Clutching her stomach and coughing, a clot of blood surged up from her throat. Edna turned her head to spit it out, then wiped her sticky lips with the back of her hand.

The first light of dawn was beginning to break through the ashen sky. She had joked that even if she couldn’t stay up all night partying, she could at least stay up all night fighting. Truly, people should never speak carelessly. Edna shook her head and looked ahead.

A massive longsword, still dripping with warm blood, stood planted before her. Most of that blood was her own. Edna frowned and lifted her gaze. She could see him, his expression looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment.

“You lunatic!”

The words came out in a rough, sandpaper-scraped voice laced with sarcasm. She had lost her family, lost the war, and was now destined to die soon. If anyone should be crying, it was her. So why on earth was he making that kind of face?

As time passed, Edna, no longer having the strength to sit up, collapsed and lay on her side as if rolling over. Her body was slowly growing cold. She could see him drop heavily to his knees beside her. She had no particular desire to pick a fight at this point, but this was just too much! Edna squeezed out her last remaining strength and cried out.

“I’ll die on my own just fine, so get away from me!”

It was irritating that, contrary to her intentions, only a mosquito-sized sound came out. After finishing her words, Edna’s head fell back. At the same moment, a hot droplet landed on Edna’s face with a soft thud, making no sound.

It was a tear.

Ha! Wasn’t this man just full of surprises?

Squinting to look, she saw him kneeling beside her, shedding tears. No, it was more than just tears. Perhaps because he was such a large man, his tears were extraordinary too. It seemed as though water was simply pouring from his eyes.

‘Anyone who saw this would think his beloved woman had died. Good grief!’

Time passed slowly. Her stubborn life refused to end. She would have preferred to lose consciousness rather than watch this spectacle, but despite the blood pooling thickly on the ground beneath her, Edna’s mind remained, for some reason, perfectly clear.

She felt him gently take her hand.

‘What are you doing? You!’

She had intended to give him one cold, withering glare, but her eyes would not open properly.

“Edna.”

Before long, the sound of sobbing began to come from beside her. Even as her consciousness faded away, Edna could not tell whether it was more irritating to be dying like this, or to have that infuriating Duke Lombardi blubbering away right beside her.

Edna Whitteger was slowly dying. Her breath would cease soon. Ian gently took her hand, which was a mess of dried blood. Normally, Edna would have gone absolutely wild, screaming that he had lost his mind. But now she could not even open her eyes, let alone pull her hand away from Ian’s. As tears flowed uncontrollably and blurred his vision, Ian roughly wiped his eyes.

“Edna.”

He had wished it were himself dying instead. That was why he had fought with the blade reversed. More than anything, he had not wanted to fight Edna. But if they had to fight, if someone had to die, he believed it should be him. If he had died by her sword, he would have closed his eyes gladly.

“Edna Whitteger!”

Ian cried out. He could hear his horse, standing far away, startled and whinnying.

“Why did you do that?”

It had happened in an instant. He had deflected her sword with the flat of his blade and let his guard down for just a moment. Even in this devastating moment, he thought his gaze might have been briefly stolen by her golden hair, shining and scattering beautifully in the light.

But her movement had been strange. The confident, radiant smile on her face was the same as always, yet she was flying toward him so closely. She almost seemed to be running toward him. Ian was dumbfounded. He knew better than anyone that Edna would never do such a thing. He knew. Or rather, he thought he knew.

But Edna’s smile was so beautiful, the bright, radiant smile she was giving him for the first time was so fantastical, that he could not come to his senses. He stood there, sword in hand, blankly staring at Edna’s smile. But he swore to the heavens that the moment lasted no more than a blink of an eye.

Ian Lombardi, startled, quickly pulled his sword back. But it was already too late. The next moment, Edna Whitteger’s body was slowly crumpling to the side. If he had simply stayed still, the wound would not have been so severe. But because Ian pulled his sword back, the blade that had pierced Edna’s stomach tore an even larger wound.

Blood poured out over her silver armor. Ian covered the wound with his own hands. At that, Edna giggled and said,

“Are you an idiot? Do you think that’s going to stop the bleeding?”

Edna spoke as though she were somewhere else entirely, talking about something else. Blood was pouring from her stomach, and the color was draining from her face moment by moment, yet she joked as if it were not her own concern, as if nothing were wrong.

“When I die, don’t bother trying to collect my body. Don’t do anything to fall out of favor with the Crown Prince. But don’t trust that bastard too much, either.”

Even as she spoke, Edna felt a twinge of self-consciousness.

‘Look who’s talking.’

She had fallen for a bastard like that, given him everything she had, heart and soul, and in the end it had led to her death. That crybaby was nothing but a supporting character. The true protagonist of this ridiculous play was the Crown Prince. After she died, her family would vanish from the history of the empire. She would probably be called a traitor. Well, what did any of that matter once she was dead, anyway.

