"Yeri," Tristan said lightly, "before you ask Shin for another ice cream, why don't you look in the mirror first?"
Yeri frowned, a sudden sense of unease rising within her. Still, she reached for the compact mirror on her bedside table.
The reflection staring back at her matched her hands exactly, faint yet visible traces of black spider veins.
"Don't worry," Shin said gently, throwing Tristan a glare. "They'll disappear in a few days."
Tristan could withstand Shin's restoration ability without issue, but with Yeri, Shin had to proceed slowly leaving the veins visible for now.
It wouldn't be wrong to say Yeri wasn't disheartened. She was, after all, a woman.
"What's wrong with me?" Yeri stared at her reflection, unease creeping into her voice.
"It's just a side effect of a new medication," Shin excused calmly. "It seems your body didn't agree with it. I've already told Zahn not to administer it again."
Yeri looked completely baffled. So Doctor Neri had been there too? But what was the medicine even for?
"It was for the nosebleed," Shin answered before she could ask. "Don't worry. Rest assured, those veins will disappear in a few days."
Such a big thing, how could she not worry?
"What's the name of the medicine?" she pressed. "I need to make sure I avoid it next time, no matter what."
"I'll ask Zahn later," Shin replied, lying without blinking.
The two men left so she could change.
Outside the room, Shin suddenly grabbed Tristan by the collar.
"Why did you tell Yeri you'd marry her?" Shin demanded, his voice low and dangerous. "Unlike me, you never sealed your memories. You knew your true identity all along. That means you recognized her even as a child, so why are you messing with her?"
Tristan raised both hands helplessly, still smiling. "I couldn't help it. When I saw her back then, I couldn't believe she had once been that Jewel. I just wanted to tease her. I didn't expect she'd actually remember."
Shin released him and turned away.
Tristan chuckled, unfazed. "Besides, I wanted to see how you'd react without your memories. At that time, your actions didn't matched your words at all, you still ran off and rescued her from that old pervert. That alone proves your subconscious resonated with Jewel."
Shin didn't say anything, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly, a quiet satisfaction flickering across his face at Tristan's words.
---
Inside the room, Yeri tried applying foundation to conceal the visible veins. But against her fair, luminous skin, the marks only stood out more, especially where they were most concentrated.
"What do I do… it looks so hideous," she muttered.
Just then, she noticed several boxes stacked in the corner.
Curious, she opened one and realized they were the items Shin Keir had acquired at the auction.
She unboxed another and it was the gold serpent.
Carefully, she lifted it out. It was nearly the same height as Carpet, her golden retriever, and possibly even heavier.
Yeri stared at it for a long moment. Even now, she didn't understand why she found it attractive. She wasn't fond of gold. She didn't like serpents. And yet… she really liked it.
When Shin entered the room again, he saw her sitting on the floor, silently staring at the golden serpent.
"Like it?" he asked.
Yeri flinched, then nodded blankly.
He said nothing more, only helped her move it beside the floor-to-ceiling window. After all, it was just an ornament now. It couldn't possibly cause any trouble.
"I want to go back home and give this to Mom," Yeri said, pointing to another auction item.
She was about to say she wanted to pay him back, after all, it wasn't for her but then she noticed the way he was staring at her.
That strange, intense gaze again.
Was it because of the spider veins? Did he find her disgusting now? Had he only liked her face, and now that it was marked, she was suddenly unappealing?
A wave of disappointment and unease washed over her, though she couldn't pinpoint its source.
"Ugly, isn't it?" she said quietly, touching her face.
Shin smiled faintly and cupped her cheek.
"What's ugly?" he said softly. "I don't see anything."
Yeri was just about to stop him, bracing herself for something unbearably cringeworthy like 'I didn't just like you for your face or you're still beautiful in my eyes.'
But Shin continued calmly, his voice steady.
"It doesn't matter if you're only a fragment of what you once were. You're still the woman I love. Even if you turn into dust, I would still recognize you."
Yeri's mind went completely blank.
Was she still sick? Why couldn't she understand a single thing he was saying? A fragment? Was that supposed to be romantic, or was he subtly cursing her?
And why, of all things, would she turn into dust just so he could prove he could recognize her?
Damn it. He must be the sick one.
"You- " She was just about to give him a piece of her mind when what came next shut her down entirely.
"Yeri, I love you." Shin pulled her into a tight embrace.
