“Cough!”

When Diana opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a ceiling carved with antique patterns. She tried moving her hand, and her fingers moved with surprising ease. Diana bolted upright and looked around, her eyes widening in shock.

This was her room inside Count Cloud’s manor. Unbelievably so.

‘Was I rescued? Or could it be…’

A strange sensation pierced through her body, and she quickly pulled the bell cord. Soon the door opened, and a maid with a familiar face she hadn’t seen in a long time entered.

“Miss, shall I bring up washing water?”

“…Bell, how am I here?”

“Pardon? What do you mean? You returned from the banquet yesterday and have been sleeping ever since.”

“Banquet?”

The maid named Bell tilted her head and looked at her mistress with confusion. Diana stared back at Bell with a bewildered expression before stammering out a question.

“What… what year is it now?”

“It’s the 36th year of the Ingrid calendar.”

She had returned to the past. Ten years ago, to the time before her marriage.

Diana maintained a composed expression and looked at Bell. This poor child was the only one she had brought to Aquitaine Manor, and the first to be killed. Seeing her standing there made Diana feel like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Have breakfast sent to my room as well.”

Diana spoke hastily and averted her gaze.

“Understood.”

Bell curtsied with a slightly puzzled expression and left the room. Left alone, Diana fell into confused contemplation.

Was this a dream she was having before death, or had she truly returned to the past? Her mind felt hazy. If this was after the banquet, then the wedding was only days away. It was still possible to call it off if she wanted to.

“Cal…”

But Diana had no intention of canceling the marriage and living a new life. She had to see him again. Calliope Aquitaine. The man she had loved but never truly met in the end.

She picked up the mirror from the nightstand to check her face. A slightly youthful face reflected back from the smooth mirror surface. Had she really returned? To that day from her youth?

Bell entered with washing water and breakfast. Diana quickly finished washing and eating, then smiled brightly.

“Bell, I need to prepare for an outing.”

Diana left the castle dressed in light outdoor attire. Today was the day Calliope would sound the victory bells and arrive in the empire. She would be able to see Calliope Aquitaine entering the imperial palace right about now.

Her quick steps, forgetting proper etiquette, were filled with both longing and resentment.

* * *

The area in front of the triumphal arch was already bustling with many people. Diana and Bell managed to secure a relatively close spot at the front.

Soon, knights on horseback began their procession from a distance. The knights who had won this war following their previous victory waved the empire’s flags vigorously and smiled. At the very front, silver armor gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight.

He was there. The dazzlingly beautiful man standing at the head of the procession.

“…Calliope.”

His expression dripped with coldness, his lips pressed firmly together, his hair and armor arranged with meticulous precision that suggested he would tolerate no interference—everything revealed his character completely. His silver hair looked cold, but his golden eyes contrasted brilliantly like a sun that could devour everything.

Diana had loved those eyes so very much.

‘Please, just once, just once turn your head, Cal.’

Having heard her prayer-like thoughts, Calliope turned his head and stared in Diana’s direction. Diana felt like she couldn’t breathe. How long had she wished to see those eyes just once more?

Calliope’s lips moved slightly, wanting to say something, but then he gripped the reins tightly. He passed through the triumphal arch with his usual cold, expressionless face, his gaze sweeping past Diana.

“Miss, isn’t he so handsome? He’s really like a prince on a white horse from a novel!”

Bell clasped her hands together and exclaimed.

“Bell, even as a joke, calling the frontier Marquis prince-like could get you in big trouble.”

“You’re right… But he’s really magnificent. I’m so happy that such a man will become your husband.”

Diana smiled bitterly. In her previous life, Calliope had been a prince on a white horse. While Diana had lived in the capital where women were treated like livestock to strengthen relationships between families, only Calliope from the west had looked at her as a human being.

He never once spoke down to her. Despite his cold expression, Calliope always approached Diana carefully and led her with gentle hands. It had been salvation, really. He had allowed her to live like a human being when she was destined to become a rose withering uglily within the confines of a solid castle.

That’s why she once thought she could end her life with the words “and they lived happily ever after.”

“Now it’s the opposite.”

“Pardon?”

