Chapter 2

Sabina quietly put away her cane.

The man, thoroughly beaten, couldn’t fight back at all. Sabina’s insult was an elegant threat.

He covered his nose and fled quickly.

On the table was the drink he had boasted he’d buy for Loren.

“Manager. Open this bottle.”

The manager hurried over and opened the bottle. Sabina poured Loren a glass herself.

Loren wasn’t one to overstep, but just this once, she couldn’t help but speak to Sabina.

“It’s hard to believe someone so small could be so strong.”

Sabina replied calmly.

“I just borrowed a little magic to make it hurt more.”

Right, she was the academy’s top graduate.

Loren downed her drink in one go. Thud! The sound of the glass hitting the wooden table rang out.

“What will you do now, Lady D’Vialis?”

Sabina answered simply.

“Find a new man.”

“After all this?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of man are you looking for?”

Loren already knew the answer. It just had to be a man.

“Does it really just have to be a man? Everyone says so. They say you’re fine with any man.”

Sabina turned her back to Loren and walked away, her heels clicking. After paying the manager for the drinks, she answered Loren.

“That’s right. I like any man. Except for one.”

“Who’s that?”

Sabina turned her head toward Loren. She still wore a blank expression.

“The Prince, Reyes Brinita.”

Prince Reyes Brinita.

He was the black sheep of the royal family.

Just the title ‘Prince’ says it all.

Those who fail to become King due to their rank are usually granted a fief and a title, living out their days as some kind of Lord.

They shift their identity from royal family member to noble landowner.

But Reyes Brinita never received a fief. So he never became a Lord of anything.

He chose to remain a member of the royal family, not a landowner.

No one is ignorant of what this choice implies.

He never gave up his claim to the throne.

“What a lunatic.”

Thinking of Reyes, harsh words slipped from Sabina’s lovely lips.

It was an objective evaluation. Reyes Brinita really was a lunatic.

Sabina had died twice because of that lunatic. She had no intention of dying a third time.

Fortunately, Sabina was now a completely different being.

Literally.

Sabina D’Vialis had turned back time twice, both times against her will, both times because of Reyes Brinita.

And on the second return, something strange happened.

* * *

She met Reyes Brinita for the first time at the Academy graduation party. He was dazzling.

Unparalleled in looks, with a sweet voice, his valedictorian diploma attested to his brilliance, and he seemed skilled at everything.

Except for being born one minute too late to become King, he was flawless.

Sabina, who had just lost her only family, her grandfather, a few months prior, was a wounded, young nineteen-year-old. It was only natural that she fell for Reyes, who approached her with mature comfort.

It was a love like wildfire, hot enough to burn away all her reason.

Sabina never imagined he was a traitor, or that he approached her as a lover to use her wealth for rebellion.

She could never forget the moment cold handcuffs were snapped onto her pale wrist.

“Sabina D’Vialis! For associating with the traitor Reyes Brinita and providing him with funds needed for treason to assassinate His Majesty, the radiant King Kenneth Brinita, blessed by the Sun, you are hereby…”

Bang!

The captain of the guard roughly forced Sabina to the ground.

“You are under arrest!”

Later, in the cold stone prison, she was stunned to hear the truth from the only boy on her side.

Reyes had approached Sabina deliberately.

The D’Vialis family was the wealthiest after the royal family. A romantic relationship was ideal for raising funds. No one suspected anything when they exchanged gifts.

He often asked Sabina for jewels, and she always gladly gave them, never even wondering why he needed them.

Sabina D’Vialis, the last bloodline of the noble Albatross, met her end at the guillotine.

Surrounded by crowds who came to witness the fall of D’Vialis.

As the iron blade fell above her head, Sabina closed her eyes.

‘So this is the end.’

But it wasn’t.

When she opened her eyes, she was at the Academy graduation party.

She thought it was a vision before death, but it wasn’t.

It felt more like the execution had been a dream.

“Sabina D’Vialis. You’re Sabina, right?”

She turned to the voice and saw a legendary beauty smiling with two glasses of champagne.

