Prologue

How long she had waited for this moment.

At the sight of the man’s face collapsing in ruin, a thrill surged through her heart.

Click. Click.

As the sharp sound of her heels echoed, hope flickered brightly across the face of the man who lifted his head.

Oh my. How foolish.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

His trembling eyes stilled in an instant.

He glanced around, then back at her—only then seeming to understand.

“Cordelia… don’t tell me it was you—”

She could not hold back any longer. Laughter burst from her lips.

Of course. Revenge tastes sweetest when you lift someone to the height of happiness—only to cast them down.

The expression of a man realizing that the one he trusted was the traitor—how deliciously sweet.

With bloodshot eyes, he seized the hem of her dress and shouted. The fabric was yanked violently.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? What wrong have I ever done to you?!”

“Wrong?”

Her endless laughter cut off sharply.

Yes. What wrong had he done to her?

“Let go.”

Shaking off his grip on her dress, Cordelia lowered her head. She grabbed him by the collar, leaning in close as she whispered.

“Julius.”

What wrong had you done to me?

“You should never have killed me.”

“What…?”

You killed me in my previous life.

You crushed my trust beneath your feet. You tore my heart apart with your own blade.

And yet you dare to say you did nothing wrong?

Even after that miracle, you were ready to betray me all over again—and you still think you’re innocent?

A cold, contemptuous laugh escaped her lips.

‘I died because of you.’

And time had turned back, granting her life once more.

That alone made this revenge more justified than anything else.

Chapter 1

Looking back, the thirty years of Cordelia’s life had been filled with misfortune.

“My dear Cordelia. Please don’t resent me too much.”

And so the husband she had loved with her whole heart—giving him everything she had—was now…

“This is all your doing.”

…driven a knife into her.

“I wanted to remain gentle with you until the very end. Why did you have to do something like that and make things so complicated? Hmm?”

Despite her failing eyesight, Cordelia could still see Julius smiling at her as clearly as ever.

Julius.

She had met him when she was twenty, married him within six months and spent the next ten years of her life by his side. Her husband. The man who had once been her entire world.

He was beautiful.

His golden hair, which fell softly, had once felt sacred beneath her loving kisses. His black eyes, shining like polished obsidian, were the reason she found the strength to keep breathing.

She loved him that deeply.

“My lady, why do you wear such an expression?”

She still remembered the first time they had met.

A grotesque burn scar cut across half of her face. She always looked down and was awkward and withdrawn. Despite being the daughter of a noble ducal house, these flaws made Cordelia anything but appealing to others.

And yet, Julius had been different.

From the outset, he had reached out to her with a smile as gentle as an angel’s. He looked at her directly, without a hint of discomfort or even the slightest frown.

How could she not love him?

How could she not believe him?

For the first time in her life, Cordelia experienced kindness, and she fell for it, unable to resist.

“I’m not like my older brother. I won’t inherit anything… I have nothing to offer.”

When he was sad, it felt as though she herself were dying. She wanted to give him everything. His joy and his sorrow were the same as hers.

It was love. It had to be.

“Don’t make that face, Julius.”

“Cordelia?”

“I want you. I will stand by you.”

Keith von Kierre is the eldest son and heir to the County of Kierre.

Julius von Kierre, the second son, was destined to inherit nothing.

Everyone assumed that Cordelia would choose Keith.

Julius believed so as well.

This was why he said he could not bring himself to confess his feelings.

The sorrow in his voice made her heart pound as though it would burst from her chest.

He loved her. She loved him, too.

In that moment, it felt as if everything around her had come alive. Courage rose within her like a tide.

What did family rank matter?

What did legitimacy matter?

All she wanted was to see Julius smile.

Despite opposition from those around her, Cordelia chose Julius, the gentle man.

“Will you really choose me?” Not my brother, but me? I have nothing to offer you…”

“Why do you say you have nothing? We love each other. That’s enough.”

“Good heavens, Cordelia. How did I ever meet someone like you? This must be the greatest miracle of my life.”

“Then, Julius, let us—”

“Marry me. Marry me, Cordelia.”

Seeing the young man’s eyes light up with happiness made Cordelia weep with joy.

Even if he lacked noble blood, she would give him her own.

Although everything belonging to the Blue Rose Ducal House would go to her twin, he would still marry a ducal daughter.

Together, they could achieve great things. Julius could rise to the rank of High Knight, gaining status and land through his own efforts.

No hardship would frighten her — not if it was for him.

“I love you, Julius. I could never live without you…”

But Cordelia had been foolish.

She had never seen the greed coiling within the man whose angelic eyes shone with such innocence.

Only a few days after they overcame every opposition and finally celebrated their engagement—

Her twin sibling suddenly died.

Unbelievably so.

“Ruierd…?”

Her twin sibling, Ruierd von Blue Rose.

Though they had grown immeasurably distant after their parents’ funeral, they were halves born into this world together.

Unlike herself—so lacking—Ruierd had shown brilliance from a young age, stepping early into their parents’ place. Steady. Capable. Admirable.

The loss left her unable to think.

And at her side stood Julius.

“Please, don’t cry. It was a tragic accident, Cordelia. You still have me, don’t you? The empty seat of the Blue Rose House—we can fill it together. We can’t just stand by and let your greedy relatives take everything, can we?”

“Julius… you’ll really stay by my side?”

“Of course. Trust only me, Cordelia.”

He was right.

She could entrust everything to him. Together, they could rebuild the Blue Rose Ducal House, which her sibling had fought so hard to protect.

Wouldn’t Ruierd have wanted that?

Held in her fiancé’s gentle embrace, she wept as he whispered to her. She believed that every word he said expressed his tender and unwavering love for her.

After that, Cordelia pressed forward with the wedding as though possessed.

She was desperate.

She was terrified that he would abandon her like everyone else had.

Of course, those around her responded with cold disapproval.

“How could she…”

“There are limits to shamelessness!”

Even before her sibling’s funeral had concluded, she was urging the wedding forward. People condemned her as shameless and heartless.

But she was not afraid.

As long as Julius stayed by her side, that is.

Julius — her love.

She placed the seal of the Blue Rose Ducal House into her new husband’s hands.

“It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”

Even in the midst of her grief, she felt a sense of relief.

Now, no one would dare to look down on her late husband, Julius.

He was a handsome man. He had a brilliant title. Their marriage was overflowing with love — so much so that there seemed to be no room for mourning the dead.

Of course, she had believed they would be happy together.

She had wished for it shamelessly.

Foolishly.

And so the nightmare that followed was one she had brought upon herself.

“Ah…!”

The man who approached her looked down at Cordelia, who was lying on the ground bleeding, with an almost pitying expression. He reached out his hand to her.

White skin. Exquisite features. Bright golden hair. A vivid curl of mockery played upon his lips.

It was all painfully real.

So too was the burning agony tearing through her.

“Cordelia, does it hurt very much? Seeing you suffer makes my heart ache too.”

His voice was sweet enough to make her want to believe him, even though he was whispering so gently.

But deep down, she now knew the cruelty hidden beneath that beautiful face.

Shaking with fear, she gathered her remaining strength and spat in her husband’s face. He had come to kill her.