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chapter 2
2. A New Beginning
My twentieth birthday.
Serentia, the neglected second daughter of the Rosemary Count family—known as a prestigious family of architects—awakened the memories of her past life.
In that past life, she had been… a star architect—
“Let me show you the ideal of my architecture this time. Hey, bring the model.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
…No.
She had been a top-tier assistant.
Though she had been a pushover, she had been competent.
Perhaps thanks to awakening that past life,
for the first time in twenty years, she discovered her talent.
Along with it came hope—that she could finally be of help to her family.
“Mother, designing buildings must be really hard, right? I-I’ll work hard and help you!”
Blushing bright red, she shyly presented her design draft…
“Sigh, Serentia, your handwriting is so crooked! Honestly, is there anything you’re good at?”
…And it was thrown into the trash with a single harsh remark.
‘Of course… that’s just like me.’
Just as she lowered her head in defeat,
the one who unexpectedly saved her was her older brother Max, the family’s heir.
“Honestly! Serentia, you’d help more by just staying quiet—…Hmm. This drawing actually looks pretty usable?”
It was her designs that made her beloved brother Max the top student at the architecture academy.
“Even my adorable youngest should win an architecture award, right?”
“Eeeh, Mom~”
And it was also her who gave her cute, affectionate younger sister Evelin—her mother’s favorite—the reputation of a “genius architect.”
But strangely, her mother despised her.
Even though the food she ate was scraps and the money she received was barely anything,
her mother acted as if Serentia were stealing from her brother and sister.
“For some reason, I just can’t feel any affection for her. It’s like she’s not even my own daughter.”
Even after overhearing her mother say that to her aunt,
Serentia still tried her best.
So when, under the pretense of noblesse oblige, her older brother—the eldest son—received a conscription order to the North…
“They want to send my precious eldest son to that dangerous North? That’s absurd!”
As Max, a complete mama’s boy, clung to their mother and sobbed,
Serentia finally realized something.
“…As long as it’s someone from our bloodline, right?”
“Exactly! Of all people, why Max—”
“Then I’ll go instead.”
“You? Well! You may be untalented, but you did attend the architecture academy. You might manage to do something there. Good, yes—you go.”
At her single sentence volunteering to go,
her family’s faces lit up with relief.
As she packed her light belongings and left the Rosemary estate,
what had she been thinking?
That she, too, wanted to be loved unconditionally?
Even so, she had never once revealed her true feelings to anyone.
Not until she met a man—
A man who possessed the overwhelming power of death, capable of killing everything around him in an instant.
Raphael Kairosen.
“I’m Serentia Rosemary. I’ve come to help with the reconstruction of the North.”
“We have no need for useless people. Leave.”
When she first met Raphael,
he looked at her with a cold expression.
Even after being dismissed so indifferently,
she followed him around, helping with the North’s reconstruction.
One day—
It was the first day Raphael noticed the design she had drawn on the ground with her finger.
“You’ve got talent. So why do you act like a wilted piece of spinach?”
On top of receiving her first compliment ever…
“You’re trying too hard. You don’t have to go that far. You’ve got talent.”
At his casual remark, her face flushed bright red.
No one had ever said that to her before.
She had only ever been told she was trying too hard despite having no talent.
But she didn’t know how to define her emotions.
After a life spent as everyone’s shadow,
this sudden feeling called love felt embarrassing.
As the seasons changed,
the number of times she went out with Raphael to inspect buildings in the North increased.
“It’s dangerous here. Don’t get in the way—leave.”
It was the first time she had ever heard someone say, “Leave because it’s dangerous”—a declaration of protection.
Encouraged by that simple sentence,
she gathered all her courage and said,
“I want to be in your way, Raphael… continuously.”
“…What?”
As she slowly grew closer to the cold and prickly man…
Not knowing how to confess, she simply bowed her head.
“So, please take care of me from now on!”
Someone who had never been acknowledged by anyone,
finally began to find confidence while being with him.
“Straighten your shoulders. Smile.”
“Why? Is my smile…?”
“It looks good. …Much better than when you look like you’re about to cry.”
From the day she lifted the corners of her lips because of his words,
her life began to change.
