‘I returned to the past.’

This was the conclusion Sezlin reached after hearing the Duke’s nagging and double-checking the date.

Otherwise, how could a person become younger in an instant?

<Azelan Year 1482, May>

Seven years before April’s death. She had returned to the very day when the tragedy began.

‘It’s a miracle.’

After much contemplation, Sezlin accepted this as a miracle. The miracle wasn’t just turning back time. April, who had died, was alive again.

That alone was already miraculous. Moreover, today was the day she would meet the First Prince. Before all the tragedies occurred.

There was time to undo everything.

‘Perhaps I can change things.’

In the past, Sezlin Brioden was a good-for-nothing who couldn’t do anything. In other words, she was stupid, a fool who misunderstood her sister.

Also, someone who should never have been born in the first place. An impurity born of a political marriage. That’s what Sezlin Brioden was to everyone.

And the tragedy began when Sezlin turned seven.

—Have you heard?

—The new Duchess is said to be the Duke’s first love. My goodness, how romantic.

After her mother died, the woman who became the new Duchess was none other than the Duke’s “first love.”

Lovers separated by a political marriage. The people of the Duke’s mansion naturally knew about the new Duchess. So the employees at that time expected them to marry.

But when her family faltered, the marriage fell through. Instead, a lady from another family naturally became the Duchess.

That person was Sezlin’s mother.

A marriage formed purely for political purposes.

The problem was that Sezlin happened to be the child born from that political marriage.

‘Stupidly, what did I hope for?’

The familiar and affectionate lover’s daughter. And the daughter from the political marriage. People chose April, the former, without hesitation.

There was never a place for Sezlin to begin with.

The indifference and rejection she had taken for granted since childhood—Sezlin belatedly realized that the treatment she received was by no means natural. The more time she spent with April, the more evident this became.

However, this indifference had persisted for a long time. The more April shined, the deeper Sezlin fell into the abyss.

When her mother was sick, her father, who had shown no interest, stopped eating and drinking after his first love died. The same man who avoided Sezlin when she begged him to save her mother comforted April with all his heart when she cried.

—As the older sister, you can’t even yield that much to your younger sister?

—What an impudent child. How greedy she is, just like her mother.

—Learn from April. How mature and kind she is.

Everyone looked after April first and ignored Sezlin, who had already lost her mother. After the Duchess died, the discrimination worsened.

So when the marriage between the Second Prince and her sister was decided, Sezlin erased April from her heart. It was the result of accumulated misunderstandings and rejection.

‘This time, I won’t let that happen.’

Sezlin carefully retraced the past.

The marriage with the First Prince. Everything went wrong when she refused it. When Sezlin rejected the marriage proposal with the First Prince, the embarrassed imperial family proposed a marriage between the Second Prince and April instead. The fact that Friedrich, the Second Prince, liked her also played a role.

Of course, one reason Sezlin rejected the marriage proposal was because she loved the Second Prince. But decisively, it was the First Prince’s background that bothered her. Unlike the Second Prince, who was born of noble legitimate blood, he was born to a lowborn mother. Already rejected for being a byproduct of a political marriage, the First Prince was also scorned for being born from a one-night affair.

Sezlin, who already had an inferiority complex about her lineage, couldn’t accept that. It felt like being grouped with someone who had similar flaws.

‘It was all in vain.’

The only fortunate thing was that there was still time. There were still plenty of opportunities to make things right.

Moreover,

‘Friedrich.’

The person who drove April to her death. Sezlin mulled over that name.

‘He deceived everyone.’

The Second Prince’s acting was perfect. He whispered passionate love to April. He deceived everyone, even Sezlin.

But in the end, it wasn’t love. The reason the Second Prince whispered love to April was to use her as a “test subject” to fulfill his ambitions.

‘Because he needed to kill the Sword Master.’

To become the Crown Prince, the First Prince, revered as the Sword Master, was the biggest obstacle. Ordinary poison wouldn’t work to kill him. So the Second Prince targeted April to kill his brother. The reason was that a commoner would be easier to manipulate than a legitimate noble lady.

‘We were completely deceived.’

He used April for such a reason and subjected her to cruel t*rture. Sezlin could never forgive him.

Bringing down the Second Prince—that was Sezlin’s only goal.

‘Get a grip.’

After organizing her complicated thoughts, her vision finally cleared.

While the maid went to fetch washing water, Sezlin quickly sorted through her remaining thoughts. The confusion still lingered, but there was no time to dwell on it. The moment she became aware of reality, she had to seize this opportunity.

But before that, she needed to change herself first. Not stupidly enduring everything, but acting according to her true nature.

But what was this…

“Your washing water is ready.”

What kind of behavior was this?

“……”

Sezlin looked at the water in front of her. Perhaps because it was a nice day, even the impurities in the silver basin were clearly visible.

After lightly washing her face, she glared at the dirty water through her fingers. To feel familiar with this—she unexpectedly experienced déjà vu.

“Lina.”

“Yes, miss.”

Removing her hands from her face, Sezlin quietly glared at the maid looking down at her. How long had it been like this? The maid’s shoulders, which had been straight, gradually curled inward.

“Do you… need something?”

But unable to correct her tone, her disrespectful manner was quite irritating. Sezlin quietly blinked.

“Aren’t you thirsty?”

“Pardon?”

Servants should never talk back to their masters. The maid, who had casually broken the rules of the Brioden mansion, furrowed her brow.

