🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 06
Exploitation
Those words were her final will and her last words.
And so, Sesenia died.
“I regret not being able to kill my sister back then.”
Tears fell from Sesenia’s eyes.
That was the last memory of her life.
Her husband, the Emperor, wearing a relieved expression as he looked at her.
Her sister Elzer smirking at her.
Ian, trailing behind her sister. The one and only friend who had said, when asked what to do about a sister having an affair with her husband, to just send her away since she wouldn’t be able to kill her anyway.
“Love… it’s really a damn thing…”
But Sesenia’s life ended like that.
“And I… will live again.”
**
“Huff…”
When Sesenia opened her eyes again, her body was whole. She hadn’t been stabbed, and there was no pain.
“I’ve returned.”
She smirked lightly. As if she had known she would come back, she flexed her hands repeatedly before moving toward a mirror. It was her reflection. The only difference was a necklace she had never seen before hanging around her neck.
She opened the pocket watch, a slightly thick one, and inside was an hourglass.
“The family secret.”
A dreadful curse passed down through the Vestel family. It was a very old story that even Sesenia’s father, Marquis Vestel, did not know. A curse cast on someone who wishes for death themselves, preventing them from dying.
Nothing had been revealed yet about what kind of curse it was or whether there were any side effects. Sesenia herself only discovered it moments before her death. It was as if fate wanted her not to die.
“I would have died anyway if this hadn’t happened.”
They would have tried to kill her no matter what. It was a wager with her life as collateral, but there was no choice in that wager other than death.
As Sesenia comforted herself with this thought, she ran her hand over her head. Touching her cheek, she felt it was intact.
“I really came back to life.”
At that moment, the door opened, and someone came in.
“Ah.”
“Milady. Sleeping in again today?”
“…I just woke up, so I wouldn’t call it oversleeping.”
Feigning casualness, as if she belonged in this time, she surveyed her surroundings.
“Oh. Yes.”
Being called “Milady,” and seeing this place—without a doubt, the Vestel Marquisate. Her room before marriage.
“Time has reversed. Quite a long way back.”
As Sesenia turned her head to inspect the situation, the woman in the room urged her.
“Hurry and get up. You’ll be scolded by His Excellency again if you don’t.”
“Ah. Father is here?”
“Of course he is. Did you forget? You had a few glasses of wine at your coming-of-age ceremony yesterday and were a bit out of it?”
The fact that she had survived due to the family curse was clear, but nothing else was yet understood. Was this really reality? What time was it? Flustered, Sesenia finally realized who was scolding her.
It was Lizbet, the daughter of her nanny, her childhood friend, and a maid.
But two months before Sesenia had suffered those events, Lizbet had died in a mysterious accident. She had been the only friend she could confide in besides Ian. Lizbet had said she would meet her mother briefly, but never returned.
Remembering that, Sesenia stared quietly at Lizbet. If this wasn’t a dream, had Lizbet returned to the time before her death? Was this a reincarnation? Otherwise, why was Lizbet here?
Questions swelled in her mind as time passed.
“Lizbet… you’re okay, right?”
“Of course.”
“Really… you’re not sick or anything?”
“Oh, Milady. Did you have a bad dream? You’re acting strangely today. It’s almost as if you’ve… gone back in time.”
Sesenia’s face went pale.
“Gone back in time…?”
“Yes. Reversing time. You ask so many questions, just like someone who experienced it firsthand.”
That brief smile pricked something deep in Sesenia’s heart.
‘Going back in time… Why is Lizbet using such a word I rarely even hear?’
It was strange. That single word of “reincarnation” explained everything about her situation, yet stirred a strange feeling she couldn’t ignore.
“Milady?”
“Yes?”
“You seem different today. Same as always, yet… a little unusual.”
“You’re right. It does feel odd. Lizbet, you said yesterday was my coming-of-age ceremony? What does that mean?”
“What do you mean? It means Milady has turned twenty today, and a day has passed since then!”
Seeing Lizbet’s innocent smile, Sesenia blinked.
