Chapter 1 – I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (3)

‘Should I try the classic methods after all?’

Sending Pompom, who was watching her every move, out was a stroke of genius. Chloe decided to try a few bold methods.

First, she tried banging her head against the wall. Tears welled up.

She also tried holding her breath until she felt dizzy. She stood on her head until her face turned red, hung out the window from the top floor to enjoy the thrill of heights, and even pleaded with the Lord in the prayer room.

Chloe, who had spun around holding her nose in her room until she collapsed, sighed as she looked at the spinning ceiling.

‘I feel like I’m becoming a fool…’

Despite these antics that would have sent Pompom running to the butler in a panic, Chloe failed to return to ‘normal.’

‘If this really is a dream, won’t I wake up eventually without trying so hard?’

This was the conclusion Chloe reached at the end of her vivid failures.

‘And if this is just a dream for today…’

Then it wasn’t something to be wasted. With that thought, Chloe willingly headed to the dining hall as dinner time with her family approached.

“Mother, Father, it’s been a while.”

Chloe energetically hugged the Lacroix Count Palatine couple she met in the dining room with both arms.

“Oh my, what’s gotten into our young lady?”

“See, wouldn’t it have been nice if you had come early yesterday?”

“Hehe, I’m sorry.”

To her parents, it was as if they were seeing her after just one day, but for Chloe, it was a reunion after a year since the last summer vacation.

It had been long since she could interact so freely with her parents.

In the solemn Shevik palace, there were too many eyes watching, so even when her parents visited, she couldn’t act spoiled. Moreover, things had become a bit awkward with her father after it was decided that she would go to Scandar…

Chloe looked at her parents’ faces with a full heart. Their faces, several years younger than she remembered, had a poignant touch.

“Are you feeling guilty for stealing Father’s wine yesterday?”

A boy’s voice interjected, diluting the emotion.

It had been a while since she heard it, and it was so delightful, yet—wow—it was so annoying she wanted to give him a good smack. The one who could instantly quench her joy was indeed her younger brother. As she glared, Achille stuck his tongue out at her, both delighting and irritating her.

“Young master, you still don’t know anything, so keep your mouth shut.”

“Sister, it hasn’t been that long since you came of age.”

Achille, at thirteen, with a face even more youthful than the last time she saw him, pouted his lips.

Unlike her father or brother Etienne, who occasionally accompanied their mother on summer retreats, her younger brother Achille, who had been busy studying after entering the Imperial Academy right after Chloe went to Scandar, she was seeing him after a long time.

He had grown much taller and broader, but who cared? The light brown curly-haired boy before her eyes, whose voice hadn’t even cracked yet, was just an adorable little brother she wanted to bite.

“So the new guards were in quite a fuss this time, I hear.”

“During the festival week, the knights and guards have a hard time. Petty crimes increase, and they have to watch out for potential terrorists.”

Her one-year-older brother Etienne, an administrative officer at the police department, often brought up incidents and accidents worth talking about at dinner, and during the festival week, when all of Gotiue was excited, there was no shortage of new stories every day.

“Pickpocketing has also increased, which is worrisome. They even caught a pickpocket who had already been robbed by another pickpocket, so the evidence was gone. And the scammers are so rampant…”

With a smile on her lips, Chloe took in her family’s faces while half-listening to his stories.

“A certain lady reported a missing person, so the guards were searching the streets but couldn’t find them. Can you guess why?”

‘They were looking for a lady named Mimi, but it turned out to be the lady’s large guard dog.’

“The lady asked them to find Mimi, so the guards were all shouting ‘Lady Mimi, Lady Mimi,’ and it turned out to be the lady’s pet dog.”

Because Etienne’s story was exactly as Chloe remembered.

Her brother’s straightforward storytelling wasn’t worth listening to twice, but seeing her harmonious family, who chimed in with ‘What’s that?’ and ‘That’s ridiculous,’ filled her heart.

The skill of the Lacroix kitchen, which she hadn’t tasted in a long time, was something she could enjoy to her heart’s content without worrying about the dignity of the palace, and it filled her stomach in reality as well.

The bewildering day came to an end like that.

No matter how much she thought about it, it was strange. Among the romances she read as a child, there were many stories that started with time rewinding or rebirth, but those protagonists usually experienced it when they reached death or endured pain akin to death, with the help of gods or demons turning back time.

Even though she might have felt lonely after leaving her hometown, there was no reason for the favored consort of the king to rewind her life.

Even after going to Scandar, where they didn’t believe in the Lord, she had prayed every week but never received a response, nor had she ever felt a demon’s whisper even in dreams.

‘I did regret not doing everything I wanted without worrying about my reputation in Gotiue, knowing I would go to Scandar…’

Such regrets are something everyone has in their life, aren’t they?

‘I wonder if there are any reference books in the Ridote or Imperial Palace Library. This kind of surreal story might be better suited for the Crown Prince’s Palace library…’

As night deepened, Chloe lay sprawled out on her hometown bed, recalling places familiar to her in this era. She also thought of the face of a friend she would have to meet to visit the Crown Prince’s Palace library.

