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Chapter 4
“This life will be different.”
Rizeana recalled her past—her previous life.
The days she spent imprisoned like a doll by her father, Duke Filorencia. The way she had been forced to receive imperial education and pushed into becoming Crown Prince Raiphin’s consort.
And how, blinded by the first bit of affection anyone had ever shown her, she willingly became the “Imperial Family’s dog.”
Not once had she ever lived for herself.
Rizeana gazed at the sunset slowly fading beyond the window.
Today was finally the day.
The incident that dragged her life into tragedy.
The day Raiphin’s mistress, Delisa Lupe Crodenne, would be kidnapped from the temple.
“Please let Raiphin fall into utter ruin. And also…”
Before the statue of the goddess Laura, protector of the Empire, an irreverent prayer echoed.
Rizeana, Crown Princess of Abid—who was supposed to pray for the Empire’s prosperity—
“May endless ill fortune befall the Abid Empire and Emperor Raiphin.”
She sincerely prayed for the Empire’s destruction.
Dong— Dong—
At that moment, the midnight bell rang loudly.
Slowly straightening from her kneeling position, Rizeana silently headed toward the garden through the back door.
Leaning against a pillar, she began counting.
One.
Two.
And three.
The moment she counted exactly to three, an intricate black magic circle spread before her, and a man appeared at its center.
A man whose hair shone brilliantly even in the darkness.
Having returned to the past, Rizeana had decided to be kidnapped in Delisa’s place in order to escape this wretched Abid Empire.
She pushed herself off the pillar and carefully stepped forward to approach him.
But she could go no farther.
In an instant, a sharp pillar of ice erupted before her.
The icy spike, slicing through the air with a terrifying sound as if to pierce her throat, stopped only after she froze in place.
“Hah…”
As she struggled to steady her breathing, the man looked down at her with guarded eyes.
Ian Rendy Devencia, Duke of Tenzel.
At last, he had appeared before her.
Had she taken just one more step, her throat might have been pierced by that deadly ice spike.
Rizeana ignored the cold sweat trickling down her spine.
She had heard he was terrifying, but she never imagined she could lose her life before even speaking a word to him.
Quickly regaining her composure, she focused.
There was unmistakable killing intent coming from the man before her.
Her appearance clearly wasn’t welcome to an intruder in the imperial palace.
Slowly straightening her back from the pillar, Rizeana offered the friendliest smile she could manage.
“……”
But the man merely frowned. Her smile seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
A strange silence settled between them.
It felt as though the moment she moved, the ice would pierce her throat.
Fine. Forget it.
Rizeana immediately dropped the friendly smile.
“I was worried you might not come. I’m glad you did.”
At her words, his brows furrowed.
He was clearly confused.
He had secretly obtained information that Delisa Lupe Crodenne would be praying at the temple tonight, yet the woman before him was not Delisa.
Moreover, this woman somehow knew both his purpose and the exact time he would appear.
But what confused him most was—
“She’s not even afraid.”
Faced with someone committing a crime, the woman looked absurdly calm.
For him, infiltrating another nation’s imperial palace was hardly an easy task.
There should have been no witnesses, no obstacles.
Yet some crazy woman was standing in his way.
He wondered whether he should kill her.
At last, as if reaching a decision, he raised his hand.
“You need a hostage, don’t you?”
Rizeana’s voice halted the moving ice pillar.
“A hostage… Why would you think that?”
“To threaten the Abid Empire, of course. To learn the secret of the Glowthorn Herb.”
“…Glowthorn Herb?”
At the low rumble of his voice, the man tilted his head toward her.
Only then did she clearly see his beautiful ruby-red eyes.
Now that she could properly see his face, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
His pale skin only added to his mysterious aura.
And the broad triangular shoulders and powerful chest visible beneath his white shirt perfectly matched his tall frame.
“The Glowthorn Herb, huh… Well?”
He smiled meaningfully.
Despite his vague response, Rizeana continued without hesitation.
If she faltered here, she would die to that ice pillar.
“So you came to kidnap Delisa Lupe Crodenne, the woman favored by the Crown Prince of Abid.”
“How do you know that?”
The man swept her with a suspicious gaze.
Of course she knew.
Before her regression, the reason her husband Raiphin and his mistress Delisa had grown so close was because of this very incident.
Rizeana vividly remembered Delisa’s testimony after returning from the kidnapping.
“The clock struck midnight, and I was leaving the temple after praying. Then a magic circle appeared by the back door, and a huge shadow emerged…!”
“A magic circle?”
Delisa had sobbed dramatically, pretending recalling the memory itself was painful.
“He demanded I tell him everything I knew about the Glowthorn Herb.”
After Delisa safely returned, Raiphin cared for her devotedly.
Through that process, the two became even more emotionally attached to one another.
“And because of that, I died.”
The man standing before Rizeana now was the same intruder who had kidnapped Delisa in her previous life.
