Chapter 20
2. Re: Life in Another World Starting with the Grand Duke (6)
Geum Ga-yeon hesitated a little, but soon followed quietly.
Unfortunately, Selena failed to make a quick retreat.
Because Geum Ga-yeon stopped moving.
It wasn’t that she changed her mind.
It was because the Grand Duke was holding her other hand—the one Selena wasn’t holding.
“Uh… um, unni…”
“What are you trying to do?”
“I hope you will listen until the end. Aren’t you curious why I came here, Count Kim?”
“I’m not curious. No. Go back.”
“I refuse.”
Grand Duke Ruhart firmly refused. His clear voice, like a stream flowing through a valley, calmly tried to persuade Selena.
“You know my ability is looping. Even if you refuse, I can repeat this until the day you listen.”
Damn loop.
Selena frowned.
“Don’t tell me this situation has already happened before?”
“Don’t worry. This is the first time for this situation.”
“If that’s a lie…”
“I don’t lie about how many times I’ve gone back. If I did, I might really go insane.”
The way he said that with an awkward smile was ridiculous.
Haha. So you do lie about other things.
And from what I see, you’re already insane, kid.
From what you said earlier, I think I killed you with Ice Storm and Lightning. A normal person wouldn’t talk like this with someone who killed them twice.
Know yourself.
Luckily, even though Selena had questionable morals, she still knew what to say and what not to say to someone who wasn’t her enemy.
She swallowed the famous quote that had reached her throat.
Another reason also stopped her—
If she made him hold a grudge, things would go very badly.
Killing him was useless.
If she tried to immobilize him, he might just kill himself and reset.
If she tried to control his mind, it would be a gamble since his abilities were unknown.
There was no solution.
The biggest problem was failure.
If things went wrong, she would gain the hatred of an infinite regressor.
…What the hell is that? That’s terrifying.
Even Selena—who had caused chaos in the imperial capital, dragged the Emperor into a messy drama, escaped with a former Empress, and neatly “decorated” a young duke—felt that gaining a regressor’s hatred was a huge burden.
She really wanted to avoid that.
The Grand Duke was pitiful.
Even Selena, who was usually cold toward people of this world, felt a bit sorry for him.
But it was like feeling pity for an injured stray dog.
If he were really a dog, she might have grabbed him and taken him to a hospital with a bag of money.
But unfortunately, Ruhart was human.
And no matter how handsome he was, with black hair and black eyes, Selena had only a grain of salt’s worth of interest in male characters of this world.
“I’m busy, so get to the point.”
She crossed her arms and spoke coldly.
She was clearly saying: I’m not interested in you. Not at all. We’re going to part ways.
As if understanding her feelings, the Grand Duke thought for a moment and then said:
“At this rate, Count Kim, you will die in one day.”
“Sorry. Can you explain everything from the beginning?”
Selena immediately sat down again with Geum Ga-yeon, who also looked serious.
“Earlier, I said I died 52 times as of this spring. But if we count from two weeks ago, the number is 257.”
The number suddenly jumped.
Even though his life was always in danger due to politics and environment, he still had power, resources, and people under him.
And from their conversation, Ruhart was clearly not someone who just let things happen to him.
If someone like him died over a hundred times in the same situation—
There was only one culprit.
“The Emperor?”
“Yes. Out of 257 deaths, 177 were because the Emperor sent the Shadow Knights and the Red Thorn group.”
“But why? You barely even met him except once at the coronation. Why would the Emperor target you?”
Selena had the same question.
There was no way he committed treason.
Why would the Emperor eliminate someone who was protecting Ariel Fortress and acting as a shield against monsters?
It made no sense.
“The reason is… the Empress smiled at me and handed me orange juice at the coronation.”
“…What? Say that again.”
“At the coronation, the Empress smiled at me and handed me orange juice.”
“….”
That clearly crossed a line.
Geum Ga-yeon went silent. Selena also had nothing to say.
“As my relationship with the Empress got worse, the Emperor thought that if he killed everyone she showed even the slightest kindness to, she would still like him the most. So he has been killing everyone who received even a small personal favor from her.”
Crazy.
Killing people over orange juice.
And not even recently—this was three years ago.
If he remembered something like that and gave assassination orders now…
Then everyone the Empress had ever been kind to was probably already dead.
For a moment, Selena seriously wondered if the Emperor was the root of all evil in this world.
He imprisoned and oppressed Geum Ga-yeon.
He caused the Grand Duke to die hundreds of times.
He assassinated nobles who spoke up about the Empress.
And killed anyone she treated kindly.
Selena suddenly felt uneasy.
That bastard Emperor… if we disappear by moving dimensions, will he follow us?
Or worse—
Will he start a dimensional invasion war?
She seriously considered dropping Hellfire on the imperial capital.
While Selena was planning interdimensional terrorism for world peace—
Geum Ga-yeon stood frozen, her mouth slightly open, then turned pale and spoke with difficulty.
“I-I’m sorry. I… I never thought… it would become like this…”
“This is not something you need to apologize for, Your Majesty. There is no law in the Empire that says exchanging orange juice with a smile deserves death. This is entirely the Emperor’s crime.”
“But still… I’m sorry.”
“…It’s alright.”
Seeing her bite her lips and lower her head, the Grand Duke made a complicated expression, then nodded, as if accepting her apology.
Even after dying hundreds of times because of that one orange juice, he remained surprisingly rational.
Maybe the reason no longer mattered to him.
While Selena clicked her tongue inwardly, Geum Ga-yeon—whose conscience was as pure as her appearance—still couldn’t shake off her guilt.
The Grand Duke smiled bitterly and comforted her.
“If I suffered this much, I can’t imagine how much you endured by the Emperor’s side. You and I are both victims. So it’s really alright, Your Majesty.”
“I was basically half-imprisoned for three years… and for three months, I could barely speak more than three sentences to anyone except that bastard Emperor… but because I gave you orange juice, you died hundreds of times…”
“You could only speak three sentences? At least for me, if I gave up and waited for death, I could enjoy freedom for about three days…”
“Only three days of freedom in the middle of all those deaths…? Oh my…”
The Empress and the Grand Duke looked at each other with sympathy.
Left out, Selena watched their conversation with a strange expression.
Are you two really in a position to pity each other?
From what I see, both your lives are completely ruined.
Not just ruined—like nuclear bombs are raining down nonstop.
Well… Ga-yeon will start a new life when we move dimensions anyway.
But him?
Selena felt a tiny bit shaken.
Ah… this isn’t good.
I didn’t plan to feel this much sympathy for him…
But still…
He really is kind of pitiful.
