Chapter 15

Afraid of being caught, she shouted in panic, but the emperor remained firm.

“If only you had been a little more careful, Elzer. If you hadn’t killed the marquis so hastily, I wouldn’t have had to investigate this. And I wouldn’t have had to send you to the execution ground. You were such a… foolish woman.”

“Execution ground? Are you saying you will kill me now?”

“Of course. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure to kill my brother, your lover, along with you.”

“W-wait! Are you really going to kill me?”

But her words meant nothing. No matter how much Elzer denied it, the emperor refused to believe her. The more she struggled, the more amused he seemed.

“For the crime of poisoning your own kin, and for dragging Cecenia into this mess to tarnish my name as emperor, you will be sentenced to death.”

That was the end. Elzer’s execution came even faster than Cecenia’s. She wasn’t even given a chance to argue. Before the execution, the emperor cut out Elzer’s tongue to ensure she could not speak. She was killed alongside Ian.

And then, she opened her eyes again.

“I… I can start over.”

Elzer felt joy, believing that the gods had finally given her a second chance.

This time, she could change everything. There was only one thought in her mind as she tried to figure out what went wrong. It was because she hadn’t taken control of the marquis’ family from the beginning.

The marquis’ family was meant to be hers from the start. If she just took what was rightfully hers, everything would be solved.

So, just as Cecenia had done in the past, she bought out all the Hepria cotton.

“I did everything right… So why is Cecenia here too?”

Everything was supposed to be perfect. The gods had given her this chance, a chance to create the perfect future again. But Cecenia was here too.

“No, this time… I’ll just kill her quickly. No, I don’t even need to kill her. I just need to do exactly what she did and take everything for myself. I’m smarter than Cecenia. Father loves me more than her. So there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Elzer forced a smile, shaking off her uneasiness.

“Everything will be fine. First, I just need to reclaim everything that was mine.”

Standing up again, Elzer smirked, her expression dark and foreboding.

“In the end, everyone will love me. Unlike you, Cecenia. I… I was born to be loved.”

With newfound confidence, she stepped outside.

Time passed quickly.

Two weeks had gone by since that day. The sudden cold snap in the past few days had unsettled the empire. Lisbet wrapped a shawl around Cecenia’s shoulders as she gazed out the window. The air was cold enough to see her breath.

“It seems the time has come.”

“People will start looking for Hepria cotton now, won’t they?”

“Yes. Even if we do nothing, Elzer will make the first move.”

“What kind of move?”

Lisbet, tending the fire, poked at the logs with a poker and asked.

“She’ll promote Hepria cotton as much as possible.”

In the past, Cecenia had not needed to advertise. The demand for Hepria cotton had naturally increased, so there was no need for extra effort.

But Elzer had already started spreading the word, telling everyone that Hepria cotton was essential for the cold.

Since she had bought up all the available stock, it was obvious she wanted people to talk about it.

Elzer was planning to use this situation to make her family prosper, just as Cecenia had in the past. She intended to take full control of the marquis’ house. Her moves were so obvious.

Knowing this, Cecenia simply watched the frost forming on the window.

She waited for the next piece of news. And, just as expected, Elzer had spread the story of Hepria cotton all across the empire.

As a result, the demand for Hepria cotton skyrocketed. People rushed to buy it, but with supplies blocked, purchases became impossible.

Then, exactly a week later, Elzer came storming in, furious.

“It was you, wasn’t it!!”

Cecenia, sitting at the table sipping tea, tilted her head and looked at her.

“Sister? What’s wrong? Why are you so angry?”

“Don’t play dumb! It was you, wasn’t it?!”

“What are you talking about? Did something happen?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know! You messed with my cotton!!”

Cecenia shrugged, genuinely looking confused.

“Messed with it? I didn’t do anything. Did something happen? Oh… did it get moldy?”

“See! You knew! That means you did it!!”

Elzer shouted so loudly it hurt Cecenia’s ears. She clicked her tongue.

“I didn’t do anything. If you knew even a little about Hepria cotton, you would’ve expected this.”

“What?”

“You’re so foolish. Copying me isn’t enough. You should have at least understood what you were dealing with. You were so obsessed with imitating me that you never took the time to learn. Now look at you.”

Elzer’s face turned red with anger. Cecenia had already known the outcome from the moment she learned Elzer had bought the Hepria cotton. The moment she realized Elzer had also gone back in time and was copying her past actions.

She had predicted this would happen. Elzer had been too focused on copying her and had neglected the crucial details.

Hepria cotton was special. It needed to be beaten regularly, like Teddy used to do, to create space between the fibers. Without this, mold would form. If left in a warm place without care, it would become useless.

Once mold formed, the cotton absorbed moisture, becoming heavy and completely worthless.

Everything had gone just as Cecenia had predicted.

Lisbet, standing behind Elzer, smiled slightly, looking somewhat satisfied.

On the day Lisbet had worried about Cecenia, she had told her about this. That if Elzer was merely copying her actions, she wouldn’t know how to maintain the cotton properly and mold would ruin it. So there was nothing to worry about.

“What a shame. That cotton is useless now. It has no value at all.”

“You should have warned me!!”

“Why would I? I thought you already knew everything since you were copying me. Who would have thought you were only imitating what you saw?”

“You…!!”

“You should have been more careful. You acted like you had already won. Now look at you. You must have lost a fortune.”

Cecenia sipped her tea loudly, a deliberate show of disrespect.

Elzer trembled with rage.

“You… you really…!!”

“Cleaning up this mess won’t be easy. You said you were going to take over the marquis’ house, but is this how you do it? The family was already struggling, and now you’ve suffered a huge loss. What will you do?”

“…”

“Did you at least buy firewood? If the cotton is ruined, you should have bought firewood instead.”

“I… I didn’t…”

“Oh? Did you hear I bought firewood and decide to hold onto your cotton instead? Thinking you could outsmart me?”

Elzer’s face turned pale.

Cecenia smirked. Elzer had played right into her hands, as expected.

“You fool. This is quite amusing.”