Charlotte Aubry’s short life had come to an end. Surely, that was how it was supposed to have ended.
Opening her eyes, Charlotte clutched at her hair. Yet, there was no strength in her hands. Drained of all energy, her weak hands hovered aimlessly in the air before falling limp.
Why? Why am I alive?
“It has barely been an hour since you opened your eyes. It would be best to refrain from moving.”
The words of the physician, Zenon, did not reach her ears. Right now, the only thing that mattered to her was why she was alive. And beyond that, why now, at this exact moment? That was the only question consuming her mind.
“You must avoid the cold wind. If possible, it is best not to go outside. Even though it is spring… My Lady?”
Noticing that something was amiss with Charlotte’s condition, Zenon stepped closer. Charlotte slowly raised her head and looked up at him.
“…Zenon.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“Right now… how old am I?”
After pausing for a moment to calculate Charlotte’s age, he pulled in his chin and answered,
“You turned twenty this year, My Lady.”
Charlotte slowly closed her eyes.
She had returned.
Back through time.
Yet, the fact that she was destined to die remained unchanged. Charlotte stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
She looked at her face. It was a far cry from the emaciated state she had been in just before her death.
She scrutinized her eyes. Unlike before, the aura of impending death was not swirling within them.
She inspected her hair. Its texture was not dry and brittle like that of a corpse.
However, even so, her illness could not be concealed. She was utterly devoid of vitality, so frail that it would come as no surprise if she collapsed at any second, and a gloomy, tainted haze hung thick around her body.
“This period is surely…”
The winter of her twentieth year.
It was the time before she had realized she was being poisoned.
It comes to mind that she only found out about that fact around autumn, when she was diagnosed with a terminal lifespan of just one year. Therefore, the time remaining for her now is approximately one year and six months. Charlotte moved her powerless fingers and tightly clenched her fist. She has no idea why she returned. She has no clue what reason allowed her to reverse time, even defying the realm of life and death, which belongs to God. Charlotte knew better than anyone that she herself did not possess the ability to do such a thing.
She must stop trying to figure out the reason. Searching for the cause behind an absurd occurrence is the most foolish thing one could do. Charlotte tightly clenched her frail fingers and exhaled a rough breath.
Are there times when one resents God?
Right now, Charlotte resented God more bitterly than ever before. If He was going to turn back time, shouldn’t she have been sent back to a time before she fell victim to Marlene’s despicable tricks so she could live out her natural lifespan? Why return to the present moment when she is already poisoned? To this exact moment, devoid of any cure or hope.
Perhaps this is God’s mockery?
Returning to this hellish period might mean she should recognize her station, obediently submit to fate, and meet her death. Since the time leading up to death was agonizing to no end, it could even be a sliver of goodwill telling her to enjoy a brief moment of happiness now and close her eyes in peace.
Someone else might dare to guess this will of God, accept the short time granted to them, enjoy the remainder of their days, and depart from this world.
However, Charlotte had no intention of dying so quietly.
“You lived well thanks to me, didn’t you? You rode on my coattails and enjoyed all sorts of things, didn’t you? Your cheap life was prolonged because of me.”
“So, it is fine for me to choose my sister’s death, right?”
The corners of Charlotte’s eyes quivered faintly.
What kind of strength could there possibly be in hands that resembled withered tree branches? Bright red blood dripped from the palms where she had clenched her fists.
Charlotte’s eyes, traced with red veins, lifted upward.
She must take revenge.
Without fail, even if she had to dedicate her entire being, even if she had to burn away the remainder of her life, she would plunge Marlene into the abyss. She would undoubtedly bring that horrific monster crashing down!
Having already died and awakened once, having experienced death, which humans fear the most, she had nothing left to be afraid of. If there was anything to fear, it was simply failing to achieve this revenge and slipping back into eternal slumber once again.
Approximately one year and six months. Within this short span of time, Charlotte intends to teach Marlene a lesson.
The agony of having her throat choked by the hands of the older sister she so looked down upon.
Lily, a maid, hurried down the hallway with a somewhat brisk pace.
The reason she was moving with such speed was because Richard Cosmo, Charlotte’s fiancé, was waiting in the parlor.
Normally, Charlotte would have been in the parlor long before the young lord arrived, but for some reason, Charlotte was nowhere to be seen today. Since the fact that Richard Cosmo was impatient and hot-tempered was common knowledge enough for even a passing dog to know, the servants, anxiously trying to read the room, rushed out one and all to fetch Charlotte.
“It is strange.” Charlotte is well-mannered. She is a person whose actions overflow with grace and whose attitude reflects kindness. If someone saw her without knowing that she was a plebeian child adopted by the Duke and Duchess, they would praise her endlessly, saying she was surely a daughter of the ducal family by birth.
Yet, for such a Charlotte to break a meeting time? And that too for a meeting with none other than Richard Cosmo?
Just thinking about how much of a fuss the Duchess would make if she found out about this… Lily shivered as she recalled the Duchess swinging a riding crop at Charlotte.
Lily bit her lip, wrapping her arm where the scars still remained.
“Please, I hope something happened!” So that she could at least make an excuse. Only then could she remain safe! Lily gasped for breath and threw open Charlotte’s door.
The sight that met her eyes immediately was an astonishing spectacle. “Ah, Milady!” Lily stammered in fluster. Naturally so. Charlotte right before her was wearing only a very thin chemise, a thigh-length women’s undergarment hanging from the shoulders and loosely wrapping the hips!
She had certainly helped Charlotte put on her indoor dress in the morning, so just when had she taken it off? Furthermore, knowing that Young Lord Cosmo was visiting today, why had she thrown away the elaborate preparations?
Lily’s eyes trembled finely, engulfed in bewilderment by the sequence of events. “Why, why are you undressed? You must have known that Young Lord Cosmo is coming today! It is late right now as well! The Young Lord is already here!”
Pulling herself together from her panic while speaking, Lily approached Charlotte, who was sitting blankly in front of the vanity, and raised her voice.
“This is no time for this! You must get dressed quickly! Where is the dress you took off?” Only then did Charlotte withdraw her gaze from the mirror and direct it at Lily. Her clear eyes touched Lily’s skin. The azure eyes, which had always been as warm as a cozy sky, were chillingly cold. They were like those of a winter sky swept by a blizzard.
“Are you speaking of the one I was wearing?” At the eerie voice, Lily curled her fingers and flinched without realizing it.
“Yes, yes. Please change your clothes quickly…”
“You are telling me to wear what Marlene discarded after wearing it and go meet my fiancé.”
“…Pardon?”
“My lovely younger sister must have already gone out wearing that dress and met many people, yet you tell me to wear it just like that. And even to a place where I am meeting the fiancé who will be responsible for my future, no less.”
“Pardon? What are you talking about?”
“Will he really not notice? Or will he pretend to know and look down upon me?”
The Charlotte of usual, the Charlotte she had known, was always a kind person.
Of course, because of her birth status, or rather, the characteristic of a plebeian whose status was even lower than a maid like Lily, she naturally had to live hunched over, so her soft personality was only natural.
Therefore, not only Lily but other maids as well used to treat Charlotte comfortably, to put it as mildly as possible.
In truth, now that Charlotte had even completed her official registration as a proud ducal young lady, she could have put on a more haughty air, but it seemed she had some sort of conscience, as she would laugh off most of their overstepping behaviors.