IRGS 14

Chapter 14

Smack—!

My face snapped to the side. I barely managed to keep myself from stumbling. My right cheek burned, and a shrill ringing filled my ears.

Before, I would have simply shrunk back and trembled in fear.

But the current me was different.

Only one thought crossed my mind.

Who do you think you are to hit me? Who are you to do that?

“What exactly have you been doing?”

After slapping my face with an expressionless look, the marquis asked in a flat voice.

On his desk lay the extra edition newspaper I had seen earlier today.

[Today is the birthday of Sophia ta Bartoli, the most beautiful young lady of House Bartoli.]

Ah, why hadn’t I thought of that? Of course a special edition distributed throughout the empire would make its way to the marquisate as well.

And the one thing Father could never tolerate was anything that tarnished the reputation of House Bartoli, even slightly.

A ridiculous article like this containing my name—more specifically, the surname Bartoli—easily crossed that line.

“Your fiancé has died, and yet instead of behaving modestly, you cause disturbances and act recklessly. Aren’t you ashamed before the ducal family?”

I said nothing.

Because I wasn’t ashamed.

In the first place, it was the eldest son of that very ducal house who had spread the paper.

Of course, Prince Glentino probably never imagined I would return home only to be slapped for it.

“Tch.”

The marquis clicked his tongue. I was already used to that contemptuous gaze.

His eyes settled on my hair, and his expression twisted further.

Only then did I remember.

The reason I came to hate my hair color in my previous life… was because of Father.

I kept my head lowered, though not out of remorse. I was merely admiring the pattern woven into the carpet.

The marquis truly had a good eye for aesthetics. As expected of the Bartoli family.

At the same time, realizing that my tastes overlapped with his irritated me for some reason.

His voice filtered into my ears.

“You are forbidden from leaving your room for one week. No meals either.”

“…Yes.”

The marquis gestured toward the butler with his chin.

“Lock her in her room.”

The butler extended an arm toward me with an apologetic expression. Imagine needing an escort even on the way to being imprisoned in my own room.

The sight of me being confined to my room by the marquis’s order became excellent entertainment for the servants.

Those aligned with the Lion faction sneered at me, while those aligned with Lira’s faction watched cautiously.

Ignoring all their gazes, I walked as proudly as I could.

Seeing me neither shrinking nor looking miserable caused murmurs to spread among both factions alike.

That part, at least, I liked a little.

As soon as we entered the room, Bessie stamped her feet anxiously. Soon she would have to leave as well.

“My lady… what are we going to do?”

“It’s okay, Bessie.”

I answered calmly.

I had already expected this.

When I sat on the bed, I noticed the mountain of unopened birthday presents piled in one corner of the room.

‘Come to think of it…’

Today was my birthday.

The entire empire knew it.

When I woke from a nap, it was completely dark outside.

Popo was licking my face, so I stroked his head a few times.

“Are you trying to comfort me? Thank you, Popo.”

My stomach growled.

Still, thanks to the hearty brunch I’d eaten earlier at the Glentino ducal house, I wasn’t unbearably hungry.

That man had said he would pack raisin cookies for me.

At a time like this, I regretted refusing.

At least Popo wouldn’t starve. He could hunt rabbits and mice in the garden or catch insects to eat.

If I got desperate enough, maybe I’d ask Popo to catch fish for me. There were matches in the room, so I could grill them myself.

Though I wasn’t sure Popo would understand what I was saying.

I sat at the tea table.

Thinking positively, maybe this was a good opportunity.

At least once, I needed to organize what was going to happen in the future.

I pulled out a small notebook and picked up a dip pen.

[1. Owen]

The moment I absentmindedly moved the pen, I startled myself.

Without realizing it, I had written the man’s name.

‘Still… this is something I need to resolve too.’

First, I needed to contact Elouise and ask what in the world was going on.

Where exactly had she brought Arne from, and how had she turned him into my son?

But the biggest problem was that I had no idea where Elouise even was.

…Well, worrying about it wouldn’t solve anything, so I pushed the issue aside for now and started listing the major events I remembered happening around this time.

