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Chapter 03 …
Was it divine help?
The answer she had failed to find even after crossing the snowy mountains was, ironically, held by an alchemist who had secluded himself in a region where the river never froze, right beneath them.
“The ritual is based on a strong desire to revive a human being, and it also requires a vessel to contain it. You said you’ve frozen the corpse—well done. Those two conditions are fulfilled.”
“So you’re saying Alfonso can be revived?”
“The vessel is prepared, and the ritual is ready, but there is a lack of fuel. A powerful ritual requires a great deal of fuel.”
The alchemist pointed his finger at Charlotte.
“The fuel is the life of the one who holds a strong desire.”
“……”
“Please return now. Madam, you do not seem to have little left in this world. It is not too late—meet someone new—”
“My life. You’re saying that’s enough, right?”
Charlotte’s voice trembled ever so slightly.
But what appeared on her face was unmistakable joy.
“If I can bring Alfonso back, then it would be a life worth spending.”
What was so precious about giving her life to the one who had died because of her?
Her life had already lost all meaning after his death anyway. If it could be used like this, then it was only right.
“Kill me and bring him back.”
Without a doubt, Alfonso would be happy to hear that the woman he hated so much had died.
There would be no need to investigate Charlotte’s death too deeply anyway—an appropriate accident could easily be fabricated.
“You just have to say you happened to pass near the estate, heard the story, and revived Alfonso. The reward will be properly handled by House Eduard.”
“……Very well. However, Madam, I may not be able to deliver a message.”
At the sudden condition, Charlotte slightly furrowed her brows.
“Why?”
“The ritual is based on your desire. While the outcome is set to revive him, what form he returns in depends on your desire. It is uncertain.”
What did that mean?
Charlotte stared at him silently for a moment.
The alchemist noticed her confusion and let out a low sigh.
“Even if he returns, it may not be as you imagine. If you focus only on ‘reviving him,’ the result may be something unexpected. Perhaps even a dreadful result—”
“Now what are you talking about.”
Charlotte, who had been frowning the entire time, relaxed her expression and let out a light laugh.
“If that’s all, then it’s fine. I wish for him to be happy after being revived. So if your ritual is based on my desire, then he will surely be fine.”
She wanted to return everything Alfonso had lost because of their marriage.
His life, his happiness.
It was fine even if she was not part of his happy future. As long as he could live and be happy.
The alchemist, reading the conviction in her answer, looked troubled.
“Regardless of the outcome, the ritual has a limit of one year. If the desire is not fulfilled within that time, everything will be undone.”
Not only would Charlotte, the sacrifice of the ritual, die—but Alfonso might also fail to be revived.
“Are you truly alright with that?”
“Yes.”
As Charlotte answered without hesitation, the alchemist shook his head slowly.
“You do not seem to value your life.”
“There is no one who doesn’t value their life.”
It is simply that there is something one is willing to throw it away for.
The long journey she had endured to bring Alfonso back.
How much she had cried, how much she had regretted.
—Even if I’m someone you hate terribly, it can’t be helped, Alfonso. This marriage is for my family. If you want to resent me, open a good bottle of liquor and call me. If the drink is good enough, I might even allow you to slap me.
—Alfonso, is it your birthday next week? I’ll congratulate you in advance. I won’t be there anyway. It’s better for you if I’m not around on your birthday, isn’t it?
—Why don’t I wear the necklace you sent? It’s too plain, so I told them to put it in storage. What, do you want me to wear something from someone who clearly hates me and smile like a fool?
No matter which memory she recalled, all she had done was throw harsh words at Alfonso.
It was all a defensive mechanism so she would not be looked down upon by someone who hated her.
‘In truth, I wanted to be honest.’
To say she was sorry for forcing him into this unwanted marriage.
To celebrate his birthday, even if only in a small way.
To tell him that the necklace he sent was so beautiful it made her feel unworthy, so she couldn’t bear to wear it.
‘Why were a few words so hard?’
Why was she so afraid of being looked down upon that she could only speak so cruelly?
