Chapter 1 - I want you to be miserable too
Jaina opened her eyes to the warm air permeating her body. The scent of lavender was unfamiliar yet familiar and the texture of the fluffy blanket was smooth to the touch as before. This was her room without a doubt.
Jaina took the blanket off and saw her arms without any wounds. This incredible sensation has not changed even after a week has passed. She finally decided to admit that she had returned to the past.
“Miss, are you going to lie in bed again? The doctor said you're alright, but I have no idea why you are suddenly doing this. Could you tell me please?”
The person who opened the door was Anna, her personal maid. Anna's uncertainty had increased day by day because, for the whole week, Jaina had only eaten food and lie in bed.
The last image that came to mind was Anna's body drenched in blood.
Two days after Angela drank the poisoned tea and collapsed, the Crown Prince ordered the knights to raid the Bellechateur residence and capture her. Respect for a lady couldn't be found at all. Even if she was not yet convicted at that time.
'Don't you dare touch Miss Jaina!'
'It is the order of His Highness, the Crown Prince. If you don't step aside, I'll cut your neck!'
Anna stopped in front of her and confronted the knights carrying swords alone. The manor was already in chaos. And in the middle of it, a knight with murderous eyes was fast approaching her.
'Just die! How dare you raise your hand against Lady Angela?!'
He pointed his sword at Jaina and rushed towards her.
It happened in an instant. It was an unexpected situation, and unfortunately, he was the strongest knight among the dispatched people. Therefore, no one could stop the raging knight.
As soon as Jaina thought she was going to die, Anna threw herself in front of Jaina to protect her. She was struck by the sword instead of Jaina and died instantly.
The knight in question was Angela's avid follower. Only that reason could explain his behavior. Other knights overpowered him too late. Anna's death could not be reversed.
“... Anna, thank you.”
"Miss? Why are you thanking me all of a sudden? Did something happen?”
Jaina approached Anna and hugged her. Anna was uncomfortable with her actions, but she still hugged Jaina without resisting.
Around the time Jaina was 10, Anna was 12. Jaina met her for the first time in an uninhabited forest path outside the capital. Anna said she was born in a slum and raised as a mercenary. Jaina brought her, who was dying after failing her mission, to the Bellechateur manor.
If Jaina did everything for Angela, then Anna did everything for her. She wanted to say thank you one day, but only after Anna's body went limp, Jaina knew she was too late.
“Is someone bothering you? Oh no, no one can dare! They must be crazy.”
“It's nothing like that. I'm just been meaning to thank you for a while. And starting today, I will be abiding by my schedule again. But before that, I need to look on to something."
Jaina burst out of the room and ran.
Anna shouted from behind to change her clothes, but Jaina continued running pretending not to hear. It was her first time running inside the manor since taking etiquette lessons. The servants in the manor who saw her running in the corridor were quite dumbfounded, but Jaina did not stop.
Soon, Jaina arrived at her destination. A secret storage room is located in the basement of the Bellechateur residence. It was imbued with a strong magic spell that only the immediate member of the Bellechateur family can access and enter.
When Jaina was young, she used to hide in the secret storage room, often playing hide-and-seek. Since she and her father were the only people who could enter this place, hide-and-seek was over only after her father distanced himself.
Jaina took a step back as she saw something that reminds her of the past. In the glass box located in the center of the treasure chest lies the Marquis's most valuable treasure. It is quite impossible for her to touch it because of the magic barrier.
"I knew it."
It's as Jaina expected.
Jaina saw the necklace inside the glass box. It was the necklace she received from her father when she was imprisoned in the imperial dungeon. Originally, this necklace had to have a gemstone shining in golden color, but now the gemstone had lost its light and was split in half.
If a family had a long history, there was always at least one legend that is passed down from its predecessors. A long time ago, when the Marquisate of Bellechateur used to be a kingdom. The first king rescued the dragon in trouble, and the dragon gave him his heart to thank him.
[If you or your descendants need me, call me and I will grant one wish.]
The golden gemstone, also known as the Dragon's Heart, has been passed down through generations of the Bellechateur family for a long time. However, no one in the family actually believes the story.
