Perhaps it was because she had read Elizabeth’s investigation results.

That night,

Saena dreamed of Elizabeth.

More precisely, she dreamed of Elizabeth’s memory from when she visited Saena’s funeral.

It was one of the many fragments Saena had seen during her awakening.

The difference was that it played out more slowly and in more detail in the dream.

Though she didn’t know how she could see her own funeral scene, it didn’t feel like mere imagination or fabricated memory.

A record of time that actually existed. Probably due to Yuri’s power.

At first, she wondered why Elizabeth came to her funeral when their relationship had already been severed. It was a relationship where even sending a customary condolence gift would have been more than expected.

But Elizabeth came to pay her respects in person, and like other mourners, she placed a single white flower in front of the wooden box and bowed her head slightly.

There was no coffin at the funeral, just a small wooden box containing ashes in its place.

George Hollander must have had her cremated.

『Saena. Hello?』

Beneath the black veil, with only the lower face exposed, her particularly red lips stood out. The slightly parted lips mumbled.

Was she praying for the deceased’s peace?

From afar, that’s how it looked. It appeared as though she was simply paying her respects, offering words of farewell to the dead.

Saena initially thought so too.

『You should have been more perceptive.』

But suddenly she heard a voice.

『You grew up so sheltered, you were terribly unperceptive. You have no idea how annoying that was.』

Like a sound suddenly turning on in a silent world.

The measured voice pierced Saena’s ears with strange clarity.

『Ah, but your lack of perception was helpful too. Until the end, you couldn’t tell whether it was illness or poison, could you?』

Far from paying respects, it was a voice of mockery.

And… a shocking confession.

『Goodbye.』

The slight curve drawn by those red lips.

It was definitely a smile.

A smile.

* * *

“……!”

Saena woke from sleep with the realization of the chilling truth.

“…Saena?”

Perhaps because she had jerked upright like a reflex, Constantine also woke up. Pulling her trembling body into his embrace, Constantine asked.

“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

“…Nightmare…”

Well… Was it a nightmare? If it was a nightmare… was this just a dream?

Surely it wasn’t just her imagination or delusion?

‘…No.’

If it were just a nightmare or delusion, she could shake it off, but that didn’t seem to be the case. The problem was that all the images were incredibly vivid, seeming impossible to forget even as time passed.

She could naturally tell.

That this memory was real.

That it had definitely happened in a past time.

‘Poisoned to death.’

That painful process toward death wasn’t just illness? It was intentional?

‘Why?’

It’s true their relationship hadn’t been particularly good.

Even so… no, even if she had secretly harbored hatred—but to kill someone? And not just that, but to smile with satisfaction while celebrating that death?

A smile. She had definitely shown satisfaction.

‘What did I do to deserve this?’

The impact of witnessing this shocking truth was not small.

His fingers dug between her fists that she had unknowingly clenched tight.

“Look, you’re bleeding.”

Her palms were gouged by her own nails. Saena had been so overwhelmed by extreme emotions that she hadn’t even noticed the sensation.

“What happened, Saena.”

As he applied medicine to her palms while continuously talking to her, Saena became somewhat calmer.

“Constantine.”

“Yes.”

Elizabeth who had become Hebeta.

The contents of the report she had read before bed.

And the newly discovered cause of death from her previous life.

“I think it’s time to go to the Imperial Capital.”

It was calling for a confrontation.

The time had come to resolve past grievances.

* * *

“Yolly.”

Saena couldn’t go back to sleep.

When the shock subsided, anger arrived.

When she saw the funeral scene during her awakening, she had just passed over it detachedly, like she’s watching someone else’s memory from afar. But now that she knew the truth, rage began to surge uncontrollably.

— Hmm? Saya? What’s wrong in the middle of the night?

At her call, Yolly (they had decided to call him Yolly rather than Yuri when he appeared in Guardian Spirit form, as he still took the shape of a wolf) appeared.

With an overflowing amount of emotions and thoughts still unprocessed, she needed somewhere to vent.

