chapter 2
Huh? Somehow, this face looks familiar.
Ariletti blankly searched through her memories.
‘Ah… that man is one of Margrave Hezette’s subordinates. Wasn’t he Sir Tombel?’
Norman Tombel, captain of the knights of House Hezette—the very family she had personally destroyed in the past.
Ariletti did not remember every single face and name of the people she had ruined. Even so, she remembered this man clearly because there was something she felt particularly sorry about.
With her fading consciousness, Ariletti thought:
‘Even if I die… I’d at least like to go to heaven.’
So before leaving this world, she decided to do a few good deeds.
“H-Hey…”
She squeezed out the last of her strength and pointed a trembling finger at the knight.
“Yer house in the capital… yer gonna sell it, right?”
“Huh?”
“Before ya do, dig up the backyard. You’ll be happy for a hundred years…”
There was an artifact from the White Forest buried beneath that yard. How much had it been worth again? A million gold?
Back in her first life, the artifact had been discovered right after he sold the house, and he had openly wept in the middle of the capital. It had even made the morning papers.
‘I was the one who bought the house to get the artifact. Sorry about that…’
After offering her belated apology, Ariletti shifted her gaze to the side.
And there, unbelievably, stood someone with an even more miserable future ahead of him.
‘Isn’t that Doctor Sergio?’
Sergio Anus.
A genius physician and potion maker famous in the capital as the “Hand of God.”
She had no idea why such a promising young man—someone who would eventually become the First Prince’s personal physician—was standing together with Sir Tombel, but there was only one thing he needed to avoid.
“Don’t… get married…”
“Hm?”
“Yer bride’ll take everythin’ from ya and throw ya out into the streets.”
Because in her second life, Ariletti herself had sent a con artist to him.
She planned to saddle him with massive debts through a fraudulent marriage, then lure him to her side by offering to clear them all away.
‘I was planning to poison the First Prince back then. So I pulled his physician over to my side in advance.’
They said he was a genius among geniuses, but he trusted people far too easily.
The memory amused her enough that Ariletti snickered weakly.
Looking back on it now, she really had done a lot of terrible things. Truly, karma never missed its mark.
Doctor Sergio’s expression twisted strangely.
Soon, he and Sir Tombel leaned together and began whispering.
“Hm… judging by how red her cheeks are, I suppose she wasn’t quite freezing to death yet.”
“But if we leave her like this, she’ll probably freeze to death soon.”
A new shadow approached.
Curious who the third person might be, Ariletti squinted up at him.
‘Ah… that man…’
Glenn Hezette.
Guardian of the Bertell Empire’s borders and a Sword Master hailed as the greatest swordsman on the continent.
A man who had been Ariletti’s longtime nemesis.
The head of the family she had exterminated in the past, and the right hand of the Third Prince, who had once been at the very bottom of the imperial succession rankings.
He looked much younger than the Glenn Hezette she remembered, but there was no mistaking him.
“...Hic.”
Ariletti burst into tears.
How was it possible that every single person gathered here was someone she had harmed?
Was she seeing flashes of her life because death was near?
‘Come to think of it, I owe Glenn Hezette a debt.’
Across both of her lives, Ariletti—who had never lost to anyone—had only once fallen completely into someone’s trap.
His.
Sometimes, a straightforward blow could tear apart even the most intricate web of schemes.
One unexpected move in an unforeseen situation had struck her right in the blind spot.
At the time, Glenn Hezette could have killed her easily.
But he had not.
He merely stared at her with unreadable eyes, then let her go with an equally incomprehensible smile.
“Go find your own life, Ariletti.”
Why had he spared her?
Honestly, the reason did not matter. The only thing that mattered was the fact that he had once shown her mercy.
In that case, before leaving this world, couldn’t she at least offer him a word of advice? A wish that he might survive in this harsh, unforgiving world.
“...On July 7th, Year 1357 of the Inabachio Calendar… there’ll be an attack.”
The young man crooked one eyebrow.
Ignoring his reaction, Ariletti continued.
“When climbin’ mountains, always watch out fer downhill paths…”
Why was her tongue twisting so much? Her pronunciation sounded strange too.
