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Chapter 5
I’d heard that Leandros’s birthday parties in past lives were always a disaster.
He had already declared his intention to enter the temple, but the court insisted on holding a feast in his name. For a man who wanted nothing to do with power, being pulled into that event was infuriating.
Later, the Cardinal told me in passing that the court and the temple had struck some sort of agreement, and that Leandros had been forced to attend.
‘They negotiated donations to the temple in return for his participation, didn’t they?’
It wasn’t his decision at all, so his sour attitude made sense.
“Some things never change, do they?”
Someone murmured it like the starting gun, and the conversation about Leandros spread.
“Perhaps his royal blood keeps him so handsome.”
“What good does that do? He goes out of his way to declare he isn’t of the royal household.”
“It must be a joy for the crumbling temple. Having noble blood choose to revive their shrine is cause for celebration.”
“I don’t know if he’s really interested in reviving the temple. He mostly just follows the temple’s charities without any special activity.”
Those speaking cast their sideways glances at me with thinly veiled amusement.
“If he weren’t royal, he’d have visited much more interesting places than this boring party.”
People holding wine goblets handed by servants laughed coquettishly.
Even while they prattled, my gaze was fixed on one place.
Leandros, too, could not bring himself to refuse the goblet of wine pressed into his hands.
“Whatever his reason for being unhappy, as his friend from the Academy I want to offer some consolation. And my congratulations, of course.”
When I said I intended to leave, everyone looked at me and gave awkward smiles.
“Oh, how sweet.”
They said such things, but everyone assumed I was there to cause trouble — as always.
“Then please enjoy the remainder of your evening.”
I turned away from those answering obediently and opened the terrace door. A guest stood admiring the bluish moon; sensing my approach, he slowly turned his head.
A cool scent I recognized brushed my nose on the early summer breeze.
At the same moment, the last image I had tried to erase from my memory flashed into my mind.
A gruesome death, blood, and eyes that had met mine in the instant before everything stopped.
My breath caught.
“Apferdita Princess?”
The voice, pleasant enough to make me doubt my own senses, drew my thoughts back as if it were waving them away.
“Why are you here…?”
When our wide eyes met, the memory of that blood-soaked scene faded and the air cleared. Unlike my last recollection, Leandros shone brilliantly now; he moved closer to check if I was alright.
Only then did I register that I was alive in the present.
‘What a fool.’
I forced myself to steady my mind and smiled brightly.
“It’s been a long time, Your Highness. Or should I call you Sir Leandros?”
“What brings you here?”
“Of course I came to celebrate your birthday.”
“You? My birthday?”
He looked baffled, and even so I smiled.
“Is it strange?”
“To be honest, yes. We are not the sort to celebrate each other’s birthdays.”
“You’re still blunt, aren’t you? That’s true. Until yesterday, at least.”
Leandros fell silent, puzzled by what I’d said; his contemplative expression made me wait quietly.
“You’ve come because you have something to say to me, haven’t you? Am I right?”
“You guessed correctly.”
I clapped my hands as if in agreement. His reaction wasn’t warm, but that didn’t matter — I expected his shock to come later when I said what I had to.
“I came to share a secret with you.”
I closed the terrace door and lowered my voice to a whisper.
“A secret? With me?”
Despite his distrustful face I didn’t stop.
“Yes. It’s something I can only tell you.”
I paused as if to consider, then continued.
“Your Highness, I’m repeating reincarnation.”
“Reincarnation?”
“Yes. On my twentieth birthday I die suddenly for some reason, and I return to my eighteenth birthday.”
A rational person might ask why I’d reveal such a thing. After all, there’s no reason to tell anyone you’re being reborn — especially not someone whose life you want to save. Admitting that our fates are linked would be like telling the world your weak spot.
But I knew Leandros well from our many clashes.
“Is that so. Unfortunately, I can’t help you — let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Leandros knew me well enough to suspect I wouldn’t lie about something like this frivolously.
‘He’ll think it’s a joke or a trick.’
There’s only one way to move such a straight-laced man.
“Even though I keep repeating this cycle of reincarnation each time you die, I still die too.”
I planned to use his sense of guilt; I would manipulate his kindness.
Leandros didn’t respond at once. I wondered what he was thinking with that serious face.
“This is a petty prank.”
“Oh, you don’t believe me?”
“Yes. I have no reason to trust you. If you wanted to ruin my party, apologize. But don’t play such pranks on me. Or rather — don’t play them on anyone.”
Even his polite scolding made me smile inwardly. He must have thought this was one of my usual jibes.
‘As always.’
That was precisely the sort of human reaction I had expected from Leandros.
“Did you know today is my birthday? How delightful.”
I tried lifting my lips into a gentle smile, although the warmth didn’t reach my eyes.
“A suspicious look.”
“Yes?”
“You always make that face when you have ulterior motives.”
He said it bluntly.
“Hmm. Shall I continue then?”
I set down the wine goblet I’d brought on the railing and took the ornate goblet provided to the guest of honor.
“What are you doing?”
“I told you — when you die, I die too. Because of that, I don’t die while you’re alive. Want to try?”
“What are you talking about—”
Before he could finish, I pretended to clink an invisible glass in the air.
“Cheers.”
Then I drained the wine.
The wine slid down my throat, and pain like a fire bloomed in my chest.
Not long after, I vomited a dark red fluid.
“Apferdita Princess?”
The liquid that poured from my mouth staining my blue dress was not wine. At that realization he froze, then hurried over.
“Miss?”
I laughed through the agony, clutching my throat as I coughed up blood. Though tears formed at the corners of my eyes from the pain and blurred my vision, I could still see the pained expression on his face as if it were a lantern.
“Grace!”
I couldn’t understand why Leandros looked so distraught when I was the one suffering, yet I shut my eyes slowly as he abandoned formalities and called me by my name. Everything went black.
The sensation was like being thrown into a furnace: searing pain, ragged breaths, and a total blackness where sight refused to reach.
[How foolish.]
Thrown into a mass of negative consciousness, my awareness followed a strange voice like a lifeline, and then my eyes opened.
