The anomaly on the battlefield occurred suddenly. It was a clear day before noon, without a single cloud in the sky.

The sun suddenly disappeared from the sky, and a redness began to spread from beyond the horizon. It was a strange sight, as if blood was seeping into the air.

In the suddenly and unrealistically darkened sky, the vigor of the clashing soldiers gradually subsided. In the heavily oppressive air, the weapons pressed against each other slowly lost their strength. The agitation that began this way quickly spread throughout the entire plain, and the battle came to a lull as if it were a lie.

The Holy Emperor stood under that red sky.

He had somehow appeared in the middle of the battlefield and was walking slowly. Dressed in light silver armor and a long ceremonial robe like a cape, he held his beloved sword Nutcracker in his right hand and a severed human head in his left.

The blood splattered here and there on the faintly shining white robe was particularly gruesome.

The knights surrounding Amelia and Morres hesitated and stepped back as the Holy Emperor approached. At the same time, Morres’ body collapsed to the side with a thud. He had already breathed his last.

“…!”

Morres. Morres. Morres!

Amelia could only roll her eyes and gaze endlessly at her brother’s face as he lay on his side. Only blood gurgled out of her mouth instead of his name.

The Holy Emperor approached them and slowly knelt down.

Thud. The head thrown carelessly to the side rolled, tangled in long silver hair.

He reached out and slowly stroked his son’s blood-soaked hair.

Father, Father. Morres…!

Seeing the desperate plea in Amelia’s eyes, the Holy Emperor shook his head.

“I was a little late.”

The knights who had been anxiously standing by his side until then fell to their knees with a thud.

“How could this be…!”

Some were blankly shedding tears, some sat on the ground and wailed, and some stared dumbly into the void. It was a scene that clearly showed how much they cherished the Crown Prince.

The Holy Emperor took in their appearance for a moment, then brought his hand to the hilt of the dagger stuck in Amelia’s chest. To treat her, the blade had to be pulled out first.

But Amelia gritted her teeth and shook her head wildly from side to side.

She absolutely could not live like this. A life of sacrificing her brother and living alone. A life where only pain awaited her, not only until now but also in the future. She had no confidence in enduring such a life.

Even if it was the worst sin of turning her back on her father who would be left alone.

It was right then. The small pendant hanging around her neck bounced to the side due to her shaking.

It was a necklace with a small water droplet-shaped gem, a keepsake from her mother that Amelia never took off.

That white and clean gem rolled on the blood-soaked dress, emitting a brilliant light.

The Holy Emperor picked up the gem, startled. A variety of emotions flashed through his eyes, which rarely showed any change in expression. Curiosity and understanding. Then relief and sorrow.

He alternately looked at the small pendant and Amelia’s desperate eyes, and finally closed his eyes.

“Your Majesty, the Princess’ condition…”

A knight next to him could not bear it any longer and urged him, but the Holy Emperor, leaving the dagger stuck in her chest as it was, took Amelia’s hand in one hand and gently stroked her forehead with the other.

Amelia closed her eyes tightly when the Holy Emperor’s hand touched her, but soon realizing that there was no light gathered in that hand, she finally felt relieved and entrusted her body to him.

Her father’s hand, held for the first time in a long while, felt very warm even without holy power.

Father, I’m sorry.

“You have suffered a lot until now. Amelia.”

Father, thank you.

“Now rest in peace. My daughter.”

Gradually, her vision began to blur.

The sky was sinking into a heavier red. As if blood would fall at any moment. No, was it already falling? Her vision soon turned pitch black.

The murmuring noises around her faded away.

What is this? Something from the sky? What on earth is happening? Aaargh! Aaaaahhh!

And her father’s last words.

“Don’t worry, Amelia. This is something you don’t have to experience.”

Amelia, the First Princess of Delcross, thus met her death.

***

Amelia, who had absentmindedly rubbed her eyes in the pouring morning sunlight, lay down and blinked blankly for a moment.