“If ya see a red flag on the road… make sure ya avoid it…”
“……”
“The pretty crazy dog’s lung disease… boil mandrake and it’ll clear right up…”
“……”
“Hah… achoo!”
Maybe her mouth was frozen from the cold.
If only she knew exactly when she had regressed to, she could have given more detailed advice. But for now, this was the best Ariletti could do.
‘Anyway, Glenn Hezette, don’t die if you can help it. Survive, beat the hell out of those damned princes, and put the Third Prince on the throne.’
Her heart felt slightly lighter.
It would never erase all the grudges from her previous lives, but she hoped it might help him, even a little, on the road ahead.
Sniffling through her stuffed nose, Ariletti muttered:
“Goodbye, everyone. Wishin’ ya victory…”
“……”
“I’ll stay here and pay fer my sins…”
No one should stop her.
That concluded her final words.
Ariletti staggered onto her side. Her tiny back, covered in clumps of snow, was exposed.
“……”
The onlookers all fell silent.
“Cough, achoo!”
Another thunderous sneeze echoed through the quiet mountain valley.
Then before long, her small shoulders began to shake.
Along with the sound of soft sobbing.
“Hngh…”
As if the sorrow rising from deep within her chest could no longer be held back, her muffled cries soon turned into pitiful wailing.
“Huaaaah… waaah…”
Waaah…
Ariletti sobbed miserably.
If she had known she would end up this pathetic, she never would have struggled so desperately.
She had probably been cursed as an evil villainess enough for five hundred years’ worth.
What was so precious and lovable about those bastards anyway?
Was she a goldfish? How could she be fooled twice by the same people… love really made people blind…
And in the end, she accomplished nothing. She had spent her whole life being used and exploited, only to die pointlessly.
As Ariletti cried loudly, the men surrounding her whispered among themselves again.
“Why is she so heartbroken, Doctor?”
“Who knows? Sounds like she’s got quite the story.”
“Seriously. What should we do, Young Lord?”
“Hm. Has anyone here ever held a child before?”
A child?
The unexpected word pierced Ariletti’s ears, and the surroundings suddenly became noisy.
After glancing around at his subordinates, Glenn Hezette shrugged.
“Forget it. I’ll do it.”
“Waaah… huh?!”
Without warning, Ariletti was lifted into the air.
Only then did she realize something was wrong.
‘Huh?’
No matter what, she was supposed to be a nineteen-year-old adult. Yet her body felt absurdly light.
Someone suddenly appeared before Ariletti, who blinked in confusion with icicles dangling from beneath her eyes, nose, and lips.
He was a handsome young man with cool, sharp features and eyes like an eagle’s.
The contrast between his black hair and blue eyes was striking.
Seeing him up close confirmed it—Glenn Hezette looked far younger than she remembered.
A young man who had only just shed the last traces of boyhood. Had he only recently become an adult?
Glenn muttered to himself.
“Mandrake for the pretty crazy dog’s lung disease… But mandrake is an antidote.”
After a brief pause, he brushed away the frozen tears stuck to Ariletti’s cheeks with the back of his hand.
“Man, you’re filthy.”
But he did not remove the icicle hanging beneath her nose like a stalactite.
“Uweh…?”
Holding Ariletti effortlessly with one arm, Glenn wrapped her small body tightly in his cloak. The sudden warmth made her tremble.
“If you wipe your nose on my clothes, I’m throwing you away. Deal with it yourself.”
After issuing the threat, the young man climbed onto his horse in one smooth motion.
Startled, Ariletti instinctively wrapped both arms tightly around his neck.
Feeling the tiny weight desperately clinging to him, Glenn snorted in amusement.
Turning toward the group, he shouted loudly:
“We’re moving again! If we want to reach the territory within a week, we ride all day—so hurry up!”
“Yes, Young Lord!”
Buried deep within the thick cloak, Ariletti’s eyes widened in shock.
‘Huh? Wait? Wha—?’
Before she could even object, dozens of horses charged across the snowy ground.
Wait a second—they were leaving like this?
No, you’re supposed to leave me behind!
And so, Ariletti—who had wanted nothing more than to die buried in the snow—was rescued.
By the leader of the very faction she had exterminated in her previous life.
After becoming a child.
A child… a child?!
‘Is this for real?’
Something had clearly gone horribly wrong.
