HDGD 2

Chapter: 2

“Sia Ermodian, I hereby lift your disciplinary confinement starting today. Conduct yourself properly from now on.”

At the familiar deep voice, Sia’s eyes flew open.

Light flooded her vision and, at the same moment, her hearing cleared. Startled, Sia shot up from where she’d been sitting.

The man watching her behavior with curiosity slightly furrowed his brow.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Huh… Instructor? Why are you here?”

“It seems your brain really has gone strange. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your promise to submit a withdrawal letter the moment your confinement ended.”

Sia quickly darted her eyes around, checking her surroundings.

The worn-out bed, a sink shoved in the corner, a tiny window too small for even a child to crawl through, and dull, dreary wallpaper.

It was unmistakably the solitary confinement cell—“the single room”—where she’d always been locked up whenever she was disciplined at the academy.

Why am I here?

She was sure she’d been killed—her heart pierced clean through. And then…

Sia stared blankly at the man before her.

Tall, black-haired, sharp features, uniform buttoned all the way up to his throat.

No matter how she looked at him, this was definitely Gilliard Rieglus—her guardian and instructor.

Only one detail differed from her memory:
He didn’t have the scar beneath his left eye—the scar she herself had given him.

“Instructor… how old am I right now?”

“…You can’t even remember your own age? Were the twenty-two candles Kador prepared last month just for decoration?”

Twenty-two. And the name Kador.

The name of someone she herself had buried in the ground long ago appeared, and Sia finally became certain.

This was the academy from five years before her death.

For some unknown reason, Sia had gone back in time—to when she’d still been a knight cadet.

And since she was in this room again, that meant she must have caused trouble and been punished again. She couldn’t remember exactly why, though.

“…I’m sorry for asking strange questions. But I never promised to submit a withdrawal letter, and I don’t plan to.”

“Even after losing your sanity, that stubborn obsession of yours is unchanged. Fine.”

Gilliard readily admitted his lie and didn’t push further.

Clicking his tongue faintly, he looked irritated. Sia thought back to the moment just before her death.

Five years after joining the knight order, Sia received a special mission.

“We’ve received intel that the Astollia Empire is preparing for war against us. Infiltrate the imperial castle and retrieve the related documents.”

Ordered by the prince, Sia infiltrated the Imperial Castle and successfully secured the confidential documents.

But what awaited her was a brutal betrayal.

“The infiltration and theft of confidential documents were reckless acts committed by an ambitious young knight acting alone. As an apology, the Kingdom of Rivendel will capture that knight and hand her over to the Empire personally.”

With that official declaration, Sia was thrown into an underground prison.

The day before she was to be transported to the Empire as a prisoner—

This man stormed in out of nowhere, slaughtered every soldier present, and dragged her out.

His glorious title as a duke, his reputation as a celebrated war hero—none of it lasted long.

He soon suffered a fatal wound and, as a result…

He died right in front of me.

The image of her protector dying in a wretched state flashed before her eyes, and Sia shook her head violently.

She didn’t know how, but she had returned to the past.

The guardian whose inexplicable actions had always confused her was now alive and well.

The miserable ending she’d faced… hadn’t happened yet.

She’d never know why he’d made that reckless choice.

But this meant one thing—
She’d been given another chance.

She could dream of revenge again.
She could finally avenge the family and friends who had died so miserably.

“…Instructor, if I refuse to submit a withdrawal letter until the very end, what do you plan to do?”

“You really are asking only strange questions today. What exactly are you getting at?”

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re going to keep handing me disciplinary actions until graduation and, in the end, refuse to write me a recommendation letter. You’ll claim that someone punished this many times clearly lacks the qualities of a knight.”

The instructor said nothing, simply staring at her.

He didn’t show it outwardly—but Sia had watched him for years. She could tell.
He was genuinely shocked by what she’d just said.

Especially since the fact that a recommendation letter from him was required to even apply for the knight exam was supposed to be top secret at this point.

Sia lifted her chin proudly and continued.