Bell’s eyes widened at Diana’s murmur. Instead of answering, Diana smiled mysteriously. Now it would be the opposite. Diana would use this second life entirely to protect and uncover the truth.

She wouldn’t spend her time crouched in a dark room, waiting while being saved and craving his affection. The lead procession had completely passed through the triumphal arch. The infantry march that followed proceeded with a somewhat darker atmosphere. Their faces were shadowed with something strange.

“Ugh! Miss, let’s move forward.”

Bell suddenly frowned. A serious stench accompanied a cart that followed at the very end of the procession. It was a cart carrying the dead and wounded.

“Hooray! Long live Ingrid!”

Cheers mixed with…

“Nooo! No, this can’t be!”

…wails of grief.

Soon, the desperate cries of bereaved families erupted over the thunderous cheers. Diana glanced at Bell, who was distracted by the splendid knights at the front of the procession.

Diana checked her modest attire once more and slowly headed toward the rear of the procession. The closer she got, the louder the screams and crying became.

“Ah, ah… my son, our Fel!”

“Sob, sob! Please let me see his face! Please let me in!”

The face of the knight blocking the bereaved families was horribly contorted with anguish. When the cart wheel hit a stone and jolted, a wrist protruded from the cart. Seizing the moment, a woman broke through the knights and desperately grasped the unknown hand. She was immediately dragged away roughly by the knights.

“Wait.”

It was Diana who stopped those knights. The knights, who had been about to push Diana away based on her ordinary appearance, immediately became flustered when they saw the identification token she presented.

“Oh my, how did such an esteemed person come here? The procession has already ended.”

The knights hurriedly offered proper greetings.

Among the capital nobles, the Cloud Count family was subtly despised as vulgar sword-wielders, but to the knights, they were a prestigious family that had produced outstanding talents for the imperial knight order. Diana showed no reaction even when looking at the fly-swarmed cart.

The knights inwardly admired how even the daughter of the Cloud family was different. But the reality was different—Diana wanted to run away. The jolting cart, the flowing bl＊＊d, the pale hands all swirled chaotically in Diana’s mind.

It was too similar to the day Calliope Aquitaine had been brought back murdered by someone. Diana could barely breathe properly. The vivid fear that she might return to that day when she received his cold corpse gripped her tightly.

So Diana unconsciously passed the knights and went to the front of the cart. She gently lifted the cloth covering the cart. It was an unfamiliar, youthful face. On his chest lay an identification token showing he was a Cloud knight. Only then did cowardly relief seep in—she could breathe.

“Miss! There’s a risk of infection. You should move away…”

Diana slowly raised her hand and stopped the cart procession. At the sudden halt of the march, even the bereaved families looked around with bewildered faces. The families gathered around Diana one by one.

“I heard that our knight was also drafted for this subjugation campaign. Can’t I pay my respects to my own family’s knight?”

Diana held the Cloud knight’s identification token in her hand. The knights bowed their heads and fell silent. High nobles usually handled both mourning and celebration with money—this was their first time encountering such a situation.

“We’ll clear the way. Put down the cart! She says she’ll offer a simple memorial prayer!”

At those words, all those who had lost family members gathered and sat down in front of the cart. Diana gently placed her hand on the white cloth.

“May you go to a peaceful place.”

Diana began her memorial prayer with that brief wish. Since her family wasn’t particularly devout in attending temple, Diana didn’t know the exact prayer texts. However, she didn’t stop praying until the bereaved families had offered sufficient farewells.

The knight who had participated in this subjugation appeared to be her age. How much hope and expectation must have sparkled in those peacefully closed eyes? Her heart burned. 

“In the name of the Cloud Count family, I pledge that I will surely protect your families.”

Her throat felt tight. While she could miraculously see her deceased husband again, these people would never meet their family members again. The experience of losing a loved one was cruelly brutal—Diana knew this better than anyone. She deliberately recited the prayer for a long time.

“Miss, we must go now.”

A knight who had run from the front spoke to Diana with a dark expression. Only then did Diana open her closed eyes and slowly lift her head.

“I understand. This should be enough for them to say their farewells.”

When Diana stepped back, the cart began moving again.