Rizeana had simply waited for him beforehand—at the exact same time and place where he had appeared in her past life.
“Answer me. Otherwise I’ll kill you.”
His cold voice pierced straight through her heart.
His blood-red eyes looked ready to devour her whole.
“No wonder they call him a mad dog.”
Rizeana organized her thoughts as she stared into his darkened gaze.
“…Let’s skip the unnecessary details and get to the point.”
Clenching her fists tightly, she steadied herself.
“Kidnap me instead of Delisa.”
“What?”
Caught off guard, Ian let out a disbelieving laugh.
Thankfully, his attention had shifted away from the source of her information.
“I have higher status than Delisa and possess far more useful information. I can help your Empire. I’ll even tell you about the Glowthorn Herb. I won’t cause trouble, so kidnap me instead.”
Ian scoffed at the boldly speaking Rizeana.
“…Are you truly insane? Do you even know where I’m from?”
“Of course I do. How could I not?”
Rizeana answered with a cold smile of her own.
“Ian Rendy Devencia, Duke of the Tenzel Empire.”
To her, he was both the final lifeline she desperately wanted to grasp…
…and her destination.
“The mad dog born of the Tenzel Empire.”
He was the infamous mad dog of the neighboring Tenzel Empire.
“That stupid, foolish Delisa will be of no help to you.”
Resolute, Rizeana stepped away from the icy pillar and took a step toward Ian.
“You’d only end up going through the trouble of throwing the kidnapped Delisa back into Abid anyway.”
If he refused her proposal here, she would meet death once again.
Looking directly at Ian, she continued:
“So kidnap me. Right now.”
The man silently staring down at her let out another amused laugh.
At that moment, the moonlight broke free from the clouds and fully illuminated Rizeana’s face.
“Black hair and violet eyes…”
Seeing her face clearly under the moonlight, Ian finally recognized her.
“…The Empire’s Crown Princess. The one they call the Imperial Family’s dog.”
After observing her carefully, he asked again,
“So you want to be kidnapped by Tenzel’s mad dog? Are you planning treason? And you’re the Crown Princess, no less?”
“…Think whatever you want.”
Ignoring his sarcasm, Rizeana continued.
“I just want to leave this damned Abid Empire. And if the Tenzel Empire needs my help in the process…”
Her voice overflowed with sincerity.
“I will betray the Abid Empire without hesitation.”
As though illuminating the truth in her words, the moonlight shone brilliantly upon her.
But Ian merely curled his lips into a wicked smile befitting a “mad dog.”
“If this is some joke, stop now. I don’t have time to play around.”
Yet Rizeana’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.
“This isn’t a joke. It’s a proposal. A compromise. Because this is the only thing you can do for me—right here, right now.”
Only the quiet wind disturbed his silver-white hair glowing beneath the moonlight.
As the breeze passed, Ian stared silently at her for a long while.
Then—
Rustling sounds and distant voices approached nearby.
“Her Highness said no one was allowed near the temple, so why are we being ordered to patrol? Makes no sense.”
The voices of Raiphin’s knights grumbled from afar.
“Of all times… troublesome.”
Ian bit his lower lip lightly and sighed.
“Delisa, the Glowthorn Herb… I don’t know how much of our information has leaked. But fine. If you’re willing to hand over imperial information and become a traitor, then I’ll gladly kidnap you.”
After speaking, Ian slowly extended his hand toward Rizeana.
“Very well.”
Without hesitation, she took his large hand.
No longer would she have to live under the dangerous shadow of the Crown Prince or endure Delisa’s jealousy and schemes.
Most importantly, once she left the Abid Empire, she could prepare devastating revenge for both of them.
“At last, I’m leaving behind this meaningless title of Crown Princess. I’m escaping Raiphin too—that hateful man.”
Though she would be going with Ian, the enemy nation’s mad dog.
“Then I look forward to working with you, prisoner.”
He smiled brightly.
“Perhaps…”
Rizeana swallowed hard.
“Perhaps I’m walking into an even deeper hell of my own accord.”
But she didn’t care.
All she desperately wanted was to break free from the vines binding her to this Empire.
“…Wait.”
Rizeana removed the hairpin from her hair and tossed it onto the ground.
It was the pearl hairpin Raiphin had given her as a wedding gift.
Feeling relieved, she stepped forward first.
Watching her silently, Ian glanced at the pin rolling across the ground.
“Are you sure about that? It looked expensive.”
“I don’t need it. I’m never coming back.”
There was no affection left anyway, so why would she ever return personally?
Only a madwoman would do that.
“Then let’s go.”
As if she had been waiting for those words, Rizeana grabbed Ian’s large hand and leapt into the magic circle.
Black smoke billowed from the dark magic circle and wrapped around them both.
The relief of having survived tickled at her heart.
Space itself began to distort.
Through the twisting scenery, Rizeana cast one last glance behind her.
And in a low voice, she murmured toward the distant Raiphin—
“Never be happy. Not ever.”
