Chapter 3
When I gently placed my palm over the scar, I could feel the steady thumping of my heartbeat beneath it.
I lifted my trembling eyelashes and looked at myself in the mirror.
What I saw was Inerua Mertiel at nineteen years old.
As if the gods had taken pity on me, I wasn’t the twenty-two-year-old Inerua Mertiel—I was the nineteen-year-old version of myself.
I didn’t know why this had happened, or why I was here now.
But one thing was certain.
“One regret is enough.”
With this scar, the trace of death, engraved deep in my heart, I vowed to live this life that I’d been given again with as little regret as possible… to live achieving what I had once longed for.
If not for anyone else, then at least for myself.
✦ ✦ ✦
Looking for answers to the situation unfolding before me, I pulled my robe tightly around me and fled the castle.
“Let’s go to the temple.”
It seemed like the only place that might give me a reasonable explanation.
I climbed over the high walls with all my strength and ran blindly.
The magical barrier that only allowed authorized people to pass… let me through without resistance.
As if it had never been meant to block me in the first place.
“Haha!”
As a free person, not a fugitive—I laughed as I ran out into the world alone for the first time.
My feet became raw, and the cold wind ripped through my lungs, but I didn’t stop running until I finally arrived.
“Huff, huff.”
The temple.
A pure white, majestic place that glowed solemnly even in the darkness of night.
I hesitated briefly in front of the unfamiliar place I had never set foot in during my life, but then I clasped my hands together tightly.
‘There’s no reason to hesitate now.’
I stepped into the temple.
The fear and anxiety that had followed me the whole way here crumbled the moment I stood inside the stunningly white space.
“It’s quiet.”
Maybe because it was nighttime—there wasn’t a single person around.
Then I noticed something strange.
‘I don’t know much about temples, but…’
A maze? Why does it feel like I’m walking in circles?
No matter how far I walked, I didn’t seem to reach a destination. It felt like I kept retracing the same path. I even tried going back the way I came, but again, I found myself in the same place. It was confusing.
“Is this magic? Maybe a defense spell to deter intruders?”
Well, I had no choice but to keep going.
I don’t know how long I walked before my foot twisted, and I stumbled hard to the floor.
“Ugh…”
Ouch, that hurt.
In that moment, a voice echoed from the sky-high ceiling above.
“Welcome.”
Reflexively, I turned around.
Standing there was a woman in white—radiating an aura of purity as if untouched by the filth of the world.
“I am Iris, the agent of the gods.”
The woman with snow-white eyes continued,
“I have been waiting for you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Iris.
The Pope, the Saintess.
A woman blessed by the gods, beloved by the world.
“Inerua, you don’t need to say anything.”
With gestures as graceful as an angel descended from the heavens, Iris sat across from me.
“There is nothing I do not know.”
They say she’s even harder to meet than the emperor himself—I never imagined I’d meet her like this.
“You know everything…? Then you know why I’m here?”
Iris gently stroked her chin and leaned down to meet my eye level.
Then she spoke again.
“You turned back time, didn’t you? To the day you regret most.”
Seeing the surprise on my face, she smiled.
“It happens from time to time.”
“…Things like this happen often?”
“Like the Admine flower that blooms once every few hundred years, the gods sometimes lend their power to the shattered yet noble souls whose fates have gone astray.”
Her abstract words made my brows knit, though I tried not to show it.
“Noble… That word doesn’t suit me.”
“Hmm.”
“……”
“I think it suits you quite well.”
All I could do was laugh faintly.
I didn’t know what she saw in me to say that, and frankly, I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
Shaking my head, I asked,
“So now I just… live this new life?”
She replied in a flat tone.
“This world was created to fulfill your wish.”
Her every word sent a ripple through my whole body.
“If your wish is fulfilled, then this world will continue to belong to you.”
And then she continued with the words I instinctively dreaded.
“But if your wish is not fulfilled, everything will return to how it was.”
Return to how it was?
You mean I’ll go back—back before the regression?
I shot up from my seat without realizing it.
No. Absolutely not. There was only death waiting for me there.
There would be no way to undo that final, dying moment.
My heart ached as pain surged through me.
Suddenly, my body lost all strength.
As I staggered, Iris gently helped me back down into my seat. I looked up at her weakly, and after a moment of silence, she said,
“The wish you made right before you died—fulfill it. That’s what turned back your time.”
Her words stirred something in my memory.
[The Duke… at least that man… I wanted to drag him to ruin with my own hands.]
[I wanted power. So no one could ever treat me like trash again.]
Words I’d muttered in despair, just before death.
“If you face difficulty, come find me again. I can at least listen to your story.”
So…
‘If I want to live, I have to fulfill my wish.’
An unreal reality engulfed me—
Like a massive tidal wave.
✦ ✦ ✦
Now, there were two things I had to do in order to survive.
First, drag my father to ruin.
Second, gain power.
The first… I could say I’d already done on the day I returned.
Now just one thing remained—gaining power. But… hmm.
“It’s already been two months since the Duke and Duchess went missing!”
“We can’t hide this from His Majesty the Emperor any longer!”
“This is a serious matter! We can’t just sit here doing nothing!”
The noise outside was too loud—I couldn’t think.
As their voices grew louder beyond the door, I rested my chin in my hand and stared sharply at it.
“So what are we supposed to do now, Head Steward?”
“You think I have the answer? Damn it!”
It had already been two months since Mother passed away—two months since I regressed.
As expected of this disgraceful family, they immediately began reacting like headless chickens, fighting among themselves like bouncing kangaroos.
“They’ve come to my room today, huh?”
For the record, I hadn’t said a single word about my father or mother.
No one had even thought to ask someone like me—quietly living like a mouse—about their whereabouts.
“But this ends today.”
Judging from the noise outside my room, I could tell.
That’s when someone knocked at the door.
“…?”
Then, without waiting for a response, BANG—the heavy door flew open.
Startled, I could only glance between the wide-open door and the person stepping through it.
“It’s been a while, Lady.”
A burly man with a rounded belly strode boldly into my room.
‘Ugh… not him.’
Behind him, knights and attendants hesitated awkwardly.
The man rubbed his beard and laughed with an affected, genial air.
Standing next to him was a boy around my age who looked just like him when he was young.
This man was Rubrion, one of the collateral nobles who had always harassed me—telling me to adopt a male heir, that I wasn’t fit to bear children, and that I’d better decide on a successor soon.
“You’ve grown quite a bit.”
He must’ve been paying close attention to the duke’s estate.
That’s how he noticed something was wrong and came storming in like this.
“Stop.”
I halted him as he marched forward without hesitation.
My sudden, commanding words made him pause.
“…Lady?”
The collateral nobles all knew exactly how I’d been treated, how I’d grown up.
And what kind of person I was.
“How unfortunate.”
In the past, I’d never once dared speak up because Father was watching.
But today, it seemed I’d be able to release all that pent-up resentment.
“It seems you were never taught how to behave as a noble.”
“What? Lady, what are you saying—!”
Rubrion’s eyes widened in shock, and he faltered.
I’m a little confused about the timeline, but oh well. *Shrugs* I might be misunderstanding.