“Why… why did you…?”
A cold voice fell over Rosette’s head. Rosette, who had been hanging her head weakly, struggled to lift it at the sound of the voice.
Her vision had already blurred, and she could no longer see the face of the man standing before her, but she knew exactly who he was.
Joshua Ernhardt. The first prince of the Ernhardt Empire. He collapsed to his knees in front of Rosette.
Tears of anguish streamed from his bloodshot eyes, red and swollen from crying.
“Why… why did you do it?”
In her 20 years of life, Rosette had never seen a grown man cry like this. And this man was the prince, who had always appeared perfect in front of others.
Cold, and at times, cynical.
“What crime did Master and Daniel commit that you had to kill them? Why!”
Even when he had lost his mother, the former empress, he had not cried. But now, he was sobbing like a child.
His words struck something deep within Rosette. She barely managed to move her swollen, cracked lips.
“I…”
But she couldn’t say anything. It was true—Rosette had killed his master, Duke Adrian, and his friend, Daniel Adrian.
The curse placed on Rosette’s heart, which forced her body to move according to the commands of Marquis Dallas, was no excuse.
Though it wasn’t her will, Rosette had indeed killed them.
In the end, Rosette couldn’t say a word. Unable to bear the sight of Joshua’s suffering, she bowed her head deeply.
The cold stone floor was stained with his tears. Rosette held her breath, enduring the raw anger directed at her.
After a while, the man stood up. His face, now composed, was chillingly cold.
“Your execution date has been set.”
Perhaps because she had expected it, Rosette wasn’t particularly surprised by his words. But what followed shook her to the core.
“Your death won’t bring them back, but it will honor their spirits. If you feel even a shred of guilt, atone until your last breath.”
His words struck Rosette’s heart once more. She bit her lip to suppress the emotions rising in her throat.
She wanted to cry, but she didn’t want to cry in front of him. She was a sinner, and in front of him, even crying was not allowed.
The man looked at Rosette with an unreadable expression, then turned and walked out. Left alone in the dimly lit cell, Rosette finally let out the tears she had been holding back.
Tears fell one after another onto the already drying tear stains on the floor.
“I…”
The moment she killed Duke Adrian and Daniel ten days ago was still vivid in her mind.
-“Aren’t you tired of being used by the Marquis?”
Even though he knew Rosette had come to kill him, he couldn’t bring himself to attack her easily.
-“When I look at you, I think of my daughter. It’s not too late. Go back. This isn’t the kind of life for you.”
It was the first time anyone had spoken to her like that. Many had died by Rosette’s hands, but they had all either begged on their knees or cursed her.
He was the first to say such words to her.
Yet, Rosette killed Duke Adrian. Perhaps the reason she could kill a renowned Sword Master so easily was that he had no will to attack her.
From the moment she killed him, Rosette had regretted her blood-stained life.
If only she could go back, she would never have taken Marquis Dallas’s hand…
‘Go back?’
Rosette had a sudden realization and bit her tongue. She began drawing a magic circle with the blood that flowed from her tongue. Her limbs were bound, so she had no other choice.
The blood didn’t flow easily, so she bit her tongue several times. Her mind grew hazy, but she stubbornly completed the magic circle.
A forbidden magic, one that no one had succeeded in using. It was a spell she had learned from an ancient book that Marquis Dallas had forced her to read.
-“Learn this magic circle, just in case.”
Perhaps the Marquis had intended to use this time-reversing magic as a last resort if his plans failed.
‘Marquis Dallas probably never thought it would be used like this.’
**And I don’t even know if this is really possible.**
Rosette collapsed as she activated the magic circle.
The light that burst from the circle enveloped her body. As she looked at the now faint tear stains on the floor, she made a vow.
If she could go back, this time, she would definitely…
* * *
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a ceiling that felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.
Rosette stared at the cracked ceiling, which looked like it could collapse at any moment, and soon remembered where she was.
It was the orphanage where she had lived before being adopted by the Marquis of Dallas.
‘Did I really go back?’
Rosette, bewildered, examined her body. Short arms and legs, tiny hands like maple leaves.
She was as skinny as before, but her entire body had shrunk. At a glance, it was clear that this was the body of a child, not an adult.
‘Was it really possible?’
Even when she activated the magic circle, she hadn’t been sure it would work. So, she couldn’t tell if she had truly reversed time or if she was just dreaming.
As Rosette reached up to touch her cheek to determine whether this was a dream or reality, the door slowly creaked open, and a child walked in.
Rosette immediately recognized the child with reddish-brown hair and green eyes.
“Jane… unnie?”
It was Jane, who had cared for her like a younger sister. Rosette crawled over on her knees and hugged Jane tightly.