The blood drained from her rapidly. Her body grew cold and shivery, and her consciousness drifted further away. If only it weren’t for the one blubbering beside her, she might have met a more comfortable death. She could have left this wretched world with a refreshing smile. It seemed this lifetime was a lost cause after all.

“Edna! Edna!”

If she had just a little strength left, she would have had so much to nag Ian about. But unfortunately, it seemed this life ended here. Edna Whitteger finally closed her eyes. It felt like she truly needed to rest now. With one last, light sigh of relief, Edna Whitteger willingly closed her eyes.

“Goodbye, Ian Lombardi.”

Why was she saying her final farewell not to the Crown Prince, whom she had loved for half her life, but to Ian Lombardi, whom she had considered her sworn enemy? Life was truly unknowable.

* * *

“Are you an idiot? Just how many times has this been now? If I had asked you to do something difficult, I wouldn’t say a word.”

The deity looked extremely displeased.

‘Good grief! I can’t believe this.’

It wasn’t as though Edna had nothing to say for herself either. Edna’s expression crumpled sharply. Above all else, the deity she had imagined was nothing like this.

“It was a simple condition! Hey! It’s not like your head is so dim that you can’t manage something like this, so how does this keep happening every single time! Come on, be honest with me! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

The appearance resembling a miniaturized Ian Lombardi, and the speech pattern that sounded like her own, was probably just her imagination, right?

Edna scratched her head and said,

“As if I would do it on purpose? No matter how many times I’m born, it’s the same. I have no memories, so what do you expect me to do?”

“Then if I solve just that problem, can you do it right this time?”

Instead of answering, Edna stared blankly at the small child who appeared to be a deity. Only after dying did everything come back to her. She had been repeating the same life over and over, more times than she could count. Every time, she had fought with Ian Lombardi. Life only ended when he died, or she died, or both of them died, and then it was back to the beginning, being born again, for who knew how many times now.

“Not going to answer? I asked if you can do it right this time if I solve just that problem.”

Well, who knows. Life isn’t that simple. She had never wanted to fight with Ian either. Not once had she ever truly hated him enough to want to kill him, or killed him out of a genuine desire to do so. It was simply the way fate had unfolded.

“Hey!”

‘Ah! That one! Not something to say to a deity, but that nearly blew my ear off.’

Edna dug at her ear and frowned at the deity.

“Look, we’ve done this so many times and it still hasn’t worked, so doesn’t that just mean it’s not going to work? You’re a deity. You could just change fate directly. Why do you keep sending the same people down under similar conditions every time and expect anything to change?”

“You are the one who must change fate.”

The deity said, glaring at Edna.

“That is something you must do. I must not interfere.”

“Why?”

Edna was genuinely curious. Being a deity, was there anything that couldn’t be done?

“Because it must not be done that way.”

The deity said with a somber expression. Then it raised its head again and began to glare at her.

“Fate is something you must change yourselves. Remember that. And this time, you will be able to remember everything. However, this is the last time. If you fail again this time, it is the end for you, for Ian, and for me.”

It was quite solemn. The deity’s golden eyes gleamed as it spoke with firm resolve.

“You must not die, and Ian must not die either. Ah, it really is so simple!”

Edna looked at the deity with cold, flat eyes. How was that simple in any way? They were destined to become enemies from the moment of birth.

“What I can do ends here. Absolutely do not die. I mean, don’t die a sudden, violent death. I’m saying live to old age, have children, and die peacefully. Understood?”

‘That has always been my wish too, dear deity.’

Edna sighed and thought.

“This time, please succeed! There is no next time. Not anymore!”

The deity tapped the back of Edna’s hand with a strangely familiar touch. Then it smiled with an adorable face. The more she looked, the more it resembled Ian, Edna thought absently.

“Now go! This is truly the last time! You have to do well!”

The deity snapped its fingers, and Edna’s body floated upward. Edna called out urgently.

“Can’t you just have us born in separate places? We keep killing each other over and over. Why do we have to live in the same country at the same time? Hm? Just have us born somewhere different. Please?”

“No. You two must be together!”

The deity was firm. It was a deity that could not be reasoned with. There were times talking with Ian that felt exactly like this. Whether it was stupidity or sheer stubbornness.

“I’m going to die again this time. Whether it’s me or Ian.”

As Edna muttered this, the deity pleaded.

‘A deity, pleading! Was this thing really a deity?’

“No! This is truly the last time. I can’t take it anymore either! Please, I’m begging you! Live long and prosper and come back! Please!”

The deity waved its hand as if shooing away a bug. With that, the distance between them grew wider and wider. And finally, the deity’s form began to look like a small white dot. Edna had no time to say anything more.

A white light burst before her eyes. Through many experiences, Edna now knew that she had to go back.

‘D*mn it! D*mn it! D*mn it!’