Someone quietly looking down at my face is a terrible memory deeply etched into me.
The first assassin I ever killed. He had approached my bed and stared down at me for a long time. As if admiring the face of the person he was going to kill.
I fought him like a madman with the weapon hidden under my pillow. I slashed and slashed until he stopped moving.
Ever since then, I never let a servant wake me. Because I might end up killing them by mistake.
That was why the situation itself—Rose staring at me—was uncomfortable. I had never allowed another person to get this close to me.
Twitch.
My fingers moved without me realizing. I was debating whether to keep pretending to sleep or just force Rose back to sleep when it happened.
"-This time."
Rose's small, thin voice reached my ears.
"This time, for sure."
Because I felt like I knew what words were left unsaid after that. Because I dared not fathom the weight of the resolve she made all by herself before someone who could not hear her.
I didn't move. No, I couldn't move.
Rustle.
Rose returned to her spot. Soon, she let out even breaths and grew quiet. She had really fallen asleep.
"······."
My fingers twitched at the unfamiliar feeling.
It wasn't because I wanted to dispose of my opponent like earlier. It was a feeling that was somewhat ticklish and somewhat precarious.
'What is this.'
I thought for a long time about what this feeling was. Then, at some point, I ended up falling asleep before I knew it.
**
Dane Schmaichel brought his wine glass to his lips. The moment the blood-red wine flowed down his throat.
"-!"
Dane's eyes snapped wide open. There was no painful groan, nor any strained gesture.
Thud!
The next moment, he collapsed onto the dining table. And he didn't move.
Completely.
"Your Grace!"
"Kyaa!"
Screams erupted from all directions. People began to run around in confusion, causing an uproar.
"······Ah."
What just happened?
Sitting across the dining table, Rose blankly stared at the back of Dane's head.
He was a man who seemed like he would never fall. His broad shoulders were like a mountain, and his sturdy arms overwhelmed others.
His cold silver hair and even colder gaze were like the snowy mountains of Schmaichel. Sometimes, his gaze felt like it was freezing her very being.
That kind of man...
"Your Grace! Please come to your senses!"
"Sir Joel, what is going on here?"
That kind of man had collapsed. Without a single drop of blood flowing from his lips, his entire body just stiffened.
His face had always been pale to begin with, but now devoid of any blood, the sickly pale complexion looked terribly unfamiliar.
'Why?'
Rose could not understand the current situation.
Numerous assassination attempts, relentless attacks, and the dark hands of collateral relatives had all failed to kill Dane. He had endured and persevered, viciously surviving to finally reach his 22nd birthday.
But.
That man, who was like an ancient tree unshaken by any wind, had collapsed as if struck by lightning. After drinking just a single glass of wine.
Grab.
Rose snapped back to her senses when the servants suddenly grabbed her forearms.
"Come with us."
"Pardon?"
Until now, the servants had shown a polite, if not friendly, attitude. But now, their eyes were completely cold—no, outright hostile.
Rose was dragged away just like that and locked up in the dungeon. And only later did she hear from the guard.
That Rose had been pointed out as the culprit. That Dane had collapsed and couldn't get back up. That it was such a deadly poison that not even his physician, Joel, could cure it.
Life in the dungeon was terrible. The food sent down from the kitchen every once in a while was her only comfort.
"Dear, she's so pitiful, what should we do?"
There was also an assassin in the next cell who had been caught trying to assassinate Dane. Ironically, Rose felt that the assassin was kinder than any of the people she had met in the castle so far.
'Am I going to die here.'
It seemed there was no way out of here. Rose had no way to prove her innocence, nor anyone to defend her.
Just as she was thinking that and about to give up, that man came to visit.
"I will help you get out of here."
"Why?"
"Because I know you are innocent, madam."
Thanks to the man's help, Rose escaped the dungeon. Staying here would only result in a meaningless death, so she intended to get out somehow and find a way.
But just a few steps outside the castle gates.
"It's Rose Vikander!"
The man who suddenly shouted charged at her.
"What are you doing?!"
"Here! She's over here!"
The man didn't even pretend to listen to Rose. He just relentlessly grabbed her body and pinned her to the ground.
"Let... go of me!"
"Ugh! She's running away!"
Just as she was struggling to shake off the man spouting incomprehensible words.
Stab.
Something hot buried itself deep into her chest.
"······!"
The intense pain in her chest bound her entire body, leaving her unable to even flinch. Rose just lay there on the ground, thrashing about.
