Skylume11

"Is it pity?"

I asked, my nemesis.

“No, it’s interest,” you replied.

Your eyes, once bluer than the deepest lake in the Empire, were losing their light.

As an assassin, I have spilled much blood, but there was one person I never wanted to kill – you, Sion Belpast, the Grand Duke of the North, my master’s enemy. Yet, I destroyed everything about you, and now, charged with treason, you are dying before my eyes at the scaffold.

I mustn’t cry. I don’t even deserve to. The only man who ever defeated me in combat, the only one who treated me, the monster, as human, I confessed to you. 

“I respected you.”

“White butterfly, may your soul emerge from the darkness.”

With those words, you died. But I couldn’t harbor any doubts.

My master, the Duchess of the South, Medea, who took me in and raised me when I lost my memory, her bidding was always right. Tomorrow, my duchess will become the adopted granddaughter of the childless Emperor. The future Empress of the Empire.

But that night, as I announced the death of the Duke of the North, she stabbed me in the heart. She whispered in my ear:

“The real granddaughter of the Emperor is you. You are the lost princess from your childhood.”

My whole life was built on a lie. I died and returned to the past, where I met you again, Duke. In this life, I will keep you hidden and make you the Emperor’s successor, to atone for my past life. May I stay by your side in this life?

In This Life, I’ll Assist You

He will stay here for three days. During that time, I must protect Arkadia and establish a new relationship with Sion Belpast.

Slowly, I removed the half mask covering my face and looked at the freckled caterpillar. He seemed shocked, unable to take his eyes off me, or more precisely, off the unscarred half of my face.

"Freckled caterpillar, whatever your orders are, think carefully. If you don't want to end up like me."

He looked panicked. Apparently, revealing my face, partly as a threat, partly to instill fear, worked.

I turned away from him. Then, he called out to me.

"Are you going to the Duke of the North's victory ceremony tomorrow?"

"We're not allowed outside the castle. Don't you know?"

He trailed off, then mustered some courage to speak.

"I heard it's going to be a pathetic victory ceremony. A maid who serves food was talking about it. I don't want that."

The freckled caterpillar left before I could reply.

He dislikes a pathetic ceremony? Now that I think about it, he did take the North's side when fighting the eternal second.

I already know what will happen at tomorrow's procession.

In my previous life, Rahel planned a 'Silent Victory Ceremony,' where the people who came to see the Duke of the North were intimidated into not uttering any welcome or cheers. And then…

Rahel hung massive bags of silver bellflowers in the celebratory fireworks. The flowers symbolizing the North were crushed to dust and fell to the ground, forcing the Northern Knights to trample on their own symbol.

A humiliating event that lingered in the gossips' mouths for a long time, the so-called 'Return of Humiliation.'

I didn't want to welcome the Duke of the North, whom I met again in this life, in such a manner.

Where did they get all those silver bellflowers?

I recall hearing they were hidden within the Rahel Forest.

I wasn't sure, but I had heard rumors of a hidden cluster of silver bellflowers within the forest.

I wandered aimlessly through the forest.

Eventually, I reached the farthest part I had never seen before and found a vast field of silver bellflowers, hidden behind a massive barrier. However, most of the flowers were gone.

I climbed the highest tower in the castle where the fireworks were prepared. Following the long fuse, I found massive amounts of gunpowder and bags of silver bellflowers connected to it.

Rahel's pettiness made me laugh. Unlike my previous life, the Duke of the North had formally requested this victory ceremony.

Even with the Emperor backing him, the most powerful man couldn't do this. Especially when the Northern Duke's family has an incomparable lineage and history.

"Bella. I hope your soul can come out of the darkness."

Your words, echoing in my heart, made me close my eyes.

What did my soul look like to you, Duke Belpast?

Can you help me find my true self?

I climbed up and down the tower several times, removing all the bags of silver bellflowers. I then connected the bags of jasmine I had picked all day to the gunpowder.

A flower symbolizing Rahel, blooming everywhere in the Rahel Forest. There was enough to turn several Lenas in front of the castle into a flower path.

Sion Belpast, this is my first gift of atonement to you.

I hope that in this life, I can reach you as my true self.

Search "in this life" at "redcatty . com" to read ahead chapters.

Chap 10