Chapter 6: A Person’s Nature Never Changes
The Duke demanded to know why I had been wandering around the main manor so late at night. Apparently, the knights had faithfully reported everything.
Steadying my trembling body, I answered as carefully as I could.
“I… don’t remember very well. Ah… I wasn’t feeling well.”
“They said you made quite a mess in here. Yet it’s cleaner than I expected. Did you clean it yourself?”
“…As an act of repentance.”
That had been close.
Before the Duke arrived, I had hurriedly cleaned and organized every corner of the chapel. From what I had heard, I had suffered a violent seizure at the exact moment I regressed, leaving the room in complete disarray.
“…”
His silence dragged me back into emotions I knew all too well.
Holding my breath, I was overwhelmed by self-loathing.
He was the man who had murdered me.
Yet fear still defeated hatred.
I couldn’t demand to know why he had done it.
I couldn’t ask whether killing me had finally satisfied him.
All I wanted was to survive this moment unharmed.
“When did I ever permit you to enter the main manor whenever you pleased?”
Oddly enough, his icy voice brought me a measure of relief.
I knew him far too well.
A cold Duke was preferable to an enraged one.
When he lost his temper, he resorted to violence.
“…I apologize.”
After warning me that he would not be so lenient if I caused another incident, he added,
“Leave.”
“…!”
I hurriedly stood and bowed.
“Thank you, Your Grace!”
“But why is this side of the room so…”
Ignoring the Duke’s conversation with the butler behind me, I fled straight to the west wing library.
It was the only place I was permitted to use for my education.
In other words, it was an unbearably uncomfortable and filthy place.
Originally, it served as a dumping ground for obsolete books and old records.
Since written documents could never be replaced once destroyed, a noble house of this stature didn’t simply throw them away. They stored them here instead.
Rather than a library, it resembled a graveyard for books.
Fortunately, I was the only person who ever came here, allowing me to relax a little.
Through layers of dust, I searched through old newspapers and records concerning the Duke’s household.
The effort paid off.
The current year was Imperial Year 996.
“I… am twelve years old.”
Which meant…
“About three years before my debutante…”
If there had been a turning point in my life, it had undoubtedly been when I turned fifteen.
That was when my name became widely known and I entered the Academy.
My life had been miserable even before then.
But after fifteen…
It had gone far beyond beatings and starvation.
It had begun with whispers.
“Isn’t she that fake duchess?”
And it had ended…
…at the stake.
My reputation in both high society and the Academy had collapsed into utter ruin.
The Duke no longer disciplined me with a cane.
Instead, he began locking me in the manor’s underground prison.
One nightmare followed another…
…until I eventually died.
The conclusion was obvious.
The year of my fifteenth birthday would determine everything.
Before then, I had to escape from the Duke, Sei, and the North.
No matter what.
And I needed to obtain enough leverage to survive against them.
Realistically speaking, my prospects were bleak.
The Duke and his beloved granddaughter possessed everything.
I possessed nothing.
But…
That didn’t mean they had everything while I had absolutely nothing.
The answer lay within the mountain of homework piled upon my worn-out desk.
“Ross Taylor…”
The Duke had enough wealth to hire the finest tutors for Sei.
But he had no way of knowing which scholars would one day become history’s greatest minds.
Only someone who had already lived through the future could know that.
After mailing the letter, I returned to my room.
…I neglected my assignments due to illness. Now that I have recovered, I have enclosed all the overdue work. Thank you for your generous understanding. I have also included annotations containing several questions…
Copying an entire stack of assignments had left my arm aching.
But it was well worth the effort.
Everyone knew that Professor Taylor was impartial and fair.
He valued diligence and intelligence above all else.
If everything went well…
Perhaps I could earn his favor.
If I succeeded, it would become one of the greatest assets I could possibly possess.
The prestige he would one day attain would place him beyond even the influence of most grand nobles.
Ross Taylor.
The man who would later become…
Sophiros Taylor.
The future professor—and eventually dean—of Humanitas Academy, one of the Empire’s two greatest institutions of learning.
The Emperor himself would bestow upon him the name “Sophiros,” elevating him into one of the Empire’s greatest scholars.
At present, however, he wasn’t yet an official professor.
He merely served as Sei’s private tutor.
Sei disliked him for being overly strict.
The future Saintess never became close to Dean Sophiros.
But what if…
I became his favored student instead?
The Duke would never imagine that I possessed the ability to build an intellectual relationship with the Academy’s future dean.
In my previous life, he had been right.
Professor Ross Taylor had never shown me even the slightest favor.
After all…
I had remained a hopeless underachiever.
I did have my excuses.
Instead of receiving proper face-to-face instruction, I had been left with nothing but outdated books in the abandoned library and the occasional exchange of letters once or twice each month.
The Duke had never allowed me a proper education.
Sei hadn’t wanted it.
And he considered every coin spent on me a waste.
Clinging desperately to tattered books and curt letters, I had struggled merely to keep pace.
Even after I somehow managed to enter the Academy, the gap in ability had never closed.
Until the day I died…
I remained branded as a fool.
This time…
I had no intention of allowing that to happen again.
To the body of a twelve-year-old, even the Academy’s worst student would appear like a prodigy.
Filled with hope that I might secure the future Empire’s greatest scholar as my ally, I had only just returned to my room when—
“Astir! Your big sister’s here!”
“…!”
Ha…
Of course.
After meeting the King…
It was only natural that the Queen would appear next.
I’d already met the Duke.
There was no way I could avoid meeting her.
“I truly wanted to kill you, my beloved little sister.”
