TOFP 02

Chapter 02

Pfft.

Simon, standing in front of Kasha, made a sound like he was barely holding back laughter.

“Did you really believe that? That we were married? You idiot. Did we ever stand before a priest and exchange vows? Did we ever even file a marriage registration?”

“……”

“Haa… you really are hopeless. You can craft magical tools, but you don’t understand how the world works at all. You can’t even hold a proper conversation.”

He raised his voice in genuine frustration. Kasha’s expression slowly twisted.

I’m… an idiot?

You were the one who said it. That I was too shy, so you would go register the marriage yourself at the temple. That I should focus only on my work. That soon we would go meet your father and elder brother.

And you even gave me a ring.

That ring the guards later ripped off her finger, saying it got in the way during torture. The cheap ring even the guards said wasn’t worth taking.

But Kasha could say nothing. Her teeth chattered violently, but her throat felt completely blocked.

This always happened when she was anxious or angry—she would either stutter like a fool or go completely mute. And it probably started the day Simon, in frustration, said:

“If you’re going to ramble like that when you’re excited… it’s annoying. You should just stay quiet instead.”

She already knew everyone looked down on her. But hearing Simon say it had been a shock.

After that, she spoke even less.

She only did what she could do—the only thing he ever acknowledged her for.

Locked alone in a remote tower laboratory, she researched and built magical devices at Simon’s orders.

“You’re amazing, Kasha. You’re a genius. I love you!”

She believed the sparkle in his eyes at that moment was love.

That was why, when she was suddenly accused as a villain and hunted by imperial soldiers, she did not resent Simon. She simply ran as he told her to.

“Kasha. Today is the day. Your execution.”

Simon said it as if he were relieved.

Kasha lifted her dim eyes, trying to look directly at his face. It was pointless.

She already understood everything a long time ago.

The moment he never contacted her again after she was imprisoned and tortured for months.

She had been used. And finally, discarded.

That realization had come slowly—but painfully.

So now… die? Just die?

After everything—after trusting you, after believing there was some misunderstanding, after trying to stay loyal—you’re casually talking about my death?

She clenched her teeth.

Then a sharp winter wind slipped through the prison bars, carrying a strange scent.

“Flower…?”

A heavy, intoxicating fragrance. Almost like poison blooming from flowers.

Clack.

The sound of a folding fan opening echoed.

Simon wouldn’t carry something like a lady’s fan.

‘What…? Is someone else here?’

“Oh, the smell is awful, isn’t it? Honestly, why did you insist on coming all the way down here, Your Highness? I was going to handle everything and verify it myself.”

Kasha froze.

“Who…?”

No one answered her.

Simon was speaking in a submissive, flattering tone she had never heard before.

“Once this woman is executed, there will be no more evidence. The secret of the mana stones will also be buried forever with her death.”

The horrifying implication of his words did not fully register before the cell door opened again.

“Katianna Luscino. Come out.”

“Where…?”

“Where else? The guillotine.”

The guard who had tortured her for months laughed.

“Goodbye, Kasha. You suffered well. For your contributions, I’ll even make your grave.”

Simon’s voice followed, as if granting a generous favor.

And that final sentence finally shattered something inside her throat.

“No…! That’s not true! I didn’t do any of it! It was all him! I didn’t know anything! Simon Blanche did everything—!!”

Thud.

A brutal impact cut her words off.

Simon kicked her face.

Blood burst from her nose, flooding her vision red.

Pain followed—merciless, relentless.

“Can’t you just die quietly? Do you know how much I suffered pretending to care about you? Do you know how exhausting it was?”

His voice twisted in rage.

And then—

A final kick struck the back of her head.

Everything went black.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she was already on the guillotine.

Rotten eggs, fish, and filth were thrown at her from the crowd, staining her body.

Thousands of voices roared in unison:

“DIE! DIE! DIE!”

Her ruined eyesight was almost a blessing. Through the blurred crowd, she lifted her head toward the sky.

A clear, cloudless sky.

The outside world she had longed for.

Something white crossed the sky. A bird, perhaps.

Strangely, that white shape was the only thing she could see clearly.

Then, a voice broke through.

“…I’m sorry, Kasha.”

A middle-aged man’s voice, heavy with grief.

‘…Father?’

Her adoptive father, the Count.

“Father, please stay composed!”

Another voice followed.

‘…Daryl?’

Her elder half-brother of House Luscino. The one who always despised her.

They had come to watch her execution.

Daryl spoke again, voice low and heavy:

“I requested that it be done quickly… and with as little pain as possible. That is all we can do for you now, Kasha Luscino.”

His usually cold tone was filled with exhaustion.

“I never understood you… Did we… make you like this?”

“Step back. Execution will begin shortly.”

The executioner’s voice cut in.

Footsteps faded as her father and brother were escorted away.

“F-Father… Broth—…”

She couldn’t even call them properly.

A tear slipped down her dirty cheek, tracing the groove of the guillotine.

“No… it wasn’t me… I didn’t do it… I really—”

Her voice faded.

No one listened.

As always.

No one had ever welcomed her existence.

She had only ever survived by shrinking herself, trying not to be a burden.

But was that enough?

Was that what life was?

She was now paying the price for that naïve belief.

With trembling breath, she whispered into the empty sky:

“Just once… can I have one more chance?”

Just once.

I want to live properly… just once.

I wasn’t trying to live like this.

I didn’t endure all that loneliness just to die like this.

Give me one more chance.

Rather than living as a fool… I would rather become a real villain.

As tears fell, she thought she saw a white bird in the sky meet her gaze.

And in the next instant—

Slice.

The blade fell.

Her vision went dark.

Kasha died on her twenty-first birthday.

But—

That should have been the end.

“Ghk!”

The next moment, Kasha gasped violently.

“…?”

With every breath, something filled her nose and mouth.

Earth.

Fresh, damp soil.

“…Soil?”

She jerked her head up.

And froze.

A maid in uniform was staring at her in shock.

“Miss…? Why are you lying here like that?”

The girl blinked.

“Se…na?”

The name slipped out instinctively.

The maid widened her brown eyes.

“You… remember my name?”

Kasha froze even harder.

Seina was a maid of the Luscino household.

Why is she here?

Did she come to watch the execution?

No—

More importantly.

‘I can see.’

Seina’s freckled face was clear right in front of her.

And—

‘This place…’

She looked around.

This was not the execution ground.

This was…

‘The Luscino mansion garden?’

The place she had lived from age twelve to nineteen.

After her mother’s death, she had been adopted into the Luscino Count’s household in the capital.

‘What is going on?’

She slowly stood up.

Then stopped.

Every part of her body—fingers, toes, everything that had once been frostbitten and lost—

It was all intact.

She quickly kicked off her shoes and counted her toes.

Ten.

All of them.

“…I’m fine?”

Seina looked horrified at her strange behavior.

But Kasha recognized that look.

Disgust. Disappointment. Pity. Fear.

She had always been looked at like that.

But this time—

She wasn’t shrinking.

Instead, she asked:

“…How old am I right now?”

Seina blinked.

“You turned nineteen half a year ago.”

Thud.

Kasha covered her mouth.

Nineteen.

Early summer, age nineteen.

‘I went back.’

A shock ran through her spine.

She stood up abruptly from the dirt ground.