In response, Sezlin narrowed her eyes like a flounder and raised the corners of her mouth. As the maid was distracted by her elegantly rising lips, Sezlin quietly picked up the basin containing the washing water.

Then she stood up and handed the basin to the maid.

“Drink it.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said drink it.”

Before the maid could talk back again, Sezlin spoke first.

“You probably haven’t had water since morning because you’ve been busy helping me wash. So I’ll take care of you, with water.”

“Ah, miss.”

“What?”

“This is clean water, isn’t it?”

Sezlin tilted her head. The maid was visibly flustered.

“Miss, please calm down for a moment—”

Sezlin had a bad temper. No, to put it crudely, it was terrible.

The oppressive environment had turned her into a person with a twisted personality. But having been despised for a long time, Sezlin increasingly killed her own personality as time passed.

The kind Sezlin. That’s exactly what the maids emphasized.

Excessively submissive behavior and terrible indifference. The gaslighting that had continued for a long time ate away at Sezlin.

As a result, the maids gossiped about her every night, saying it was the only time her nasty temper died.

But what was happening now?

“Are you deaf?”

Lina began to wonder if the woman in front of her was the same person she had seen all along.

Her hair, eye color, appearance, body—all the same as yesterday. But her aura and manner of speaking had changed overnight.

As if she were a different person.

“Kyaaak!”

While trying to grasp the situation, she suddenly felt cold from head to toe. Lina, soaking wet, screamed. She took a deep breath and her lips trembled.

The maid’s uniform, which had been soft until just now, was now soaking wet and cold.

Even as she examined her wet clothes, water dripped from the tips of her hair. Watching this, Sezlin smiled with satisfaction.

“How is it?”

Why hadn’t she done this from the beginning? Sezlin looked at the empty basin without erasing her smile. Then she threw the basin, which didn’t have a single drop of water left, to the floor.

The maid, who had been examining her body, screamed again at the sharp sound of shattering.

“Isn’t it refreshing? Since the water is clean, it seems perfect for quenching your thirst.”

“Ah, miss!”

Slap—

The small head turned to the side. The maid, who had been slapped in the blink of an eye, opened her mouth and stuttered.

Sezlin looked down at the hand she had just used to hit the maid. She had only hit her once, but it was already swelling red.

D*mn this weak body.

‘Yes. I’m back.’

When she opened her eyes, it was seven years ago. Well, no one in the world would believe such nonsense, but Sezlin was grateful that the nonsense had become reality.

But even if she had returned to the past…

“You’ve been bothering me since earlier.”

“……”

“Please shut up.”

How could they all be exactly the same?

* * *

What happened in the morning was immediately reported to the Duke.

“I heard you splashed washing water on a maid.”

But such reproaches were nothing new. Sezlin didn’t bother to respond. Instead, she picked up her knife with a refreshed mind.

As she quickly cut the shrimp meatball on her plate, a sigh was heard from beside her.

“Your personality is getting more vicious by the day. I wonder who you take after.”

“……”

“Are you not going to respond now?”

Sezlin again didn’t answer and just chewed her meatball nicely. She knew that talking back here would only be detrimental to her. In fact, this was almost the first time she had shown such defiance. Yet the Duke condemned Sezlin as if she had always been like this.

Moreover, the Duke was no longer someone she needed to impress. Having returned to the past, Sezlin had no intention of repeating the same stupid mistakes as before.

Even if that meant…

“Father.”

Whatever action it might be.

“April.”

Indeed, no one knows the course of a person’s life. To think there would come a day when she would miss that name. But it wasn’t bad; it was rather welcome.

“The maid’s behavior was clearly wrong.”

At April’s words, Sezlin quietly smiled.

It seems she had been terribly cruel. Yet April was speaking up for her again.

This was beyond foolish.

‘Be patient.’

But she couldn’t show her joy here.

Suddenly being nice to a sister she had hated to death? Anyone would be suspicious. And if they were, there would be many watchful eyes. At another time, perhaps, but now understanding the situation was the priority.

‘Act as normal as possible.’

Having decided to bring down Friedrich, she couldn’t afford to make mistakes by being swayed by emotions.

‘I don’t even have the courage to pretend to be friendly.’

Sezlin was in a position of realizing her mistakes and regretting them. She wasn’t that shameless. Instead, she would do the best she could at present.

“Of-of course, sister also…!”

“Yes.”

Sezlin put down her knife and fork. When she raised her head to look at her, two similar but different eyes met.

“This time, I was wrong too.”

“!”

It was a statement that cleanly admitted her mistake, without any sarcasm. When she calmly acknowledged her foolishness, silence fell over the dining room. Even April, who was always composed, seemed quite surprised, blinking her large eyes.

‘Haa.’

She had expected it, but such a n*ked reaction twisted her insides. Of course, it wasn’t because their reaction was annoying. It was just that she had newly realized that her reputation was only this much.

Well, she had brought it upon herself. Sezlin, who soon burst into a small laugh, leisurely stood up.

She had no appetite at all.

“So if you call it punishment, I’ll receive it after I return from the meeting.”

“……”

“It would be better to tear my hands or skin. I almost had my skin ruined today, when I’m meeting the Prince.”

Her blue eyes calmly lowered.

“I’ll excuse myself now.”

There was nothing more to discuss. Sezlin, who rose from her chair, immediately left the dining room.

Although April, who had come to her senses, called out to her, Sezlin never turned back.

After catching her breath for a moment, Sezlin gestured to the maid with her chin.

“Let’s go.”

‘Now I need to prepare.’