2. What Has Been

Reversed and What Has Not (2)

Her Father and Sage came to visit every morning for a while.

They only left to start their day after seeing Saena awake and moving.

They seemed very worried. Perhaps it was because they feared Saena might not wake up again after falling asleep, or maybe it was because they had wandered the entire mansion like mad people in the middle of the night, searching for Yuri.

It wasn’t hard to understand their feelings.

Even so, Saena spent her time in a daze.

It truly felt like a miracle had happened, as if time had turned back, but the problem was that Yuri was missing.

It didn’t feel real without Yuri, yet everything was too vivid to dismiss as a mere dream.

She should have been happy just to escape the hellish marriage and return to the past, but she couldn’t find her footing.

The emptiness of Yuri’s absence was unbearable. How had she managed to live so long without seeing him in her previous life?

When she thought about how Yuri must have felt when he learned of her death in her past life, she felt overwhelmingly sorry.

* * *

It was one of those days.

“Miss!”

The voice of her nanny, Martha.

She was one of the people Saena had truly missed in the past.

Martha had wanted to follow her after her marriage, but her husband hadn’t allowed it. While he greedily accepted every bit of wealth given to him, he vehemently opposed bringing anyone from her family to their household.

Saena could have insisted on bringing her, but she didn’t. She thought it was enough for her to endure the misery of that household alone.

Having been separated and unable to see her nanny again until her death, experiencing Martha taking care of her daily life once more felt deeply strange.

“You’ve woken up, haven’t you?”

Perhaps because Saena had been feeling down lately, Martha had been making great efforts to cheer her up in various ways. Today, for some reason, she burst into Saena’s room with a group of maids.

“A friend has come to visit. How about having some tea together?”

“…A friend?”

Saena asked back, momentarily bewildered.

“Lady Valdez is here. She heard you had woken up and came to visit.”

“…Beth?”

“Yes.”

Saena was suddenly overwhelmed by an unfamiliar emotion.

‘Elizabeth Valdez.’

A name both familiar and awkward.

She had been Saena’s only friend in her past life, which made the name familiar, but her mind—closer to twenty-nine than nineteen—found it strange.

Their relationship had grown distant when Saena married, and even more so when Elizabeth married.

Moreover, Saena’s current state was one of emotional desolation after enduring years of a wretched marriage and a painful journey to death.

Still unsettled by the situation with Yuri, she didn’t particularly want to meet anyone, let alone someone who wasn’t family.

‘…Can I not see her?’

But while Saena was lost in thought, Martha and the maids swiftly prepared her.

They quickly combed and tidied her hair, braiding the sides neatly and tying them back in a half-up style, leaving the rest to flow down.

‘Sigh… She came all the way here; it wouldn’t be right to avoid her.’

The Debov family was a noble household based in the imperial capital, but they mostly resided in their main estate rather than a townhouse.

This was because the Debov estate was so close to the capital that one would encounter it immediately upon leaving the city.

This proximity was one of the reasons the Debov family was so prestigious. Owning a vast estate right next to the capital meant there were many travelers and merchants passing through, naturally leading to a well-developed estate.

However, despite being adjacent to the capital, it wasn’t close enough to travel back and forth without preparation.

The estate was so large that it took at least two hours by carriage to reach Delvon, the central territory where the main Debov residence was located, from the capital, Phaesle.

Even on horseback at full speed, it would take about an hour. Elizabeth certainly wouldn’t have ridden a horse here…

Considering the journey she must have undertaken, it wouldn’t be right to send her back without meeting her.

‘When was the last time I saw Beth…?’

As she searched through her memories, a maid brought out several dresses from the dressing room.

Martha chose a lively light green dress from among them.

“Miss, you like light green, don’t you? It might lift your spirits.”

“…What? I do?”

Did she? Had she liked light green in the past?

It was so unfamiliar that it was surprising.

As she grew older, Saena realized that such bright colors didn’t suit her.

With her black hair and deep purple eyes, her overall appearance had a low brightness. Perhaps that’s why dresses in primary colors or with low saturation suited her better.

But knowing that, she didn’t feel the need to change now. Dressing up to meet Elizabeth didn’t feel real to her at all.

The maids even applied light makeup. Just a touch to make her cheeks and lips rosy, but it was enough to erase the gloomy look that had been hanging over her.

“This color matches the season well. Why not get more dresses in bright colors, Miss? It might help lift your mood.”

