Chapter 1
Winter, at twenty-seven.
Her younger sister died.
“…..”
Sezlin pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze. On her hands, as always, were plain, rough funeral gloves.
Even such a simple design felt luxurious to someone like her, who was only ever allowed to wear shabby clothes, and only when standing before others, only then was Sezlin allowed to wear something vaguely human.
But enjoying a nice outfit was far from appropriate for the occasion.
“Sezlin Brioden.”
Today was the funeral of April Brioden, Sezlin’s younger half-sister, and the second daughter of the Duke’s household.
Recalling the chrysanthemums she had touched earlier, Sezlin raised her head again.
Under the faint moonlight, the Duke stood by the window and said to his daughter:
“so cold-blooded.”
“…..”
“You killed April.”
At those words, Sezlin quietly smiled, so that’s what he called her for.
She barely held back a scoff.
How consistent he was.
“If you hadn’t done that crazy thing with the Second Prince, April wouldn’t have died.”
“…..”
“No, perhaps if you had accepted April as your family from the start, none of this would’ve happened.”
His voice gradually rose, but his words were nothing new. She had heard them countless times.
Sezlin was always the cast-off child.
The Duke didn’t even know how she’d lived, confined to her room, dressed in rags.
“Because of you, my daughter—!”
“Yes. She’s dead.”
She was tired of explaining.
No one believed her anyway.
At first, she’d been angry, now, only detachment remained.
When she calmly acknowledged the truth, the Duke actually looked startled.
“W-what?”
“I killed her.”
That’s enough, right?
As if she had nothing more to say, Sezlin tilted her head with a faint smirk.
That was what the Duke wanted to hear anyway and Sezlin had lived through this same scene far too many times.
She had known for a long time what kind of feelings the Duke had for her. so the words he wanted to hear were always the same.
‘Poor April.’
For the first time, Sezlin pitied her younger sister.
From commoner to noble, an ascent anyone would dream of, but April’s case had a tragically different ending.
“You want to believe I killed her, don’t you? Father.”
The Duke would never believe her.
“So what if you cherished her? In the end, she’s still dead and in a coffin like anyone else.”
“Sezlin!”
The Duke raised his voice, unable to tolerate it any longer.
The eyes that had once softened only for April now turned sharp, like a beast’s.
“You’re angry because it was April who died, and I’m still here to blame!”
Her once-calm voice turned venomous, It felt like something was stuck in her throat. The discomfort made her lash out, just like her father.
All the times she had endured, hoping for love, they meant nothing now.
“You won’t stop me anymore, Father.”
Ah, now she finally saw it.
April had lived just as unhappy a life as her.
For the first time in her life, Sezlin acknowledged that truth. It was simple, but unbearably difficult.
Yet, the moment she did, her heart strangely eased, as if nothing had ever happened.
“You may blame me all you want now. I don’t care anymore.”
Better that than being comforted with empty words.
Sezlin slowly blinked and silently looked at her father.
The face once praised as noble now showed only contempt. Then again, had it ever known warmth?
Sezlin scoffed quietly and turned her back.
Well. I suppose this is the end of my time here. I won’t be in this mansion anymore, starting tomorrow.
“You’ve heard everything you wanted. I’ll be going now.”
Her black dress swayed gently as she lifted the hem. This might be her final farewell.
Bowing her head, Sezlin decided to leave all remaining emotion behind.
Even as the Duke’s curses followed her, Sezlin left the room with a blank face.
But her pale lips trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“Let’s go.”
“……Yes, milady.”
The waiting maid bowed quietly.
Yet her voice barely concealed what she was holding back: rage.
Yes, it was rage, rage toward the cruel master who had driven a kind young lady into misery.
That sentiment lingered even as they walked back to her room.
“I’m so sick of this.”
As soon as she closed the door, Sezlin tore off her gloves.
Unclipping the brooch pinned to her chest, she stared at it.
A pearl brooch—
A gift from April the day before she entered the palace, before she became the prince’s bride. She had apologized even then, saying she was sorry.
April had never returned alive.
Sezlin raised the brooch high, as if to throw it, But she couldn’t bring herself to. Her trembling arm slowly dropped.
“Hhk.”
She hadn’t hated her sister at first.
When their mother died of illness, and her father brought home a new wife, Sezlin tried to get along with her.
In fact, she’d liked her, But April, who received all the love Sezlin was denied, and the way everyone changed when she was around,
That drove Sezlin to despair.
— “Lady April is so kind. She even donated all her personal wealth.”
— “Yes, unlike her sister, Lady Sezlin, who at the last salon….”
People adored April who was lovely and generous.
Even the maids, who treated sezlin with civility in front of the Duke, secretly abused her.
— “Isn’t this going too far? What if the Duke finds out…?”
— “So what? She’s trash anyway. The Duke probably wouldn’t care.”