Though Constantine was very worried, the topic wasn’t suitable to discuss with him.

She couldn’t exactly say ‘I think I was poisoned to death in my previous life, and I’m furiously angry about it.’

Even seeing his face full of concern, Saena left for the study saying she needed time to think.

Though she could feel his gaze lingering intensely on her back, it couldn’t be helped.

“Do you perhaps know how I died before?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Yolly’s body suddenly grew larger, displaying fierce anger. And that indicated affirmation.

『I’ll make those who took you from me pay the price.』

She suddenly remembered a scene from a dream she had before.

『I’ll do that, Saya. Without fail…』

Even then, she had thought the word ‘price’ seemed a bit strange, but at the time she had been too caught up in emotions about Yuri’s sadness over her death to think about anything else.

Now she understood why he had spoken such words with such rage.

“Did you know Elizabeth killed me?”

— Do you know how infuriated I was every time you got close to that wench who deserves to be torn to pieces!?

Right. How frustrating it must have been.

Even Saena now found her past self frustrating.

Now they could communicate as Oathkeeper and Guardian Spirit. But his habit of expressing feelings through body language remained, as Yolly showed his displeasure by whipping his tail back and forth.

“Ha… How did you find out?”

There wouldn’t have been any evidence since not even a body remained.

‘Wait… hold on…’

There was no coffin at the funeral. Come to think of it, why did George Hollander cremate her?

She admits her appearance at death wasn’t exactly human-like. Even so, they usually conduct funerals with a closed casket, not cremation. For nobles, cremation was a funeral method only used for those who died of plague.

At first she had thought it was because they believed her illness was a plague, but now that she thought about it, George Hollander seemed suspicious too.

‘Poisoning usually leaves traces…’

Did he hurriedly cremate her to completely prevent any situation where the Debov family might ask to see the body?

‘No, actually… without his help, even the poisoning itself…’

Even if Elizabeth had planned the poisoning, Saena hadn’t met Elizabeth at all after the banquet where she witnessed her morning sickness. She hadn’t eaten anything given by her.

That means there must have been a collaborator inside the household.

And it was obvious who that would be.

‘George Hollander…’

Weren’t they having an affair to begin with? If so, they would be in a position to cooperate in other ways too.

Thinking about George Hollander’s reactions after she fell ill…

“Was George Hollander in on it too?”

— Of course! Those bastards, just thinking about them–!

Fierce energy surged behind Yolly’s back.

He looked ready to tear them to pieces if they were in front of him right now.

‘Ha… I really was stupid…’

Actually, when she witnessed them being intimate, it was shocking, but even afterward, Saena didn’t hate Elizabeth.

Others might find it strange, but that’s how she felt.

‘I knew George Hollander was a bad person.’

Just as Saena had been forced to marry George Hollander, she thought Elizabeth might have been blackmailed or exploited by him for some reason.

Logically thinking, what reason would there be to meet someone like George Hollander when you had a husband like Constantine?

Unless she was being blackmailed.

Because of this, Saena had thought of Elizabeth as a fellow ‘victim’ like herself. That’s why even after returning in time, she hadn’t particularly shunned her.

Despite many uncomfortable factors, she had been able to treat her with a certain generosity for this reason.

But to think she had actually been the mastermind…

‘I never imagined…’

Saena had never harbored such malice toward others herself. Much less murderous intent. She didn’t think she had particularly harmed others in her life either.

Because of this, she had never even considered that someone might want to kill her. The back of her head stung from being blindsided. Anger surged at her own stupidity.

“So… ha, how did you find out? You haven’t told me yet.”

How did Yuri discover she was murdered when they even cremated her?

— That’s…

But Yolly seemed to hesitate with his answer.

“Why? What is it?”

— Duke Kramer… told me.

“What?”

Constantine told him?

The Duke Kramer at that time…

“He was her husband, right?”

— He discovered evidence that his wife had purchased poison and found out while investigating.

“…But why did he tell you?”

Why? Shouldn’t that have been something to hide rather than reveal? She was his wife after all, right?