[1. Her Majesty the Empress’s Birthday Ball
2. Arnold’s death
3. Appointment of the new High Priest]

Number 2 should originally have happened years later, but it had already occurred.

Come to think of it, that was strange.

That event had nothing to do with my regression.

Or perhaps it was some butterfly effect I didn’t even realize I had caused.

As for number 1, nothing particularly significant would happen, but I would need a new dress.

Leonie had stolen the dress I had planned to wear to the birthday banquet.

‘What did I do last time?’

I vaguely remembered hastily altering an old dress just to make do.

Of course, I hadn’t liked it much, but there wasn’t enough time to order a new one from a dressmaker.

And number 3 had probably already happened.

Adelaide, the eldest daughter of House Capoletti and one of Leonie’s favored maids, had been appointed High Priestess.

It had caused quite a stir, so I remembered it clearly.

…For now, this much organization should be enough.

Ah, and I needed to cancel the order to assassinate Leonie.

To do that, I would have to contact Bambi, the leader of the assassins I hired.

I could personally visit through the back alleys of the capital to place requests.

But sneaking out would be difficult for the time being.

For now, I would just have to wait for that brat to show up on his own like he always did every week or two.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a really long time since I last saw Bambi.’

As I stroked Popo, who had jumped into my lap, I sank into thought.

Bambi and I were technically connected only through an assassination contract, but in reality he had spent a very long time by my side, doing far more than that.

He would quietly listen while sitting on the railing as I rambled endlessly about this and that.

He would tell me about Leonie and the imperial family’s movements.

He would warn me whenever Leonie did something suspicious.

And he had saved my life once too.

If not for the antidote he brought me, I would have died from Leonie’s poison.

As he grew older, he became rather sly and teasing, often making me recoil in exasperation, but looking back, even when he was young he always took care of me despite his gruff speech.

I simply hadn’t realized it sooner because of his cold appearance.

And because he always wore black, so at night only his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

Like the boy currently sitting on my balcony railing.

…Wait.

I blinked several times before realizing it wasn’t a hallucination.

“Bambi!”

Before I knew it, I had leapt to my feet and run toward the balcony.

The beautiful boy with jet-black hair, pale skin, and crimson eyes looked at me from his crooked perch and said,

“I told you not to call me Bambi.”

Even his voice was exactly as I remembered.

Goodness.

It really was Bambi.

Young Bambi.

Smiling brightly, I opened my mouth.

I felt like crying.

I never thought I would experience this again.

The boy smirked and popped something into my mouth.

Chocolate.

The chocolate melted softly on my tongue.

Maybe it was because I was hungry.

Or because it had been unimaginably long since I’d eaten chocolate from Bambi.

But it was unbelievably sweet.

Whatever expression I had made, it must have been more than enough to amuse him.

“Looks like you like it?”

“Y-Yeah, a lot.”

I nodded vigorously.

The chocolate still in my mouth made my words slightly muffled.

The smile on Bambi’s lips deepened.

Anyone could tell he looked pleased, though his tone remained as blunt as ever.

“You really do love sweets. Such a little kid.”

“What do you mean little kid—”

I laughed inwardly.

Come to think of it, around this time Bambi always acted as though he were older than me.

Much later, he finally told me his real age.

Turns out Bambi was actually one year younger than me.

Bambi died before he even turned thirty-five.

He was killed by Leonie’s knight commander.

To be honest, I don’t remember the moment Bambi left me all that clearly.

Maybe the shock was so overwhelming that my brain erased that part entirely.

What I do remember is that it was a freezing winter day.

I sat there blankly for a long time in what looked like a storage shed, clutching Bambi’s bloodstained body with tears streaming down my face.

Until my feet developed frostbite.

Until my body went numb with cold.

I became so ill afterward that I was bedridden for days with a fever.

Even later on, I often dreamed of Bambi dying.

By adulthood, I rarely cried anymore, yet whenever I had those dreams, I always woke with a damp face.

Seeing Bambi alive again made me feel like crying.

But… I had to pretend everything was normal.

If I cried here, how strange would that look?

Or worse, he’d tease me for being a sniveling crybaby.

As Bambi carefully observed me, he suddenly muttered, almost offhandedly—