Chapter 002
“Catherine Tofana’s Return”
Catherine Tofana.
Catherine loved her name. She thought it had a strong accent and a refined pronunciation, unlike her sister’s soft and flimsy name.
She was also confident in her appearance.
Her vibrant red hair, sharp blue eyes, healthy skin, and striking features made her stand out.
She was glad she didn’t have faded brown hair like her sister. Nor did she have unruly, curly hair that was a hassle to manage.
She could admit that her sister’s light blue eyes were occasionally pretty, but that was all.
Those large, perpetually teary eyes held no charm in them.
Catherine Tofana remembered the time when she was three years old and received all the love from her family.
“Catherine, you have a little sister now.”
She would never forget the moment when all the attention turned to her sister, who was still in their mother’s womb.
From that moment on, Nereis became an object of hatred for her.
She hated her so much that she couldn’t bear it, and the fear of losing her parents’ love kept her awake at night.
‘A girl more terrible than ghosts, insects, wars, or monsters!’
That’s what Nereis Tofana was to Catherine.
To prevent her father and mother’s love and attention from being stolen, Catherine had to start a cruel war from a very young age.
“Sniff… Nereis…”
Catherine would break all her toys and then point at the young Nereis while crying.
“Nereis did it. I saw her!”
She would hide her mother’s cherished necklace or burn her father’s letters in the fireplace, then lie and say that Nereis was the culprit.
“Nereis made a mess again. I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
She even manipulated Nereis into doing things that others would find annoying, like messing up the room so badly that the maids had a hard time cleaning.
Young Nereis was so naive and trusted her sister so completely that it was an easy fight.
Even as she grew older, Catherine would do whatever it took to isolate Nereis.
“What a troublesome child. I don’t know what to do with her.”
“How is she so different from her sister? It’s frustrating…”
It was only natural that Nereis, who had become a family outcast, ended up being engaged to the Ghost Duke in Catherine Tofana’s place.
Catherine Tofana had won a perfect victory.
***
“Father, I saw Nereis off this morning. You don’t have to worry too much.”
As Catherine approached with playful affection, Count Tofana laughed heartily and praised his eldest daughter.
“Oh, my dear, you’re the only one who takes care of me. That Nereis… so greedy and unaware of her place…”
“That’s right. Nereis is so selfish.”
Although the smell of alcohol from Count Tofana was repulsive, Catherine didn’t frown. Instead, she sat closer to him and even poured him more wine.
“So, Catherine, tell me that story again.”
“Ah! You mean the one about Duke Dayfreed?”
As an active socialite, Catherine often brought useful information to her father.
“It’s clear he’s fallen out of favor with the king. That’s why he was placed on the front lines in the war against the Western Kingdom.”
Count Tofana nodded eagerly as if he was hearing the story for the first time, even though he had already heard it before.
Catherine, familiar with her father’s drunkenness, retold the story as if it were new.
“During times of war, a marriage contract can be sealed with just a signature on a document, right? The Duke is using that to approach us.”
“Hah! He thinks we’re easy prey!”
“He’s trying to tie himself to a noble family in the capital and use his battlefield achievements to placate the king.”
The previous Duke Dayfreed had constantly clashed with the king, always opposing his will. So, it was no surprise that when the Duke died and his son Ian inherited the title, he too remained in the king’s disfavor.
To make matters worse, Ian had never appeared in the capital, which ruined his reputation in society.
It was a foolish move.
“Hahaha! Well, he tried to be clever.”
“But the war is going badly, and Duke Dayfreed suffered a serious injury. It’s top secret, but it’s true. If Nereis signs the marriage contract and the Duke dies…”
“We’ll be able to take control of the Duke’s fortune!”
– Bang.
Count Tofana’s heavy fist slammed down on the table.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
– Bang, bang, bang.
He laughed uncontrollably, pounding the table like an excited child.
But once again, Catherine Tofana didn’t flinch, responding with a graceful laugh.
