Episode 2
Chloe Langsher loved Luke Olfenster.
That was clear. Even though it had become the past tense, she still remembered the fluttering feeling she had for him.
However, that tender, budding first love was easily crushed by her heavy guilt.
Before the regression, twenty-year-old Chloe Langsher thought of twelve-year-old Luke Olfenster facing death, having lost everything.
When Luke Olfenster faced death, he was twelve years old.
Not twenty, not seventeen, not fifteen, but twelve years old.
Wasn’t he too young to face death by gunshot? Wasn’t he?
Chloe still didn’t understand her father. If he wanted power, it was enough to kill the crown prince and push her aunt to become the empress. There was no need to drag a fallen noble boy into the abyss like that.
Everything Troy Langsher had done to Luke Olfenster was purely the result of malice.
That’s why Luke Olfenster’s revenge was justified.
Since the sins committed could not be undone, Chloe Langsher willingly bore the burden of the retribution, recalling the numerous privileges and rights she had enjoyed as the daughter of the Langsher family.
So, she did not attribute any value to what she had done for him. It was natural for her.
“What did you devote yourself to him for?”
So when the knight who suddenly appeared in front of her asked a question, Chloe blinked blankly and smiled bitterly. She thought no one had noticed, but apparently someone had noticed her acting.
Unable to make excuses, Chloe lost the will to lie as she thought of her fate as a condemned prisoner.
And somewhat ironically, she was reminded of someone from her childhood by the knight’s sandy blond hair.
“…Nothing.”
“Why?”
“Revenge is his rightful privilege.”
Chloe smiled quietly at the knight. She didn’t know in the past, but now she knew who he was.
“Gideon Edant.”
Gideon Edant, Luke’s foster brother. The knight who stood by his side when he lost everything. Chloe never dared to doubt his loyalty.
Gideon Edant was someone who could do anything for Luke Olfenster.
Knowing that he was the only knight who showed loyalty to the boy who fell into a pit of despair, who carried the dying boy without hesitation amidst flying blades, Chloe willingly admitted it.
“If you truly care for him, you know you shouldn’t tell him what you’ve found out.”
“Then you’ll be a sinner.”
“I wouldn’t know. Whether he’s Hessel Olfenster’s son or I’m Troy Langsher’s daughter, in the end, one of us inevitably has to die to end this fate.”
She didn’t want to live as her. But to live, she had to become Luke Olfenster’s enemy. She had to pray for his downfall. So that her father’s sins would never be revealed to the world, and the Langshers would remain victorious until the end.
She had to pray for Luke Olfenster’s revenge to fail.
Realizing this, she chuckled a bit. It couldn’t be. Chloe Langsher couldn’t dare to stab him in the back.
Whether it was love, guilt, or some other emotion, Luke.
“So instead of killing him, I chose to die.”
I didn’t want to survive at the cost of hurting you.”
“Go back, Gideon Edant. Whatever you’re worried about, nothing will change here today, and Langsher’s daughter will die without a word.”
Chloe thought this would be the end of their conversation. But the hand that turned away grabbed her unexpectedly. Gideon, with a pale face, whispered as he looked down at her.
“He won’t kill you.”
She couldn’t even be sure she heard it correctly, despite standing so close to him. But before she could ask what he meant, Gideon calmly opened his mouth to explain.
“If you truly care for him, run away. I’ll help you.”
Although she rejected his hand as if it were worthless, Gideon, as if gauging the time, looked up at the cloudy sky and then hugged her as she was.
Despite her protests when she regained her senses and tried to resist, Gideon continued walking without stopping, pouring out words to her.
“Lady Chloe, I hope he doesn’t have the memory of killing an ignorant woman just because she’s the enemy’s daughter.”
“If I don’t die, the downfall of the Langshers-.”
“Chloe Langsher must die. Before he kills her.”
He grabbed the necklace hanging around her neck with a hesitant moment, quickly cutting it off with one hand. In an instant, the ring and bracelet were clenched in his grip.
“Cover yourself with the clothes and jewelry of the corpse, and say you died. He can end his revenge without dirtying his hands.”
His face, walking quickly to avoid people’s gazes, was serious. As if he would truly help her escape.
