Chapter 24

After laying out all those theories, they sounded even more ridiculous to me.

“So it really does sound absurd, right? Sorry for wasting your time, unni. I was just talking nonsense. No, forget it. Really.”

I hurriedly tried to end the conversation. For some reason, I could feel my face heating up.

The only reason I could even bring up something like this was because the person in front of me was unni.

‘Tie, you seem far too unwell today, so I think it would be best if we stopped here and you got some rest.’

At most, she would probably wrap things up gently like that.

A very polite way of telling me I sounded insane…

“It might not be that absurd.”

“Hm?”

“It already happened in the past, but when I was twenty-three, I once traveled toward the Holy Kingdom to try and draw them to my side. Of course, entering the country was extremely difficult, so I had to sneak in under a false identity. I couldn’t mingle with the nobles there.”

“Right…”

I felt like I had just heard something unbelievable.

Hearing nineteen-year-old unni talk about her “past twenty-three-year-old self” still felt incredibly strange.

Something about the weight in her voice made me unconsciously straighten my posture.

“That’s when I heard about a place called the Crystal Palace.”

“The Crystal Palace?”

Unni nodded. Back then, she hadn’t thought it would help her gather power, so she’d simply ignored the story after hearing it.

‘Melicia, the ruler of the Holy Kingdom and elder sister of Imperial Consort Pertonna, preserves a treasure hidden from all eyes within the Crystal Palace.’

“What I needed was Queen Melicia’s support, not her treasure. It’s not like I was planning to steal anything.”

“Then… do you think that treasure could actually be Prince Aden?”

“Yeah.”

Only then did I realize it.

Unni was building every scenario under the assumption that my theory was correct.

She wasn’t treating me like I was crazy or dismissing my words as impossible.

She accepted them naturally.

Whenever someone trusted me so completely, it always made me feel strange.

“You trust me? Unni, there’s no evidence behind any of this. And honestly, the fastest way to confirm it would just be asking His Highness directly.”

“There may not be evidence, but from what the former Aden… Prince… said to me, he always tried to avoid staying inside the Empire whenever possible. He said he had a safe place where nobody could discover him. Besides, the reason I was even able to enter the Holy Kingdom relatively easily was because he gave me information.”

Just admit you two were close already. This is painful for me too.

I ended the conversation with a bitter smile.

“I’ll speak to His Highness about the rest separately.”

If it was something that couldn’t be discussed openly face-to-face, then I could simply speak in circles instead.

* * *

That night, I had an incredibly strange dream.

I was sitting blankly against the headboard of a bed inside a familiar bedroom, still dressed in sleepwear.

Familiar?

No—the room was deathly cold and clearly far more neglected than the place I currently lived in.

My lips moved regardless of my intentions.

“I see. So Her Majesty the Empress took her own life because she could no longer endure the pain of her illness? Then soon enough, that will become House Rosena’s crime.”

Elian knelt before me, her body covered in wounds.

Half her face was so horribly burned it was almost unrecognizable.

“I can no longer protect you. Take the jewelry I have left and flee as far away as possible.”

“My lady… the child…”

“Do not ask where I sent the child. That is the only way you can keep that child alive. And the moment you leave this estate, you will no longer have any connection to House Rosena.”

I had become a powerless noble lady who couldn’t even conceal the child’s identity without first destroying Elian’s face.

And so Elian left.

Afterward, I stood before the burning estate.

Countless people condemned House Rosena as traitors while tearing down a family history that had lasted generations.

My parents’ severed heads rolled across the ground where they had been forced to kneel.

A knight reported to the viscount—the same viscount unni had executed immediately after regressing—with a troubled expression.

“We discovered Flotie Rosena’s corpse nearby. It appears she died while fleeing, unable to endure the poison any longer. However…”

“However?”

“There was an ancient spell placed upon the body, so we couldn’t even touch it. The moment we tried, the corpse dissolved into light and vanished.”

The viscount clicked his tongue.

“What a shame. She had such a pretty face. If she’d still been alive, I might’ve locked her away in some villa.”

So this was the funeral unni had held for me.

At least I died before suffering complete humiliation.

I stared blankly at the burning estate when a quiet voice sounded from behind.

“What exactly were you planning to lock away?”

A familiar voice.

The moment I instinctively turned my head, a blade of sword energy tore through the air.

The viscount’s body split cleanly in half.

But before I could properly see the owner of the sword, I woke from the dream.

* * *

Was the reason I dreamed of my previous life because of the consecrated necklace?

Still, I couldn’t simply stay at home over an uncertain dream.

I had promised to meet Lucian.

Just in case, I wore the necklace when I went out, and he immediately noticed it.

“Oh? It seems you liked the gift I gave you.”

“It symbolizes friendship. Since this is our first meeting after becoming friends, it would be strange not to wear it on a day like this.”

Lucian naturally escorted me and smoothly lowered himself to my height.

“My apologies.”

Today, Elian had stubbornly insisted I wear shoes with the lowest heels possible, so the height difference between us was even more obvious than usual.

To think that a prince of the Empire would lower himself so casually just to hear my voice properly.

I was just about to tell him that someone in his position should never bow so easily in any situation when he interrupted first.

“When we sat together last time, your feet looked quite painful, my lady. So this time, in the name of the prince, I dared order that you not be made to wear high heels.”

Well then, what choice did I have? I had to lower myself instead. Unless he intended to carry me around and destroy a lady’s dignity entirely.

Listening to him continue speaking so calmly, I lost control of my expression and quickly hid my face behind my fan.

Unbelievable. I’m not even short. And when exactly did he notice that? Honestly.

Unable to think of a response, I merely cleared my throat, and Lucian smiled faintly before continuing.

“Then shall we sit somewhere at equal eye level and share some tea? Of course, I also prepared silver teaspoons. I even ordered a new silver teacup to be made specifically for you.”

Though I’d never intended to spread it around, apparently everyone already knew about my habit of checking food for poison before eating.

Just like unni, Lucian patiently waited for me to dip the spoon into the tea and confirm whether the color changed before allowing me to drink it.

To think I now had two overprotective people in my life. I never imagined my life would become this exhausting.

“You may already be quite familiar with the Prince’s Palace by now, my lady.”

“Are you saying I come here too often?”

“How could I? You’re welcome to come even more often. Or perhaps you could move your residence here entirely.”

What exactly was that supposed to mean?

Was he suggesting I come work here as a maid?

If Lucian had been Princess Luciana instead of a prince, it might’ve been worth considering, but this was a little too much. Besides, the only thing I’d truly be capable of here would be standing upright without collapsing.

“That was rather reckless of me to say just now. I overstepped.”

“Not at all. I was merely imagining what it might be like if I did. I wasn’t considering it negatively.”

“……”

Lucian suddenly looked flustered and lifted his teacup, only to set it back down without drinking.

Wasn’t he about to drink that?

And more importantly, he was the one who suggested I move here in the first place, so why did he look so shaken when I said I’d consider it positively?

Had I once again taken a joke too seriously? Though at this point, it felt as though we had already crossed far too many lines for me to casually claim I’d been joking too.

“This necklace is heavier than I expected.”

Then again, changing the subject was my only option.

Lucian seemed to have been waiting for this moment as well, because he answered naturally.

“Is it? Well, Her Highness the Imperial Consort liked the necklace too, but she rarely wore it. Perhaps it was because of the weight. I remember seeing her often alongside Brother Aden when I was younger.”