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Chapter 1
“Cough, cough.”
Inside a dark, freezing prison cell where the only warmth came from the light filtering through a window smaller than a person’s palm, a silver-haired woman lay collapsed on the floor in a dress stained with blood and filth. She trembled as a fit of coughing shook her frail body.
Creak.
At that moment, the heavy iron door swung open, and two knights clad in silver armor stepped inside, stopping in front of her.
Without the slightest trace of pity, one of them barked,
“Get up! It’s time for your trial, Roselia Hailen.”
Roselia barely managed to push herself upright.
Her pale face had lost all color, and the once-brilliant blue eyes were dull and lifeless.
“Ugh…”
The knights seized her by both arms and hauled her to her feet. A painful groan escaped her lips, but they paid no attention, dragging her roughly out of the cell.
“Cough… cough… Haa… haa…”
Barefoot and forced to stumble across the icy stone floor, Roselia’s weakened body gave out after only a short distance. She doubled over in another violent coughing fit, one so severe it seemed she might stop breathing altogether.
Rather than slowing down, the knights urged her to move faster.
Before long, they emerged from the dark corridor and stopped before an enormous pair of doors glowing with light from within.
One knight nodded to the guards stationed on either side.
The massive doors slowly swung open.
A flood of brilliant light poured into the hallway.
Roselia instinctively squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again. After spending so long in the darkness of her prison cell, the brightness was almost unbearable.
Once her eyes adjusted, the courtroom came into view.
It was immense and majestic.
The marble floor gleamed beneath a grand domed ceiling painted with the image of a god holding a pair of scales, accompanied by angels following behind him.
At the top of a tall staircase covered in a crimson carpet sat a man dressed in pure white priestly robes.
On both sides below the staircase were rows upon rows of nobles dressed in lavish attire.
As the knights dragged Roselia toward the center of the courtroom, their whispers reached her ears.
“I can’t believe the prestigious Hailen Count’s family, renowned for their water spirit summoners, committed blasphemy and treason!”
“Prestigious? Please. I heard the new Count Hailen was a complete scoundrel. And wasn’t the accusation brought by the heir of the Naizer Duke’s family, the famous fire spirit summoners?”
“Ah! You mean the son who disappeared when he was eight and was presumed dead until he was found just a month ago? Kardian, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. That’s why this trial is being conducted under the authority of the Temple.”
“Well, anyone who commits blasphemy deserves punishment.”
Each word stabbed into Roselia’s ears like needles.
The knights dragged her to the defendant’s stand at the center of the courtroom before stepping back.
Her frail body wavered unsteadily until she managed to grasp the railing for support.
It felt as though every hostile gaze in the courtroom was squeezing the life out of her.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably.
Standing beside her, bound tightly with ropes and barely able to remain upright, was a gray-haired man.
It was Sven Hailen—her cousin, the son of her uncle, the new head of the Hailen family, and the reckless older brother who had brought ruin upon them all.
At that moment, the priest rose from his seat and raised a hand.
The noisy courtroom instantly fell silent.
“The trial of the Hailen Count’s family shall now begin!”
As his declaration echoed through the hall, Roselia’s blue eyes were drawn toward a man seated near the priest.
He wore a black military uniform.
His hair was as black as the midnight sky.
His eyes glowed a deep ruby red.
With an elegant bearing as though he had stepped straight out of a painting and a face beautiful enough to resemble a marble sculpture, he immediately caught her attention.
Roselia’s pupils widened.
That man…!
She desperately searched her memories.
One month before the Hailen family fell into ruin…
While touring the territory, her good-for-nothing brother Sven had become infatuated with a commoner woman he happened to see.
The woman had already been engaged and was preparing for her wedding.
Determined to possess her anyway, Sven invoked the empire’s long-forbidden right of the first night.
Unable to bear the humiliation, the woman took her own life the very next day.
Calling it nothing more than bad luck, Sven ordered her body returned to her family.
Her father had collapsed from shock, so her younger brother came in his place.
“Sob… Give her back! Bring my sister back! You damned Count’s family!”
The young man had clung to his sister’s coffin, crying his heart out.
Only then did Roselia fully understand what the nobles had been whispering.
