Chapter – 06
“Congratulations to Miss Luciena, the Angel of the Dimtelga family, on her fifteenth birthday!”
Just like before, this birthday party began exactly the same as in her previous lives.
I’ve already died twice after returning here, and this is the third time I’m doing this. I’m so sick of it.
Even though she complained inwardly, Luciena had grown so accustomed to repeating this day that she effortlessly acted like her fifteen-year-old self once again.
As the party gradually reached its peak, Luciena busily scanned the ballroom in search of Reshuna.
My first goal in this life is to make sure Father, my sister, and I never cross paths during the party.
At the same time, this was also an experiment to determine just how much Reshuna’s emotions were connected to Luciena surviving this night.
If things went as she expected, she would naturally discover whether or not Reshuna was truly the one who had pushed her down the stairs to her death.
Meanwhile, Reshuna had already arrived near the corner where the plate would eventually be broken. Watching her, Luciena sank into thought.
The plan to stop my sister from even entering the ballroom completely failed in my previous life…
During that life, Luciena had secretly ordered a servant to tamper with Reshuna’s door so she couldn’t leave her room. For a while, it had seemed as though the birthday party would pass quietly without Reshuna.
Yet somehow, Reshuna had still appeared in the ballroom.
And as soon as she arrived, she broke a plate.
That evening, after the party ended, Luciena met her 102nd death as always.
No matter how many times I’m reborn, this incident—where my sister breaks a plate during the party and gets scolded by Father—is something that can never be prevented.
Through countless regressions, Luciena had come to understand one undeniable truth.
No matter how desperately she struggled to stop an event before it happened…
…if it was destined to occur, it would happen without fail.
A fate that could never be prevented.
Luciena called such things inevitabilities.
By now, she knew it was impossible to stop Reshuna from breaking the plate in this life.
If she couldn’t stop Reshuna from coming to the party…
And she couldn’t stop her from breaking the plate…
Then there was only one thing Luciena could do.
Even if Reshuna broke the plate, she had to bury that disturbance beneath an even greater one.
No matter what it took.
I’ve done everything I can. If this fails… then I’ll die again.
As Luciena frowned and let out a long sigh, she suddenly felt someone’s persistent gaze on her back.
She turned around.
Erteo was silently watching her.
The image of Erteo she had seen just before her death flashed through her mind, making her instinctively flinch.
“…I told you to disappear from my sight forever, didn’t I?”
Luciena spoke first, her voice sharp.
Having been shoved down the stairs and killed on the very first night after returning to age fifteen, it was only natural that her guard toward Erteo had become stronger.
The fact that he had once been the person she loved most no longer mattered.
To Luciena now…
Erteo was merely one of the suspects who had murdered her.
“When did you ever say that?”
Erteo frowned.
Luciena immediately realized her mistake.
The words telling him to disappear forever had been spoken during her first life after returning to fifteen.
The current Erteo couldn’t possibly remember them.
“Then you can hear them now. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”
Luciena quickly distanced herself from him.
She didn’t have the luxury of worrying about Erteo right now.
Luciena carefully counted the timing of the music playing throughout the ballroom, repeatedly shifting her gaze between Reshuna’s location and the windows overlooking the place where the fireworks were supposed to explode.
According to my calculations, the fireworks should go off around now… Why haven’t they? Did something happen to Fioda?
To bury a small disturbance beneath a much larger one, Luciena had asked the maid Fioda to set off the fireworks a little earlier than scheduled, precisely when Reshuna broke the plate.
But the fireworks never came.
Time passed mercilessly, ignoring Luciena’s growing anxiety.
If the fireworks didn’t explode now…
The entire plan would fail.
Unable to move in either direction, Luciena nervously paced in place, biting her fingernails.
“What is it?”
A man’s voice suddenly came from directly behind her.
Luciena jumped in surprise.
“Why are you so restless? You look like a criminal waiting to be caught. That’s unlike you.”
Turning around, she found Erteo staring at her suspiciously.
Only moments ago, she had told him never to see her again.
Yet now…
Part of her desperately wanted his help.
She had already decided that in this life she would never become entangled with Erteo again.
But preventing the disaster involving Reshuna was even more important.
“Erteo… you like me, don’t you?”
“…Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“You do like me. Besides, today’s my birthday.”
“…”
“There’s a present I’d like to receive.”
A gentle smile curved across Luciena’s lips as she looked at him.
The conclusion she had reached…
…was to use Erteo.
She had no other choice.
She absolutely refused to relive her fifteenth birthday a fourth time.
“What is it?”
“I want you to cause a disturbance.”
“…Right now.”
“I want this birthday party thrown into complete chaos.”
“How much chaos?”
“As much as you want.”
“As long as no one gets hurt.”
Just as Erteo lowered his head toward Luciena to reply…
…the music echoing through the ballroom came to an end.
Luciena turned her head.
Reshuna had stumbled over her own feet.
The plate slipping from her hands was only an instant away from crashing onto the floor.
“Now, Erteo!”
Luciena urgently whispered.
Erteo straightened up.
The instant his sharp gaze shifted…
A tremendous crash rang through the ballroom.
The enormous glass window shattered into countless pieces.
Screams erupted everywhere.
“Kyaaah!”
The guests shrieked in terror at the deafening sound of breaking glass.
“What happened?!”
“T-The window suddenly shattered…!”
The unexpected commotion immediately drew everyone’s attention toward the outside.
Luciena looked at Erteo.
He gave a small nod and whispered,
“Is this enough?”
Fortunately, Erteo had deliberately shattered a window far away from the guests.
The attendees were startled, but not a single person was injured.
Exactly as Luciena had planned, no one paid any attention to Reshuna breaking the plate in the corner.
No one except Luciena.
Even Father hadn’t noticed.
Just like in previous lives, Reshuna still cut her hand after dropping the plate.
But this time…
Father never saw it.
And so, he never scolded her.
Soon afterward, Reshuna quietly left the noisy ballroom, supported by her personal maid.
“I asked if you were satisfied.”
Erteo spoke again after Luciena remained completely focused on Reshuna.
There was no need to ask how he had shattered the window.
Considering the magical talent he had displayed since childhood…
It wasn’t surprising.
“You did well.”
Luciena answered carelessly.
Erteo frowned.
“Is that all you have to say?”
Instead of answering, she simply looked at him with cold eyes.
Then she turned her back and walked away.
Erteo silently watched her retreating figure.
Luciena knew his gaze remained fixed on her.
But she never looked back.
If I use him this openly, ignore him afterward… and still end up getting pushed down the stairs again… then Erteo will practically be confirmed as the culprit.
Feeling his burning gaze on her back, Luciena found herself regretting—just a little—not offering him even a single word of praise.
Thus…
Her fourth fifteenth birthday party came to an end.
As soon as the party was over, Luciena went straight to Reshuna’s room.
She wanted to speak with her, even if only briefly.
But she never got the chance.
Reshuna’s personal maid informed her that she had already gone to sleep early, forcing Luciena to postpone the conversation until another time.
On her way back to her own room, Luciena deliberately walked together with several maids.
The terror of having once wandered the mansion alone at night, only to be shoved from behind and sent tumbling down the stairs to her death, still lingered vividly in her mind.
Fortunately…
Tonight, nothing happened.
She safely reached her room.
As she passed the place where she had previously fallen to her death, Erteo was nowhere to be seen.
Lying flat on her bed, Luciena stared at the pitch-black ceiling after the lights had been extinguished.
I managed to change the flow of events… and the outcome changed as well.
Will that be enough?
Can I finally escape death… and survive this night?
Desperately longing for a different future…
Luciena tightly closed her eyes.
