Chapter 19
2. Re: Life in Another World Starting with the Grand Duke (5)
The story they were about to share was something neither the speaker nor the listener could handle while sober, so they opened a bottle of wine.
They used two tin cups—the same ones Selena and Geum Ga-yeon had used for their sky tea party on the carpet—and a wooden cup that had been lying in a corner of the temple for years. They cleaned them with the power of spirits and used them.
The Grand Duke poured wine into the three prepared cups.
There was no special effect where wine tasted twice as good just because a handsome Grand Duke poured it. Still, maybe because it was poured by someone powerful, it felt strangely pleasant.
“Thank you. I’ll drink it well.”
Whether it was because of habits that didn’t change even after ten years in another world, or because of noble etiquette Selena didn’t know, Geum Ga-yeon politely received the cup with both hands.
Feeling nostalgic, Selena stopped the Grand Duke, who was about to pour wine for himself.
“When there are several people, you don’t fill your own cup alone.”
“Yes, Count Kim.”
With his strong yet elegant hands, the Grand Duke quietly held out his cup.
It seemed this really was noble drinking etiquette in this world.
She had always drunk alone in her room, worrying about poison or assassination while drunk, so she only realized it now.
What a rude world where you can’t even drink comfortably. She really didn’t like this world. Not that it mattered—she had no friends or companions to drink with anyway. It was just how she felt.
Selena let out a sigh and put down her empty cup.
After drinking a bit, she felt her rational mind returning.
Now fully calm again, Selena cleared her throat and asked,
“Alright. So… when did your loop first start?”
“When I was 14.”
“That was when I officially inherited the Grand Duke title,” he added.
The story of Grand Duke Ruhart—the lord of Ariel Fortress City, who seemed to be living a dark thriller in an otherwise peaceful fantasy world—was this:
The previous Grand Duke, who lost a power struggle and was pushed to the far north, became ill from stress. After three seasons passed, he died just after his only son turned fourteen.
So the boy became the Grand Duke at the age of 14.
That night, after the succession ceremony, the boy quietly prayed.
He didn’t want to die.
His father was gone. The loyal retainers who followed him had already been executed after losing the bloody power struggle. His mother had died long ago when he was young.
On top of that, seeing knights and soldiers constantly dying in the fierce battles of Ariel Fortress made the boy fear death deeply.
It was a very natural feeling.
But—
From the perspective of a dragon, it was different.
“I will grant your wish, as promised.”
Long ago, there was a promise carved into the coffin of the Grand Dukes who protected Ariel Fortress.
The last dragon of this world, who once considered a Grand Duke its only friend, left behind a blessing:
If someone prayed sincerely, it would grant one wish.
At first, the young Grand Duke thought it was just a dream when the dragon appeared and said his wish had been granted.
He even felt ashamed. Instead of bravely protecting the city, he had trembled in fear and begged not to die. So he forgot about the dream.
He remembered it again six months later—
After being eaten by a wyvern attacking the fortress during a monster wave.
He found himself standing in front of the tower he had climbed to observe the battlefield.
He had returned to ten minutes before his death.
The horrible feeling of being torn apart by the wyvern’s sharp teeth was still vivid.
He chose not to climb the tower this time and survived.
But in exchange, he had nightmares for ten days.
Even then, he wasn’t sure.
At 16—
An ice troll attacked. While fighting it, he fell from his horse and broke his neck.
Before he could even process the pain, he returned to the moment before he mounted the horse.
After this happened twice, he accepted it.
The dragon had granted his wish.
But the wish—“I don’t want to die”—was not granted through immortality or invincibility.
Instead—
Whenever he died, he returned to the moment that caused his death, and by making a different choice, he could avoid it.
The pain of dying was terrible, but it was still better than dying meaninglessly.
So at first, he was grateful for the dragon’s “blessing.”
That began to change when he turned 17.
At 17—
An assassin sent by someone attacked him in his bedroom. He died before his guard knight could arrive.
The moment his neck was cut, he returned to five days earlier.
It seemed he had returned to the moment the assassination was ordered.
The problem started here.
“I realized that no matter what I did, the assassin would come… after dying about four times.”
Time didn’t rewind just once.
It kept rewinding until he survived.
And the assassin didn’t always attack in the same way.
Usually similar—but sometimes different.
Poison, stealth attacks, ambushes…
He died 19 times before finally surviving.
Out of those 19 times, he fought the assassin directly 13 times and eventually reached the Expel level.
Even though his body didn’t change, his experience remained in his memory.
Yes—
Only his memory stayed.
Those five days, repeated through 19 deaths, were hell for him.
That was when he first thought—
Maybe this wasn’t a blessing.
“19 times… you died?”
“That’s just at age 17.”
Selena was stunned.
She had planned to overlook it if it was less than ten times… but—
No.
Think positively, Selena Kim.
At least it wasn’t 1,863 times.
Haha. Ha. Ha.
…Crazy.
She poured more wine into her empty cup.
While she drank to calm herself, the Grand Duke continued calmly.
“After repeating death, I naturally realized several rules.”
He lived until the age of 29 through repeated regressions.
By then, he understood the conditions of his ability:
- When he dies, he returns to the moment most related to that death.
- The maximum time he can go back is 7 days.
- There is no limit to how many times he can go back.
- Once a return point is set, he cannot go further back than that.
- Each regression creates small changes in people, objects, and events.
- The regression continues until he completely overcomes that death.
“As of this spring, I have died a total of 52 times.”
“…52 times.”
Selena glanced at him.
There was a saying that even dying once could change a person.
But 52 times?
She knew from experience—having died once in her previous life—
Dying felt absolutely terrible.
She had died young in an accident, and even once was enough.
But the Grand Duke—
He was trapped in a forced death loop by some insane dragon’s magic.
19 deaths at 17.
52 deaths so far.
There was no way he was mentally normal.
Every regressor she had seen in stories from Earth—
None of them remained completely sane.
At best, they lost their sense of life’s value.
At worst, they became insane killers who only looked normal on the outside.
Selena, knowing how terrible death loops were from media back on Earth, became wary of Grand Duke Ruhart.
And quickly reached a conclusion:
Don’t get involved.
“Dying 52 times… that’s unfortunate—”
Before finishing her sentence, Selena turned and walked quickly toward the temple entrance.