Emerging noble families also hire columnists to create legends for their families. Jaina thought it was the same with the story of Bellechateur's first king. Does the legend of the Dragon make sense at this age? The necklace was just a symbol of the family passed down to the next generation.
But isn't it what really happened? Seeing the dull stone split in half, Jaina fell in deep thought. She certainly heard someone's voice, and her wishes really came true. The proof was that Jaina, who had been executed by the guillotine, was now alive and wandering around the manor.
Turning back time. Humans cannot do that. If you have to choose, it would be more realistic to say, 'The dragon that received help from a Bellechateur had kept the promise.'
“Thank you for bringing me back.”
Jaina bowed her head and greeted the necklace. If someone saw this, they would laugh at what she was doing, but she was serious.
When she returned to the room, Anna was waiting for her with a terrifying aura.
“Really now. Glad you had found your energy, but where did you go wearing only pajamas? I was looking everywhere afraid you fell or get hurt!”
Knowing her sins, Jaina sneaked away from her sermons and stood in front of the mirror. Eyes met with blue pupils in an ornate mirror adorned with jewels.
It must have been the face she always saw in the past, but it felt strange for some reason. Her white skin was glowing and her long black hair cascading down her waist was lustrous.
"Anna. How old am I this year?”
“You're 18 years old. I don't think you'll tell me if I asked, so I won't ask any more.”
If she's 18, then it'll be the first time to meet Angela.
So the question is, is she in the mansion? When Jaina thought of Angela, the corner of her heart sank. Never again in Jaina's life will she let Angela drove her life to hell and destroy the Marquis of Bellechateur.
Jaina remembered the days she spent inside the prison dungeon. If Jaina met her, would she really be able to stay sane? Honestly, she wasn't confident. She needed time to clear her mind.
"Ah! I forgot. Master left a letter for you. He's out of town right now. Shall I bring it to you?”
As Jaina nodded, Anna stopped cleaning the room and fetched the letter. It was a familiar handwriting.
Jaina had a lot to say about her father. Her mother left at the time she was 10 and her father started to become bitter and short-tempered.
Jaina and her father weren't both good at expressing their feelings, so their relationship turn grim. Maybe that's why? Whenever there was a conflict with Angela, seeing her father raising his hand, she thought her father didn't love her.
She was stupid. If she had ever thought about it from her father's point of view, they wouldn't be caught in such a misunderstanding. Jaina didn't realize it until it was late. So, even in Angela's poisoning case, Jaina thought her father would side with Angela in her comatose state.
'My daughter is not the one to do that! It's a trap someone devised to frame Jaina!'
However, after Angela regained her consciousness, the situation has deteriorated beyond Jaina's hands, and despite being accused of treason, her father tried to save her alone. And just before her father was executed, the shape of her father's mouth from a distance clearly mouthed:
'Jaina, I love you.'
When Jaina thought about it, she felt like crying, so she hurriedly read the letter.
Jaina's father, who was serving as the imperial military minister, often left the capital for border inspections or military negotiations. Every time her father sent her a letter, it would say:
To Jaina, I am sending a letter to you from my friend's hometown in the South Valley.
What? Jaina was in disbelief that she forgot to breathe for a moment. With this sentence alone, Jaina knew what was written on the back.
Jaina isn't a genius, so she can't remember all of her father's letters. However, since this letter contained the most important information for her, she could not forget it even if she tried to.
I want to take my friend's daughter to the capital's estate. It looks like she will arrive in five days.
What it says in letter was actually not five days. Father arrives at the mansion exactly a week later.
Jaina, I hope you will welcome Angela.
'Me? welcome Angela? Certainly not.'
Jaina folded the letter and lay it down on the dressing table without making a sound. It seems that she laughed without realizing it. Did the one who brought her back to the past know everything? Jaina didn't know why she came back at this certain point in her life. Maybe she will never know. But one thing is certain, there is no other enemy.
Angela confessed inside the cold prison.
'Because I wanted you to be miserable.'
'I wanted to ruin everything in your life. I hated you from the very beginning.'
This time Jaina will going to ruin her life. In the mirror, she was making a scary expression she had never seen before.
"Angela, I want you to be miserable too."
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