‘What? Morning? I just died? Why am I lying in bed unharmed…?’

Her face turned pale with fear that rushed in an instant.

I’m still alive!

“Ah… No! I don’t want to live like this again! I…! I…!”

“Princess? What’s wrong?”

“Ah! Morres… Morres is…! Father! Father! Father!”

From the morning, a great commotion arose in the Silver Rose Palace. It was because First Princess Amelia suddenly burst into tears and had a fit.

The princess cried and screamed, and after fainting from exhaustion, she woke up and cried again for a long time, and after a few hours, she lay quietly in bed, drained of energy.

The servants were flustered by the princess’s behavior, who was usually only gentle, and hastily summoned the royal physician.

“My, my. Your pretty eyes are all swollen. Did you have a nightmare?”

Mirabel, her personal lady-in-waiting, gently asked as she changed the lukewarm compress on Amelia’s forehead.

“Mirabel…”

When Amelia feebly repeated her name, Mirabel smiled brightly and brushed back her hair that had fallen over her forehead.

“Yes. Our pretty princess. Why do you keep calling my name today?”

‘That’s because before I was confined in the tower, you had already died at Leonard’s hands.’

Mirabel was a kind-looking lady-in-waiting who had been taking care of Amelia since she entered the royal palace. She sincerely cherished and loved the shy and doll-like princess from the very beginning.

In the end, she followed Amelia to Rohan and met a miserable death in the underground dungeon due to Leonard’s vicious torture. She remembered there was no particular reason. Leonard had done such a thing purely to torment Amelia.

It had already been several years in Amelia’s mind. A past that, if she thought about it now, would make sand flow out instead of tears.

Feeling Mirabel’s touch that she had missed as if in a dream, she closed her eyes.

Although a little late, Amelia was gradually realizing her current state.

Instead of the ugly, chopped-off short hair, she had lustrous, wavy rose-colored hair that reached her waist. Instead of rough and skinny hands, she had healthy, plump, white, and soft hands.

And Mirabel, smiling kindly with a younger face than before.

She had clearly returned to the past.

“Just lie down for a bit. Your Highness Amelia. The imperial physician will arrive soon. Whatever is ailing you, you’ll get better quickly.”

-Father will come. Just endure a little, Amelia. If you hold on a bit more…

Over Mirabel’s voice, her brother’s voice that she couldn’t possibly hear overlapped.

Tears began to fall from Amelia’s eyes again. Mirabel clicked her tongue and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Oh my. What’s going on? Not long ago, when the Third Prince collapsed, the whole palace was in such an uproar. Now if the Princess says she’s sick too, it’s scary to even imagine what kind of commotion will unfold.”

Amelia muttered with a start.

“Third Prince?”

“Yes. I’m talking about Prince Morres.”

“He’s not… the Crown Prince?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that? Morres? The Crown Prince?”

Mirabel’s face went blank as if she had heard the most absurd thing in the world, but it wasn’t a big deal to Amelia. She abruptly sat up in bed.

Morres.

“…Morres is alive!”

Yes, then did you wish he had died while he was ill?

That pigheaded rascal did torment the Princess quite a bit, but surely you don’t mean that? My kind-hearted Princess?

Regardless of Mirabel’s dumbfounded face, Amelia had already pushed the compress aside and was getting out of bed.

“I’m going to the Pearl Palace. Prepare for it, Mirabel. I need to see him.”

“What? But the royal physician will be here soon…”

Mirabel hurriedly followed the Princess, who was briskly walking into the dressing room, trying to dissuade her, but suddenly hesitated and took a step back.

She felt a strange sense of pressure from the Princess, who was speaking clearly and firmly with an unprecedented resolute gaze.

“I need to see Morres, right now!”

And so it came to this situation.

The two, who usually had a distant relationship, were sitting facing each other on the sofa in the parlor, maintaining an awkward silence.

Amelia, who had been overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing Morres’ unharmed face and had burst into tears while hugging him, was now blushing and sipping bitter tea.

