She had thought it had all ended there. 

“Your Highness, please raise your arm.” 

” All right.” 

Elliope absentmindedly complied as the maids wiped her body clean. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to believe in this reality. 

“Today is…” 

“Pardon?” 

“What day is today?”

Elliope asked in a dazed voice. 

Although she had already looked around and figured out the date, she needed to hear it confirmed by someone else. Part of her was afraid she might be wrong. 

“It’s the 3rd day of the Salone, Imperial Year 14.” 

“Are you sure the date is correct?” 

“Yes, Your Highness.” 

“Why do you ask, Your Highness?” 

The maids exchanged puzzled glances, their expressions tinged with concern. 

Already considered a lowly imperial princess because of her illegitimacy, Elliope now seemed even more peculiar. Her strange behaviour, with the Grand Duchy so near, made them wonder if something had gone wrong with her mind. 

Elliope ignored their worried glances. A bolt of realisation struck her spine and neck like a violent shock. 

This wasn’t just her imagination. 

‘This… this is reality.’

When she blinked her eyes open, she found herself three years in the past – before this ignominious death. 

She had woken in the lavish inn where she had stayed before entering the Grand Duchy to marry the Grand Duke of Ilmos. The ornate ceiling above her confirmed it. 

Three years ago, in this very place, Elliope had been a fragile woman with faint hopes. 

‘And now…’ 

She couldn’t make sense of it. Confusion swirled inside her, shaking her to the core. 

Was this the punishment of the God of Death? Had he found her actions so repulsive that he would deny her even the comfort of eternal rest? 

Given the place where she had died, such thoughts naturally crossed Elliope’s mind. 

Yes, no doubt… she had done something so heinous that even the gods might have been angered by it. 

“……” 

Elliope silently looked down at her body as the maids continued to clean it. 

The pale br*ast that had been stained with blood before her death was now smooth and flawless, with no sign of the red handprints that should have been there. 

The waist and thighs that Kallian had gripped so tightly, the slender neck that he had bitten so forcefully – none of them bore any trace of what had happened. Only their pure, unmarked skin remained. 

Even the molten heat and heavy liquid that had spilled from her body had vanished without a trace. 

Despite the fiery encounter she had experienced just before her death, her body was immaculate, as if nothing had ever happened. 

The thought passed through her dazed mind like a passing cloud. 

‘Was it all just a terrible dream?’ 

Perhaps the last three years she had endured – a miserable life worn down by her husband’s coldness and the contempt of those around her, until even her spirit had withered – had been nothing more than a cold, prolonged nightmare. A product of her fear of being sent to the Grand Duchy, manifested as a vivid and terrifying dream. 

But the memories had been all too real. 

The eyes of her husband, looking at her as if she were something repulsive, like a bug. 

The violence that had scarred her body and mind. 

The cold stares of the northern vassals and servants who saw her as nothing more than a malicious woman sent by the Imperial Family to disgrace the Grand Duchy. 

Even the resentful eyes of the maids who had accompanied her, only to blame her for stranding them in the far north. 

And then… 

“Your Highness.” 

” If I had known you had such a warm, passionate body…” 

That voice, those words, still echoed vividly in her mind. 

The memory of Kallian’s fiery gaze, as if it could consume her completely, came back vividly and a sudden heat blossomed in her br*ast. 

As she remembered his rough hands cupping her body and the firmness of his frame, her toes curled involuntarily. It had been her first experience of intimacy, one in which her own body had creaked with unfamiliarity, yet responded eagerly to Kallian’s touch. 

The tight, almost overwhelming sensation of him filling her lower body was still seared into her memory. 

“Elliope…” 

The way he murmured her name, his voice brushing against her ears, felt like it could ignite sparks at any moment. 

She had always thought of him as a cold and distant man, but she had never imagined that his voice could carry such heat. 

Elliope instinctively covered her flushed face with her hands, only to feel a sharp sting on her back. She bit her lip in response. 

“Please, Your Highness, you must straighten up.”

Turning, she saw one of the maids she had despised so much. This was one of the maids who had loathed the fact that Elliope, once a mere palace servant like herself, had suddenly been elevated to the status of a princess. 

“How many times must I remind you? Slouching like that is unbecoming of a royal.” 

If she remembered correctly, this maid was the daughter of a baron. Towards the end of her life, this woman had taken pleasure in gathering other like-minded maids to torment her. 

Looking back now, it all seemed so pointless. 

‘Even without them hounding me, I would have died in disgrace on my own.’ 

Elliope was no longer afraid of the maid. The maid, noticing the indifferent look in Elliope’s eyes, leaned forward and whispered as if in defiance. 

“Now that you’re a princess, how can you still behave like a commoner?” 

“……” 

“Surely you don’t want rumours to spread in Ilmos that the princess behaves like a lowly servant.” 

A needle glittered between the maid’s fingers as she spoke. Elliope stared at it, her thoughts swirling. 

‘At least this confirms it’s not a dream.’