If she had known those simple words—sorry, thank you—would weigh so heavily on her heart, she would have done things differently.
She would have smiled honestly at least once…
“…I’ve lived selfishly all my life. So I simply want to choose something for the person I love, just once.”
“Sacrificing your life for love… that is quite different from what I’ve heard.”
“Have you heard of me? This is a remote place.”
“I once traveled as a wanderer and stayed in the capital. From what I heard then, you were not someone who would make such a foolish choice.”
“Well, that’s what love is.”
To love a man who despises her so much that she is willing to give up her life.
In someone else’s eyes, she would surely look foolish.
Some might even call her insane.
Charlotte already knew how she would appear to others.
But what could she do?
‘I fell in love even knowing that…’
If there was a feeling that was both the most foolish and the most sublime in the world, it was surely love.
But rather than the foolishness of killing the one you love, wasn’t it better to be the fool who dies for the one you love?
Even if no one understood her.
Even if she could never dream of a future with Alfonso.
As long as Alfonso was alive. As long as he was happy.
‘Then I’ll be satisfied.’
That was Charlotte’s repentance and her love.
The alchemist, looking at her as though he could not understand her at all, handed her a potion.
“If you drink this, the ritual will activate.”
He seemed to wish she would change her mind, but Charlotte accepted the bottle without hesitation and drank it in one go.
A distant pain surged through her, and her consciousness faded in an instant.
And then, time passed.
Charlotte slowly opened her eyes to the sound of murmuring voices.
A bright room.
The ceiling of the familiar House Noha mansion.
“…Mi-miss? Are you awake?”
Even in that brief moment, she instinctively knew.
The ritual had succeeded.
She had returned to the time before she married Alfonso.
* * *
“Was it already a week ago?”
Looking at the clear winter garden beneath a bright sky, Charlotte recalled the past with a faint feeling.
She still vividly remembered the moment she first returned.
The moment she asked a maid for the date and then jumped out of bed in shock, running straight to the mirror.
“…This can’t be.”
It worked?
In the full-length mirror, a woman in a nightgown stared blankly.
Even though she had just gotten out of bed and looked disheveled, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Long, vivid crimson hair with slightly curled ends. Eyes like green summer sunlight. Hands without a single scar.
A state she could never have imagined while desperately searching for a way to save Alfonso.
There was no need to ask further.
‘I’ve gone back to the past.’
Although it was not the result she had expected, it didn’t matter.
‘This is still revival.’
At first she was confused and checked repeatedly whether it was a dream, but once she confirmed it wasn’t, she instead felt relieved.
A chance to start over—what greater blessing could there be?
‘That alchemist is more capable than I thought.’
She had only asked for Alfonso to be revived, but to think he gave her something like this instead.
Charlotte felt so happy she almost wanted to dance with the maid beside her.
‘Of course, I ended up coughing up blood and collapsing soon after…’
Fortunately, the timing of her awakening was right after the accident.
She had apparently fallen down the stairs and been badly injured.
Because of that, no one found it strange when she suddenly coughed up blood.
Except Charlotte herself.
‘Falling down the stairs… that never happened in the past.’
She was not supposed to be so weak that she coughed blood so easily.
Was it a side effect of time reversal?
‘I’ll need to meet the alchemist to know for sure.’
But the alchemist had vanished.
She had sent people to where she met him, but there was no one living there.
‘He said he was a wanderer… so it will be hard to find him.’
But one thing was clear.
—Regardless of the outcome, the ritual has a limit of one year.
If the desire is not fulfilled within that time, everything will be undone.
‘The fact that I, the sacrifice, am alive means the desire was not fulfilled.’
Charlotte’s desire was for Alfonso to be revived and become happy.
And the ritual had chosen time reversal as the method.
It had succeeded in reviving him—but…
‘Alfonso must become happy for the ritual to be complete.’
If that did not happen, time would revert, and both Alfonso and Charlotte would die.
Then the answer was simple.
Since the ritual was active, she would die in one year regardless.
Either way, she would die.
So if that was the case…
‘I just have to make Alfonso happy.’