“I’m Reyes Brinita.”

He offered her a glass, just like ‘that day’.

“Remember? When you were a freshman and I was a senior. Do you remember dancing with me at my graduation party? The top graduate and the top entrance exam student always share the first dance.”

Saying exactly what he said ‘that day’.

Sabina’s face turned pale. She froze, like someone with indigestion, then turned and ran to the garden.

She hid behind the fountain, clutching her pounding chest. Thinking of the guillotine, stained black with the blood of the condemned, made her nauseous. Her stomach churned.

She couldn’t ruin this second chance.

She vowed never to associate with Reyes again.

Thus began Sabina’s second life.

She treated Reyes coldly. Or rather, she ran from him like a frightened rabbit.

She blocked every possible encounter with Reyes. She quit all social activities and secluded herself at home.

Even avoiding him so blatantly was a skill.

But for some unknown reason, Reyes didn’t give up on her.

He approached Sabina, who was like a bristling cat, with caution.

When Sabina finally had to leave the house, anonymous letters were all the rage in society.

Girls her age encouraged her to try having an anonymous pen pal.

Naturally, the one who snatched up her brief, note-like letter was Reyes Brinita.

In fact, Reyes was the one who had started the anonymous letter trend among the powerful young men and women.

Reyes communicated with Sabina only by letter. He never asked for anything, always staying anonymous. For over two years.

He listened to every worry of the nineteen-year-old lady, offering sincere advice without asking for anything in return.

Sabina was wary of ‘Reyes’ but trusted her kind anonymous friend.

After many exchanges, it was Sabina who finally asked to meet her ‘anonymous pen pal’ who had helped her so selflessly.

They made plans to meet on the starlit Brinita Bridge.

When Sabina saw who her ‘anonymous pen pal’ was, she turned pale and tried to run, but Reyes grabbed her hand.

He said:

“I never meant to meet you. I cherished the moments I could reach you, even just by letter, Sabina. But you were the one who asked to meet.”

Reyes shifted the responsibility to Sabina, earnestly appealing his innocence.

Sabina hesitated and pulled her hand away, asking:

“Is it… my wealth you want?”

Reyes replied, looking incredulous.

“Wealth? What wealth? I don’t need a single coin. What I need is you, Sabina.”

Three years had dulled the memory of her execution, and Reyes’s desperate expression, along with all those kind letters, had a cumulative effect on Sabina.

‘Maybe…’

Standing on the beautiful Brinita Bridge, lit by countless magical lanterns, Sabina thought:

‘Maybe I can change fate.’

Maybe the Reyes of this life was different from the last. The rebellion hadn’t happened yet. Wasn’t it foolish to think everything would happen exactly as before?

Even if he really was a traitor, now that she knew everything, maybe she could persuade Reyes. Sabina had never lost a debate at the Academy. Maybe, just maybe…

Maybe she had come back to change his fate as a traitor.

In the end, Sabina took Reyes’s hand.

She did her best.

She never gave him a single coin, so he couldn’t raise secret funds.

She investigated thoroughly, to make sure Reyes wasn’t up to anything or meeting dangerous people.

All of Reyes’s wealth was managed by the royal family, and his social circle had dwindled to just Sabina.

Every sign pointed to safety.

It was a success.

When the ‘appointed day’ came, Reyes did not rebel. Unlike the previous life.

He just suddenly stabbed Sabina in the heart.

“Yes, today’s the day. It was definitely today!”

With a cry of joy!

Sabina still didn’t know why he did it.

By the time she realized what had happened, she was already dead, before she could even blame herself.

And so began Sabina’s third life.

“Sabina D’Vialis. You’re Sabina, right?”

The moment she opened her eyes, Sabina caught her breath.

This time felt completely different.

She stared blankly around the lavishly decorated Academy ballroom.

She glanced at her hand, gloved in delicate lace, and the cane topped with an Albatross head she held.

In that instant, a cliché thought shot through her mind.

‘Oh my god. This is… inside the book I read, isn’t it?’

She gripped the Albatross cane tightly. She understood everything instantly.