Chapter 03
I didn’t even hope for good treatment.
A warm room? Delicious food? I never dreamed of it.
But this… this was too much.
For dinner, there was a rock-hard piece of rye bread. A damp, gloomy underground cell with patches of mold growing here and there. And inside it—me.
‘Well, it’s not that big of a deal~’
I inhaled the cold air that felt as if mold were seeping deep into my lungs.
‘Being able to breathe means I’m alive. And being alive is something to be grateful for.’
Right. No matter what, I have to survive. I believe that those who throw their lives away without understanding how precious it is would have been better off never being born.
Still, surprisingly, the place had some basic furniture like a bed and a chair.
The only real problem was the cold.
When I was dragged here, I saw that it was late winter—the kind where the snow that had piled up thick and soft was just beginning to melt.
It wasn’t enough to block the icy air coming in from outside, but if I wrapped myself in the thin blanket, it was bearable.
Bundled up tightly, I shrank into myself and organized my thoughts about what was going to happen next.
Tonight, Perion would be fatally wounded by an assassin sent by Duke Bordi. Why would Duke Bordi send an assassin to the emperor?
It was practically a habit. If he was in a bad mood, he’d try stabbing the emperor just to see if he’d die. Duke Bordi was that kind of lunatic.
Which was probably why, even with a tyrant like Perion on the throne, he was preparing a rebellion.
The main plot of I Will Rewrite My Fate revolved around Duke Bordi, the leader of the rebels, and the emperor who stood against him.
Their conflict would plunge the Cardicel Empire into chaos. In the midst of that, the male lead—a priest—and the female lead—a saintess—would step in. Under the pretense of preserving peace, the Temple would suppress the rebellion and depose the tyrant Perion.
And the Cardicel Empire would be reborn as a Holy Empire.
‘So before the Empire turns into a complete mess, I’m getting out of here. No matter what!’
But none of that was possible unless I stayed alive. Which meant I had to escape the imperial palace as soon as possible.
In this ridiculous fictional world, I swore I would survive at all costs.
“Yawn~ But there’s nothing I can do right now anyway…”
I pressed myself onto the old mattress. It creaked, yet strangely, it felt comfortable. A musty smell filled the air…
To block it out, I pulled the hood of my robe over my head and lay down.
‘First, let’s get some sleep…’
Maybe it was the tension. My eyelids grew heavy almost instantly. After blinking a few times, I slowly closed my eyes.
And so, unaware of the disaster that would strike in just a few hours, I fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, in the emperor’s office.
Linen clutched Perion’s neck as blood poured relentlessly from the wound.
“Damn it!”
The knights had been rendered helpless by sleeping gas. Fortunately, Devon Crossel, the First Commander of the Imperial Knights, had quickly regained his senses and prevented Perion from facing the assassin alone—but that was all he managed.
Perion himself had been affected by the gas. His consciousness blurred, and he fell to the assassin’s blade.
“Summon the imperial physician immediately!”
At Linen’s shout, a maid hurried out of the room.
Perion was already unconscious. He had lost too much blood.
Linen desperately wanted to hold onto the blood slipping through his fingers.
Why did it have to be his neck? Sensing danger, he had secretly assigned additional knights to the palace—but why couldn’t he stop the fortune-teller’s prophecy?
‘…The fortune-teller?’
Linen recalled the slightly insane-looking woman he had seen earlier that day.
She had widened her eyes and shouted boldly in front of Perion. The memory had startled him more than he cared to admit.
Yes. That woman might know something. Why these damned assassins appeared tonight. Whether Perion could be saved.
After the imperial physician arrived and administered basic emergency treatment, Perion was moved to his bedchamber.
Then Linen, still covered in blood, began walking somewhere with steady steps. Devon stopped him.
“Linen, where are you going?”
“To see that woman.”
“…The fortune-teller from earlier?”
Without a word, Linen removed Devon’s hand from his wrist and resumed walking. Devon grabbed him again.
“I’m coming with you.”
Linen glanced indifferently at the hand gripping him, then pulled free once more.
“Suit yourself.”
Leaving Devon behind, Linen headed swiftly toward the underground prison. Devon followed silently.
“Wake up—hey! I said wake up!”
‘Tch—ugh, who is it?’
I barely regained my senses at someone shaking me awake.
Where am I again? But the cold, moldy smell entering my nose reminded me of the events from a few hours ago.
‘Oh. I’m inside I Will Rewrite My Fate.’
“…Living quite comfortably, I see.”
Still half-asleep, I heard a man’s cold voice.
‘Who talks so rudely like that?’
My inner Confucian instincts flared, and I turned my head instinctively—only to clamp my hand over my mouth in shock.
Long, dark blue hair shimmering in the moonlight. Pale green eyes beneath elegantly worn glasses.
It was unmistakably Perion’s aide—Linen Bordi.
“Gasp—!”
Behind him stood a red-haired man with a scar slashing across one eye. Even through the prison bars, his muscular build was obvious.
That had to be Devon Crossel, Commander of the First Imperial Knights.
As two supporting characters from the original story appeared in succession, I stared at them in a daze—until Linen’s cold voice poured icy water over my foggy mind.
“Has she already lost her mind in half a day?”
‘As expected, that icy expression suits Linen perfectly.’
I nodded unconsciously—then Linen suddenly took Devon’s sword. The blade pointed straight at me.
“His Majesty has been gravely injured. Just as you said.”
At his words, I realized I was standing at a crucial crossroads.
He believed what I had said.
I sat cross-legged and straightened my back.
“All things follow the natural order.”
“You said that tonight, death would loom over His Majesty. How did you know?”
“I merely divined fate. I did nothing more.”
Linen’s hand trembled at my words. Ah, I could practically see what he was thinking.
‘Is someone like His Majesty truly fated to die like this?!’
On the outside, Linen seemed cold and robotic, ruled only by logic—but in truth, he cared for the emperor more than anyone.
‘That’s why he’s even believing the words of a fortune-teller he just met.’
I smirked quietly in the darkness when his trembling voice spoke again.
“Then… do you know how to save His Majesty?”
“…It seems he didn’t wear the necklace I gave him.”
I didn’t need to see it to know. That arrogant emperor would never have listened to me.
Linen’s eyes shook violently at my remark.
‘Is it really okay for the emperor’s aide to be this transparent?’
I clicked my tongue softly. Linen, apparently irritated, thrust the sword through the bars in warning.
‘Yikes!’
I screamed internally, but not aloud. I was playing the role of a competent fortune-teller, after all.
“So, the method?”
Linen pressed.
‘I knew it would come to this.’
A way to save him? Of course there was one. And it was simple. Just wait until morning.
At dawn, at the exact time the emperor was attacked, the female lead—the saintess who fell into this world—would arrive to heal him.
But I couldn’t reveal that so easily.
‘In this situation, I take control.’
“If there is a way, will you believe me this time? My abilities are useless to those who doubt my words.”
Despite the turmoil inside me, I let my gaze shine with dignity as I warned him.
Linen hesitated briefly, then answered.
“…I will believe you. It’s the only thing I can rely on right now.”
He sounded like someone forced into debt with a single sentence. The reluctant tone was irritating—but the fact that he would trust me was significant.
I had to seize this opportunity.
“Then I have a condition.”
“A condition?”
Linen’s eyes warned that if I tried any tricks, he would cut me down immediately. As expected of a tyrant’s aide—he had inherited the temper perfectly.
“When His Majesty makes a full recovery, exile me from the Empire.”
“…What?”
Linen looked utterly confused, as if he couldn’t comprehend what I had just said. Devon behind him wore the same expression.
