…
“Fate chose the wrong person.”
She let her hand hang down as if she was about to cut the thread, then suddenly rose.
She didn't even forget to shake the thing she was holding in her hands, as if to express her thanks, before turning to leave.
But as she was crossing the garden heading towards the palace...
“Don't you think the princess knows this better than me?”
Hugo surprised her with his unexpected comment, and it killed her.
“Huh...”
Angelica let out a short sigh, unable to respond even though she felt upset.
Because, before Hugo came into the garden, she had been thinking of him again involuntarily.
❈❈❈
As if she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again, Angelica quietly woke up from her dream.
The bright sunlight was flooding the room, shining its light on her body buried under the covers.
The light was so intense that it bothered her eyes.
But all that quickly faded away, as her eyes filled with tears.
“Hugo…”
That dream was truly a nightmare, with many meanings for Angelica.
But the worst of all was seeing the scars all over his neck.
“He must have been in a lot of pain...”
She recalled the scene of Hugo in the dream, where his wounds were vivid in her memory in all their details.
Most likely, he was fighting a terrible monster, because those scars were not caused by simple wounds.
The scar on his neck looked deep, as if it had been pierced by something sharp, while the scar near his eye was still inflamed and red.
“He must have been in a lot of pain...”
But the real tragedy was that the person who caused all this to him was “Angelica,” that is, herself.
All she could do was repeat those useless words, as if she were a parrot unable to speak.
“The request should have been rejected from the beginning...”
She felt remorse about a dream that had ended, but she realized that things would have been the same way even if she had been able to intervene.
Because Hugo wasn't accepting that request for her sake, he was doing it for someone else...
That person.
I automatically imagined her face.
“Cyril.”
As always, Angelica was jealous of her.
But this time, the feeling was also accompanied by fear.
When she first dreamed it, she didn't fully comprehend what she saw.
It seemed like a strange, illogical dream, like just a fleeting fantasy.
But now, the situation is completely different.
The dream continued and became more real.
Even the sensations I felt in the dream seemed more real than anything else.
Whether it was a future awaiting her or a memory from a mysterious past, one fact remained constant:
“Hugo will never love Angelica...”
Hugo's love for Cyril was stronger and deeper than she imagined, and next to impossible to change.
❈❈❈
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, that feeling of despair did not last long.
After a few days, her feelings gradually began to fade.
This is normal, of course.
"I've spent 13 years wishing only for Hugo's happiness. As long as he's happy, that's enough for me."
She didn't expect to get anything in return for her feelings.
Even just having Hugo accept her feelings was enough to make her feel grateful.
“After all this time, I'm imagining his future children!”
In one of her fantasies, she named his son “Sian Bernstein.” If it was a girl, she would call her “Ruby Bernstein.”
She always hoped that Hugo would find someone to love and live happily with.
Although it seemed impossible in reality, she didn't care.
“All that matters is Hugo’s heart, and I’m just here to support him and comfort him.”
She took a deep breath as she reminisced about her life before she found herself in Angelica's body.
“Now, it doesn't matter how I feel...”
Over the past few days, she had spent a long time thinking about this strange dream and analyzing its meaning.
The most important question was: What time is the dream trying to tell her about?
“If it is in the future, it is unlikely... because my behavior was very strange.”
Her feelings for Hugo were cold in the dream, and she was not yet married to him despite their wedding approaching.
So, I ruled out the idea of the future.
“So, maybe it's the past?”
Here two possible theories emerged:
Either Angelica had an experience that later went back in time and then she was placed in someone else's body...
Or…
“Maybe I wasn't reincarnated to begin with... Maybe I was Angelica Ratlay from the beginning!”
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