The sharp sting of the needle against her back reminded her that this was all real. 

She had truly gone back in time, to the moment before she was sent to the Grand Duchy of Ilmos. 

“Let me help you get dressed, Your Highness.” 

At that moment, a maid she recognised entered the room. 

When all the other maids had turned their backs on her, this one had been the last to offer her a glass of wine. 

“Emma.” 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Emma replied simply as she held up a dress. 

The white, voluminous gown, clearly intended for her marriage to the Grand Duke, suited Elliope’s pale skin and light pink hair almost too perfectly. 

The off-the-shoulder design, with a pale green gem set at the centre of the bust, reflected the emerald colour of her eyes. 

“Since this is the first time you’re meeting the Grand Duke of Ilmos, I chose it with care.”

Even now it was a breathtakingly beautiful dress. 

Elliope already knew exactly how she would look in it – and the humiliation she had endured while wearing it. 

Because she was not Léanne, but a substitute, the Grand Duke had openly expressed his displeasure when he met her. 

The elegance with which she had so carefully presented herself, and which the maids had admired, was, in the eyes of her future husband, nothing more than a disgusting pretence. 

“The imperial family must think very little of me.” 

“Your Grace?” 

“What a ridiculous sight.” 

Without so much as a word to invite her in, the Grand Duke had left, leaving Elliope to stand outside in the biting cold for hours in that heavy dress. 

It wasn’t until after midday, when she had arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate, and well into the evening, that she was finally allowed to step through the main doors, having stood at the front gates all day. 

“Please, come in.” 

Even then, it hadn’t been her husband who had allowed her to enter. 

It had taken the repeated persuasion of several vassals, who feared the consequences of a princess sent by the Imperial family standing outside any longer, to convince Theodor to let her in. 

This wasn’t out of any particular concern for Elliope; as soon as she entered the Grand Duke’s residence, she was once again ignored. 

A reluctant maid, clearly displeased, approached to show her to the Grand Duchess’s chambers. Her legs were frozen stiff, her entire body numb, and she stumbled as she climbed the stairs in that heavy dress, falling on a landing. 

Some of the estate staff passing by laughed quietly at her misstep. 

The maids who had accompanied Elliope from the Imperial Palace blushed with embarrassment, but couldn’t protest, knowing full well that their own positions might suffer as a result of the Emperor’s deception. There was no denying that the Emperor had deceived the Grand Duke. 

She had suffered greatly from the sprained ankle she had suffered that day. Even when she had to stand in the corner of Theodor’s room in a thin negligee, the pain in her ankle had been unbearable. 

When she thought of that memory, she couldn’t bring herself to wear the dress again. No matter how beautifully she dressed, she knew she would remain an unwelcome presence. 

“Something else.” 

“Pardon?” 

Elliope cleared her throat and whispered quietly.

“Let’s pick something else.” 

Her reply left Emma and the other maids wide-eyed with surprise. They had been sure their mistress would be pleased with the dress. 

“It’s really beautiful, but… it’s too much for me.” 

“Your Highness, how can you say such a thing?” 

“Could you show me some other dresses instead?” 

Elliope cut Emma and the other maids off, insisting on her request. Reluctantly, the maids brought out some spare dresses, their expressions uncomfortable. 

“……” 

Apart from the white dress she had first been shown, the rest of the dresses were noticeably less refined – hardly befitting a princess. It was probably because the better gowns had been reserved for Léanne. 

“That one.”

Elliope said, pointing to the simplest and least conspicuous dress among them. It happened to be a black dress, reminiscent of the one she had worn to her husband’s funeral. 

“But, Your Highness…” 

“If it isn’t this one, I won’t wear anything.”

Elliope said firmly. Her tone left no room for argument. 

“Would you like me to wear nothing but my underwear?” 

“You wouldn’t want me to go out in just my underwear, would you?” 

Elliope could sense that some of the maids were about to protest, but she answered firmly. It was the first time in her life that she had spoken in such a firm tone. She was a little surprised by her own words, as were the maids, who were visibly taken aback. 

Until now she had always been a passive princess, quietly doing whatever was asked of her. 

“What’s gotten into her?” 

“I have no idea.” 

The maids whispered to each other before falling silent. 

After all, they were about to arrive in the Grand Duchy of Ilmos. If she was so stubborn now… 

“I’ll say it again. If it’s not this dress, I won’t wear anything.” 

Faced with her unyielding stance, the maids reluctantly dressed her in the black gown. Their faces were filled with dissatisfaction and hesitation, but Elliope simply closed her eyes slowly and opened them again unperturbed. 

It took extra time to change her make-up to match the black dress. Because the dress was so dark, her original hairstyle also had to be undone and re-done to make it look a little more elaborate, which took even more time. 

From outside, the waiting knight spoke in a tense voice. 

“It’s time to go, Your Highness.” 

“Very well. Let’s go now.” 

With her preparations finally complete, Elliope raised her head and held herself with unwavering poise.