After the intense and hot red mana dissipated, Arne opened her eyes.

She saw the dim night sky and the full moon.

Feeling a firm and smooth sensation at her fingertips, Arne frowned and rolled her eyes.

‘Where on earth did that demon send me?’

Fumbling around to get up, Arne froze at the sight of an unforgettable face.

“…Cedric.”

Only then did the surroundings gradually come into view.

The wedding held at the Grand Duchy of Renigrad, and that summer night they spent together.

And Cedric, who was only wearing a loosely tied white robe.

She returned to her first night with Cedric.

Was this the beginning of Vivian’s birth when I asked for my family back?

My heart raced. A faint scent of lilacs wafted in.

As I realized that the firm and smooth thing my fingertips touched was Cedric’s upper body, heat rushed to my face.

The soft moonlight slowly illuminated Cedric.

The moment I met his bright red eyes through his jet-black hair, my heart seemed to stop.

My mind went blank. It wasn’t the first time, but it felt like it was.

In the empire, marriage is void if you fail to consummate it.

So, at that time, I complied out of a sense of duty.

Given that the physician had said I was terminally ill and couldn’t have children, Cedric must have thought he was merely fulfilling his marital duties.

‘For that, he was quite polite and gradually passionate…’

Just thinking about that day made my face flush with heat.

‘Calm down. You’re being overly conscious now.’

But once I started being conscious of him, tension crept up to my toes.

The more I looked at Cedric’s profile, the more impossible it was not to be aware of him.

Suddenly, the last day he died came to mind.

It was hard to control the overwhelming emotions. I just wanted to see him.

Arne slowly tilted her head as she cradled Cedric’s face.

Her trembling lips slowly touched his skin.

At that moment, Cedric’s pupils dilated and trembled.

The skin touched the cool night air and felt as if it had been burned by fire.

Suddenly, her perspective flipped completely. Arne, who had been on top of Cedric, rolled onto the bed in an instant.

Tension flowed through Cedric’s body as he held Arne’s neck with one hand and pressed down on her lower abdomen with the other.

The other hand pressing on the mana core between Arne’s br*asts was a fluid motion without any unnecessary movements. A low, simmering voice flowed.

“Who are you? I thought it was a dream.”

Cedric’s red pupils collided with Arne’s red pupils.

“An assassin?”

As his fingers pressing on the mana core exerted more pressure, a light crack formed where there had been a fracture.

“Will you not speak even now?”

As more force was applied, the crack in the mana core spread. Arne’s moans of pain flowed out.

If the mana core breaks, one dies. Even a crack was fatal for a mage.

‘What are you talking about? An assassin?’

As Cedric’s grip on Arne’s neck tightened, she unconsciously grabbed his hand. It became hard to breathe as if her lungs were burning. A sound barely flowed between her gasping breaths.

“Cedric.”

His arm twitched unexpectedly at the sound of her voice.

As the moonlight slowly moved and gently illuminated Arne’s face, all strength left Cedric’s hand.

“Lady Ronia?”

Cedric didn’t blink even once, as if his thoughts had frozen.

“Why is the princess here……”

He looked at Arne as if he couldn’t believe it, but it wasn’t an illusion.

But the woman moaning beneath him was indeed Raniarne Freya de Ronia.

How could he not know? It hadn’t even been four days since he arrived in the capital under his grandfather’s orders, but he had already gone through the genealogies and portraits of the high nobility of the capital. Among them, she stood out the most.

Her silver hair, almost white, reminiscent of fresh snow, and her captivating red eyes reminded him of someone.

And the rumors that followed her, which had spread even to the north.

‘To think she, possibly a lowly war slave orphan, became a princess was said to be the disgrace of high society. An evil woman of the empire known for her vile behavior without any proper education.’

Cedric’s cold gaze slowly fell on Arne. It was sharp and threatening, like a predator inspecting its prey’s vital points.

As Arne breathed out painfully irregular breaths, moisture formed around her eyes, but Cedric’s gaze remained cold.

Following her reddened eyes, his gaze lingered over the slender neck caught in one hand, the glowing purple mana core beneath it, and then rested chillingly on the black ribbon knotted precariously above her full chest.

It was a thin evening dress. Far too thin for a princess to wear, revealing the body’s curves dangerously, and made of a material so poor that one could see the skin beneath it in the light of a nearby candle.