It started with not bringing her meals. Then the staff began tormenting her like it was hazing. Ripping her dresses, stealing her accessories…
Sezlin was technically a noble too, and sometimes invited to tea parties.
But the maids deliberately sabotaged her, then sent April in her place.
— “You shouldn’t lash out when angry, milady. It’s unladylike.”
— “Yes, you should smile and act graceful, like Lady April.”
Whenever this happened, April would bring back stories from the parties, or gift her a dress she liked, saying she bought two.
But the more April showed kindness, the more others compared them. They mocked Sezlin for accepting scraps from her sister.
The cast-off daughter. The disgrace of the house.
So Sezlin grew to resent her sister. She kept her distance and hurled harsh words, Because it was more painful to be near her.
Then, some time later, April got engaged to the Second Prince she had long admired.
Sezlin finally snapped.
She not only objected to the marriage, She spread rumors of an affair between herself and the Second Prince.
The gossip spiraled. soon, people speculated they had spent the night together.
She tried to fix it, But April had already married and left.
The Duke forbade a visit and Sezlin was put under house arrest.
Seven years passed, and the next time she saw April, was at her funeral.
“Ha, haha…!”
Sezlin laughed and stared at the mirror.
A pale woman stood dumbfounded.
Her once-radiant silver hair and ocean-blue eyes had lost all color.
“Damn it.”
Sezlin dropped the smile and marched to the bed.
She tossed the brooch and pulled a box from behind her pillow.
Inside was a single letter, sent secretly by April the day before her death.
What it contained shattered Sezlin completely.
<I’m so glad you’re not marrying him.>
<If you can, run.>
<It’s not abuse. It’s torture.>
The Second Prince’s crimes.
The torment April had endured.
and the reason she went through with the marriage despite knowing Sezlin would hate her for it.
<I just didn’t want you to be hurt.>
“Ha!”
At first, Sezlin thought it was a lie.
Just a petty trick to mock her.
She couldn’t see the truth, blinded by her own rage and that led to today.
To April’s death.
“Aaaargh!”
Sezlin clutched the letter, nearly tearing it, then gripped her own hair.
She didn’t even feel the pain.
Completely unhinged, she cried without tears.
The truth struck her during the funeral, when she gently lifted April’s burial clothes to lay flowers.
Injection marks, Scars. Exactly as the letter had described and most damning of all,
The Second Prince’s reaction.
Though his wife had just died, he left the funeral first. pretending it was because he was too grief-stricken.
Sezlin followed him after and regretted it instantly.
— “What a waste. If it hurt that much, she should’ve said something.
We lost a valuable subject.”
His aide bowed.
— “I’m sorry, Your Highness. Next time, ”
— “Ugh, whatever. Sezlin would’ve lasted longer.”
The Second Prince bit his lip and muttered:
— “Find a new one. A tougher one. We’re out of time.”
He was plotting the Crown Prince’s assassination for that he needed a replacement test subject.
‘Damn it.’
April had told the truth, She had known the Second Prince’s dark side.
She had taken on the suffering meant for Sezlin, because she didn’t want her sister to get hurt.
“Hhk.”
Guilt. Regret. Grief.
All of it came crashing down.
But the conclusion was clear.
Revenge on the Second Prince.
Sezlin collapsed onto her bed.
Even breathing was difficult.
The man who murdered April to satisfy his greed.
“Friedrich.”
Friedrich d’Azellan.
Sezlin clenched her teeth until her lips bled.
Blindsided by others’ praise, she had ignored the truth and now, she regretted it more than anything.
If only, If only she had another chance.
“April…”
She whispered her sister’s name as her consciousness faded.
Then, a moment later,
“…..”
Sunlight forced Sezlin’s eyes open.
Her blurry vision began to clear.
something felt off.
Her head was clear, too clear for someone who had cried herself to sleep. Even her body felt strangely light.
Sezlin took a shaky breath.
“This is strange.”
She got out of bed immediately.
Her legs shaky but determined, she rushed to the mirror.
A maid who had just entered gasped in shock.
“M-Milady?”
But Sezlin stared blankly at her reflection.
Platinum hair and blue eyes like her mother’s, A face younger than it was yesterday.
She had just come of age.
“What is…?”
She reached out, Her fingertips touched the cold glass.
Just then, a sharp voice rang out.
“Sezlin!”
The Duke stood in the doorway, already shouting.
“Don’t tell me you forgot about your meeting with the First Prince today—!”
Meeting?
Sezlin frowned.
That was… years ago.
“!”
Her lips parted.
Sezlin rushed to her desk, ignoring the Duke’s yelling.
She grabbed the calendar.
<Azellan, May 1482>
“Ha!”
She was back, Seven years in the past, Before April’s death.
“This… can’t be.”
Right at the start.
All over again.
