* * *

“Eek…!”

“No, no, it’s not like the adults are going to scold you. It’s just that you’ll pay for it later with something bad happening. Food is precious, you know.”

Hearing Jurgen’s words, Hernan finally relaxed and started nibbling on the snack, albeit hesitantly. Worried he might choke, Jurgen handed Hernan his own drink.

After ensuring Hernan was well-fed at a leisurely pace, Jurgen made a brief comment,

“The Countess Maha should cut back on the sugar a bit. It’s tasty, but reducing the sugar would suit more people’s tastes,” before taking Hernan back to the castle.

He didn’t forget to hand Hernan a handkerchief each time he sniffled.

The servant, who had received Hernan outside the party hall, quietly took him to the bathroom to wash up. Hernan, now freshened up, sat in the carriage on the way home, clutching the handkerchief Jurgen had given him as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

[Jurgen Nil Everdeen]

Hernan silently repeated the embroidered name on the handkerchief over and over. ‘I have to grow up to be an amazing adult. A truly incredible, strong, and powerful adult so that I can repay Jurgen!’

But despite his firm resolve, Hernan continued to show Jurgen nothing but embarrassing sides of himself.

Like the time he got trapped inside a closet while running away from his brothers and had to be rescued, or when he was pulled out of the mud, headfirst, looking a mess after the tide receded.

In those moments, when Hernan’s only redeeming feature, his beauty, failed him, Jurgen would always appear at just the right time to save him and then leave as if it was no big deal.

Throughout this series of events, which practically saved Hernan from a life where no one treated him as a person, Jurgen never even bothered to learn the name of the boy he saved.

And by the time Hernan realized that this help wasn’t exclusive to him, it was too late—he had already fallen hopelessly in love with Jurgen.

Jurgen had long forgotten about these incidents, not even aware of his heroic deeds.

If Hernan were to recall them in detail, Jurgen might remember, but it wouldn’t have mattered; he wasn’t interested then, and it held no significance now.

Surely, he hadn’t forgotten the words he said back then. But Hernan was too afraid to confirm it now.

Jurgen Nil Everdeen—was always that kind of person. If Hernan Velon Yudenet had any sin, it was that he, a spear, had fallen for the world’s most impregnable shield, who didn’t even remember their promise.

---

Just as we were finalizing the survey sites and only had to set a departure date, I met Ryuudene again in a dream.

The sight of the vast snowy field, which I had seen once before, made me shiver and furrow my brows, even within the dream.

[Well, now that it’s just you and me, let’s have a little chat.]

I couldn’t resist the mighty dragon’s interrogation, which he began as if he had been waiting for this moment.

The fear of this great being, as if it was imprinted in my very genes, didn’t allow me to resist.

[You, what are you?]

How much should I reveal? If he were an ordinary person, I’d say, “I’m someone who transmigrated here from outside this world,” but he wasn’t human.

He was a dragon, an ancient being that appeared in the founding myths.

Moreover, he already suspected that I wasn’t a normal human, so if I tried to brush it off with “I don’t know,” then…

‘I hope he doesn’t split my heart in two.’

I shuddered as I remembered how Yudenet had expressed a desire to split my heart open in the last dream.

“I’m….”

I took a deep breath.

Though I was relatively shameless, it took a lot of courage to say something that would make any normal person think I was crazy.

After steadying my breath, I continued.

“I’m someone from outside this world.”

Yudenet’s large eyes narrowed.

[Outside this world?]

“Yes, it’s hard to believe, but….”

[There’s nothing harder to believe than your existence.]

Whether ancestors or descendants, they were all skilled at cutting people off mid-sentence.

To be fair, I wasn’t much better, but that wasn’t important right now.

“In the world where I was born, this place was a world inside a story.”

[Inside a story?]

It wasn’t like I could explain the concept of a webtoon to a dragon.

But since webtoons are also a type of story, it wasn’t too far off.

And with illustrations and words, it could be likened to a picture book, maybe. I didn’t feel like going into that much detail, so I decided to leave it at “story.”

“Yes, the main character of the story was a duke who was your descendant, and I was a minor supporting character who appeared briefly in the early parts of the story and was never mentioned again.”

[Hmm….]

Could I say more?

Ryuudene’s expression was more curious than displeased, so I mustered up the courage to continue.

“The other protagonist of the story was my adopted cousin, Berta, and the story was originally about the two of them falling in love.”

At that moment, Yudenet’s eyes suddenly widened.

[You impudent fool, are you trying to deceive me?]

What?

I looked at Yudenet with a bewildered expression, not understanding why he suddenly became so hostile.

Did he think I was lying to escape from the Duke?

“No, I’m not making this up! The two of them were originally supposed to have been married by now!”

In the end, I had to explain everything, from my life and death as Woo Seongheon to meeting the real Jurgen in that strange space, to prove that I wasn’t just spinning a tale.

[I see… So, you’re saying you became him around the time he was ten years old?]

“Yes, that’s right.”

[Then everything you did from the age of eleven was by your own will?]

Well, since I was in control from the age of ten, of course, it was.

I looked at him as if to say, “Why are you asking something so obvious?”

“Yes, that’s correct. May I ask why you’re inquiring?”

Instead of answering, the dragon replied with an irrelevant comment.

[It’s enough as long as that boy didn’t choose the wrong person.]

“Pardon?”

I felt uneasy, confused by how easily he accepted my explanation, and asked nervously.

“Is there anything else suspicious or curious that you’d like to ask?”

Contrary to my worries that he might accuse me of lying or demand to cut me open to verify the truth, Yudenet’s response was calm, almost indifferent, as if to say, “Oh, is that all?”

[No, knowing why I sensed something off about you is sufficient. Besides, you don’t have the power to recreate that, do you?]

He had a point. I couldn’t deny the truth, so I just opened and closed my mouth wordlessly.

[I suppose it’s best to explain the concept of dimensions to you first.]

Sensing that this explanation was going to be long and complicated, I began to sweat.

[All dimensions are structured like an endless chain. You’ve probably heard the saying that even a tiny glass bead holds an entire universe. So, could you say for certain that within that universe, there isn’t another glass bead containing yet another universe? It’s impossible. There are countless universes, each with its own timeline that cycles endlessly.]

At this point, I gave up trying to understand and raised my hand. My major was business and economics, not ethics or philosophy.

“Excuse me, but what’s the point?”

Yudenet clicked his tongue at me as if I were hopeless.

[Just as this world contains countless microcosms, this world itself could also be a microcosm within another world.]

Oh. So, in short, I was worrying over nothing, and he was telling me I was jumping to conclusions. My ears turned red in embarrassment.

“Anyway, do you understand now why I refuse to marry the Grand Duke?”

I said this with the intention of subtly persuading them to reconsider the Grand Duke. However, contrary to my hopes, Ryuudene’s reaction was as cold as ever.

[Are you suggesting that you’re worried about someone who was supposed to be your sister’s match being taken by you?]

As I quickly nodded, Ryuudene scoffed.

[It seems like you’re under some misconception. The moment you made different choices from what you knew, the microcosm diverged into separate endings. The two worlds are no longer the same. This world has diverged from the world you know because you made different choices.]

When I looked at Ryuudene with a look of despair, as if I couldn’t believe it, Ryuudene drove the point home again.

[Even if, as you say, in another world he ends up with your sister, by the time you raised your sister properly, she was already a different being from the one in the microcosm you know. Just as you are a different being from the ‘real’ Jurgen.]

“…No, but, still…”

Unable to find a counterargument and merely rolling my eyes, Ryuudene floated in the air, adjusted his position, and laughed.

* * *