Chapter 4
“Ah!”
Unable to withstand the shock, Anesa’s body staggered violently. Unfortunately, the place where Anesa had been standing was at the top of the stairs, right by the railing.
The railing, designed low for appearance’s sake, ultimately placed her in danger.
“AHH!”
With a short scream, Anesa’s body fell downward. But she hadn’t fallen yet because she had barely managed to grab the railing.
“Anesa!”
Startled, Damien hurriedly reached out his hand to save her. But.
“Think carefully about what will happen if you take that hand right now.”
Elodie, who had chased after the two of them belatedly, approached. Then she urgently grabbed Damien’s hand that had been reaching for Anesa.
“If Anesa dies here, everything will end nicely.”
“What…?”
At that moment, there were not many people in the manor.
It was because Damien, who would soon become emperor and move into the palace, had granted everyone a reward leave.
Realizing Elodie’s intention, Anesa called out to Damien in a pitiful voice.
“Damien, please save me…”
Damien’s gaze shook violently, as if hesitating.
“For the sake of the child in my belly, your child, please…!”
“You remember what Anesa said earlier, right? She said she would expose everything to the people. What if the Anesa we save now goes around spreading rumors? Then a stain will be left on Your Majesty’s reign.”
“But…”
Seeing Damien still hesitating, Elodie let out a sigh.
“Haah, my dear Damien.”
Elodie stepped closer to the railing as she spoke.
“You’re too soft-hearted for your own good.”
Then she removed the ornament stuck in her hair and drove the sharp end into the back of Anesa’s hand.
“AAHH!”
Startled by the pain that pierced through her flesh, Anesa lost her grip on the railing. Now only one hand remained.
“Damien…!”
As if begging him to save her quickly, Anesa cried out like a scream. But.
“…I’m sorry, Anesa.”
Damien betrayed Anesa’s expectation.
He brutally stomped on the one hand Anesa was barely holding on with.
“AAAHH!”
At the same time as the pain of her finger bones shattering, Anesa’s body fell.
“Kyaahhh!”
As Anesa screamed, Elodie’s face was reflected in her eyes.
Watching her younger sister’s death, she was smiling. In a truly vile way.
BAM!
With a massive crash, Anesa’s body bent at a grotesque angle. It felt as though hot blood was draining away, and horrific pain consumed her entire body.
‘Is this how I die.’
Her life until now flashed before her eyes like a lantern. If Anesa had any sin, it was only that she trusted her sister and gave everything for the man she loved.
It was unfair. It was infuriating. It was bitter. She pitied the child in her belly who died without ever seeing the light.
If she were born again, she would never live a life like this one.
‘If only time could be turned back. If that were possible…’
I would never forgive those who betrayed and killed me.
With that final thought, Anesa’s breath stopped.
* * *
Inside a quiet bedroom.
A girl who had been groaning as if having a nightmare suddenly sat upright.
“Haa, haa…”
After breathing out ragged breaths for a while, Anesa quickly looked around as if trying to grasp the situation and muttered,
“This is…”
She had clearly fallen from the railing. Her body had bent grotesquely, and she had died in terrible pain.
Yet when she opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar room.
Looking around the room with a dazed expression, Anesa suddenly realized something and looked down at her stomach.
“My child… My child…!”
The belly that should have been swollen was flat. A chill ran down Anesa’s spine as she touched her stomach with a pale face.
“It’s gone. My child, my child is gone…!”
Tears gathered in Anesa’s eyes as she realized the terrible truth.
She had survived, but in the end she had lost the child. Faced with such despair, she shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Is anyone, anyone outside?”
As if denying reality, Anesa shouted. Perhaps the child had been born. Maybe the baby was resting comfortably somewhere else.
As that thought reached her mind, Anesa hurriedly tried to get up.
Then a strange sense of familiarity struck her, and she looked around the room she had awakened in.
“Wait, this place is…”
Anesa’s eyes trembled in disbelief.
Because this place was none other than
“The room I used when I was little?”
And it wasn’t in the empire, but the room she had lived in her hometown. Just what was going on?
Was this the afterlife? Looking around in confusion, Anesa slowly crossed the room.
Then she stopped in front of a large mirror, and her eyes widened.
Reflected in the mirror was her own youthful face.
