TMLITTKM 02

Chapter 02 …

For a moment, a surge of emotion welled inside me, and I found myself staring straight at that infuriatingly handsome face.

Vincent tilted his head ever so slightly, studying my expression.

“Amelia, are you angry?”

“No, of course not.”

“Or maybe… you’re so angry you feel like killing me?

Something like that?”

“……”

Was he even aware of the words coming out of his mouth?

He might as well hang a sign around his neck that says I’m a regressor.

And really if anyone wanted to kill someone, it would be him wanting to kill me, not the other way around.

I forced the corners of my trembling lips upward, took a silent breath, and told myself not to give him any reason to latch onto my words.

“Not at all, Your Highness.

How could I possibly be angry over something so trivial?

And even if I were angry, I’ve never once imagined harming anyone.

The very thought is horrific.”

I shook my shoulders with exaggerated disgust, as if the mere idea gave me chills.

To the Vincent who had once died at Amelia’s hands, it must have looked like unbearable hypocrisy.

But what choice did I have?

The Amelia standing before him knew nothing of that past.

“Is that so?

Strange.

I sometimes have thoughts like that.

I must have a terrible temperament.”

He smiled faintly as he said it.

I could no longer keep my expression in check.

Bowing my head in haste, I rose to my feet.

“I’ll step out and call someone to clean this up.

Broken shards can be dangerous.”

Why on earth was there no one attending the Crown Prince?

He must have driven them all away.

After all, having been murdered once, how could he not suspect everyone around him?

But just before leaving, I made the mistake of glancing back.

And instantly regretted it.

Those eyes…

Cold, emerald eyes glinted, sharp and unyielding.

A shiver raced down my spine, and I forced myself to step quickly out the door.

“Haah…”

The moment the door closed, the tension broke, and a long breath escaped me.

I slumped against the wall, eyes shut.

I have to survive.

No matter what, I’m going to live.

I would not die a pointless death for something I hadn’t even done.

To prevent that, I had to get out from under the Crown Prince’s blade of vengeance.

But how?

What should I do?

First, I needed distance from him.

And the best way to achieve that was, of course…

“…A broken engagement.”

Of course, my family could never dare to request one from the Imperial House.

That meant he had to be the one to break it off with me.

But how could I make that happen?

Pondering the problem, I recalled why I had come out in the first place.

Right.

I said I was going to fetch a servant.

I pushed myself off the wall and turned to leave only to freeze when a voice came from behind me.

“Amelia.

Didn’t you say you were going to fetch someone?

What are you doing here?”

When had he come out?

I hadn’t heard the door open.

Like a ghost, he appeared without a sound.

“I was just about to, Your Highness.

Just give me a moment.”

But before I could move, Crown Prince Vincent stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

I found myself trapped between him and the wall.

“Lady.”

He called me with a face stripped of all pretence, grave and unyielding.

Why now?

Why like this?

“Y-Your Highness?”

In his emerald eyes, sharp as glass, something cold and lethal flickered.

A chill licked up my spine.

Wait here?

Now?

But Amelia isn’t supposed to die yet…

“Stay still.”

The command came low, almost a growl, and then his arm shot forward.

“Ahh!”

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the worst.

But what brushed against me was no blade only a light touch beside my head.

When I dared to open my eyes again, Vincent had already stepped back, holding something pinched between his gloved fingers.

A small, black insect.

“There was a bug in your hair.”

With a sharp crunch, it was crushed in his palm.

“…O-oh.

I see.”

Heat rushed to my face as I looked at him, sheepish and rattled.

Vincent only smiled that devastatingly beautiful smile and tugged off his glove.

“It touched something unpleasant.”

He must have meant the insect.

Right?

Surely, not… me.

As he tucked the glove into his pocket, I found myself staring at him, a dangerous thought creeping in.

Maybe… maybe this is my chance.

Maybe his grudge against Amelia isn’t as deep as I feared.

And he doesn’t seem to feel much affection either… it might actually work.

Just do it.

Take the risk.

At worst, I’m no worse off than before.

