IRGS 03

Chapter 3

As expected, Leonie frowned and shot back,

“What kind of new tactic is this?”

“It’s not a tactic.”

I cleared my throat.

“I just realized something. All this time, I was blindly chasing after you. You looked so amazing, so dazzling… and I envied you.”

In my entire life, this was the first time I had ever honestly admitted, I envied you.

She must have realized how serious my voice sounded. Leonie, who had been listening quietly, changed her expression slightly. I continued.

“You’re pretty. Not unbelievably pretty, but still pretty. And smart. …Though your personality sucks.”

“Hey, you’re one to talk.”

Leonie grumbled lightly, but she didn’t interrupt me, so I kept speaking seriously.

“But then, one day, I started thinking.”

Actually, I had only started thinking that after regressing a few moments ago.

“Maybe just being alive is already a blessing. And if that’s true… then maybe I’m allowed to enjoy that blessing a little more.”

“What…?”

“Maybe I can just cheer you on, find what I want to do, and live for my own happiness now.”

I added jokingly,

“See? Even when you came here to mess with me today, I didn’t get angry.”

“……”

So she wasn’t denying that she came to mess with me. Well, she already had.

Finally done saying everything I had wanted to say, I scooped up a spoonful of brownie topped with ice cream and put it into my mouth.

Then—

“Urgh!”

I immediately spat it back out.

Across from me, Leonie stared in horror.

“What’s wrong with you?! Are you pregnant?”

“As if that’s possible!”

I shouted reflexively.

The brownie was unbelievably sour and salty. Like someone had intentionally dumped vinegar and salt all over it. Leonie seemed perfectly fine, so apparently only mine had been tampered with.

The maid standing across the table smirked at me before quickly fixing her expression.

‘Ah. So that’s how it is.’

Thinking back, around this time the servants of the marquis household had been split into two factions.

The Lion Faction, who supported Leonie as the future empress, and the Lira Faction, who supported me.

The head maid represented the Lion Faction, while the butler stayed relatively neutral—though he tended to favor me somewhat.

These factions had formed when both Leonie and I were candidates for crown princess, but everything changed once the crown prince fell head over heels for Leonie. Father’s favoritism toward her became blatant.

And the more Father discriminated against me, the more the Lion Faction servants began subtly tormenting me.

‘And if I remember right, the chef who made the desserts belonged to the Lion Faction too.’

Of course, it wouldn’t be difficult to summon the chef and demand an explanation. But then this would merely be dismissed as a servant’s “mistake.”

After all, the very idea that servants would deliberately bully a noble lady of the house was absurd. Acknowledging it myself would practically be admitting I had no authority whatsoever.

A noble lady humiliating servants over a mere mistake? Certainly possible. But in a situation where I was already being compared unfavorably to my younger sister, it wasn’t the right move.

If only the butler had been nearby, he might have noticed and taken care of things quietly. But he had gone off to carry out Father’s orders, and all the servants nearby were on Leonie’s side.

In the end, I barely touched the dessert before setting my spoon down.

Yet Leonie wasn’t really eating either. She looked as though she were deeply thinking over what I had said.

* * *

When Leonie was about to leave, I did something I had never once done in my entire life.

I saw her off.

All the way to the carriage, no less. I had deliberately walked from the mansion entrance to where the carriage waited.

My irritating little sister looked at me as if thinking, Have you gone insane?

Surrounded by the butler and the servants seeing her off—Father didn’t bother coming outside—she stopped before the carriage.

Then, just before boarding, she turned around.

“Hey, Sophia.”

Now that Father wasn’t around, she casually called me by name again. Well, that was normal for her.

But right now, I felt like I could forgive anything.

Today was the day I had regressed.

A miracle had happened to me.

And I didn’t want to repeat my previous life.

When I answered, “What?” Leonie hesitated awkwardly before blurting out,

“You’re pretty too. Not super pretty, but still.”

Then she suddenly threw a small box at me.

“Huh—”

Before I could react, the carriage door slammed shut and it departed.

* * *

‘She’s my sister, but her personality is seriously weird.’

Back in my room, I collapsed onto the bed.

It felt like the first time I’d ever ridden a horse—there wasn’t a shred of strength left in my muscles. Apparently I’d been tense the whole time without realizing it.

Well, I certainly hadn’t expected to see Leonie and Father immediately after regressing.

I reached for the box I’d placed on the nightstand and held it up.

It was a long rectangular velvet box.

Lying down, I opened it.

Inside was a necklace.

A silver chain necklace adorned with a large aquamarine gemstone. The vivid sky-blue jewel shone the same color as my eyes.

‘Wait… this is…’

Before regressing, I had received this necklace as a birthday present too. It had been mixed in among a pile of formal gifts exchanged between noble families.

