Chapter 1 (Part 3)

Tears she hadn’t even realized were falling streamed down her cheeks. When she saw the ink smearing on the paper where she had painstakingly written down memories she didn’t want to recall, she instinctively wiped her eyes and opened a drawer.  

She pulled out a handkerchief lying right at the top of the drawer. Her gaze fell on the embroidery stitched into the fabric. 

‘…Huh?’

A black eagle spreading its wings.  

“This is… the Duke’s crest.”  

There was only one person in the current Duke’s household who could use a handkerchief bearing the Duke’s crest.  

Duke Theodore Grace.  

The infamous murderer who, despite inheriting the title at a young age, was so fearsome that even vassals and distant relatives dared not cross him.  

She was so shocked that she didn’t even realize her tears had stopped as she stared silently at the handkerchief.  

“This handkerchief… why is it in my drawer?”  

“About… four years ago? I think you’ve had it since you returned from a banquet.”  

Reinis couldn’t recall anything about the handkerchief, so she asked Yuria, but no helpful answer came back.  

“Four years ago?”  

“Yes, but why?”  

“No, it’s nothing… I just asked because it was in the drawer.”  

She couldn’t remember what had happened that day or even which banquet she had attended.  

It was natural not to remember, considering it had been over 15 years since then.  

Above all, if she had ever met the Duke, the memory would have been etched into her mind, but the word “Duke” didn’t exist in her thoughts.  

Frowning deeply as she desperately tried to recall that day, Yuria suddenly shouted at her.  

“More importantly, Miss! You really can’t keep lazing around anymore! If you don’t hurry and finish getting ready to go out, Madam will scold you!”  

Reinis snapped out of her thoughts at Yuria’s outburst and gave a faint smile.  

She understood Yuria’s urgency.  

But choosing a dress for the Earl wasn’t exactly a pleasant task.  

‘More than that, I didn’t even meet the Earl that day…’  

Thanks to the swift acceptance of the proposal, George Plarad had left, promising to meet again later.

Yuria kept urging her to move as she dawdled. What stopped Yuria’s actions was a single remark from Reinis.  

“Do I really look that bad?”  

“Pardon?”  

“Do I look so bad that I absolutely need to dress up?”  

“Of course not! Miss, you’re the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what anyone says!”  

Reinis gave a faint smile at Yuria’s words and said,  

“I want to marry someone who will love me just as I am…”  

Yuria fell silent at her words. She seemed to have something to say, her lips moving slightly, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.  

At that moment, the door suddenly burst open without a knock.  

“What time do you think it is, and you’re still not ready?! Even if you went to choose a dress right now, you’d be late—what on earth are you doing?!”  

It was none other than the Baroness, Elina Martin, glaring at them as if she was about to grab both of them by the hair.  

The moment Reinis saw her, she felt her breath catch in her throat.  

Her heart pounded loudly, and a bead of sweat trickled down her back.  

She couldn’t even look directly at Elina’s face, which was coldly frozen with rage that had risen to the top of her head.  

Only then did she realize.  

Deep in her mind, deep in her heart.  

The fear of the Baroness was deeply ingrained.  

Elina’s hand suddenly shot up.  

Fearing the slap and the torrent of abuse that would follow, Reinis instinctively flinched.  

She clenched her eyes shut, bracing for the blow.  

When the pain she expected didn’t come, Reinis cautiously opened one eye.  

What she saw was Elina, having barely calmed herself, letting out a sigh as she lowered her hand.  

“Call the servants immediately and tell them to finish dressing you up. Honestly, who else would care enough to put this much effort into you? I’m your mother, so I have to take care of you like this.”  

With those words, Elina left the room, summoning a swarm of servants.  

What followed was the merciless hands of the servants.  

Throughout it all, the Baroness’s gaze, sharp and unrelenting, followed her like an inescapable watchful eye.  

Under the piercing stare that made even breathing difficult, Reinis couldn’t utter a single word.  

‘Even though I’ve gone back to the past, the scars of abuse deeply embedded in my heart still turn me into an obedient doll.’  

“Because of your laziness, I won’t be able to accompany you. With so little time left to prepare for the Earl’s arrival, how can you be so foolish? I fear you’ll be like this even after you’re married…”  

Before getting into the carriage, the Baroness, wearing a face full of dissatisfaction, adjusted Reinis’s attire as if she were someone who cared for her.  

