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"Ugh—!"
With a gasp, Luna's harsh breaths echoed through the air, like those of someone who had been buried underground for a long time.
Beep—
Amidst the faint ringing in her ears, she slowly opened her eyes.
When she regained her senses and opened her eyes, she found herself inside the imperial palace.
"........."
She was sure she had died.
Unable to bear the shocking guilt after losing Kyle, she had joined Winfred's people for one final feast—
"Ah."
—when a sudden realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
"...I've come back."
The demon's whisper, asking her if she wanted to start everything over, had become a stark reality before her eyes.
"Ha...haha..."
Disbelieving, dumbfounded, and yet joyful.
Luna let out a hollow laugh.
Kyle was alive.
The mere thought of it sent her breath hitching in her chest. Luna felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she muttered to herself,
"...How is this possible?"
Was it all just a long, terrible nightmare?
Or was this a divine answer to her fervent prayers?
After a moment of contemplation, she rose from her bed and began to adjust her clothes.
".........."
There was no time to dwell on the unanswerable questions.
She had to figure out when exactly she had been sent back in time. And if she were to meet Kyle, how would she react?
Everything was in disarray, but she had no intention of letting go of this precious opportunity given to her.
"First... let's go out."
She took a cautious step forward, a sense of anticipation fluttering within her heart.
* * * * *
The situation was not very good.
Surprisingly, the timing of Luna's return coincided with the imminent engagement of Kyle and Isabel.
This meant that it would be impossible to break off Kyle’s betrothal through conventional means.
More importantly, there was a bigger issue at hand.
Kyle loved Isabel.
Even if Luna tried to intervene and urge the annulment of the engagement, she would only be a nuisance to Kyle.
How she wished she had returned to an even earlier past. Before Kyle and Isabel’s engagement talks had even started. Or better yet, before her relationship with Kyle had become so twisted.
That's when a servant came and delivered the news.
It was an unbelievable message - that Kyle wanted to break off his engagement with Isabel.
"Annul the engagement? Did you just say he wants to annul the engagement?"
"Yes, my lady. The young master officially wants to annul the engagement with Young Lady Isabel, and the matter has already been agreed upon with the Duke."
Luna was speechless.
The Kyle she knew, wanting to annul his engagement with Isabel at this point?
Even that selfish Duke had immediately acknowledged Kyle's desire to annul the engagement?
It was impossible.
Unless Kyle had also regressed to the past like her...
'Could it be...'
A wave of icy dread washed over her, sending shivers down her spine.
And at the same time, a possibility dawned on her.
What if Kyle had also traveled back in time, just like her?
And he carried all the terrible memories that originated from her...
Would she ever be forgiven?
“.............”
A heavy resignation settled on Luna’s face. She felt as if she had plummeted to the depths of hell in those brief moments. Her body was drenched in cold sweat.
"... I don't have time for this."
She had to return to the Duke's mansion immediately.
And a near-obsessive thought dominated her mind.
She hurried towards the Duchess' residence.
Shortly after, she found herself arguing with the detestable woman she had once killed with her own hands.
"What? You have to return to the Duke's mansion right away?"
"Yes, right now."
"Are you insane? There's still plenty of time left. Why would you want to return now..."
"You came to the imperial palace to meet a man, didn't you?"
Luna interrupted the Duchess's tirade, her voice cold and unforgiving.
She longed to plunge the blade into the Duchess's throat right there and then, but Luna held back. She knew that to assassinate the Duchess, she had to be meticulous in her planning, both in terms of timing and method.
"Marquis Patrick. Did you think I wouldn't find out about your scandalous relationship with that man?"
“……You've truly lost your mind.”
"Shut up."
The Duchess was having an affair with Marquis Patrick. This was a fact that Luna had discovered during her extensive investigation into the Duchess's past, before she had traveled back in time.
"If it's revealed that you, known as the most virtuous lady, have been secretly indulging in such debauchery behind your husband's back..."
".................."
"It would certainly become quite troublesome for you, wouldn't it, Duchess?"
".................."