Perhaps in an effort to cheer her up, Martha kept chatting as she adjusted Saena’s appearance.

Saena stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.

Though it was clearly her own face, the youthful appearance, now free of the weariness of life, felt strange every time she saw it.

“Have some sweets and a chat with your friend. She came all the way here to see you.”

“……”

“All right, Miss?”

“Okay.”

“Catch up on the latest news from high society while you’re at it, won’t you?”

“Got it.”

Saena sighed and nodded before being led to the drawing room.

* * *

Just before entering the drawing room, Saena heard a burst of laughter, clear and melodious like rolling pearls.

The sound made her pause at the door, her gaze instinctively drawn to its source.

Elizabeth Valdez.

Her shoulder-length curly lime-blonde hair cascaded in rich waves, and her olive-green eyes sparkled with a smile.

Just as in her memories, Elizabeth still exuded a soft and refreshing beauty. There wasn’t even a hint of fatigue from her carriage ride to Delvon.

“Oh my, Saya?”

Elizabeth, seated facing the direction Saena was entering from, was the first to recognize her and greeted her warmly.

“Ah, Saya is here.”

There was another person seated with their back to Saena. As they turned and stood up—

“…Brother?”

It was Sage.

“While waiting for you, Sage kept me company.”

‘…Brother?’

Were the two close enough to use such familiar terms?

“Now that Saya is here, I’ll take my leave.”

“Oh, you could stay longer. That is, if you have the time., Sage.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I have things to do. Take good care of our Saya.”

“Of course, don’t worry.”

As Sage walked past Saena, he lightly tapped her on the top of her head.

“Have a good time.”

He smiled warmly at her before leaving the drawing room.

Saena watched his retreating figure for a moment before turning her gaze back.

Elizabeth, like Saena, had been watching Sage leave before turning her head back to face her.

“Why are you standing there like that? Come, sit down.”

Elizabeth smiled and gestured for Saena to sit.

It felt as though their roles as host and guest had reversed, but Saena silently walked over and took a seat.

“I was so worried when you suddenly fell ill. Are you okay now?”

“Oh, yes. I’m mostly better.”

“I wanted to visit sooner, but the Debov family wasn’t receiving visitors. I could only come now.”

“Really? Thank you for coming.”

Her drooping eyes and soft voice made it clear she had been genuinely worried about Saena. Her expression was so sincere that there was no reason to doubt her concern.

“But… do you have another close friend besides me?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Someone named Yuri.”

“…How do you know that name?!”

Saena’s sharp reaction startled Elizabeth, who widened her eyes in surprise.

“…Who is it, for you to react so strongly?”

“Who is Yuri? Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“Well, yes… I don’t know. Sage mentioned the name earlier…”

“Ha.”

So Sage had come down earlier to meet Elizabeth. Was it to probe her? She wondered why they were alone together, but now it made sense.

Suppressing the irritation that had flared up, Saena rubbed her temples.

For a moment, her heart had leapt at the thought of meeting someone else who remembered Yuri. But that wasn’t the case.

“What, is he someone important? A lover?”

“It’s not like that.”

“……I feel a bit hurt. We used to share everything with each other before.”

Elizabeth furrowed her brows, her expression genuinely conveying disappointment. She looked a mix of upset and sad, which was admittedly endearing, but the matter concerning Yuri wasn’t something Saena could casually chat about.

“Brother must be misunderstanding something. It’s really nothing serious.”

Though her reaction earlier seemed far too extreme to be called ‘nothing,’ she didn’t want to explain further. No, she couldn’t even if she wanted to.
How could she possibly say, “I actually had a twin brother, but when I came back through time, he disappeared. His name was Yur.”? It wasn’t something she could ever explain.

A brief silence settled between them, but Elizabeth quickly forced a smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Earlier, your brother was so worried about you. I’m really envious of how kind he is.”

“…It’s probably just because I’ve only recently woken up.”

Kind, Sage…?

Saena had never thought of her eldest brother as kind. If anything, he had always seemed intimidating and stern…

But the Sage of now was indeed kind, even in Saena’s eyes.

Perhaps it was because this was a world without Yuri, or maybe it was because the age difference between them didn’t feel as significant anymore, given their mental ages. He no longer felt like the ‘older’ brother she once knew.

What was clear was that Sage no longer seemed as difficult to approach as he had before.

“By the way… this time, you’ll have to make your debut, won’t you? Your brother asked me if you’d be able to adjust well.”

Debut?

“Do I really have to?”