The word ‘wife’ irritated her subtly, making her more curious about the reason.

— I was suspicious at first too, but it seems they weren’t a normal married couple.

“She was even pregnant, how were they not a normal married couple?”

What exactly makes a normal couple then? Hadn’t she clearly witnessed Elizabeth’s morning sickness?

Was Constantine such a ruthless man that he would mercilessly cut off a woman carrying his child?

Feeling like she was talking about a stranger, Saena looked at Yolly with blank eyes.

— He said it wasn’t his child.

“…What? He said it was someone else’s child?”

— Yes.

A strange relief brushed past her heart.

Whether it was because Constantine wasn’t such a ruthless man, or because Elizabeth had never carried his child, she wasn’t sure.

‘But someone else’s child…’

Was that why she seemed so shocked when they met in the lounge?

‘But she was a duchess?’

Saena knew how much Elizabeth had enjoyed and taken pride in that position. Yet she did something that would jeopardize that position?

That couldn’t be. Maybe it was an accident?

This seemed more logical to think.

‘Could it have been… George Hollander’s child?’

Was that why she killed Saena, who was George Hollander’s wife? Because she was in the way?

‘In the way of what?’

Elizabeth wouldn’t have preferred being George Hollander’s wife over being a duchess. Nor could they have been deeply in love.

Countless unresolved questions and hypotheses flashed through Saena’s mind. She still couldn’t understand why she had to die.

Could there be some hint in their last meeting?

‘You should be careful too, Your Grace.’

‘It seems you’re carrying a noble’s seed, shouldn’t you be careful in everything?’

Had her unnecessary meddling triggered something?

‘Ah! Perhaps… she was afraid I would tell her husband…?’

Was that why?

This seemed like the most plausible reason so far.

Though Saena wasn’t the type to deliberately do such things, if Elizabeth had been the type to trust people, she wouldn’t have killed her in the first place.

“Do you know the reason?”

— What reason?

“Why she did that to me.”

— What reason could that crazy woman have? She said she just wanted to. From the beginning.

“……”

— Actually, she wasn’t in a state for a proper conversation. When I met her, she was already half-mad.

“What…”

— The Duke seems to have done something.

“……”

— Duke Kramer isn’t the kind and gentle man you think he is.

“……”

— The man I knew was an incredibly cold and cynical person.

…Constantine?

— You have no idea how creepy it was for me at first, seeing how he acts with you.

Ugh. Yolly shook his head with a shudder.

Saena herself didn’t know how to react to this discrepancy in image.

“So what happened?”

— What?

“To Elizabeth.”

— What do you mean what happened? She got what she deserved.

“You took revenge?”

— Isn’t that obvious?

“You? Directly?”

— Well, um. You don’t need to know the details.

“……”

What did he do that he won’t talk about it?

“Then what about George Hollander?”

— That bastard couldn’t be let off easily either.

“They were in it together?”

— Rather than partners, he was actually just one of her pawns. Though he probably didn’t think of himself that way.

“…Really?”

— Most plans were Elizabeth’s, and she would subtly encourage George Hollander who would fall for it.

“Ha…”

So that’s how it was… Well, if George Hollander had been smart, he wouldn’t have been conned multiple times.

— After you died, I caught him trying to entangle some vulnerable young lady in exactly the same way as with you.

“…What? Then back then I…”

It wasn’t just being drunk?

Wait, let me think.

‘The masquerade ball…’

Elizabeth was the one who prepared her dress and encouraged her to attend.

Then…

— You were drugged.

“……”

She had thought it was her fault.

That she had misbehaved. That she had done something she shouldn’t have…

She thought it was karma she alone had to take responsibility for.

That’s why she had endured all those difficult times…

“Ha…”

At this point, she felt deflated beyond anger.

What had her life been?

From beginning to end, she had been manipulated by deception and lies until she was consumed and disappeared.

Elizabeth. Elizabeth…

What should I do with you?

Your malice wouldn’t have changed even now.

You…

Saena’s eyes, which had been closed for a long time, suddenly snapped open as something resolute flashed across them.