“If he doesn’t want to dirty his hands, then it’s just a matter of you killing me now. That’s it.”
“Don’t you want to live?”
In that moment, Chloe couldn’t bring herself to answer. She wanted to live. It was a natural desire as a human. If she could truly survive while completing Luke’s revenge, then…
The desire for life, suppressed by guilt, shamefully surfaced.
There was a small carriage waiting at the back gate where servants frequented. Pushing Chloe, who couldn’t bring herself to speak, into the carriage, Gideon shoved her inside. She had to suppress her racing heart, even though she didn’t know why Gideon was trying to save her.
But I’m Langsher’s daughter, the one who should die for his revenge…
The last remaining guilt grabbed hold of Gideon’s sleeve. The words she barely managed to spit out were truly pitiful.
“Even if you disguise the body, people won’t be easily fooled.”
“It’s okay. If the body is damaged enough that only the items you have can identify it, no one will say anything.”
His eyes reflected a vivid crimson between the closing doors of the carriage. Like flames.
“For example, if it’s burned.”
Chloe Langsher’s memories after that were fragmented and disjointed. The carriage seemed to run endlessly until it stopped at a narrow mansion on the outskirts of the capital. Gideon pushed her into the bedroom and soon appeared with a large bag suitable for an adult woman.
“The woman who died here three days ago was a lady-in-waiting who committed suicide.”
As Gideon rummaged through the drawers as if searching for something, he tossed a bundle of papers onto the bed, then slung the bag over his shoulder.
“Only I know that this woman died. No one else knows except that she was a lady-in-waiting.”
She picked up the papers. Mixed in with several portraits of a woman at a glance were birth certificates and other documents.
“In the future, you will have to play this woman. At least until you leave this capital.”
With that, he left the room.
In the midst of the chaos in the bedroom, Chloe looked down at the papers in her arms with vacant eyes that felt nothing. She tentatively read aloud the name she would have to use to survive.
“Marie, Marie Edant…”
As arranged by the Empress, she had married Gideon Edant three years ago.
The feeling of reality returned, and she felt suffocated.
Having escaped from Langsher, she was back to being Langsher.
Chloe remembered the Empress, who still boasted the same beauty she had in her youth, and her kind aunt who used to sneak treats to her and Luke when they were children.
She thought about Langsher’s sins.
* * *
The elderly Emperor of Tevia had too many children and grandchildren.
That meant shedding a lot of blood to become emperor. Succession disputes were always like that. Only the ultimate winner could survive.
Even if one seized the capital and crowned themselves, those who dared to challenge his authority didn’t just disappear.
The civil war in Tevia lasted for over a year. It wasn’t until the following autumn that it ended. The end came with the execution of Prince Jayce, the 7th Prince. Luke looked at the blond man, who resembled his father, with piercing eyes filled with curses from his uncle.
There were times when curses from others felt like wounds…
Luke rubbed his sore neck with indifference. He was tired. Excessively tired, and bored. He looked at the 7th Prince in the prison with indifferent eyes. Was this the glorious day he had been dreaming of?
The day when he would finish his revenge and become the true emperor, a ruler whom no one could command anymore, was today, but why did it feel like this?
“Kill him.”
“- I’m tired.”
He blinked. The bright midday sun pierced his eyes. Red and yellow remnants dominated his vision. He tried to count how many days he hadn’t slept properly but gave up. Knowing the exact date would only make him feel more tired.
He pushed through people and entered the bedroom in broad daylight, burying himself under the blanket. It was supposed to be a glorious day. He should do what he really wanted to do.
He wanted to dream of nightmares where the dead would come back.
On my glorious day, I imagined you crying in front of me. Not blood from enemies and a crown above my head, but your crying face.
He closed his eyes. When he faintly drifted off to sleep, he thought he heard a scream mixed with weeping. A woman’s voice pleading to save her, saying it was too painful.
【Luke, I’m in pain, too much pain…】
It was a fleeting nightmare created by his imagination. But as he chewed on that scream, he smiled for the first time in a long while.
If the only voice I can hear is a scream, if the only dreams I can have are nightmares…
After that day, the Emperor began to rely on alcohol to fall asleep.
The nights without sleep were long.