"Did you catch her?!"
"Caught her! She's here!"
Guards carrying torches came running and surrounded Rose and the man.
"Are you alright?"
"What is going on here?"
The man gasped for breath as he clutched his sleeve. Rose had never even laid a finger on him, yet blood was flowing from his torn sleeve.
"You had a weapon on you. You tried to attack me with it, so I just..."
As Rose's vision grew increasingly dim, the dagger embedded in her chest came into view.
'This is...'
It was clearly the dagger the man had been holding, but before she knew it, it had been disguised as one Rose was holding.
'I've been had.'
The belated realization doused her head like a bucket of ice water.
Rose struggled to lift her head, which kept drooping toward the ground. And she strained her eyes to capture the face of the man who had plunged the dagger into her chest.
'...Joel.'
At that moment, Rose instinctively realized.
...that Joel, the physician who had smiled kindly by Dane's side and assisted him, was the mastermind behind all the incidents.
...that the reason Dane Schmaichel collapsed helplessly on his 22nd birthday was all this man's doing.
'Please.'
If only I were given one more chance.
Then I wouldn't be taken down so helplessly. I would no longer live a miserable life yearning for his love.
I wouldn't... love him anymore.
Thinking that, she closed her eyes with difficulty. Just as she thought that the end of a painful life would be just as painful.
"Rose!"
The sharp voice that always tore her heart to shreds woke Rose up.
"Really, this girl, snap out of it! What are you thinking?"
Vikander Viscountess. It was the voice of the woman who had taken her father's side after her mother passed away.
"Mom, don't be too hard on her. Today's an important day, you know."
The cheerful voice chirping like a nightingale next to her. It was the voice of her younger sister, who had always been eager to do her harm.
'It's that day.'
She had returned to that unforgettable day.
Having heard the news in the morning that she would be entering the Schmaichel family as its 8th wife, she had finished her preparations in a mere few hours and departed for the Schmaichel fief.
She could not rebel or refuse. For Rose Vikander's say within her family was even more insignificant than a drop in the ocean.
'It was the worst day.'
The shabby carriage was terribly uncomfortable, and by the time she got out, her whole body was aching. Despite traveling for such a long time, there was no one there to welcome her.
'His Grace has departed for a mine inspection.'
'Is the water not to your liking? But this is the only thing prepared, so there is nothing we can do.'
An absent master and a stiff butler. Servants who prepared freezing cold water for her wash, and a room where she couldn't find even a speck of sincerity. Everything just said that she was not welcome here.
But she had returned to that day. To the very moment she was boarding the carriage to leave for the Schmaichel fief.
'This... don't tell me.'
She didn't know what was going on, but she could intuitively realize it. That she had returned to the past. That she had been given the chance to live a new life.
Then, what should she do?
'Absolutely.'
Rose thought and thought as she watched the scenery pass by outside the carriage.
'I will absolutely never love him.'
The past her had wasted countless meaningless hours yearning for Dane's love.
It was a foolish thing to do. She wouldn't do that in this life. She would thoroughly eliminate her emotions and act solely for herself.
'It can't be helped. For now, I have no choice but to save him.'
If it was a marriage she had to go through with anyway, she had to utilize the card called Dane Schmaichel to the fullest. More accurately, she would ride on the backing of his family and power.
Dane never forgot a grudge. He was also a person who was clear on rewards and punishments.
'He wasn't the type of person to be cruel even to his savior, after all.'
The vicious grasp of the Vikander Viscountess and her younger sister could not reach here. In this relatively free place, Rose decided to obtain what she needed before leaving.
But.
'Why?'
Why was he out there to greet her? Bringing guards, knights, and even servants along.
He framed it as a welcome ceremony for Rose, dressing up the unusually tense people.
'Why?'
Why was he in the dining hall?
He signaled the head chef, instructing him to serve her delicious food. He even carefully observed whether she was enjoying her meal.
'Just why.'
Just why did he come to the marital bedroom? He acted as if he could see right through her, offering to give her all the wine she wanted if she desired.
Furthermore.
'A contract marriage?'
With this, Rose could achieve a significant portion of what she had in mind.
Rose thought that there was no way Dane Schmaichel would make such a proposal to her. She even suspected that he might be someone else wearing Dane's face.
"Stop crying."
Yes, this. The Dane Schmaichel stammering as he wiped away her tears.
How could something like this happen? If this wasn't a dream, then what was it?