Chapter 3
Crown Prince Arpad was known to always clash with the emperor and eventually go mad due to a hereditary mental illness in the royal family — and die.
“I even saw the bloodbath he caused once when he became a mad serial killer.”
“I almost died by his hand, too.”
But even so, he’s the only one with enough legitimacy to oppose Ludwig, the emperor’s favored nephew.
And in my third life, I learned a crucial fact.
“I know how to keep Arpad from going mad.”
It cost me a lot of pain to learn that.
Still, I couldn’t rush out to find the crown prince just yet.
“Someone will come soon.”
In fact, two people — one after the other.
This would be my fourth time experiencing this moment.
And since it happens right after regression, I remembered it all very clearly.
Especially everything from tonight until the wedding.
I opened all the windows and doors wide.
After the first person I was waiting for entered the room…
I screamed loud enough to echo throughout the mansion.
“Aaaah!!!”
So loud that anyone with ears would hear it.
So that everyone would rush to my room.
A familiar male voice came, full of confusion.
“What is going on all of a sudden…?”
His frustration and anger quickly drowned out all other emotions.
“You’re saying you don’t want to wear the wedding dress now?! Do you even know the wedding is tomorrow?!”
Not a hint of concern for my crying self.
“So he really was always full of lies and pretense in front of me.”
I glanced toward the voice.
There stood a handsome man — not as dazzling as the crown prince, but still striking.
Ash-gray hair, and red-brown eyes I once thought were beautiful.
He was my husband in all three lives.
The one who used me, then discarded me.
Ludwig Kieln, Duke.
The emperor’s nephew.
The crown prince’s rival.
My fiancé today — and my husband by tomorrow.
Now, he was yelling at me.
“You picked that dress yourself — multiple times! And now you won’t wear it?! Why are you acting like this?!”
Pointing at the dress, then at me.
“Ah… that angry expression and harsh tone. Very familiar.”
I had seen it often in past lives.
I kept up my act — crying harder and sniffing.
“S-sorry, Ludwig… I should’ve checked better…”
“You should’ve checked earlier! Why now…?”
“There’s a mistake with the dress.”
“…What?”
His annoyed hand brushing his hair froze midair.
I cried even louder on purpose.
Sob sob sob!
Even to my ears, the sobs sounded heartbreaking.
“I checked carefully! Evangeline helped too! But something’s wrong with the dress! What do I do…?”
I saw Ludwig’s eyes waver slightly.
I kept repeating “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” like someone hysterical.
Just like a bride panicking the night before her wedding.
His scolding stopped. He looked unsure.
Then — that sweet, sugary voice reached my ears.
“What’s going on, big brother? Sister-in-law? Don’t fight right before the wedding.”
That voice.
“Goodbye, original heroine.”
I almost cursed out loud. My body trembled like a leaf.
Thank God I was pretending to cry already.
“That b***!”*
While I was sobbing, she quietly walked over and stood beside Ludwig.
I peeked at her through my fingers.
“I don’t know what happened, but please forgive sister-in-law, brother.”
Subtle, manipulative blame — implying I was in the wrong.
It was her — Evangeline, or rather, the possessed girl whose real name I still didn’t know.
She twisted her golden hair around her finger and smiled sweetly.
In front of his fiancée (me), she was soothing Ludwig’s shoulder.
“Brides always get nervous and make mistakes right before the wedding. A kind man like you should understand.”
Not something you’d say or do to another woman’s fiancé.
She called Ludwig “brother” and me “sister-in-law,” but her actions didn’t match her words.
She was only allowed to call Ludwig “brother” because…
“She’s the daughter of the current empress’s ex-husband.”
The empress was once a maid to the previous empress and became his son’s nanny — which earned her marriage to the emperor.
Thanks to that, Evangeline was treated like royalty.
She grew up alongside Ludwig and called him brother while calling me sister-in-law.
But the truth?
“They had an affair, claiming it didn’t count because they weren’t blood-related. Disgusting.”
“But what does she care? She’s a possessed person.”
They were already lovers — probably long before now.
Usually, Ludwig would’ve looked at her lovingly, even in front of me.
But this time, he hesitated.
“…Evangeline. This is between us. Please give us a moment.”
Her smile froze.
He wasn’t siding with her — and that surprised her.
She softened her tone again.
“That’s hurtful. We’re not strangers…”
This time, she ran her hand along his neck.
“Oh, shut up with your ‘brother’ talk.”
My jaw clenched so hard I tasted blood.
“This time, I’ll throw you both in the trash — together.”
I loosened my jaw, let my tears fall again, and cried out pitifully to her.
“What should I do, Eva…?”
“W-what?!”
Her reaction was instant.
I’d always been polite — even when she told me to speak casually.
But not now.
