135.

 

<One week later, 2:10 p.m.

It doesn’t matter if you bring a tail or two.>

So, he’s implying he can handle any guards who might follow under the guise of an escort.

‘Two-ten in the afternoon.’

My eyes narrowed.

‘At that time… it’s when the guards change shifts.’

The mansion’s security worked in three shifts, with the afternoon shift beginning promptly at 2 p.m.

[Having lunch at 2? Isn’t that a bit late?]

[Well, that’s when the shift change is. Why don’t you stop complaining and keep an eye on things, hmm?]

I remembered overhearing the guards grumbling during one of my recent walks around the estate.

‘First, I need to get rid of these notes.’

After memorizing the map’s location with careful repetition, I tossed the paper into the roaring fireplace without hesitation.

Watching the flames dance wildly, I whispered the name of a man.

“Dante.”

That name always left me conflicted.

Every time I thought of him, my mind wavered in a storm of intense hatred, love, and betrayal.

Even now, to be honest… I’m afraid.

Afraid of whether I can truly trust his hand this time.

Afraid of whether he’ll actually let me go free.

‘But.’

I took a deep breath.

‘I can’t stay here forever.’

After all, this place was its own form of hell. If where I was heading would be another hell… well, at least it would be of my own choosing.

‘I’ll go.’

With that resolution, I rose from my seat.

* * *

Thankfully, Benedict didn’t restrict my movements too much.

He himself had said,

[I am not the same as the Marquess of Offenheir or the Duke of Kalleid.]

…or so he claimed.

But even so, it was just a more gilded cage. A fish in a tank, no matter the size, was still confined.

Yet, in this instance, his lack of vigilance worked in my favor.

One week later, at precisely 1:52 p.m.

As I approached the entrance of the mansion, one of the guards at the gate looked down at me.

“Where are you going, Lady Elze?”

I met his gaze coolly.

“For a walk.”

As I replied, I subtly scanned my surroundings.

‘The security is definitely more lax.’

There was a slightly disordered atmosphere typical of the shift change.

The guard looked me up and down.

To avoid arousing suspicion, I hadn’t packed anything—just a light, weather-appropriate cloak draped over my shoulders.

After a moment of scrutiny, the guard eventually fell in behind me without much hesitation.

“I’ll escort you.”

“Do as you wish.”

Maintaining a calm facade, I strolled along leisurely.

Normally, I would have had at least two guards following me, but since I’d timed my outing with the shift change, there was only one.

I walked for about five minutes.

Eventually, I reached the forest of slender, snow-white birch trees.

I continued walking, cutting straight through the center of the forest.

The snow-laden forest was silent, blanketed in white as if painted over in a single brushstroke.

And then—

Thud.

A sudden, heavy thud echoed from behind.

Turning around, I saw the guard who had been following me sprawled face-down on the ground.

And then—

“Hello, darling.”

Amidst the pure white forest, a lone figure dressed in black stood out starkly, greeting me with a casual wave.

“…”

Instinctively, I tensed, my feet almost stepping back.

Dante, watching my reaction, gave a bitter smile.

“I get it—you’re afraid of me, and I’m sorry about that… but we don’t have much time.”

“And what exactly do you plan to do now?” I asked, keeping my guard up.

At that moment—

“So, what’s the plan from here on out?”

A light, airy voice cut through the silence.

In an instant, Dante grabbed my wrist, pulling me behind him protectively.

It was as though he was shielding me.

“…Marguerite.”

His crimson eyes sharpened dangerously.

There she was, appearing as if out of nowhere. Marguerite raised both hands in an exaggerated gesture of apology.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to crash your emotional reunion.”

When did she even get here?!

A chill ran down my spine. I hadn’t sensed her presence at all.

Glancing at Dante, I could tell he was just as taken aback, his face twisted in shock and confusion.

“Are you here to interfere again?” Dante’s voice was rough and hostile.

Marguerite pouted like a mischievous child.

“‘Again,’ you say… seems like you’ve regained your memories this time around, haven’t you?”

She sighed, a faint, disappointed exhale.

“How boring.”

Dante shot her a murderous glare.

Marguerite ignored him, instead turning her gaze toward me, her face all innocent smiles.

“So, Elze.”

Her red lips parted, revealing a smile as sweet and dangerous as poisoned fruit.

She spoke in a honeyed voice, soft and melodic.

“Did you receive the card?”

“…The card?”

In that moment, I recalled the day Dante had found me.

[This card… he asked me to deliver it to Lady Aria.]

Jerome had handed me a fine, elegant card, pulling it out of his coat pocket.

Just a single line was written on it.

[A trampled flower has the sweetest fragrance.]

 

The title of the story I had found myself inhabiting.

The very words that had cast me in the role of a “villainess” in this world.

And along with it, the soft voice that had once whispered to me…

[A trampled flower has the sweetest fragrance.]

[I’m looking forward to seeing just how far your resistance will take you.]

I stared at Marguerite, dazed, my mind struggling to piece it all together.

“That card… was it from you, Lady Marguerite?”

“Oh my, didn’t you figure it out?” Marguerite gave me a playful look, almost as if she were scolding me.

“To be honest, I thought you’d have at least suspected it a little. I’m a bit hurt!”

At that moment, I realized the source of the strange unease I’d felt from her all along.

‘She’s no longer using formal language with me.’

Instead, she spoke down to me, like one might with a child.

And she spoke as if she knew me intimately, too intimately.

Marguerite shrugged.

“Well, it was fun at first.”

“Fun… you say?”

Thinking back, she’d mentioned “fun” several times, as though she were some weary soul who needed constant excitement just to keep going.

Her tone turned indifferent, her usual picturesque smile vanishing from her face.

“Repeating time over and over, hundreds, thousands of times—it gets dreadfully boring. It’s like watching the same play on repeat.”

Her face was expressionless as she looked at me.

“But a few of those cycles were… different.”

“Lady Marguerite.”

“Sometimes, the little insects would struggle. Watching them squirm was quite entertaining…”

And then—

Marguerite finished coldly.

“But no matter how amusing it is, playtime is playtime—it can’t go on forever.”

A shiver ran down my spine, like I’d just received a death sentence.

“After all, this isn’t reality. The time has come to rewind things again.”

In that instant, I asked myself a question.

‘Am I truly unable to understand what Marguerite is saying?’

The blood-red roses.

The crimson stain that seeped across the floor.

The delicate hand lifting my chin.

Those green eyes, venomous as poison.

The beautiful, twisted smile on her lips.

‘I see now.’

A revelation struck me like lightning.

‘It was you.’

The one who had cast me in this world as a villainess.

The true owner of those high heels that endlessly weighed me down…

was standing right before me.

Marguerite gave a bright, carefree smile, her eyes glinting with a disturbing warmth.

“So, why don’t we end this now, hmm?”

Clang!

In that instant, the entire world froze.

Time stopped.

The world itself seemed to hold its breath in heavy silence.

“W-what is this…” I looked around, bewildered.

The sounds of branches snapping under the weight of snow.

The occasional gust of winter wind that would rustle my coat.

Everything vanished.

It felt like being trapped in a lake, frozen under thick ice.

“What… is this?”

Marguerite’s eyes widened as she stared at me, genuinely shocked.

Unlike the exaggerated emotions she had displayed before, this time she seemed truly taken aback.

“How are you still able to move?”

Instead of answering her question, I slowly lifted my gaze, looking at the solid figure that now stood in front of me, shielding me.

“…Dante.”