Chapter 3
“So the future where you survive and come out of this alive seems like the best possible outcome for me too. At least for now.”
“Is that the answer your vision of the future gave you? Is cooperating with me the most ideal way for you to achieve what you want in life?”
From the very beginning, his assumption was wrong.
Bellona didn’t want life. She wanted death.
A supporting character helping the story’s villain? Under normal circumstances, that would have been absurd.
But if that was the answer, then she was desperate enough to accept it if it meant finally finding eternal rest.
Keeping her hand pressed against his chest, against the place where a heartbeat shouldn’t exist, Bellona slowly closed her eyes.
“Yes. Whether you believe me or not, I genuinely want you to survive. If you keep going down the path you’ve chosen, you’ll fail. You’ll be destroyed. Your arrogance will consume you, and even if you manage to win in the end…”
She curled her fingers and poked him lightly in the chest.
“…you’ll lose yourself. Madness will take your place, and there won’t be anything left of the real you.”
“As if I’d ever lose control to that extent.”
“That’s exactly your problem. Your arrogance. Personally, I’d prefer it if everyone ended up happy. You included.”
Without warning, Deminic stepped closer.
Bellona instinctively backed away until the icy stone wall pressed against her back.
She could see a dark vortex swirling inside his crimson eyes.
She had just told him not to use black magic, and now he was already trying to cast a hypnotic spell on her.
“You say you want me to survive. Then explain your abilities in detail.”
His forceful tone only made her smile.
So impatient. Greedy as ever.
Deliberately, Bellona reached behind her back and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the dagger hidden there. Rising onto her tiptoes, she leaned close enough to whisper beside his ear.
“If you’re planning to use black magic on me, you’d better come prepared.”
Her brief glance downward was all it took for him to realize that the Dagger of Yekaros, another sacred artifact, was deflecting his magic.
“A mere dagger like this…”
Deminic reached for her hand, as if intending to take the weapon away.
Strangely enough, the hand that completely covered hers felt much warmer than she had expected. She had imagined him to be cold to the touch.
Apparently, he was still human after all.
“Wait.”
The moment Bellona instinctively grabbed his arm, Deminic flinched far more violently than she had anticipated and immediately loosened his grip.
Muffled voices drifted in from beyond the door.
The High Priest had apparently finished his daily duties and was coming to inspect the sanctuary and offer his final prayers for the day.
Seizing the opportunity, Bellona slipped out of Deminic’s grasp.
She flashed him a smile that clearly said, Handle it yourself, then opened the door she had originally entered through.
Seeing his hand hanging uselessly in midair was oddly satisfying.
Maybe I’m doing this because teasing him is actually fun.
The Deminic she knew was frighteningly intelligent.
Watching him lose his composure was an exceptionally rare sight.
It had taken her a very long time to stop fearing a man who never let anyone see his back.
“I should probably leave now, shouldn’t I? Remember what I told you. Do your best.”
Considering how tense things had been only moments earlier, the ending felt almost anticlimactic.
Deminic remained frozen where he stood.
Looking back at him, Bellona offered a friendly smile.
“Don’t forget to put the carpet back so no one notices after I leave. Well then, see you later. And try not to kill anyone.”
“Try?”
The look on his face was almost incredulous.
After all, after obtaining black magic, he’d killed so many people that counting them on both hands wouldn’t even come close.
“There’s something called self-defense, you know.”
Completely unbothered, she walked away.
Staring at Bellona’s leisurely retreat, Deminic could only look dumbfounded.
Without another moment of hesitation, she closed the door behind her.
Darkness immediately swallowed the passageway.
Instead of leaving, Bellona stayed where she was, listening to the events unfolding above her.
“You…!”
“It’s been a while, Father. Or should I say… High Priest?”
“You came back? You actually came back? This can’t be happening…”
The trembling voice of the elderly High Priest echoed through the chamber.
Whatever happened next was Deminic’s problem.
Bellona casually left the private prayer room and straightened her clothes.
She brushed the dust from her shoulders and checked her reflection in a nearby mirror.
Blue eyes, dull with boredom, stared back at her.
As she removed a large speck of dust tangled in her hair, she briefly remembered Deminic’s lively crimson eyes.
Then she pushed the thought aside and opened the prayer room door.
Rose, who had faithfully waited the entire time, brightened the moment she saw her.
“Let’s go home, Rose.”
“Feeling better after praying? I’m sure everything will work out, Miss.”
Rose looked slightly puzzled.