“I’m panicking, remember? And you told me to call you that, didn’t you?”
At the same time, I collapsed into Ludwig’s arms.
“Hilia!!”
Only then did he panic and catch me.
Now Evangeline stood awkward and ignored.
I made my next move.
“The dress is ruined! I can’t stand at the altar in that thing!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
I ignored Evangeline’s question.
I looked up at Ludwig with tearful eyes.
At this point in time, I was at the peak of my beauty — before all the suffering.
I had been called the most beautiful woman on the continent.
“Even mistresses lose their confidence when a beauty cries in front of them.”
Evangeline was clearly shaken.
I acted like I didn’t notice and leaned further into Ludwig’s chest.
“The dress… it has someone else’s initials! How can I wear that to our wedding?!”
“Th-that’s…!”
Both Ludwig and Evangeline turned pale.
Even the nearby maids flinched — some of them my own.
“So even the staff knew. Noted.”
I remembered each of their faces.
After a tense silence, Ludwig spoke.
“You must be mistaken!”
I shoved him aside, ran to the dress, and flipped up the hem.
“Look! L and E — stitched right here!”
“……”
“You said you didn’t want initials on our dress… yet these are here.”
I had once wanted our initials on the dress, back when I was innocent.
Ludwig refused, saying he’d pass it to our future children.
But behind my back, he had stitched his and Evangeline’s initials instead.
“Must’ve been a mistake by the tailor,” he said.
“Impossible! This kind of embroidery is intentional. This is a plot!”
Evangeline’s shoulders twitched.
“It’s scary, Ludwig! Who would do such a terrible thing?!”
“Sister-in-law, don’t overreact. Maybe the dresses got mixed up…”
“All the fittings were done here, at the Delphin mansion — you supervised them yourself, Evangeline!”
I said her name loudly, pretending to sob even harder, and clung deeper into Ludwig’s arms.
Loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
“Ludwig… maybe someone wants to ruin our wedding. Maybe there’s a woman nearby who wants to steal you from me.”
“…!”
He flinched.
“Yeah. She’s right in front of us, isn’t she?”
I was sure they were exchanging panicked looks now.
“Didn’t I tell you not to embroider our initials?!”
“You agreed to it too, didn’t you?!”
Evangeline always acted like everything I had was meant to be hers.
She’d once said—
“It was all mine from the start. Ludwig, the crown princess position… I only let you hold it for a while.”
I cried even harder.
“I can’t wear that disgusting dress on our special day! I’d rather die!”
“Hilia!”
Ludwig shouted at me.
“Our marriage was arranged by His Majesty. You’re not going to defy an imperial order, are you?!”
He was clearly trying to scare me into going through with it.
Normally, that would’ve worked on me.
But not this time.
“No! I won’t marry you in a dress with another woman’s name! It’d feel like I’m at your wedding with her!”
I made sure to sound like a heartbroken bride — not someone trying to cancel the wedding.
I had been branded a disgrace before. Not again.
His voice softened, trying to coax me.
“It’s not like that. You’re my only bride. This doesn’t change that.”
He glanced nervously at Evangeline, but kept talking.
“Come on, be a good girl, Hilia.”
Disgusting.
I looked up at him tearfully — and did the opposite of what he wanted.
I ran straight for the terrace.
“!”
It looked like I was about to throw myself off — I wasn’t, of course.
This was a protest.
To delay the wedding, or at least make a mess of it.
He panicked and grabbed me.
“What are you doing?!”
“Let go! I’d rather die than marry you in her dress!”
His face turned completely pale.
He glanced at me, Evangeline, and the dress — and made a decision.
“What’s he doing?”
He grabbed a nearby candle and brought it to the dress.
Everyone screamed.
“Brother! What are you doing?!”
“Oh no! The dress!”
The delicate silk burned instantly.
Servants tried to save it — but it was already destroyed.
Evangeline stared in shock.
“B-Brother…?”
Ludwig ignored her and looked at me.
“Whoever did this horrible thing — we can’t let it ruin our wedding!”
“Now there’s nothing to worry about. The evil has been burned away!”
I sniffled and asked sadly,
“But Ludwig… the wedding’s tomorrow. I don’t have a dress.”
I repeated his words back to him, hoping he’d postpone.
“Delaying the wedding would be perfect.”
But he was more desperate than I expected — for the Delphin family’s title and wealth.
“Eva! You still have your dress, right?”
“B-brother…?”
“The one the empress gave you for your birthday! That dress could work as a wedding dress, couldn’t it?”
“……”
That’s when it hit me.
“He means that dress… the one she wore at my past weddings.”
Evangeline turned pale and stumbled.
But she couldn’t say no — that would admit guilt.
So in my fourth life, I ended up unintentionally wearing Evangeline’s dress for the wedding.
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