Jane was warm. The sensation was so vivid that it was hard to believe this was a dream.
‘I’ve come back.’
Only then did Rosette burst into tears, overwhelmed by emotion.
“Rose? Why are you crying? Did you have a nightmare?”
Rosette shook her head in Jane’s embrace.
“No, I’m just… happy. I’m so happy to see you again, unnie.”
Jane had died over ten years ago due to certain circumstances. Seeing Jane again filled Rosette with a sense of exhilaration, as if she could set everything right this time.
‘I’ll change it.’
Jane’s future, the future of the Adrian ducal family.
‘And his future too.’
But the person she needed to focus on right now was Jane, who was right in front of her.
Rosette recalled a memory from 13 years ago, still vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
A few months before Rosette was adopted by the Dallas family, Jane had gone into town and was accused of being a thief. The root of the problem was the dress she was wearing.
The villagers had mistaken the dress, which Jane had bought with money she earned from delivering milk, for stolen goods.
-“Where did you get that?”
-“Did you steal it?”
To make matters worse, the shopkeeper who had sold her the dress had forgotten that Jane had bought it.
Whether the shopkeeper had genuinely forgotten or was pretending not to remember, they too accused Jane of theft.
-“I bought this with my own money!”
-“With what money?”
-“I saved up from delivering milk!”
Jane desperately pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her. Eventually, they tried to strip the dress off her.
When Jane curled up and resisted, they began throwing stones at her. What kind of place was there to hit on the small body of a ten-year-old child?
At the time, Rosette had gone to look for Jane, who hadn’t returned when she was supposed to, and witnessed the scene.
-“…!”
Rosette knew better than anyone that Jane wasn’t a thief. But she couldn’t step forward. If she did, she might end up being stoned too.
So, she hid in the distance and just watched. Even as blood streamed down Jane’s head, she couldn’t bring herself to shout for them to stop.
**And Jane, who had bled profusely, passed away before she could even receive medical attention. Rosette, too late, crouched beside her and burst into tears.**
Rosette regretted that incident for the rest of her life.
‘Of course, even if I had stepped forward, nothing would have changed.’
In the worst-case scenario, Rosette might have been stoned as well and met the same fate.
But still, if she had stepped forward, maybe things would have been a little different. That thought always haunted her.
“Unnie, I’m so, so sorry.”
Rosette mumbled the apology she had always kept in her heart. Tears began to fall once more.
“I’m really sorry.”
Fortunately—or perhaps not—Jane didn’t take her apology too seriously.
“What’s this? Did you have another dream?”
Rosette nodded vigorously, her face streaked with tears. If it was a dream, then it was a dream. All those terrible things had now become events that never happened because Rosette had turned back time.
But just because the future had been erased didn’t mean those events had never existed. If things continued like this, Jane would once again be accused of theft and die.
‘But I can change it.’
Save Jane. And then, run away from the Marquis of Dallas. That way, she wouldn’t be used by him, and she wouldn’t kill Duke Adrian.
First, Rosette asked Jane for today’s date.
Fortunately, Jane answered without suspicion. In fact, she seemed quite excited. She had recently been teaching Rosette numbers.
“January 5th! You just started learning numbers, so it’s confusing, right? Yesterday was the 4th, so today is the 5th!”
Jane had always been interested in teaching Rosette since they were young. While the other children looked at her with pity, wondering why an orphan needed to learn letters or numbers, Jane had big dreams.
She had learned letters and numbers bit by bit from the bookstore owner in the village, who was somewhat friendly to her. And she passed that knowledge on to Rosette.
The reason Rosette was able to keep up with her lessons relatively easily when she first went to the Marquis of Dallas’s household was all thanks to Jane.
“My birthday is coming up soon.”
Rosette’s birthday was January 22nd. Since her exact birthdate was unknown, the day she first arrived at the orphanage was designated as her birthday.
At Rosette’s mumbling, Jane seized the opportunity and smiled mischievously.
“Alright, Rose. After this birthday, how old will you be?”
Rosette didn’t know, which was why she was engaging in this long Q&A. But instead of saying that, she roughly guessed her age based on her appearance.
“Six… years old?”
“Wrong! Six is one less than seven. You’re seven now, so you need to add one.”
“Ah, eight years old.”
So, I’m about to turn eight. My body is smaller than I thought.
As Rosette vaguely pondered this, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, causing her to shiver.
‘Oh no, if I’m eight years old…’
It was definitely in the spring of her eighth year that the Marquis of Dallas came looking for her. And Jane had died before Rosette even turned eight.
Which meant Jane was destined to die in just a few days. If she had returned even a little later, she might not have been able to save Jane.