They said the missing heir of the Naizer Duke’s family accused the Hailens of treason…
Now that she thought about it…
The dead woman’s younger brother had also possessed black hair and crimson eyes.
No… it can’t be…
Roselia could barely focus on the proceedings.
The trial advanced swiftly until it reached the final judgment.
The priest unfurled a rolled parchment and looked over the assembly.
“I shall now deliver the final verdict concerning the Hailen Count’s family.”
His voice was solemn as he began reading.
“The court has determined that every charge brought before it is true. The Hailen Count’s family unlawfully exercised the right of the first night, an act expressly forbidden by His Majesty the Emperor, the holy representative of God. In addition to blasphemy, they are guilty of treason. Therefore, all property belonging to the Hailen family shall be confiscated by the Temple, and the head of the family, Sven Hailen, is hereby sentenced to death.”
“N-No! Please… spare my li— Ggh!”
Sven screamed in terror, but the knights standing behind him immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
He struggled wildly for a few moments before finally falling silent.
The priest looked at him with open contempt before continuing.
“Tsk. The evidence is overwhelming. Lastly, Roselia Hailen, daughter of the Hailen family, is sentenced to life imprisonment in the underground dungeon.”
As the sentence was pronounced, Roselia clenched the filthy fabric of her dress with all her strength.
Her vision blurred.
The priest rolled up the parchment and spoke once more.
“On behalf of His Imperial Majesty and the Holy Temple, we express our gratitude to Kardian Naizer, whose report exposed the crimes of the Hailen family and preserved the peace of the Empire.”
At those words, the man in black rose to his feet.
He placed a hand over his chest and bowed with perfect discipline.
Then he lifted his head and fixed Roselia with an icy stare.
“Gratitude is unnecessary. I reported the vile Hailen family, who dared commit blasphemy and treason, solely out of loyalty to His Majesty and the Holy Temple.”
At last, Roselia understood.
Kardian Naizer had taken revenge…
For the commoner family who had raised him.
Roselia wrapped herself tightly in a worn blanket and curled into a ball on the freezing stone floor of her lightless prison.
Tomorrow would have been her twentieth birthday.
She had spent an entire year imprisoned in the underground dungeon.
If only I hadn’t shut myself away in my room since I was fifteen… If only I’d fought with everything I had to stop Sven from claiming the right of the first night… would anything have changed?
Tears welled up once more in her blue eyes.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced her chest.
She clutched at it instinctively.
Something warm and metallic surged up her throat.
She hurriedly covered her mouth with her emaciated hands.
“Cough! Cough… Ngh…”
Dark crimson blood seeped through her fingers.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her vision gradually faded into white.
And so, one day before her twentieth birthday…
Roselia closed her eyes forever.
“Gasp!”
Roselia jolted awake as if struck by a violent convulsion.
Her blinking eyes focused on a ceiling decorated with leaf patterns and beige wallpaper.
Everything around her looked strangely familiar.
This is… my room? But how…? I clearly coughed up blood… and died…
She slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard.
No matter how she looked around, it was unmistakably her bedroom.
A knock sounded.
The door opened silently.
A young maid with short green hair entered carrying a silver tray.
The moment their eyes met, the maid looked startled.
“You’re awake?”
If Roselia remembered correctly…
This maid had begun serving her shortly after she turned fifteen.
Clink.
The maid set the silver tray down on the round table.
“I’ve brought your breakfast.”
A simple salad and bowl of soup rested on the tray.
But breakfast was the last thing on Roselia’s mind.
“I have something to ask you. Your name is… what was it? And what is today’s date according to the Imperial Calendar?”
“Huh? O-Oh… My name is Mary. And today is March 2nd, Imperial Year 1013 of the Ortia Empire.”
Mary seemed slightly confused by the strange question but answered politely.
What? Today is March 2nd… Imperial Year 1013?
“Bring me a mirror! Hurry!”
Startled by Roselia’s urgency, Mary quickly fetched a round mirror and placed it in her hands.
Looking into it, Roselia saw long silver hair that shimmered like moonlight, lake-blue eyes, and the delicate features of a young girl.
It was unmistakably her own face…
From years ago.
I suspected it when I saw Mary…
Did I really return five years into the past… to when I was fifteen?