Only in my final moments had you finally admitted that you had been trying to kill me all along.
Standing in the doorway was a smiling young girl.
On paper, she was my older sister, adopted alongside me as the Duke’s granddaughter.
In the future…
She would become the Saintess who murdered me.
Alexcei de Nuxiveache.
She was just as beautiful as I remembered.
But through the eyes of my nineteen-year-old soul…
She was still only a child.
She still carried a doll everywhere.
Matching her doll’s dress with her own had apparently been fashionable at this age.
And her strategy…
…was exactly the same as before.
She hadn’t yet learned how to manipulate people with money or influence.
At this point, childish tricks were the best she could manage.
“Astiiir… are you feeling better?”
Instead of answering, I waited for her next line.
“I heard you were sick. But still… why did you do that in the chapel? Did you lose control again? Even so… smashing things inside such a sacred place… how could you?”
See?
Whoever sent me back…
I hope you’re watching.
Is this your holy, righteous Saintess?
Did you honestly think I could ever affectionately call this girl “big sister”?
She hadn’t changed at all.
Not one bit.
With the maturity of a nineteen-year-old mind, I could see even more clearly than before.
She subtly twisted her words, making it sound as though I had deliberately vandalized the chapel.
There was no sympathy in those eyes.
Only amusement.
Standing there in silk, even dressing her doll to match herself…
She looked at me—clothed in worn homespun fabric—as though I were prey.
“You’re right, Sister.”
I answered as calmly as possible.
“…?”
She blinked in surprise.
She hadn’t expected that response.
After all…
Sei was still just a child.
The moment something failed to go according to her expectations, it showed plainly on her face.
“I’m happy that you came all this way to visit your younger sister. Even though it’s summer, it’s rather cold here. It’s hardly a place someone like you would enjoy.”
“Y-Yes… of course I came. I heard you were sick. They said… you claimed to be ill?”
Unable to conceal her confusion, she deliberately phrased it as speculation.
She was subtly implying that I had merely been pretending.
“Grandfather gave these to me.”
She opened the box she had brought.
Cookies.
Unlike the black bread I lived on, the box was filled with beautiful white cookies.
“I thought Astir should have some too. Here!”
You had offered me cookie boxes just like this countless times before.
The endings always varied.
Sometimes you deliberately dropped the box, burst into tears, and accused me of rejecting your kindness.
If I eagerly accepted it after days without food, you cried that I was greedily taking everything Grandfather had given you.
Other times, if I only picked a few cookies, you’d pout and claim I’d happened to choose the ones you wanted most—but that, because you were such a kind sister, you would graciously let me have them.
“How generous of you!”
“So you’re sharing them with your little sister?”
The flattering words of the maids didn’t matter.
They were insignificant.
Sei…
I knew exactly what you were trying to do.
First, you wanted to subtly mock the miserable conditions in which I lived.
Second…
You wanted to paint me as the rude, ungrateful younger sister.
The first point was undeniable.
There was nothing I could do about it.
As for the second…
Closing my eyes, I remembered what Vincen had once shouted at me.
Be gentle.
Be soft.
Appear to be an obedient younger sister.
“…If they’re from you, Sister… I’ll gratefully accept anything. Whatever you give me, I’ll be thankful.”
“Ah… Astir, that’s not what I meant. A-And why are you speaking so formally? It feels like you’re pushing me away…”
“How could I possibly behave disrespectfully toward my older sister?”
I smiled weakly, pretending to look pitiful while seizing control of the conversation.
“…!”
Only then did the pretty little girl realize I had switched from speaking casually to using formal honorifics.
Obviously, she intended to twist that into evidence that I was distancing her.
Impressive reflexes for a twelve-year-old.
Even so…
The experience I had gained in my previous life allowed me to stay one step ahead.
“…Fine.”
After a long silence, Sei answered with clear irritation.
She selected several cookies and handed them to me.
Accepting them respectfully with both hands naturally made me resemble a beggar receiving alms.
“…Thank you.”
Even though I forced myself to smile…
The sight was already pitiable enough.
“Get some rest.”
After hesitating several times, Sei finally turned and left.
As the voices outside gradually faded into the distance, I heard them speaking ill of me.
“My goodness… Every time I see the Second Young Miss…”
“Lady Sei is trying so hard to get along with her, yet she always behaves so coldly.”
“My lady, don’t be so upset. Some people are simply born with unpleasant personalities. There are those whose nature is rough from birth. It can’t be helped—that’s simply who they are.”
“Sniff… I… I really wanted to be friends with Astir…”
A bitter smile escaped my lips.
There was nothing I could do about Sei right now.
She was still just a child.
She wasn’t yet an immediate threat.
I pushed thoughts of her aside and focused once more on Ross Taylor.
Winning over the scholar who could become my greatest ally…
That was far more important.
BANG!
“…!”
Without warning, the door burst open with a deafening crash.
SMACK!
“Urgh!”
My vision split apart.
Recognizing the dark figure raising his arm…
The Duke of Nuxiveache…
My breathing stopped.
“You wretched little bitch.”
Another slap.
Then another.
I was thrown violently onto the floor.
“Cough…!”
Returning with the soul of a nineteen-year-old changed nothing.
It merely allowed me to think about something else while being beaten.
Watching droplets of blood spill from my mouth and nose…
Perhaps that maid had been right.
Perhaps there truly was such a thing as innate nature.
Sei.
The Duke who adored her beyond reason.
How could people’s true nature remain so utterly unchanged…
Even after someone had died…
…and returned from the dead?