“Exactly. The ducal title might go to a distant relative, but we don’t care about that. Nereis still has a share of the inheritance.”
“Yes, yes. That girl is better used this way. How could I send you, Catherine, to marry a man who’s about to die? That’s out of the question.”
“Thank you, Father. It’s all thanks to you.”
“Oh, my sweet girl!”
Count Tofana’s smile stretched almost to his ears.
The prospect of wealth shining through his failing business was dazzling.
Now, what did business matter? They would soon have enough money to live a life of luxury without lifting a finger.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
The Count, still laughing and pounding the table, suddenly collapsed. After two days of nonstop drinking to celebrate his newfound hope, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
“Click.”
Catherine’s expression turned cold as she looked at her father, deeply asleep.
– Snore, snore.
The sound of Count Tofana’s snoring filled his study.
“Are you asleep, Father?”
Even after gently shaking him, the Count showed no signs of waking up.
Finally realizing that the time had come, Catherine smiled with satisfaction.
Enduring the foul smell of alcohol and staying by her father’s side as his drinking companion always had a purpose.
Catherine carefully walked over to the corner of the study. She lifted the carpet to reveal a locked compartment in the floor.
– Snore, snore. Snore.
Although the snoring made it unlikely that she would be heard, Catherine’s movements were still extremely cautious.
– Click, creak.
She unlocked the compartment with a key from the drawer and opened the floor safe, revealing a wooden box inside.
The box contained dozens of magical artifacts.
‘Which one should I use today?’
Catherine snapped her fingers in the air. A dark, black artifact caught her eye.
‘This one will do.’
It was a circular artifact with a black magic stone embedded in it.
It looked like a pocket watch, and when you opened the front, there was a clock face. The clock face was cracked on one side, giving it a strangely unsettling look.
Normally, she would’ve avoided it because it seemed ominous, but today was different. After all, she had just dumped all her misfortune onto her sister.
Catherine hid the artifact in her clothes, locked the safe, and walked away, feeling incredibly light as she headed back to her room.
Only Catherine knew that Count Tofana collected illegal magical artifacts from auctions.
Her father was a man full of greed but also full of fear.
‘He hoards all these artifacts but never uses them.’
He didn’t have the courage to use them but still wanted them.
A foolish nature, but it was an opportunity for Catherine.
‘What kind of artifact will this be? I hope it’s not another defective one.’
Since these were bought from illegal auctions, more than 80% of them were defective or had useless functions.
But some of them were quite useful, like the one that changed hair and eye color for disguise.
Today, Catherine’s bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement as she anticipated another discovery.
– Wooong-.
Without hesitation, she activated the artifact.
“What?”
Nothing happened.
“Another defective one?”
She was disappointed, but there was nothing she could do.
She couldn’t take several artifacts at once, or she might get caught.
It was safer to sneak them out one at a time like this.
The next day, Catherine returned the artifact to the safe while her father was out.
It was just another day, as usual.
***
“Duke Dayfreed made a great contribution in the war! His feats of valor were known throughout the Empire!”
“Indeed, he is rightly called the hero of the nation!”
Time passed quickly, and the war ended.
And, unbelievably, the Duke survived. Not only that, he returned as a war hero.
The Kingdom of Gidium absorbed the defeated nations and became the Empire.
The Gidium Empire. And the Emperor of that Empire, Johannes, forgave Duke Dayfreed.
He declared that he would put past grudges behind them and maintain a good relationship.
Unlike others, who were intoxicated by the victory, Catherine felt like this reality was a terrible nightmare.
“This is Duke Ian Dayfreed! And Duchess Nereis Dayfreed!”
When Duke and Duchess Dayfreed made a grand entrance at the Imperial ball, Catherine’s anger only deepened.
The Duke, who had been almost a ghost in social circles, looked nothing like the rumors.
Dark hair, red eyes.
His broad shoulders and tall stature, which matched the stories of his prowess on the battlefield, captivated every lady in the room.
“My goodness… They make such a perfect couple.”