Though her words were scolding, Elina continued speaking as if she were offering advice for Reinis’s sake.  

“I hope you’ll understand my heart, which disciplines and scolds you out of a desire to see you succeed. But why is it that you only grow more negligent as the days go by?”  

“……”  

“I won’t be able to go with you today, but at least, for today, make sure to pick a dress that satisfies you. If you fail to do so… I’ll have no choice but to guide you back onto the right path once again, won’t I?”  

“I’m sorry.”  

“I’ve already contacted the dress shop, so go and choose the best one among their recommendations. Please don’t disappoint me.”  

Elina’s words, though spoken in a gentle tone, carried a coldness as she finished speaking and turned away.  

Even as the carriage departed from the Baron’s manor, Reinis’s frozen body showed no sign of relaxing.  

The carriage sped toward the dress shop, but then it jolted violently with a loud rattling noise.  

It seemed like a near-scream could be heard from somewhere, but Reinis, lost deep in her own thoughts, didn’t notice.  

“Miss, doesn’t something seem strange?”  

It was Yuria who noticed the oddity first, and she asked the question. At her words, Reinis finally snapped out of her thoughts and began to look around.  

At that moment—  

Clatter!  

The carriage started shaking more violently than before. It was clearly not caused by uneven terrain.  

“Ah… Miss… The… the coachman… the coachman is gone!”  

“What?!”  

At Yuria’s words, Reinis’s gaze shot toward the front of the carriage. The coachman, whose figure should have been visible, was nowhere to be seen.  

“I can’t even hear the sound of the horses’ hooves…”  

Her quiet murmur caused Yuria’s face to turn pale with fear.  

“Miss…”  

Yuria called out to her in a trembling voice, her face filled with terror.  

The carriage, now racing somewhere without a coachman, began to sway dangerously, as if it might collapse at any moment, accompanied by the sound of something twisting.  

In her previous life, Reinis had never experienced a carriage accident. Nor had she ever ridden in a carriage without a coachman.  

‘What on earth is going on?’  

Neighhhhh! 

As these thoughts raced through her mind, the sound of a horse’s neigh reached her ears.  

The sound of horses from behind quickly drew closer to the carriage carrying Reinis and Yuria.  

“Are you alright?!”  

Two men, clad in black robes, rode their horses to match the speed of the carriage and shouted.  

Though their faces were obscured by their robes, Reinis instinctively knew—they wouldn’t harm her.  

“Yes. Fortunately, I’m still alright for now.”  

No sooner had Reinis spoken than another voice came from the side, from the other man.  

“Commander! Ahead!!”  

At those words, not only did the man called “Commander” turn his gaze forward, but so did Yuria and Reinis.  

A massive boulder was situated not far ahead. The moment she saw it, Yuria panicked, clutching her body as she screamed.  

“Ah… ah… I don’t want to die… Miss…! What do we do, Miss… Save us! Please save us!!”  

Perhaps it was thanks to Yuria’s desperate cries, which were close to hysterical.  

Crash! 

The door of the carriage was torn off.  

“This way…!”  

Before the man could even finish his sentence, the trembling Yuria sprang to her feet and threw herself out of the carriage.  

“Ahhh! I almost missed her!”  

The man who caught Yuria had his robe slip off, revealing his face. Only then did Yuria catch sight of the knightly uniform he was wearing.  

“It’s a good thing I caught her. If I hadn’t, it would’ve been a disaster!”  

As the knight shouted, the two of them gradually fell behind the carriage.  

“Young Lady, this way too!”  

At that moment, the voice of the man called “Commander” rang out.  

For some reason, the hand he extended toward her felt desperate.  

“Hurry!”  

As she stared silently at the hand reaching out to her, a fleeting thought crossed her mind.  

‘If I die like this, I won’t have to live that dreadful life again.’  

Whether or not the man knew what she was thinking, he continued to hold out his hand toward her and spoke again.  

“If you don’t hurry, you’ll crash!”

His urgent voice, urging her, filled her ears. At that moment, another thought came to her.  

‘If there had been someone who reached out to me before my marriage to the Earl… would I have lived a slightly different future?’  

As that thought passed through her mind, a bitter smile spread across Reinis’s face.