136.

Dante’s eyes were filled with astonishment.

I couldn’t quite understand what was happening either. I, an ordinary person with no magical power, was somehow resisting Marguerite’s immense power to freeze time.

“This… what in the world…” Dante muttered, visibly shaken—a rare sight.

Seeing his normally composed face twisted with confusion strangely put me at ease.

Yes, at the end of this thorn-filled life of mine, there was always…

“Elze.”

That voice calling my name.

His resolute red eyes gazed directly at me.

“What matters right now isn’t that.”

With those words—

Riiip—

Dante yanked my wrist, pulling me close as he tore a piece of paper.

Simultaneously, a fierce surge of magic ignited around us.

Marguerite’s eyes widened in horror.

“A teleportation scroll? Impossible!”

In the flickering light of the fiery magic, Marguerite’s beautiful face twisted into a monstrous scowl as she glared at Dante.

“How did you get hold of a royal treasure?!”

“Surprised?” Dante laughed cheerfully. “Marguerite, I think this is the first time in this cycle that I’ve seen you make such a stupid expression!”

The teleportation scroll.

A legendary artifact that only the royal bloodline of the ancient magical kingdom of Sevrang was said to possess.

Though little remained of Sevrang in records, the artifact was well-known for a reason.

It granted the miraculous ability to instantly transport over vast distances.

But the most astounding aspect of this power was that it could transport even those without magic.

By tearing the scroll, the user could activate its powers and freely choose who to teleport.

It was an ability so fantastical that it had been the subject of rumors, never once actually found… until now.

‘Then…’

I looked at Dante, my eyes trembling.

At the same moment, he released his grip on my wrist, his hand slipping away.

“You…!” I tried desperately to hold onto him, but it was all in vain.

“I was only trying to send you somewhere safe,” he said calmly.

Amidst the white flames that erupted around us, his warm red eyes met mine, as gentle as spring.

“I didn’t expect you to be able to resist the time stop. That was… surprising.”

“…Dante.”

My voice wavered as I called his name, and he smiled, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.

“Oh? So you’re finally calling me by name?”

“This isn’t the time for that! I—”

“Well, for me, that’s the most important thing.”

His smile deepened.

“I know, no matter what I say, you can’t forgive me. But I still needed to apologize.”

“That’s…”

“All this time, I was truly sorry. And…”

He leaned in close, his face inches from mine.

‘Ah.’

I blinked, caught off guard.

It was the same expression I’d seen once before.

On the night of the harvest festival, when fireworks filled the sky with dazzling colors, this man had looked at me with the face of someone utterly in love…

“I guess I can’t help but love you, after all.”

That whisper seemed to act as a trigger.

The swelling, white flames engulfed me from head to toe.

And then—

The world fell silent.

* * *

—

“Uh?”

I looked around in a daze.

I found myself standing in a small, low-ceilinged room. Thick blankets, a variety of medical supplies, piles of water and canned goods were stacked in one corner. It felt more like a shelter designed for survival than a lavish noble estate.

But I didn’t have time to linger on the mystery of where I was.

Fragments of long-buried memories suddenly rose to the surface.

‘Ah.’

I stiffened, my shoulders tensing.

[I’d just sent a line of sniveling wretches begging for their lives to God’s side.]

A man, a figure as cold and beautiful as a statue carved from night skies and fresh snow, had once looked down at me with his crimson, lifeless eyes.

[I just saved a woman who thought going to God’s side was the better choice.]

Dante and I always met under the same circumstances.

Disgusted by a marriage my father and stepmother forced upon me, I’d hung from a balcony, ready to end my life.

That was when Dante had found me, like a discarded pup, and took me in.

To me, Dante was a god.

[If you’re planning to die, why not play with me a little?]

[What do you mean by that?]

[I mean you should try being my lover.]

He shrugged casually as he continued.

[You hate being forced into marriage, and I want to have a little fun with you. Our interests align, don’t they?]

His beautiful ruby-like eyes curved into a sly smile.

[How about using me as a shield?]

I knew, of course, that his feelings for me weren’t genuine.

But I didn’t care.

Dante was the one who had turned my life around. He gave me my first reason to think that maybe, just maybe, life could be worth living.

‘It’s alright,’ I thought, reassuring myself.

If he didn’t love me, I could love him all the more.

Though the hole in his heart ran so deep, and my constant affection alone wasn’t enough to fill it…

[I love you, Dante.]

I devoted myself to him blindly, and he found some comfort, however slight, in my fervent love.

Our relationship was undoubtedly twisted.

Dante, unsatisfied with the love I offered, constantly tested me, seeking more, while I clung to him obsessively.

Our bond was built on wounds, tears, anger, hatred, betrayal, and an affection I couldn’t bring myself to let go of.

And yet, in the end, I could say with certainty that we were sincere with each other.

Then, Marguerite appeared.

The moment Dante met her, he offered up everything he had to her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her presence shattered me, but foolishly, I couldn’t give up my love for Dante.

[If I’ve done something wrong, tell me. I’ll fix it all.]

I begged, clinging to him, pleading and crying for him not to abandon me.

[Please, don’t leave me…]

I convinced myself that Dante no longer loved me.

Despair consumed me, drowning me slowly, leaving me unable to eat or drink.

All I did was wait for him, striving to catch even the faintest trace of his once-kind gaze.

One day…

[Are you the one who stole my chess piece?]

While Dante was away, Marguerite appeared before me.

Lucian and Benedict stood behind her, like knights guarding their queen.

Marguerite leaned her head on her hand with a sigh.

[Dante’s been defying me ever since he met you.]

[Defying you?]

[He’s supposed to love me, and yet… he refused me.]

With those words, she let out a chilling laugh.

[Bad children must be punished, don’t you think?]

Clang!

Time froze.

And so did I.

Time rewound, pulling me back to the distant past, to that moment when I hung from the balcony, ready to end it all.

Once again, I met Dante, loved him, lost him to Marguerite… and then died.

Each time I regained my memories, I tried everything.

I ran away, begged Marguerite, even chose death by my own hand to avoid being murdered by her.

But nothing worked.

Dante always tried to escape Marguerite’s grasp.

And I died at her hands over and over.

Perhaps Dante suffered even more than I did.

Unlike me, a powerless ordinary person, he was special enough to be chosen as Marguerite’s “chess piece.”

He regained his memories more often than I did.

In his own way, he fought back every time.

…Only to fail each time.

Marguerite drove a blade into my body without mercy, again and again.

The cold touch of steel invading my flesh never got any easier to bear.

[Kill her.]

[But she’s just a civilian… killing her…]

At Marguerite’s command, Lucian would look away with a pained expression.

[I think this is going too far.]

Benedict would step back uncomfortably.

But neither of them tried to save me. They merely stood by and watched as I met my death.

I reached that final, inevitable moment once again.

[Did you know?]

Those piercing green eyes looked down on me arrogantly.

[A trampled flower has the sweetest fragrance.]

Like a child playing with a toy, she drove the silver blade into me, heedless of the pain she caused.

[I’m looking forward to seeing just how far your defiance will go.]

Her cruel smile spread across her beautiful lips…

[Elze!]

…while the man who loved me, Dante, was held back by Lucian and Benedict, unable even to come close.

With tear-filled, desperate red eyes, he watched me helplessly.

‘Dante.’

The man I had loved all my life, the man I’d chosen to drown in, even if it killed me.

My beautiful, fragrant hell.

And so, once again, I would willingly…

fall in love with him all over again.