Chapter 1
****
I woke up with an annoying pain.
I gazed at the ceiling in a daze, the same one I have been seeing for years.
The familiar ceiling, familiar bedding, familiar bedroom smell.
“…What….”
I slowly raised myself up in bed. The body that was covered in blood just a moment ago was so clean.
‘This is my favorite pajamas.’
The scene was familiar, but also a little unfamiliar.
Why the hell did I wake up in the bedroom where I’ve been for three years?
Knock. Knock.
I crouched at the surprisingly familiar sound of knocking.
Did she come back to catch the murderer who had killed the master? Why didn’t I die?
I stabbed myself in the heart.
“Miss, it’s Lasha. Are you awake?”
It was a familiar voice.
If I wasn’t mistaken, Lasha, my personal maid of honor who had assisted me for the past three years.
‘But Lasha….’
I pinched my cheeks, wondering if I had been dreaming in this incomprehensible situation.
“Ah!”
I pinched it as hard as I could, which confirmed that I wasn’t dreaming.
“Miss.”
I heard Lasha’s voice as she knocked again.
“I’m awake.”
The choked up voice came out.
Even as I spoke, my voice was a little unfamiliar to me. It sounded like a young voice.
At my answer, Lasha cautiously opened the door and walked in, she was indeed the girl I knew.
She looked a little younger.
She looked more like she did when I first arrived at the Philemon mansion.
“You must have been exhausted yesterday, but you must receive congratulatory gifts from the nobles who are coming today.”
“Gift…?”
“Yes.”
“What gift?”
What nonsense is this?
Wasn’t the Duke of Philemon dead?
My head hurt and I felt a throbbing pain in my chest.
Exactly where I stabbed myself in the heart.
“It’s your wedding presents…………….”
“What does that mean….?”
It was a bit confusing, and when I asked again, Lasha gave me a rather strange look.
“It’s congratulatory gifts from noble families that couldn’t attend the Duke’s wedding yesterday. The local nobles are coming in person and so you must receive them.”
Lasha gave me a look that said, “Why on earth? But the words she said were a kind explanation that contradicted her gaze.
‘Wedding? yesterday?’
Crash.
I couldn’t understand and stepped out of bed to get up.
I heard a high-pitched sound from somewhere.
My pocket watch fell to the floor and the glass shattered.
When did I have this?
Lasha ran over in surprise as my body froze at the sound of broken glass.
“Miss! Don’t move!”
She looked so different from the quiet way she had explained the situation.
It was the Lasha I knew so well.
Yes, she was like this then, too.
It wasn’t a pocket watch, but the glass that broke.
“I think you’d better go back to bed, you might get hurt. Miss, you can’t come down here until I’m done.”
Lasha said with an unusual look on her face.
“It’s only the glass on the front of the watch.”
She looked scared that I might step on it and hurt myself.
“Yes, you’re right.”
She put the glass away with a deft hand and placed the pocket watch on the small table.
‘That’s….’
It was the last thing I saw at the end of my memory.
It was a precious object with a special meaning.
But it’s not something that was supposed to be in this time period.
‘What the hell is this all about? Why am I here? She said I had a wedding yesterday, and now…………’
It was correct to say that yesterday was the first day of my relationship with him.
“Lasha.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“I got married yesterday, right?”
“…Yes.”
“With whom?”
“What?”
Lasha’s eyes wavered.
Oh, that’s the look that says she thinks I’m crazy.
If this is really real, maybe even true, then it’s even more suspicious.
It feels like a dream. It feels like yesterday was a dream.
“Oh.”
Finally, Lasha’s eyes returned to normal.
Rumors spread that the hostess of the Philemon family had gone mad as soon as she got married.
“Of course you’re married to the Duke of Philemon.”
As expected …… I see.
My heart pounded as I heard the definite answer.
The throbbing pain was the same, but the palpitations preceded it.
At the same time, I felt the horrible numbness in my fingertips.
Lasha looked at my darkened complexion, but reservedly said.
“It’s a political marriage, but everyone in the family welcomes you. The Master will obviously… take good care of you.”
I know.
I know him better than anyone.
Because that was who he was.
But if he really got married yesterday, he’s not the man I knew.
“Miss, you may come down now.”
“Thank you, Lasha.”
Lasha smiled and bowed.
When I finished washing up, the maids who came in with Lasha had me groomed.
It was just like I remembered that day, when I was not a bit different, and for no reason at all, the tip of my nose twitched.
‘Don’t cry.’
Is it really, really true?
Did I really go back to that day?
A shiver of anxious anticipation rumbled through my chest.
If I’m back again, if I was given another chance, then….
“If you go out to the lobby, Delias will give you the list. The gifts will come in the order of the list, so you can thank them accordingly.”
On the way to the lobby, Lasha briefly explained the procedure.
Even though I was just here to receive congratulatory gifts, there were things to weigh.
A power so powerful that even the emperor couldn’t touch it immediately, a wealth so great that it could be said to hold the economy of the empire, even the honor of being the emperor’s guardian that had been in place since the founding of the country…
The Philemon was a family where everything was perfect.
I married the Duke of such a great family and had to have the corresponding dignity and ability.
‘How many mistakes did I make?’
I sighed constantly and most of the time my face was blushing.
Because of my birth and upbringing, I did not have a proper education, and the Philemon mansion was a terribly heavy and suffocating place for me.
No love, no desire, so of course it couldn’t be good.
And it was even worse because it was shrouded in a veil of mystery, with rumors that the Duke of Philemon was a fierce beast who hid in the forest.
“Ha.”
As the memories came to life one after another, a smile naturally appeared on my face.
“Miss?”
Perhaps it looked strange that I was laughing by myself, Lasha called out cautiously.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about something.”
I waved my hand, and Lasha looked at me again with a subtle expression.
I smiled awkwardly and hurried to the lobby.
My reflection in the window was both familiar and unfamiliar.
I was nineteen years old, wearing an elegant dress befitting the Duke’s wife, with my wispy black hair hanging down.
I was the me of three years ago.
Three years ago from the moment I plunged the sword into my heart.
Had I really regressed?
Had I come back?
If so, there was hope.
When I arrived, I found him standing in the lobby.
Seeing him without a scratch on his face reminded me of what he used to look like.
His dark gray hair covered his eyebrows slightly, and it was hard to see them even when he frowned.
His toned shoulders and well-trained body made him look good no matter what he wore.
His sorrowful eyes never paid any attention to anything, but they did look at me.
It was him.
It was him. I was looking at him again.
“Ah…”
Tears welled up in my eyes, I wondered if it was the joy of reunion.
Or were they tears of guilt from the murderer who stabbed him?
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter anymore.
“Edlade.”
I’ve been waiting for you.