DOOM 11

Every time the monster gnawed at his brain, a horrific pain burrowed through his skull.

The pain only worsened with time, and Yusef inevitably grew more sensitive and irritable.

If that were all, it would have been a relief. That brutal agony was more than enough to drive a person insane.

Eventually, when Yusef’s physical age reached thirty—

Writhing under a headache that felt like torture, he finally realized that the monster was about to completely devour him.

He had to find a way to survive. He wanted to live. It felt too unjust to die like this.

And so…

He turned back time once again.

‘No matter how many times I go through this headache, I never get used to it.’

He flipped the hourglass of time and arrived in the past.

The headache remained. The monster coiled inside his mind was still gnawing at his brain.

Still, this level was bearable. It didn’t drive him into madness like it did right before death.

‘Where should I look for clues this time?’

After roughly splashing his face, Yusef pushed himself up.

His reflection appeared in the mirror before him.

A younger face, a relatively healthy complexion, hair of a color not quite human, and vivid red eyes.

Even though they were traces of the disgusting monster trying to consume him, objectively, his appearance was quite useful.

Thanks to it, he could easily gain favor in noble society and access high-level information.

He had to survive. He wanted to live.

…But it was not easy.

And it was painful.

It felt cruel that a curse would cut short his life at the early age of thirty—a life that others could naturally continue without incident.

Even after that, Yusef turned back time several more times, trying to move beyond the age of thirty.

It was after several more regressions that he encountered the Duchess of Daieren again.

‘Her beauty hasn’t changed.’

A year had passed since she lost her spouse, and she no longer wore mourning clothes.

Perhaps that was why she seemed far more beautiful than in his memories.

Her jet-black hair pinned neatly at her neck, her violet eyes that seemed both cold and soft, the straight lines of her body wrapped in pale skin, and the alluring smile blooming on her red lips…

…A smile that could make one lose their senses.

When he asked her for a dance, Yusef realized once more—

The monster in his head had gone quiet, holding its breath.

‘So it wasn’t just a coincidence?’

Perhaps the Duchess of Daieren was the key to lifting his curse and subduing the monster.

Yusef approached her.

Again and again. Across multiple attempts. Through countless regressions.

And he became certain.

If he wanted to live—

If he wanted to breathe in a world beyond the age of thirty—

‘I need her.’

The problem was her fate, just as cruel as his own.

Lieselotte Karin Daieren—

In every single life Yusef had experienced, without exception—

She always died before him.

Together with the three children she cherished as her own life.

Alperon territory?

Trade routes?

Those were merely excuses.

Yusef Obreim Alperon’s only goal was to extend his own life.

And to do that, he needed the Duchess of Daieren.

“Suitable candidate?”

When I blinked and asked back, Sir Yusef nodded.

“Strangely enough. Whenever someone other than Your Grace took charge of this business, something always went wrong and it had to be halted.”

“That is strange. There wasn’t any specific reason?”

“There were various reasons, but honestly, isn’t it more efficient to invest in someone who guarantees success rather than spending effort trying to eliminate every possible risk beforehand?”

He had a point.

“So the only option is to win Your Grace’s favor.”

“……”

Hmm. True enough.

‘Given those circumstances, it makes sense.’

I understood immediately. After all, I was someone who specialized in managing money.

In fact, after taking the name Daieren, I was deeply involved not only in internal affairs such as managing the estate, but also in external matters to stabilize and grow the duchy.

Over ten years, the Duchy of Daieren had grown to its current level.

Before I got involved, it had been such a pitiful territory that it was embarrassing to even call it a duchy.

At best, it produced the income of a minor county.

‘Well, the duke was that incompetent, so it couldn’t be helped.’

Fortunately, I was the type who felt more energized the busier my daily life became. And I was better suited to external affairs than internal ones.

In truth, that was also why I had missed my ideal marriage age.

‘Originally, I was supposed to inherit the Landgritz barony.’

For reference, my birth family, the Landgritz house, originated from merchants.

Though a baronial house, its wealth rivaled that of many ducal families.

…Hmm. I’ve gotten off track.

“So you experienced all of that through regression or whatever it is? Just how many times have you gone back?”

“It’s hard to count. The number itself never held meaning for me.”

“Then what does?”

“That would fall under personal matters.”

“Hmm.”

Even if I chose to believe in regression, he was still a suspicious man.

But then again, what did that matter to me? As long as we needed each other for our goals and could be certain neither would betray the other, that was enough.

“Very well. If what you say is true, I have no reason not to hire you, Sir Yusef.”

“You won’t regret it, Your Grace.”

There was no longer any need to test each other. We finalized the contract on the spot.

The tutors that Viscount Baden had arranged arrived just as Sir Yusef and I exchanged signed contracts.

After deliberately making them wait for about an hour, I finally called the visitors into my office.

There were four of them in total. But only two could truly be called tutors.

The other two—

‘I expected it, but they really came along.’

They were Viscount Baden and his wife, who had come along under the pretense of introducing tutors just to show off.

To be clear, I disliked Viscountess Baden even more than her husband.

Setting aside her strict appearance and irritable personality, her vanity and arrogance had caused us to clash frequently in high society.

Even now, she was glaring at me, clearly trying to assert dominance.

“Oh? Isn’t that Count Alperon?”

At first, the viscount and his wife entered the office with flushed faces, still angry from being made to wait.

But upon seeing Sir Yusef, they froze in shock, blinking repeatedly.

“Haha, I didn’t realize you had a prior guest. You could have taken your time. Ah, let me introduce myself. I am Viscount Baden, and this is my wife…”

After a while, they seemed to reach their own conclusion about why they had been kept waiting and began chatting cheerfully.

They even started boasting to the tutors about how remarkable Sir Yusef was.

“The Count of Alperon here is someone you’ve surely heard of—a truly remarkable figure. One could say he’s the center of high society these days. Even His Majesty the Emperor is so interested in him that he invites him to dinner every evening.”

Is that so?

“And that’s not all. Count Alperon has an incredible knack for business—every venture he touches turns massive profits. I hear he recently acquired a racetrack and an opera house? And before that, he started a hotel business?”

That sounds like cheating with regression, if anything.

“And recently, he even received an invitation to enter the Tower of Honor. They say it’s unprecedented—someone without academy training possessing such knowledge. The academic world is in an uproar.”

…

An invitation to the Tower of Honor.

That likely had a close connection to the letter of recommendation Sir Yusef had brought me. One of the recommenders was a scholar from that very tower.

‘If Viscount Baden is boasting this much, then Sir Yusef must already hold quite a position in the imperial social circle.’

I couldn’t help but glance at him. Just what had this man been doing all this time?

“…?”

At that moment, our gazes met by chance. Sir Yusef immediately curved his eyes and smiled sweetly.

‘He’s really trying hard to win my favor.’

Well, business isn’t easy.

“Ah, Count Alperon, I hear you’re still unmarried. If you don’t mind, I could introduce my daughter—”

“Now then, Viscount Baden, perhaps we should leave personal matters for later. Weren’t you here to introduce tutors for the young heir of the Duchy of Daieren?”

I cut him off at an appropriate moment.

If I let him continue, I wouldn’t know whether this was a tutor introduction or a social gathering.

“Ah, ahem. I was just about to begin. Then, starting with the scholar seated over there—”

“No, Viscount Baden.”