Which was why, back then, I had never worn it even once. I hadn’t known who sent it, and wearing it carelessly could have caused unnecessary rumors.

‘But Leonie was the one who gave it to me?’

What kind of person comes all the way here just to mess with someone, yet still prepares a gift?

I even checked it with poison-detection reagent in case she had coated it with poison, but there was no reaction.

At that moment, something fluffy brushed against my feet.

“Popo!”

I jolted upright.

Popo was the white fox I raised.

With fluffy fur and pitch-black eyes, he was unbearably cute. He was incredibly affectionate too—rubbing his face against my ankle before lifting his little paws and whining to be held.

When I picked him up and stroked him, Popo shamelessly showered me with affection.

Good grief, how could I have forgotten Popo?

Especially at this point in my life—back then, Popo had truly been my reason for living.

Bessie, who had entered the room, widened her eyes while watching Popo and spoke up.

“Maybe because Young Master Arnold gifted him to you, but Lord Popo really seems attached to you, miss.”

“Ah, Arnold…”

My fiancé.

The second son of a ducal family, and a man I had become engaged to through an entirely political arrangement.

Arnold wasn’t exactly a good fiancé.

Still, he had at least been considerate of appearances. Though he never congratulated me personally, he faithfully sent birthday presents every year.

One of those gifts had been this fox, Popo.

‘And Popo…’

Right.

A few months later, Popo died after ingesting poison. He had licked some of the tea I was drinking.

According to the physician, it was a poison that accumulated slowly in humans without obvious symptoms while destroying the body over time—but was lethal to animals.

Naturally, it had been Leonie’s doing.

The day I lost Popo, I cried harder than I had when my fiancé died.

But now Popo was alive and healthy in my arms.

As I stroked his face, I murmured,

“How can you be this gentle?”

Bessie looked horrified.

“Oh, miss, what are you talking about?! He’s sly as a fox in personality too! He only wags his tail like this in front of you. Try feeding him when you’re not around and it’s a war zone!”

“What an exaggeration.”

I laughed it off.

Then something tapped against the window.

Tap tap.

“Coo coo!”

It was a snow-white pigeon.

And for a moment, I stopped breathing.

That was…

…the messenger pigeon used by the assassination guild I frequently hired.

A terrible feeling washed over me.

When Bessie opened the window, the pigeon flew straight toward me. A small note was tied to its leg.

Deciphering the coded message revealed:

[“Lion” location confirmed. Elimination planned.]

“…!”

Oh no. I shot to my feet.

Around this time, I had already hired assassins to kill Leonie while she was leaving the imperial palace.

And Leonie, completely unaware, was currently heading back there!

Oblivious to my panic, Bessie clapped her hands excitedly beside me.

“Miss, you’re incredible! I actually heard everything from outside the dining room. Your acting was amazing! You pretended to lower her guard so you could stab her in the back later, right?”

“That’s not it!”

“Huh?”

There was no time to explain, so I shouted for the leader of the assassination guild.

“Bambi! Bambi!”

I called just in case, but there was no answer.

Of course not.

Instead of being by my side, he was out trying to kill my sister.

‘No matter how I think about it, the timing of this regression is the absolute worst!’

I had just regressed—how was I supposed to remember every assassination request I’d made in the past?!

No.

If this kept up, Leonie would just think I was a lying fraud.

I had finally confessed my true feelings to my irritating little sister for the first time in my life—even including my previous life.

I refused to let her think that had all been part of some scheme.

“Miss, where are you going?!”

“To ride a horse!”

I was already running out the door when Bessie shouted after me.

“What?! But miss—you can’t ride horses!”

That’s right.

Twenty-one-year-old me couldn’t ride a horse.

But the future Sophia had learned how.

The carriage wouldn’t be moving that quickly. If I rode at full speed, maybe I could still catch up. Bambi, the guild leader, knew my face. If I reached him, somehow I could get the message across!

I couldn’t waste even a second.

I sprinted toward the stables. Since it was late evening, neither the stable hand nor any servants were around.

I burst into the stable and grabbed the first horse I saw.

The horse, which had been sleeping with its legs folded beneath it, jolted awake and neighed indignantly.

“Sorry, Thunderroot. This is urgent.”

I soothed the horse while climbing onto its back.

Of course, I had no idea whether its actual name was really Thunderroot.

Only after Thunderroot unfolded its legs and stood up did I realize something important.

I was wearing a white chemise.

My pajamas.

Thankfully they weren’t see-through.

But to grip the horse properly with my thighs, I had no choice but to hike my skirt up and toss it behind me. As a result, my bare legs were completely exposed, and indoor slippers dangled precariously from my feet.

‘If anyone sees me, they’ll definitely think I’m insane!’

But someone who had traveled back through time had nothing left to fear.

I lightly kicked the horse’s sides with my heels.

“Thunderroot, let’s go!”