Clenching my fists, I drew a steadying breath and called out to him.

“Your Highness, there is something I must say.”

“Speak, my fiancée.

Whatever you say, I will listen.”

That gentle phrase my fiancée struck me like a thorn, but I swallowed it down and forced my trembling body forward.

Slowly, I sank to my knees before him.

“Your Highness, the truth is… I am unworthy of standing at your side.

I beg you, please be the one to break off our engagement.”

I knew full well what that would mean.

My father, Duke Wentworth, would fly into a rage.

But still, he would rather sell me off elsewhere than let me die.

And if I remained here, by Vincent’s side, my death was all but certain.

Vincent.

Instead of keeping close to the woman who once killed you, living each day steeped in suspicion and hate, wouldn’t it be easier to cast her away?

Must you really go so far as to kill me?

For a long time, he said nothing.

I dared to lift my eyes toward him and in that instant, I knew.

It’s over.

A smile bloomed across Vincent’s striking face so deep, so devastating, that under any other circumstance, I might have fallen for it on the spot.

“Amelia, your joke has gone too far.”

At that, I decided to use my last resort.

The truth.

Yes, he might think me insane but what did it matter?

He was a regressor too, wasn’t he?

“Your Highness, the truth is, I’m not really.”

Possessed.

I’m not the real Amelia.

I came from another world.

Those were the words I tried to force out.

But nothing, nothing at all, left my lips.

What?

It was as if some unseen force bound me, forbidding me from revealing my true nature.

“Amelia?”

Vincent was watching me with puzzled eyes.

“This isn’t a joke.

I know… You don’t welcome me.

So please, Your Highness, I beg you to end our engagement”

“Lady Amelia Wentworth.”

He cut me off, bowing slightly as he extended his hand.

Ungloved, bare.

Startled, I accepted it, and he pulled me gently to my feet.

“It seems I’ve been far too negligent with you.

To think you’d say something so far from your heart.”

“That’s not it…”

“From now on, I won’t allow such neglect.

In fact, in a few days, you’ll be moving into the Crown Prince’s palace.

Since it’s come up, I’ll discuss it with the Duke immediately.”

“Wait, Your Highness!

That’s not what I…..”

“Amelia.”

The way he whispered my name, lower than I’d ever heard before, stole the air from my lungs.

His golden hair gleamed, impossibly close, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Never again speak of breaking our engagement.

To do so is to defy an imperial decree.

This time I’ll overlook it… But next time, I cannot promise the same.”

The words froze me in place.

“Surely you understand what happens to those who defy the Emperor’s will, Lady Amelia.”

He had invoked the imperial decree.

To defy it was treason.

And treason meant death.

So that’s it.

Whichever way this goes… it ends in death.

“Amelia.

Your answer.”

I lowered my eyes and murmured, “I… will remember.”

Satisfied, Vincent graced me with a dazzling smile before turning away.

His plan hasn’t changed.

Vincent’s aim was to lure Amelia in, to ensnare her emotions until she danced in the palm of his hand.

And then to use her as bait, dragging Duke Wentworth into ruin.

The original Amelia would have walked right into his trap.

But I won’t be trapped so easily.

Watching his retreating figure, a belated chill ran through me, and I shuddered.

By the time the carriage carried me back to House Wentworth, the sun had long since disappeared.

The grand ducal estate loomed beneath the night sky, shrouded in a faint, unsettling gloom.

Ugh… this place hardly feels like a home.

Not to Amelia.

Not to me.

It was a house, yes but never a haven.

One day, I’ll leave this place behind.

If I can survive the ordeal pressing down on me now.

I stepped down from the carriage, passing through the garden toward the entrance.

Here and there, enchanted lamps flickered to life, casting a pale glow that was just enough to guide my way.

This

was a world where magic reigned in place of science.

Magic brought convenience, yes but it was perilous as well.

For that reason, all who wielded it lived under the iron control of the Imperial family.

Caw, caw—

I lifted my head before crossing the threshold.

High in the branches above, a massive raven sat perched, its glowing yellow eyes fixed on me.