After that, Tia goes back to her chambers and think about Jieun's fate and hers. She tries to understand Vita's doing, and ends up thanking Vita for giving her a new name. For without this name she wouldn't be loved by Ruve and loving him back, and wouldn't have a future with him and a new fate for their shared life and love. Suddenly she misses Ruve.

She misses the neat attire, his deep ocean blue eyes, and his cool yet tender voice. (Ruve is always associated with coolness - his sea eyes, his reserved attitude and even his scent are always referred as refreshing and cool by Tia). Tia thinks that if it wasn't this dark, she would run to him right now, and jumping in his arms she would say that she came because she missed him too much.

"Aristia." Tia slowly blinks. She's hearing Ruve's voice. Is it a dream?

"Are you sleeping?"

"Your majesty?" Tia sees Ruve in the moonligh. His eyes are anxious.

Tia can't believe it's him and she throws herself into his arms. Ruve reflexively holds onto her, then slowly wraps her shoulders and puts her down.

Tia --> It's him. He is not a dream or an illusion. He is the one who loves me. If he hadn't loved me, if he hadn't care endlessly and patiently, or if I had given up halfway, could have I changed my destiny as it is now? Could I have overcome the past and believe in love again?

"Thank you" Tia says.

"For what?"

"For loving me and not giving up on me even when I kept pushing you away. And also... for changing my destiny."

Ruve stays silent, but reaches out to her and comforts her, stroking her hair. Tia is moved to tears by his gentleness.

Tia --> I'm not going to let this man ends his life in loneliness. He gave me a new life. Sometimes waiting, sometimes approaching, endlessly caring for me... Thanks to that it allowed me to create a new destiny. Surprised by my tears, I hear him whisper, but I squeezes him more firmly in my arms. Regret, gratitude, relief, it all flows out of me.

Ruve streches out his hands and sweeps Tia's tears asking "Are you okay?"

"Yes you majesty."

"What happened? What did you talk about?" He asked carefully before suddenly stopping. Then he turns his head and talks in the air "I'll go out for a while"

Blushing, Ruve says "Even if we're engaged, it is a little..." (aww my cutie pie Ruve...)

Tia realises that she only wears a muslin chemise. She hurriedly wraps herself, he runs out of the room.

Tia is blushing like crazy. She jumped on him while she was practically undressed. And she recalls how red he was.

Tia dresses quickly and goes out. She sees Ruves by the window looking at the moonlight.

"Won't you walk with me for a while?" he asks.

They go to the garden and their favourite tree.

"Aristia"

"Yes your majesty"

"The fate you mentioned earlier... hum, that dream... would you share it with me?"

Tia --> Suddenly I couldn't speak anymore. What should I say? He asks several times before. And he seems to know some of the past. What if I say something wrong and end up suffering?

"Let's sit down" says Ruve.

"Oh, yes your majesty"

Nodding, Ruve takes out a handkerchief and lays it on a chair for Tia to sit down and says "You must not sit on the cold stone, you're too weak."

"... Thank you, your majesty."

Ruve nods and sits next to her. He looks at the flowers and says "Please tell me. What kind of man I am in your dreams? I want to know. How I hurt you, what you hoped from me and that I didn't give you... I want to know so that you never go through it again." (aawww... Ruve)

Tia and Ruve do talk about her first life with 1st timeline Ruve. And 2nd timeline Ruve swears that he will make Tia happy and that what happened to her will never happen in this life.

Jieun never told 2nd timeline Ruve about what 1st timeline Ruve did to her because :

1)she couldn't

2)she realised they were not the same person at all. Tia only told 2nd Ruve about 1st Ruve to explain why she was afraid of being abandoned. But she also realised the two Ruve were different persons. Ruve knows that jieun is his wife as empress on the first timeline and he knows that he killed Tia.

Ruve is quite clever so he guessed about Jieun being 1st Ruve's empress, but about killing Tia... it's not clearly said. Tia and Ruve manage to talk about this on a night when Ruve sneaks out of his room and escapes his guards, and here is the scene :

Spoiler: Ruve and Tia speak about 1st timeline

Tia : "I studied badly to be a woman suited to you but you just got further away. I was struggling alone in the social world, and I was loving you from afar, suffering, hoping for your cold heart to warm up to me. But suddenly Jieun appeared and took you away from me. All I had always done went to waste. And I spent all my days and nights working in her place." Tia stops to catch her breath.

"You do not need to say more than this."