There were no buttons bearing the family crest, just a single ribbon over the bust and a single ribbon over the waist that, if pulled, would make the dress slip off. Despite being of poor quality, it was sufficient for its purpose if one intended to seduce someone to create even a moment’s distraction.

There were assassins and spies who had entered Cedric’s chamber. It was hard for him to accept, but there had also been a crazy young lady who had seen him for the first time and rushed into his chamber claiming she had fallen for him.

A smirk formed on Cedric’s lips. He was tired.

“I don’t know why Lady Ronia would try to assassinate me, but I must commend you. It’s quite successful. You’re quite enchanting.”

Holding Arne’s neck, Cedric slowly stroked it with his thumb. Seeing her white skin turn red under the pressure twisted his lips.

‘She even considered my taste. To think that the Ronia ducal family would go to such lengths to use their adopted princess directly for assassination.’

But it was only repulsive. He didn’t know where she picked up such a scent, but there was no way he would be shaken by an assassin, having seen them disgustingly often. Arne barely managed to speak out as she observed his increasingly cold gaze.

“What are you talking about since earlier, an assassin? There’s no way I would assassinate you. Today is… we are…”

Arne glanced away fleetingly. This man was terribly regular in his habits, even the position of his calendar remained unchanged. The neatly torn-off calendar date, even the month written at the top was accurate. The day we got married and spent our first night together.

Cedric chuckled at Arne’s indignant look.

“Today? If you have any last words, I’ll listen.”

“Today is the year 3026 of the Imperial calendar… Huh.”

A strangled, hoarse voice poured from her throat. She’s pretending to be wronged and now she’s lying. As Cedric’s thumb pressed harder on Arne’s neck, her lying mouth closed.

“There’s no point in listening further. If you’re going to lie, at least do it properly. It’s 3025 today, princess.”

Arne felt as if her breath had stopped at Cedric’s emotionless cold voice.

“3025?”

Her expression seemed genuinely unaware, and Cedric’s eyes narrowed. Her confused eyes rolled around the room and then followed Cedric’s face and body before stopping near his waist along his well-defined abs.

“3025…”

Arne muttered blankly. If it wasn’t 3026 but 3025, it meant she regressed a year before their wedding. At that time, she hadn’t even met Cedric.

It hadn’t been long since the Great Demon War ended and Cedric was severely plagued by assassination threats. She knew because he told her about an assassination attempt that left a scar near his thigh about a year before their wedding.

“It’s gone.”

Staring at his smooth thigh, Arne exhaled in vain. She finally understood Cedric’s reaction. The cold look he gave her when she appeared out of nowhere and kissed him while he was sleeping.

‘According to him, if I’m either an assassin, a madwoman, or both.’

Arne let out a hollow laugh. She shouldn’t have trusted the demon.

“I’m not… an assassin.”

Cedric looked at Arne’s indignant eyes with a cold gaze full of distrust and suspicion, a familiar look.

Maybe this was more like Cedric, you. Life was truly ironic.

‘In my past life, you tried to save me until the end, but in this life, you’re trying to kill me the moment we meet. Really.’

Facing Cedric’s icy gaze made that day feel like a dream. Like a mirage unreachable from the start. As if it was all a mistake.

‘I really don’t understand you. Why did you save me that time, was it really to save me, or was it just my misunderstanding?’

Why did you keep looking at me with such cold eyes when you didn’t even send a single letter?

“Why would I kill you? I wasn’t trying to assassinate you.”

“Is it possible for an ordinary lady to sneak into the Grand Ducal mansion, even into the bedroom of Cedric Schopendha de Renigrad, in the middle of the night if she were in her right mind?”

Cedric’s eyes looking down at Arne felt like a massive wall of ice. It was truly a moment, but his last gentle appearance seemed like a lie compared to the current Cedric who’s flickering with hostility and anger.

‘This person…’

Cedric raised an eyebrow as he watched Arne’s twisting gaze. Cedric slowly rubbed Arne’s reddened neck.

“Or did you enter my bedroom because you love me?”

Arne drew a faint, hollow laugh. She had no such luxury to hope for a mirage like Cedric’s love.

“……No.”

Cedric’s frown deepened as he intently observed Arne’s faint smile. But Arne had no luxury to notice that. Her eyes were looking up at Cedric, but she was seeing Vivian’s last moments.

‘But Cedric, I can never give up on Vivian. I can’t forgive the Ronia ducal family for killing Vivian, and in this life, I will reclaim my shattered life.’

So, I will marry you again and become a family, and for that, I need to completely clear your suspicions.