“Look at that affectionate gaze. The Duchess must be so happy.”
Watching Nereis gracefully escorted by the Duke, Catherine Tofana felt like she was losing her mind.
‘That was supposed to be me!’
Jealousy burned through her, filling her entire body.
Her hands trembled, and she clenched her eyes so tightly it felt like they might pop out.
Her father, meanwhile, was bowing and flattering them, praising Nereis.
“I truly hope you’re happy, Sister.”
Nereis said this, as if mocking Catherine.
“Nereis, may I have the honor of the first dance?”
“Of course, Ian.”
Then, she danced with the Duke of Dayfreed, enjoying the ball, basking in the admiration and goodwill of the crowd, as if she were the main character of the event.
‘That insufferable girl…’
Catherine fled the scene, retreating to the Count’s residence.
She couldn’t believe the horrific reality.
Even if she drank like her father, the reality remained unchanged.
It was nauseating to see her sister, who had stolen her happiness, speak with such sincerity.
That hypocrisy was unbearable.
“Aaaaaah!”
Catherine didn’t attend any social gatherings and locked herself in her bedroom, throwing a fit like a madwoman.
Months passed like that.
Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, Count Tofana sold Catherine off to an old marquis in the West.
The marquis, with small, lecherous eyes that looked like they would drop off his face, gazed at Catherine.
A shameful future was undoubtedly unfolding.
‘I can’t live like this.’
On the first night of her wedding.
Catherine secretly fled before the marquis entered the room.
It was a planned escape, but the marquis’s pursuit was relentless.
Catherine ended up wandering alone in the deep mountains and fell off a cliff.
Even as she gasped for breath, facing death, she still resented Nereis.
‘It’s all because of that girl… everything… because of that girl Nereis…’
Cursing the sister who had stolen her brilliant future and happiness, Catherine Tofana’s life came to an end.
Catherine opened her eyes wide.
She was certain she had been dying on the cold, hard ground, but where she lay now felt soft and warm.
She touched her body, but the pain that had felt like it would shatter her from falling off the cliff had completely vanished.
“…Huh?”
The familiar scenery of the room was hard to believe.
The words of her mother, who had just entered the room, made it even more so.
“Catherine, are you awake?
Listen, no matter how I think about it, that Nereis is infuriating.
Yesterday, when she left for the duke’s residence, how could she not even hand me a letter of gratitude?”
Nereis, ignoring the custom of giving thanks to her mother when leaving for her marriage, had her mother venting her frustrations.
It was certainly a memory from the past.
‘Is this a dream?’
Can one dream even at the brink of death? Is it a divine mercy that allows one to close their eyes in a dream?
‘Or has my entire life until now just been a dream?’
That couldn’t be true.
Those horrific days filled with rage toward Nereis couldn’t have been just a dream.
Amidst the confusion, after sending her mother away, Catherine locked herself in her bedroom and discovered a magical tool under her pillow.
‘Surely… after listening to my mother’s complaints, I put it in the safe when Father went out.’
But it was different from that time.
In Catherine’s hazy memory, the black magic stone embedded in the center of the magical tool wasn’t dim and split in half like it was now.
It was a situation she had experienced before.
However, the magical tool was different now.
It felt surreal.
It was as if time had turned back and she had returned to the past…
“Ah!”
She gasped in realization.
A God that turns back time and grants the opportunity to regress.
No, wasn’t there a sorcerer with such powers?
She couldn’t remember the details, but tales of that nature came to mind.
Catherine trembled, clutching the split magical tool in her hands.
She shuddered at the thought that the magical tool she had used contained such mysterious power that it had regressed her.
‘It’s my place.’
Catherine’s blue eyes blazed with jealousy.
‘I will reclaim the position that Nereis, that girl, took from me.’
It would have been better if she had regressed before the engagement letter was sent to the duke’s residence, but there was no time to dwell on such greed.
Thus, Catherine Tofana changed her mind and, leaving only a note stating her change of heart, headed toward the Duke of Dayfreed’s residence.
