Hagel’s story wasn’t difficult to understand.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love his wife; on the contrary, his love ran deep. In such a situation, it might have been easier to interpret his wife’s words as “abandoning a burden.”
It was a mutual tragedy. Perhaps the situation had been so urgent that his wife didn’t have time to explain everything to Hagel in detail.
Perhaps even if Hagel had done as he was told, they still wouldn’t have escaped from the “Aurora.”
But regardless of the outcome — the end was a tragedy.
The protagonists of the story seemed to correspond with Grin and Dolores. Ha, the “Grin” who didn’t trust his wife, and the clever yet calculating “Dolores.”
Grin didn’t think Hagel had made up a story to deceive him. In his past life, he had learned a bit about Hagel’s history. The man did indeed come from the Northlands, and he truly had a wife and experienced a tragedy.
Perhaps it was because of Dolores that Hagel felt moved to talk about his past and hand over this heavy burden of trust.
So… could he live up to that trust?
Grin felt that his current situation and his actions seemed full of contradictions.
Starting from his hesitation regarding his revenge on Dolores, through the continuous chain of events, the clues that were constantly revealed as things progressed caused his thoughts to change time and again, or made him even more hesitant.
Grin had originally thought it would be a simple case of rebirth and revenge. All he had to do was return the favor to Dolores and her group before the **[Demon]** reclaimed his soul.
There shouldn’t have been any problem with that. The only issue was that Dolores was too special, and she had left behind too much love for him.
This part of her love was what made him hesitate.
Grin was certain that if his revenge hadn’t started with Dolores — if it had been Saintess Hilberu or even the Prophet Phil — he wouldn’t have fallen into such a dilemma.
Faced with others, Grin could maintain his sharp desire for revenge after only a brief moment of hesitation.
Because Grin had very little “love” for them.
But he could only start with Dolores, because the time she had left for him was the most limited. He couldn’t sit by and watch her marry someone else.
It was as if his story was fixed upon Dolores.
Wasn’t this… a bit too coincidental?
Grin suddenly stopped, realizing a part of the inconsistency. Whether in his past life or this one, he couldn’t avoid making contact with Dolores first.
Unless he hadn’t met Dolores first in his first life, and hadn’t fallen in love with her at first sight, unless there had never been any intersection between them… but that was impossible.
Grin thought that this might be Dolores’s doing, especially after the information she revealed in the memories of the **[Punishment]**.
Could it be that her first comfort when he met her for the first time…
The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed. There were too many grey mists surrounding Dolores. More ironically, as her husband who had lived with her for nearly fifty years, Grin himself hadn’t discovered many clues.
Grin felt he was truly becoming like the man in Hagel’s story, turning a blind eye to the “information” laid out on the table even though it was right there.
Perhaps this was the information Hagel wanted to tell him.
Grin didn’t believe the world revolved only around him and that series of traitors. If that were the case, he should have just kidnapped Dolores long ago.
But the fact was that he wasn’t strong enough now. Even after bathing in Dragonblood, he was still in the realm of mortals.
Strength was a necessary prerequisite for many things. The only thing Grin was grateful for was that he was moving faster and growing stronger than before.
It was just that emotionally… things might not be so smooth.
***
On the way to the Royal Palace, Hagel’s story still flickered in Grin’s mind.
At the same time, Dolores’s words from his memories would also ring in his head.
He looked at the task on his System Panel. His determination had already been set; now he just had to keep moving forward.
Several hours later, Grin appeared at the gates of the Royal Palace.
The Royal Guards at the door didn’t recognize him, but Grin didn’t need to introduce himself, because a familiar figure appeared at the main entrance.
She wore a maid’s uniform and had long purple hair.
Viseliane didn’t move when she saw Grin arrive. She whispered something to the guards, and by the time Grin reached the door, it was already open.
“Mr. Grin, Hagel must have already told you about the relevant matters. I will lead you to the Princess now.”
“Viseliane, how is your recovery going?” Grin asked politely.
“Not bad.” Although there was a pause, Viseliane didn’t show any unusual expression.
Under Viseliane’s guidance, Grin retraced the path he had taken not long ago.
Only this time, even Grin wasn’t sure what Dolores’s attitude toward him would be.
Would she continue the hatred from their last meeting, or would she show him a close smile because of the System’s **[Like]** status?
Grin couldn’t guess. Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that people were lying in wait for him to walk into a trap.
Dolores wouldn’t be under any other form of mental control like the one Hagel mentioned. That should be the System’s doing, though he didn’t know how they had sensed it.
With a hint of apprehension, Grin saw Dolores again in the same room where she had shouted that she hated him. She sat there by the window, writing something in a notebook by the light of a Magic Stone.
— This was a glimpse he caught as he passed the window.
After Viseliane opened the door for him, Dolores had already put away her pen and paper. The notebook was no longer on the table; it seemed she had stored it in some Space Artifact.
“Princess.”
Grin spoke first, carefully observing Dolores’s reaction.
He saw that her expression held none of the previous disgust. She seemed happy because of his arrival, her fingers interlaced like a child’s.
“Mr. Grin, you’re here… I’m sorry. I want to apologize for what I said before. I said something excessive and unreasonable. I’m sorry.”
For a moment, Grin didn’t know how to answer, but Dolores continued on her own.
“No matter how I look at it, I would never say something like ‘I hate you’ to you, Mr. Grin… Looking back, I must have been acting foolishly at that time. Because I was too sad, I said unreasonable things to you. It was really out of line.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Grin,” Dolores apologized once more.