Bellona usually found religious events unbearably tedious, yet she’d spent a surprisingly long time inside.
Still, seeing Bellona smiling so lightly and naturally seemed to put her at ease.
“I think so. This might actually be fun.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s nothing.”
If death refused to come, then at the very least, life needed something interesting to make it worth enduring.
Even as she left the temple behind, Bellona gazed at the peaceful scenery and instinctively knew she’d made a choice that would completely alter the future for the first time in a very, very long time.
If every choice she’d made until now had been wrong, then perhaps the answer was to choose a path she’d never walked before.
If things continued like this, perhaps this life would finally lead her to the most ideal ending.
And perhaps…
Her endless cycle of regression would finally come to an end.
The sun had completely set by the time Bellona returned to the estate and finished dinner.
No urgent news arrived from the temple.
He listens better than I expected.
For the first time, an entire day passed without any incident at the temple.
After bathing, Bellona slipped into her robe and settled beside the window with a book in her hands.
She lazily turned the pages while staring out into the quiet darkness.
Then, suddenly, she turned toward Rose.
“My father has a younger sister, doesn’t he?”
Rose, who was making the bed, sighed softly.
“You know that talking about her is considered taboo.”
“You just have to avoid mentioning it to Father.”
Bellona smiled.
Looking utterly helpless, Rose adjusted the pillows before answering.
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“I was just thinking… if my aunt got married, doesn’t that mean I should have cousins? I’m an only child right now.”
“It’s not really my place to talk about it, but you already know that the Count’s younger sister ran away to marry a knight from a common family, don’t you? She never came back after that.”
Of course, Bellona already knew the truth.
Her aunt hadn’t simply disappeared.
Her father had abandoned his own sister because she’d defied the family’s wishes. He’d essentially erased her from the family altogether.
Her husband had lost his knighthood in the Rosentin County and eventually died while working as a mercenary.
Afterward, Aristi Rosentin, once a noble lady of the Rosentin family, had struggled through hardship while raising her son, Julian—Bellona’s younger cousin.
“She does have a son. But Lady Aristi has become seriously ill. She sent a letter asking the Count to at least accept her son back into the family, but I think he’s been ignoring all of them.”
Rose’s quiet voice filled the room.
“I see.”
Bellona already knew the rest of the story.
Aristi would eventually die from her illness.
And every time Julian tried to travel to the capital and enter the Rosentin estate, he was driven away by the people Bellona’s father had sent.
He was always turned away before he could even set foot inside the estate.
“I know you’re curious, but please don’t mention her to the Count. He hates the subject. Understood?”
“Okay.”
Bellona smiled calmly.
In reality, she was already planning to bring Julian back and officially register him as a member of the Rosentin family.
While she was busy keeping an eye on Deminic, she needed someone capable of managing the county.
And Julian was the perfect candidate.
Julian. Deminic.
Deminic. Julian.
Now that I think about it, they’re surprisingly similar. Neither of them was ever allowed to live the life they should have had.
Apparently, this version of herself was destined to become an unexpectedly kind person.
Helping Deminic.
Helping Julian.
She was building a surprisingly busy future.
Closing her book with a soft thud, Bellona sank into thought.
In previous lives, she’d never paid much attention to Julian.
After all, she’d believed that bringing him into the family wouldn’t lead to any meaningful change.
But now that she’d decided to help Deminic, she wanted to create real upheaval in this life.
She wanted to walk a path she’d never dared to take before.
Perhaps it was simply another side effect of countless regressions.
The urge to live each life differently from the last.
“Hm?”
Movement in the garden beneath her window pulled Bellona from her thoughts.
The bushes shifted.
Not from the wind.
As if someone were hiding there.
And then she saw it.
A dark figure standing beneath the trees.
The moment she realized who it was, she immediately rose and opened the window.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. I was feeling a little restless.”
Even from that distance, she had the distinct impression that he was smiling.
Leaning against the windowsill, Bellona murmured to herself.
“It looks like a black cat has wandered in.”
A foot stepped out from the shadows.
Moonlight revealed jet-black hair.
And beneath it, a pair of striking crimson eyes that gleamed unnaturally brightly.
Lifting his chin with effortless arrogance and wearing the expression of a predator that had finally found its prey, the man standing beneath the tree was none other than Deminic.
She hadn’t expected him to come looking for her so quickly.
Resting her chin against her hand, Bellona looked down at him.
A small smile slowly spread across her face.
“Looks like you’re finally considering cooperating with me, aren’t you?”