Five years had passed since the day she had died. She was nineteen when she got engaged to the Crown Prince. At twenty, her father had deeply considered to whom the family should be entrusted.
At twenty-one, Sesenia had handled most family affairs and married the Crown Prince, to whom she had been engaged at twenty-two. At twenty-three, the Crown Prince became Emperor, and at twenty-five, she had died.
‘So I’ve been given a five-year grace period.’
“This isn’t a dream, right?”
“You hope it’s a dream, don’t you? But growing older is always a bit sad. I understand that too.”
Lizbet, naturally bright, smiled warmly at Sesenia, making her heart ache.
‘Lizbet really is back. I lost you, yet in this timeline, you’re alive.’
In that moment, Sesenia was happier than ever.
“That’s true. It’s sad, but this moment feels good.”
“Is that so?”
“I should get ready and go see Father quickly.”
Sesenia looked at Lizbet with a determined smile, braver than ever.
‘I’ll give everything as she wants it.’
Her sister had always wanted everything she had. This time, Sesenia vowed to give her all those awful things. She clenched her fist.
Even if the people who drove her to death and the people in this time were different, the time she had lived was the same.
Sesenia headed toward her nineteen-year-old father.
**
The Marquis had no sons, only two daughters. Thus, he had deeply pondered to whom he would pass the family.
The younger daughter, Sesenia, was intelligent but lacked charm, which displeased the Marquis.
Her elder sister, Elzer, was charming and lovable, but uninterested in family affairs.
Sesenia worked hard to please her father and restored the Vestel family to thrive more than any other. Still, the Marquis intended to pass the family to Elzer.
But Elzer wanted to live freely and gave up the family. Ultimately, even after becoming Crown Princess, Sesenia continued managing family affairs, and the family became hers.
‘Yet even that family, my sister had wanted it.’
Only after everything was completed did she realize her sister had wanted it without losing anything. She was truly insufferable.
Of course, there was no guarantee that similar events wouldn’t happen again.
‘This time, I trust no one. Not my sister, not Ian, not the Crown Prince. Not even the family. I’ll make my own. I won’t let anything be taken. And I will make those who only used me suffer.’
The memory of her laughing sister and friend haunted her. Her hands trembled. Then—
Someone grabbed Sesenia’s arm as she headed to the Marquis’ room.
“Sesenia! On your way to see Father?”
Sesenia froze. Familiar voice, familiar action. It was Elzer.
“Sister.”
Unlike herself, often called emotionless, everyone adored Elzer. Even Sesenia found her sister lovely.
Elzer was famous as the most beautiful in the Empire and intelligent. Suitors and gifts were always left for her in the Marquisate.
This continued until Sesenia became Crown Princess and entered the palace. Elzer loved all the men, though in truth, she used them freely.
At that time, Sesenia had thought her sister was amazing. She could control so many hearts at will.
But she never imagined that free love would extend to her own husband, take her place, and lead to her near-death. Sesenia could not hide her expression.
‘The person who betrayed me in the future isn’t her… so why can’t I calm down? Stay calm. She is… not the person from the future.’
Sesenia forced a smile and looked at Elzer.
“Yes.”
“Did you feel okay yesterday? It was your first proper wine. Did it give you a headache?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, I prepared that for you. I found something special for you.”
Her stomach churned. Elzer’s gentle touch and talk about yesterday reminded her of the strange device that had paralyzed her in prison, making it hard to calm her heart.
“I see. You haven’t changed, Sister.”
“Huh? Haven’t changed?”
It disgusted her how innocent Elzer looked, knowing nothing.
“No. It’s just… you’ve always done things for me.”
“That’s right! Who else in the world would care for you as much as I do?”
“Yes. Always. You always have.”
At that moment, Sesenia truly believed her sister loved her. She had lived trapped in the delusion that no one could love her as much as her family did. She never imagined her sister would cause her death.
Her sister slept with her husband, bore his child, and nearly caused her death. And yet Sesenia had thought her sister’s heart was sincere.
Her mouth tasted bitter.
‘But now… I’ll turn the tables. I’ll use her.’