At Luna's sharp accusation, the Duchess' lips were tightly pressed together.
The conversation did not continue.
The Duchess, her face pale as death, ordered the servant to return to the Duke's mansion.
A few days later, Luna finally arrived at the Duke's mansion. And as soon as she stepped out of the carriage, she began searching for Kyle.
What should she say to him first?
From where should she start her story to convey her true feelings for Kyle?
Her heavy breathing escaped her throat.
Shortly after, Luna found Kyle in the deserted training grounds, overseeing the training of a female knight.
She barely managed to compose her expression, which was on the verge of collapse. There, vividly entering her sight, was Kyle—the very image she had longed to see.
With cautious tenderness, she called out to Kyle. The thought of finally hearing his voice made her heart pound thunderously throughout her body.
And Kyle stood still, observing her silently. His eyes were dead and black, his face marked with absolute indifference. Seeing him like this inexplicably made Luna's head feel as if it were blanketed in white fog.
And above all else,
'...Imperial Knight Commander Diana.'
The rising star who would one day assume the position of the Imperial Knight Commander; the woman with the same face as Imperial Knight Commander Diana was directing a hostile gaze towards her.
Could it really be that Kyle had also traveled back in time like her? She found it unbelievable. No, she didn't want to believe it.
She had to confirm Kyle's reaction.
Driven by impatience, Luna began to provoke him in her usual manner.
That's when it happened.
Coarse profanity spewed forth from Kyle's lips.
— To hell with your worries.
Kyle's deeply sunken eyes pierced through Luna.
— Can't you just leave?
— Seeing your face for the first time in a long time makes me sick.
That wasn't right.
The Kyle she knew wasn't like this.
Her hands trembled, and her head spun.
— Who's your brother?
Kyle.
My beloved brother.
— Brother, my ass.
— What are you so surprised about? Have you ever even treated me as a brother?
He glared at her, his eyes blazing with deep anger and disgust.
As a brother... treated him?
There should have been. No, there had to have been. It couldn't not have been.
Ah, I see now.
She had never once treated Kyle as a brother.
She was speechless.
Her eyelids trembled with surging self-loathing.
She couldn't breathe.
— I have no reason to expend emotions on the words of a complete stranger.
It hurt.
More than when she was on the verge of death, poisoned.
She had no choice but to admit it.
Or perhaps she had not wanted to acknowledge it all this time.
— Just act like you always do.
— That's what you are.
The pure young boy she remembered
Had long since died by her own hand in the distant past.
* * * * *
Luna however did not give up and continued to watch over Kyle.
To not miss any updates on Kyle, she had someone follow him, and she even participated in an auction to separate him from that accursed woman, Isabel, as soon as possible.
For Kyle.
And for herself.
If she kept making these small efforts, she hoped that someday, perhaps her true feelings would reach Kyle.
Luna built up a castle of hope, like a sandcastle.
But the castle of hope was still just a castle of hope.
— How convenient.
A despair as deep as the abyss turned into a massive wave and engulfed Luna.
— When you publicly defamed me with unfounded slander, when you humiliated me as an idiot in front of the knights under the guise of sparring, when you threw rotten, putrid food into my room, calling me the shame of Winfred.
The karmic weight she had built up pierced her eardrums, splitting her head in two.
It was agonizing.
— Oh, it's because you were young. Because there was a reason for it, you see.
— And because I'm a bastard child.
In the fading grains of sand, a dull ache scratched at her heart.
— You don’t need to explain yourself to me.
— I told you last time. I don’t resent you.
— You’re not my sister.
You are the only one left for me.
And I can never grasp even that.
It was cruelly hollow.
The raging pain felt as though her very soul was shattering into pieces.
Her back of the hand was wet.
Huh, am I crying?
Why?
What right do I have?
Heh.
A mocking laugh escaped.
It was ridiculous.
Her own state.
I’m reflecting.
I’m regretting.
Kyle, you’re all I have.
A completely hoarse voice rose from her throat.
She looked at the letter in the corner of the room.
It was the letter Kyle had given her in the distant past, wishing her a happy birthday.