She started learning what kind of flowers she liked,
what kind of books she enjoyed.
And at the center of all those changes—was always Raphael.
Then one day, during those happy days—
Raphael casually plucked a flower and handed it to her.
“…I have something to say. Meet me at the clock tower tomorrow afternoon.”
They would finally have time alone together.
She, who had quietly followed him around like an assassin, admiring him, made up her mind.
‘That day, I’ll confess!’
But—
An hour before their promise,
a massive earthquake suddenly struck the North, which had already been suffering frequent tremors due to monster remnants.
While trying to clear the collapsed buildings,
she was completely buried under the rubble.
As her breath was fading—
Raphael found her.
“Serentia.”
…Calling her name desperately.
She tried to smile faintly,
but her vision slowly blurred.
“Don’t die. Please.”
With a desperate plea, his voice rough, Raphael whispered,
“I… the reason I always saved you…”
Those blue eyes that people said couldn’t feel emotions—always cold and indifferent—
were trembling horribly.
He was…
crying.
The moment his tears touched her cheek, she realized it.
She loved him.
She tried to move her lips to say something,
but no words came out.
She was no longer the suppressed person she used to be before coming to the North.
‘I can finally confess to you properly now.’
And yet… to die like this, so meaninglessly…
She felt so wronged that she couldn’t even confess or experience love that she thought she wouldn’t be able to close her eyes even in death.
Just as she closed her eyes in sorrow—
a strange voice rang in her ears.
“I’ve found it… the one who can save Raphael…!”
As she listened blankly, the voice spoke again.
“I’ll turn back time. But there’s a condition! Stay right by Raphael’s side. If you don’t—you’ll die!”
As if possessed, she nodded.
And in that instant—
she returned to the past.
Back to when she was twenty,
just after awakening her past life and trying to earn her family’s approval.
The problem was—
there was still an entire year left before she could go north to meet Raphael for the reconstruction.
And during that time, she would be exploited by her family again.
But that was fine.
In this timeline, no one yet knew about her abilities.
And she knew that around this time, the Kairosen family would propose a marriage alliance.
Thanks to that—
she was able to deliberately secure a marriage proposal with Raphael Kairosen.
…Yes, everything had been perfect—until then!
She had come north as if being sold off, riding in a carriage with barely any belongings, even sending back all the Rosemary family’s maids.
‘So… I can’t meet Raphael?’
It was true that Raphael was busy.
Even before her regression, he had been constantly occupied with rebuilding the North.
Having come here solely for him, she felt despair—
‘Nope, not giving up!’
Instead, her eyes sparkled.
‘From today onward… one confession per day, I guess?’
Starting the next day, she diligently wandered around Kairosen Castle.
But no matter how much she looked around, no matter how many corridors she walked through…
“My goodness, dear—!”
“That is a wall.”
“I-I see. Oh! That must be Raphael—”
“No, that is a portrait of the previous lord.”
…Raphael was nowhere to be found.
Something was wrong.
For two whole days, the only person she spoke to was the towering head maid, Melosi.
“This is the etiquette book of the North.”
“It is mealtime, future Grand Duchess.”
“This is an important family area. According to house rules, you may not enter yet.”
Even when she said she wanted to meet Raphael,
the only response she got was a cold,
“Lord Raphael lives a life scheduled down to the second.”
‘How should I meet him? It would be nice if it were something fateful…’
…She had been rejected the first time, but she would never give up!
‘The second meeting needs proper staging.’
So, after sending away even the head maid, she was seriously wandering the garden alone when—
“Cough—!”
It was just a single cough,
but faint blood appeared on her palm.
‘…That’s blood?!’
She had never been particularly ill in her past life—so what was this?
At that moment, she remembered the mysterious voice from before her regression.
“I’ll turn back time. But there’s a condition! Stay right by Raphael’s side. If you don’t—you’ll die!”
She had already felt uneasy when she couldn’t encounter Raphael at all.
But now—
she felt a true sense of crisis.
Calling him “dear” or confessing her feelings wasn’t enough.
She had to physically stay right by his side to survive.
‘Then how on earth am I supposed to meet Raphael?’
At that moment—
a lightbulb flickered on in her mind.