“No matter what obstacles you throw at me, I won’t give up. I will become a knight and I will take revenge on the Emperor of the Empire. And to do that, I will obtain your recommendation—by any means necessary.”

Because she’d failed to get that damned recommendation, she’d been forced to obey Prince Ulysses…
And ended up dying before she could even glimpse the Emperor.

So this time, she would take the official exam and join not the 2nd Prince’s knight order, but the First Prince’s.

To do that, she absolutely needed that letter.

After a moment of silence at her bold declaration, Gilliard leaned forward slightly.

Even as his hand approached, Sia didn’t flinch and held her posture.

His hand settled on her shoulder.
Their eyes were level—his golden irises locking with hers.

He lowered his voice to a cool whisper by her ear.

“I don’t know where you heard about the recommendation letter… but I am curious to see how you intend to change my mind, Sia Ermodian.”

“…”

“Do your best not to disappoint me. Though I’m sure it will amount to nothing more than the pitiful complaints of a child.”

Leaving behind that mocking remark, Gilliard left the room.
Sia ground her teeth as she watched him go.

Even after going back in time, that arrogant attitude of his was unchanged. Well… of course it would be.

“…This is my chance.”

Sia clenched her fist tightly.

She would not fail like she had before.

Resolute, she opened the solitary room door.

The cafeteria was bustling after so long away.

Familiar sights. Familiar smells.

Sia picked the menu she’d always enjoyed as a cadet and sat down.

I really came back.

It was still hard to believe, but everything around her proved it was real.

She sliced a nostalgic-smelling pancake and lifted it to her mouth when a large shadow fell across the table.

“What, your confinement ended already?”

She paused and looked up.

A male cadet stood across from her table, leaning forward toward her. Big build, short curly hair, sneering down at her.

“You really have no shame, huh? Well, I guess a girl who barged into a place meant only for men probably forgot what shame even is. Isn’t that right?”

At his words, the two cadets beside him burst out laughing.

Found it. The reason for my punishment.

Sia finally remembered why she’d been disciplined.

And why her reflection in the mirror had looked so strange.

The leader of the group who had bullied her relentlessly since the entrance ceremony.

How much he’d tormented her, complaining that a woman had entered a “sacred male academy.”

She’d endured it all in silence, focused only on graduating.
Then, right after entering their third year, it happened during their first sword sparring session.

“For today’s sparring, we’re allowed to use real swords. To celebrate becoming third-years. Didn’t you say you wanted to spar with a real sword?”

Trusting his words, Sia took a sword from the armory and sparred with Crion.

But for some reason, her sword broke almost immediately.
And in that moment, he threw dirt into her eyes.

While her vision was briefly blocked, he swung his sword toward the side of her head.

By the time Sia realized that this had been his goal all along, a large chunk of her hair had already been cut off.

“You filthy bastard…!”

Jealous of her thick hair, he’d decided to vent his petty complex like this. Anger and disbelief exploded out of her.

Crion and his lackeys burst out laughing at her hair.

“Looks good on you, Ermodian! Now you won’t need to visit a salon for a while—so be grateful to me!”

Even though she had been the victim, Sia was punished with three days of confinement for using a real sword.

Meanwhile, Crion was released after just one day.

Rumor said his father, Count Drake, intervened—but nobody knew for sure.

Right now, she wanted to curse him out until her throat went dry.

But she held herself back.

I can’t get into trouble the moment I’m released.
Not when I desperately need that recommendation.

While she suppressed herself, Crion’s mocking voice continued.

“So stop hanging around here and go do what girls are meant to do. Go get married or something. Got it?”

Something snapped inside her.

Everything after that happened fast.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Sia leaped onto the table and punched Crion straight in the face.

Caught off guard, Crion crashed backward onto the table. Gasps echoed all around the cafeteria.

Immediately, Sia ripped off her gloves and threw them.

They landed perfectly on his balding head with a satisfying smack.

“Follow me to the training yard. Right now.
You bald bastard.”