".................."
Should I just give up?
Even the thought of just dying right here doesn't seem so bad.
She let out a scream-like laugh.
Leaping off the bed, she rolled on the floor; the pain spreading throughout her body felt strangely pleasant.
So she laughed.
Yet, the tears rolling down were frustrating.
She lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
In the same position as when she was dying from poisoning.
"Kyle."
Kyle Winfred.
My beloved brother.
"...I'm sorry."
Your sister will protect you.
"I... can't give up."
So,
Punish me like this.
Luna's eyes flashed with madness.
* * * * *
It was a night when the full moon was shining brightly.
Kyle had left the mansion.
Although she had expected it, it still hurt.
The next day, Luna went to the estate of Count Yustia. Isabel Yustia, the cursed woman who had poisoned Kyle. She wanted to break that slender neck right there and then, but she held back. It wasn't the right time.
— ...Yes.
— I also traveled back in time.
As expected, Isabel Yustia had traveled back in time as well.
— If I just had a little more time.
— Kyle would understand my true feelings.
What a fool.
Neither you nor I have any hope of being forgiven.
— Come to think of it, I heard there will soon be the Princess' coming-of-age ceremony...
Princess Rudine Eckart.
Kyle's childhood friend.
And the most dangerous woman in the Empire.
— Tracing the carriage marks, it is likely he headed towards the Imperial capital.
That day, Luna and Isabel set off for the imperial capital. Upon arriving, they went straight to the imperial palace.
The Princess' coming-of-age ceremony was more magnificent than any other banquet.
But Luna's attention was solely focused on Kyle.
And as soon as she entered the ceremony hall, she started searching intensively for places where Kyle might be.
Finally, she found him engaged in an intimate conversation with the princess.
She directly picked a fight with the princess in an attempt to lure Kyle away from her.
However, the princess requested Kyle to escort her, and he left with her, saying it was an honor.
It was impossible.
According to Luna's memory, a noble gentleman was already designated to escort the princess.
The future had changed.
That meant...
"Lady Luna, could it be..."
"...Yes."
The princess had also regressed back to the past.
Luna did not give up and continued to chase after Kyle.
Seated at the head table with the princess, he engaged in a conversation with the Emperor, and they both then left the hall.
Blending into the crowd, Luna followed him.
And in the corridor they arrived at, Luna encountered him as he was exiting a reception room.
Desperately, she implored him.
To come back home.
That she would remove everything that poses a threat to him.
Please, come back to me.
However, Kyle's face was as indifferent as ever; devoid of any emotion, only fatigue filled it.
— There is no one who would dare to threaten me? Really now.
— You see, the one right here is the threat.
The image of Kyle approaching her looked so precarious.
— Luna Winfred.
— Your very existence is a threat to me. Where exactly would I be going?
His venomous voice sounded sweetly; the fact that he was paying attention to her, even if to defame her, was agonizingly painful yet joyful.
— I'm sorry, but unless you drop dead somewhere, I have no intention of returning to Winfred.
The malice in his words pierced through Luna; the sight of Kyle casually mentioning his own death left her breathless.
— I'd rather die than go back there.
Luna brushed her gaunt face with her hand.
Every word was like a needle pricking her, yet the pain was addictively sharp.
That's when it happened.
Cough—!
A murky, reddish fluid spilled from the corner of Kye's mouth.
And her mind was completely wiped blank.
Blood. Thick. Dark blood.
Kyle, who had vomited the blood, let out a pitiful laugh and began swaying.
That wretched sight tore through Luna's sanity.
"Kyle!!"
She rushed over and grabbed his shoulders to steady him; the breath in Kyle's body, embraced in her arms, was gradually fading.
Could it be.
If, by any chance.
'Is he... dying again?'
Right before her eyes.
Dying in her arms like this.
That's when a translucent something appeared in the air.
『You may lose what is most precious to you』
If that precious thing...
Is my brother Kyle.
Luna's pupils were filled with deep, overwhelming terror.
Translator's Notes :-
I have found new love listening to Sabaton while translating. You should give it a try!!!
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