But those were not matters to think about now. Once she fell asleep, this turmoil might just end as the tail end of a night’s dream.

‘If I still find myself here when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll make sure to have a really fun time. Truly without regrets…’

Even with him, whom she awkwardly parted with yesterday, once more…

And the next morning, after a truly deep sleep without a hangover.

What filled Chloe’s vision was once again the sunlight streaming through the window, illuminating the depiction of Beram on the ceiling.

Still, it was the spring of her twentieth year.

* * *

“Loi, that looks delicious, right?”

“You were disappointed with that last year too.”

“The strawberries were the problem. This year’s strawberries are sweet, so won’t it be good?”

Mirabelle said, eyeing the skewers coated with strawberry sugar syrup. She was wearing a mask according to festival week customs, so Chloe couldn’t see her gaze.

“It’s the same this year too. If you’re so determined, try the one mixed with pineapple.”

“Oh! My lady, did you read my mind?”

It wasn’t mind-reading but rather based on memories from what she should call five years ago, or perhaps a future that hadn’t come yet.

The strawberry skewers made with strawberries of lower quality than those supplied to the noble kitchens were also destined to be a failure this year. Later, Mirabelle would hear from Achille that the pineapple skewers were delicious and regretfully say, ‘There was a reason it was more expensive.’

On Philip I Avenue, which stretched expansively south from Franz Square, the center of the capital, carriage traffic was restricted, and a festival market was opened for the festival week, welcoming imperial citizens of all statuses. Since everyone wore masks, nobles could comfortably mingle with the crowd.

Enjoying the bustling atmosphere of the festival street, Chloe smiled behind her mask, filled with her own emotions.

‘To think I can roam the city so freely!’

It was because she could count on one hand the times she had been outside the palace since the wedding parade.

“Everything you chose today is delicious!”

Her companion’s enthusiasm was great too.

For reasons unknown, yet another day of her twentieth year was given anew. As promised, Chloe, who went out with Mirabelle to have fun, decided to spend a joyful day without regrets, just as she resolved last night. This peculiar experience might really end today.

‘It would be nice to have tea time with Mother too… But there’s still dinner time.’

After the fruit skewers, all of Chloe’s recommendations hit the mark. Mirabelle was so thrilled after devouring butter-grilled squid, fish cream bread, chicken skewers, and finally roasted peanuts that she hopped around.

It was only natural since Chloe had recommended everything Mirabelle truly liked.

‘It’s been a while since Rabi indulged her appetite like this and expressed her joy with her whole body.’

Though no one asked her to accompany her, Mirabelle naturally crossed over to Scandar with Chloe. Trying to adapt to the strict court, she gradually lost her liveliness. She no longer jumped into Chloe’s bed, stomped her feet in joy, or threw daggers at men who annoyed her.

The Lacroix family, who visited during the summer, described it as ‘matured,’ but anyway, she was more like her milk sister when she was frolicking like a spring foal.

She didn’t know why she returned to five years ago, but just seeing Mirabelle’s liveliness again made it feel worthwhile.

‘Of course, seeing Demetrian again…’

Chloe recalled Demetrian’s continued antics from this morning.

Perhaps embarrassed by his sudden visit the day before, he had sent a gift. ‘Surprise gifts’ weren’t part of their friendship.

[I had a nightmare yesterday, that’s why. Apologizing for yesterday’s rudeness. Your Demi.]

The messenger insisted on delivering it directly to Lady Lacroix, and it was a bouquet of purple anemones from Crevelle’s greenhouse. The very flowers she was upset about ruining after using them for a flower bracelet.

Using Crevelle’s greenhouse flowers for a flower bracelet gifted by a man in a romantic relationship was a small reward for Chloe. She couldn’t monopolize anything of his.

Instead, Chloe wished for many other meaningless things. It was a request to be her debutante partner, to ask for the first dance only from her until his fiancée had her debutante, and to not allow nicknames for anyone else. Demetrian obliged to these requests within reasonable limits.

Anemones were one of those. Because they could be excused as a gift from the Duchess of Crevelle.

It was a burdenless flower since it would wilt over time, but she didn’t expect it to fall apart so quickly. She was upset and tearful in the carriage home, and his remark, ‘Didn’t you know flowers fall apart quickly?’ felt so heartless.

To Chloe, the anemone was like their relationship. Something that would eventually wilt, but had decayed faster.

‘…That was how I felt at twenty.’

An old bitterness spread across Chloe’s face.

‘It’s all in the past now.’

To think she decided to spend the day just enjoying herself and ended up with such melancholic reflections.

Recalling the resolution from last night, Chloe shook off the thoughts, and at the end of her gaze, as if reading her mind, a figure appeared.

A tall man with black hair in an Imperial Academy uniform, a back that looked just like the one she saw yesterday.

There was only one person Chloe could think of.