Seongjin, who had unexpectedly ended up having an unscheduled tea time, did not know what to say and was just rolling his eyes back and forth.

“Well… So, you had a nightmare about me dying…”

“Uh… Yeah. That’s why I unconsciously…”

Amelia lowered her head in embarrassment.

She had returned to the past from death, but she couldn’t just bluntly tell the truth. Well, saying she had a nightmare wasn’t a very convincing explanation either.

Look. Morres is also tilting his head a bit, seeming puzzled.

But Seongjin’s situation was a little different from what Amelia thought. He was busy urging the Demon King in his mind.

‘Hey, what’s going on? I thought they had a really bad relationship? Why does she look like a normal older sister worrying about her sick younger brother to me? Huh?’

[What do you take me, no, the Demon King for! She met him in the garden the day before he collapsed and cursed at him? Lowly wench, disgrace of the imperial family, vulgar bitch, and… Should I say more?]

‘…’

Wow, Morres, you bastard.

The rascal who gets cursed at the most in the palace is calling someone else a disgrace to the imperial family?

Seongjin cleared his throat and scratched his head.

“Ahem! Uh, anyway, thank you, noonim. Um… So, you’re saying you were worried because of the fever?”

Let’s at least express gratitude since she was worried. Seongjin’s thoughts were simple.

But what Amelia focused on was a different part.

“You call me sister now.”

Seongjin was startled and avoided her gaze, but Amelia fiddled with the teacup for a moment and smiled softly. It was a wistful smile as if recalling a distant past.

“Yes. Come to think of it, it was around this time.”

The rascal who had been a disgrace to the imperial family suddenly came to his senses, lost weight, learned swordsmanship…

And at the same time, his attitude toward Amelia had also become very docile, but the Amelia of her previous life had not readily accepted these changes.

Because the image of Morres, who had been hostile to her with a malicious face since childhood, was etched in her mind.

When Morres occasionally tried to talk to her first, she would turn her head away or avoid him. In the end, the two never had a chance to properly reconcile, and not long after, she fell in love with Leonard and left for Rohan.

Amelia smiled bitterly.

“If I had opened up a little more and approached you back then, our relationship would have definitely changed a lot.”

The family I wanted was not so far away.

And only then could she say what she really wanted to say to Morres.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you all this time, Morres. That’s what I wanted to say.”

“Uh…”

Seongjin was very flustered.

What? Is this person an angel?

Morres was the one who did bad things, so why is this person apologizing?

The Demon King whispered.

[Hey, the mood is pretty good right now? Since it’s come to this, how about trying to improve your relationship?]

‘How?’

[You apologize too! Say you were wrong until now. When will you get another chance like this?]

‘R-right.’

Seongjin also thought it was the perfect timing. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he quickly bowed his head deeply to Amelia and blurted out an apology.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry, sister! I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I don’t remember much of the past since I got sick. But I know I made things hard for you with my immaturity. I want to sincerely apologize!”

Amelia stared at Morres like that. At the round top of her brother’s head, bowed a little in embarrassment.

The sight of that soft-looking light blonde hair soaked in blood was still vivid in her eyes.

The face of the young man who had been riddled with arrows and was growing cold, overlapped with his still chubby physique and round, fluffy face.

-Let me take this chance to roughly apologize. I’m sorry for speaking rudely to you and bothering you when we were young.

‘Ah…’

She thought she had cried out all the moisture in her body today, but there were still tears left to shed. Amelia’s eyes welled up and tears fell again.

The Demon King scolded Seongjin as if dumbfounded.

[Hey, I told you to apologize. Why are you making her cry again?]

‘What did I do!’

Seongjin stood up clumsily, not knowing what to do, and apologized again.

“I’m truly, really sorry. Sister.”

“It’s okay, Morres.”

Her tear-stained cheeks shone white.

“You have already apologized to me.”

She was smiling while crying.

It was the brightest and most radiant smile in the world.