Even without mentionning the most sensitive parts, he already seems to have guessed what happened. For a while he seemed to struggle, then I heard him sigh.

"Right. I see roughly. It was a bad ending."

"I'm sorry, Ruve..."

"No. I understand how it may have come to that. As a child I must have felt envy and jealousy for you. When I stopped by the border tour, I did a lot of thinking when I saw you lost. I'll be honest with you. I had heard about your learning fencing, but I only believed it when I saw it with my own eyes. I though it was only a ploy to draw attention to you. But seeing you that day, I realised I was wrong. Then I was curious. Why were you so afraid of me, and why did you want to break our marriage at all cost? Because I was upset at the psychological shock this caused me, I pushed you for the truth. Then I saw the letter Allendis Verita wrote to you. I thought it was absurd at first, then it angered me. No matter how much I disliked you, how could you look at me like this and think this of me? But as you were sitting in your bed, lifeless and lost, I was afraid to touch you again and hurt you. I remembered what I had forgotten : you were only thirteen. You were always acting like you had no emotions, but in fact your were extremely tender. That's why you had erased your mother's death from your memories. I was feeling sorry for hating you because of children things you couldn't even remember. You were just a child and I was so afraid I had hurt you. I was terrified." Ruve carries on "Until then, I considered myself close to Duke Jenna. My father, Verita and Ras were difficult somehow, but the Duke had always been friendly with me. If I hadn't gone to see you, I wouldn't have angered him. What if I had hated you and trusted what the Duke was always saying about you?"

And before anyone complain about 2nd Ruve not knowing that 1st Ruve killed Tia for sure, I would like to highlight that Tia made 2nd Ruve suffer A LOT. She SERIOUSLY hurt him. Repeatedly. Just so that we're clear. Even Jieun agreed Tia had avenged them both. ^^

In fact, 2nd Ruve is even considering 1st Ruve as a love rival and presses Tia to tell him whom she truly loves : him or 1st Ruve.

Ruve suddenly says "Aristia."

"Yes our majesty?"

"I must have been the worst in your dream. But what about me now?" (aaw my cutie pie...)

"You are a great emperor."

Ruve looks at her and sighs dramatically.

"That's all. I see. I was just a good emperor to you."

"Your majesty..."

"Here I thought Lord Carsein was my biggest rival and I was only focusing on him, when I had an even bigger enemy. Answer me, Aristia. Who does your heart belong to? Is it the me from your dream or the me from now?"

"He is just a dream. He is you, and yet he's a complete different person from you. Don't worry about it."

"Wow... Lord Allendis, Lord Carsein, and now an additional dream-like me. Aren't you too popular? My heart is in ashes. I'll have to hurry up the wedding. I have to keep you by my side so that you can never dream of him again."

Tia blushes and her heart flutters.

Ruve smiles "Thank you Aristia. For telling me the truth." The hand on Tia's shoulder goes up to caress her hair. "And... I'm sorry for giving you such a painful dream. Had I done well, you wouldn't have had to suffer."

"Your majesty"

"I'll do well. Never again will you have such a nightmare."

Tia looks up at the sea eyes that looked no longer cold and smiled. And she feels Ruve's gentle touch on her forehead... her hair... her lips....

Then his secretary come to get Ruve (because he sneaked out). Ruve is so disappointed that Tia pats him on the shoulder. They stand up and Tia folds Ruve's handkerchief.

"I'll wash it and give it back to you"

"Well, I would prefer something else in return."

Tia is lost. Ruve smiles and reaches out to Tia that he takes by the shoulder.

"You've been in the cold too long. Come on in. I'm worried that you may get sick again."

"Yes your majesty"

"Not majesty."

"Sorry?"

"Ruve"

Tia opens wide eyes. --> Did I hear it wrong? What did he just say? Do you want me to call you Ruve? Did you ask for a nickname? Really? Really?! My lips fluttered. I've never allowed myself to hope for so much. Ruvelis Kamaludin Shana Castina, that only his family or the lover of his heart were allowed to call Ruve. He was asking ME to call him that name.

"It must have been too much" says Ruve "It's quite cold, so listen..."

"Ruve."

Ruve freezes in shock.

"Go your maj... Ruve. You must hurry. They're waiting for you."

Ruve looks at Tia with wonder, then smiles and kisses her gently on her forehead.

"Then see you later. Oh and..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you Tia"

Then Tia freezes, eyes wide-opened. Ruve turns around without giving Tia time to say anything back. And as Tia looks at Ruve's retreating back, she puts her hands on her pounding chest and smiles.