It didn't matter if she didn't remember her past. It didn't matter if she didn't remember them. As long as she wouldn't abandon him again, as long as she wouldn't disappear from his sight again, it was enough.
Besides, with her memories so fragmented, he didn't even know how to begin explaining himself, especially if the only thing she remembered was the moment he had killed her with his own hands.
Those memories were precious to him, even though they had driven him into despair time and time again, plunging him into turmoil and madness. But he couldn't be certain Jewel had felt the same. He had no right to force those emotions onto her.
She had lived for thousands of years. She had been an empress beside other emperors. The life she had lived before meeting him, the experiences she carried, the paths she had walked, were things he had never truly known.
Perhaps her long-standing desire for death was her way of escaping those memories.
Whatever her reason had been, he was certain it wasn't impulsive. It wasn't a whim, nor a cruel attempt to make him suffer.
He had already defied life, death, and the natural laws of reincarnation by bringing her back, reborn as a human. He had defied what she had yearned for and carefully planned over countless years.
In this second life, it should be more than enough. There was no need for her to look back. No need to remember a past she had desperately tried to escape.
---
By the time Yeri snapped back to herself, they were already inside a car.
Even so, those last three words echoed relentlessly in her mind, looping like a broken record.
Wasn't it supposed to be just 'like'? She had even comforted herself with the thought that liking and loving weren't the same.
But now, his feelings had leaped straight to the highest level, and she had no idea how to respond.
She had long admitted to herself that she liked Shin Keir, physically, at least. But love? She wasn't sure she was there yet.
"Where are we going?" she muttered.
"Didn't you say you wanted to give the ornate antique fan to your mother?" Shin replied, as though nothing had happened, his hands steady as he maneuvered the car.
"Oh…" That was all Yeri managed to say, her gaze fixed on the scenery rushing past the window.
The silence felt awkward. She didn't want to start a conversation, yet sitting there without speaking made her even more self-conscious.
Her heart was still pounding wildly, so she reached for her phone, pretending to be busy.
But the next second, she nearly dropped it. Social media was exploding, netizens buzzing, swarming like hyenas over fresh prey. Every headline screamed the same thing.
Shin Keir's engagement.
Yeri shot him a sideways glance before frantically searching for related articles. The conglomerate KGG had officially confirmed it: their CEO was engaged.
"You announced your engagement?" she blurted out.
"Hm." Shin sounded unfazed. "The engagement banquet is approaching. Official invitations will be sent out soon. It's better to announce it now than let rumors spiral and give certain people opportunities to take advantage of them."
Yeri felt a knot tighten in her chest. She didn't want people to know about her, at least not yet. She wanted to keep going to school peacefully.
Just scrolling through the comments was enough to make her uneasy. Once the fiancée's identity was revealed, these people would descend like they smelled blood.
To them, Shin Keir was untouchable, almost immortal. Someone meant to be admired from afar, belonging to everyone, yet never to be touched or belonging to just one person.
"If you're worried about others finding out who you are," Shin added, "that won't happen for the time being."
Yeri pressed her lips together, unsure whether she would ever get used to this overwhelming fame or whether she ever could.
Then another thought struck her. She had fainted at school. How had she ended up back at the penthouse?
"Who picked me up when I fainted?" she asked.
"Me," Shin replied without hesitation.
Her eyes widened. "What do you mean you? Did they recognize you? Why didn't you just inform my parents?"
"I wore a mask," Shin said, sounding oddly proud of himself. "There were a few minor mishaps, but nothing serious."
"Minor mishaps?" Yeri suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"Just the infirmary doctor refusing to let you leave at first. I handled it. Don't worry."
She wanted him to explain in detail, but the car had already entered the community.
"I have something important to handle at work," Shin said. "I'll pick you up before dinner or after?"
Yeri shook her head. "I'm not sure. Mom might ask me to stay. I'll text you later."
He didn't argue. Before she could react, he leaned over and kissed her.
Yeri swallowed hard as she scrambled out of the car, nearly stumbling in her haste. Behind her, she heard his low, teasing laugh as the door closed.
She was annoyed, furious, even, but at the same time completely flustered. Whenever he acted so openly infatuated, her first instinct was always to flee. Maybe her brain was still fried from the fever, because she couldn't think straight at all.
Sighing, she watched the car drive away before turning toward the house.