“Sister!”

I snapped out of my confusion at Lin Hwa’s thunderous shout.

“Sister, answer me. Are you deliberately ignoring me?”

That temperament cut the shock of returning to the past in half.

Though still half-confused, I responded with a glare as I always did in the past.

“I’m not ignoring you. And watch your words. Mother told you not to call me sister. What if someone hears?”

It wasn’t out of real concern.

Even with Lin Hwa shouting like this, no one ever discovered my male disguise until I died.

Except for the family members, the emperor, and empress who knew this fact, that is.

But I always nagged Lin Hwa about this back then, so it would be natural to nag this time too.

Lin Hwa crossed her arms and snorted.

“Let them find out if they will. What does it matter? If we’re caught, you’ll be in trouble, not me.”

Having gotten used to a slightly more mature Lin Hwa, seeing her from her unruly days makes me want to give her a smack on the head.

I stared intently at Lin Hwa’s round back of the head, then quickly averted my gaze.

Fighting with my sister right after returning – that won’t do.

“Anyway, I’m warning you. Sister, stop butting in when I’m with Young Master Sun An. Got it?”

Though Lin Hwa was annoying after so long, her words at least let me know how old I’d returned to.

There was a time when Lin Hwa had a crush on my friend Sun An and followed him around. It must be exactly that time.

Let’s see. So that period was… about half a year after the 13th Prince became my disciple. When I was 21 years old.

* * *

After chasing away the quacking Lin Hwa, I returned to my room and recalled my relationship with the 13th Prince during this period.

At age 20, I passed the civil service exam with excellent grades, becoming somewhat of a topic among my peers and ministers.

At the time, I was deeply into travel and exotic cultures, wanting to join the diplomatic corps.

But the emperor unexpectedly appointed me as the 13th Prince’s teacher. The 13th Prince who was only four years younger than me.

I can’t describe how dumbfounded I was when I first heard it. I only learned later that it was the result of the empress’s meddling.

The empress, who was the first to recognize the potential of the 13th Prince whom others treated as a fool, deliberately attached me – who had “no backing, no faction, no experience” – as the 13th Prince’s teacher, both to insult the illegitimate 13th Prince and to nip his potential in the bud.

Since attaching a completely incompetent teacher would be too obviously cruel, they attached me, who had some reputation for passing the exam with high marks at a young age.

The excuse was that “with outstanding scholarship and being close in age to the prince, I would be a unique and good teacher,” but no one believed those pretty words.

In any case, it wasn’t good for either me or the 13th Prince.

For the 13th Prince, my very existence was a means of insulting him, and for me, the 13th Prince was a shackle holding me back and a thorn in my side.

Getting entangled in various incidents as the 13th Prince’s teacher, I came to dislike him even more.

The 13th Prince said I killed him several times in my previous life? If that’s true, it was probably the result of these various emotions worsening.

‘Though I don’t have those memories.’

I took out the jade dice from my hand and rolled them, then slammed them down on the desk with a bang.

Saying “killed” reminded me of when he poisoned me, making my insides boil with resentment.

He said it was revenge on me, but for me who had no memory of killing him, it was truly unfair.

Revenge? Damn it, he doesn’t know how much I suffered in my past life because the 13th Prince participated in the succession struggle.

I had no choice. As the 13th Prince’s only teacher, I was dragged into the dark struggle along with him.

And then as soon as we won, to kill me for revenge for past lives!

Grinding my teeth as I remembered the sensation of poison spreading through my body, I tried to change my mindset for the better.

It’s already in the past. No need to get angry and tired thinking about it. I just need to pay him back the same way.

If I killed him in the life before last, so he killed me in the last life, then in this life I should kill him again.

I snorted and put the dice back in my pocket as I stood up.

I’ve set my goal for this life. Revenge. Yes. I’ll take revenge on the 13th Prince.

Not everything, but I roughly remembered the major events of my past life. I’ll use that information.

In the last life, he knew the future and did everything as he pleased, so in this life, I’ll do the same…

‘No. Wait a minute.’

I was about to open the door and leave, but returned to sit at the desk. Damn it. I just thought of something very important.

‘Did only I return, or did my disciple return too?’

If only I returned, I can take revenge. I can use information about the future.

But if the 13th Prince returned too, it becomes a bit troublesome.

According to him, he’s returned countless times. Of course, he’d know more about the future than me.

Moreover, though he’s in a miserable state now, his status is still higher than mine.

His martial arts skills and cunning, though hidden now, are at an astonishing level.

A chill ran down my spine and goosebumps rose on my arms.

Let’s put revenge aside for now. I need to find out if the 13th Prince returned too, or if I returned alone.

* * *

Checking my schedule, I found that the next day happened to be when I had class with him, so I washed up early in the morning, dressed neatly, and went straight to the palace.

After showing my identity token at the entrance, I hurried towards Hyeonan Palace in the east.

But halfway there, I realized my mistake and changed direction.

Foolish! The 13th Prince is staying in Wolmu Palace at this time. Hyeonan Palace is where the 13th Prince stayed just before becoming emperor, so it belongs to someone else now.

As I hurried along, the contrast between the 13th Prince as emperor and his current situation made my tongue click involuntarily.

The 13th Prince who lived in Wolmu Palace, farthest from Yangneung Palace where the emperor stays, gradually moved towards the center of the palace on his own…

If only he hadn’t killed me, I would have sincerely admired what an amazing prince he was. What a shame.

In the meantime, I finally arrived in front of Wolmu Palace.

Unlike other palaces, there were no guards standing at the entrance of Wolmu Palace.

I too crossed the threshold and entered without needing to announce my arrival to anyone.

‘If my disciple did return, he must have felt bitter seeing this state.’

Signs of life only appeared after passing through the poorly maintained, overgrown courtyard.

“Lord Yo. You’ve arrived.”

It was Gi Yang, my disciple’s palace maid.

If my memory is correct, she dies after being caught as a spy.

‘It feels strange meeting someone who will die in the future. I wonder if my disciple felt this way when he first returned?’

“My lord?”

Gi Yang called out to me, blushing as I stared at her.

Even without my male disguise I have a striking face, but disguised as a man I’m handsome enough to fall for myself in the mirror, so she’s probably blushing because of that.

But I need to be careful. It’s troublesome if a male body is too popular. If a young lady from a noble family takes a liking to me and has her family send a marriage proposal, it would be a big problem.

That’s why in my past life, I deliberately acted like a womanizer. So that any family that might force a marriage proposal would think, ‘I can’t marry my daughter to such a man!’

I’ll have to do the same in this life, right?

“Oh my. Pardon me, Miss Gi. Seeing you made my mind go blank. You’re dazzling every time I see you.”

“My lord is always joking.”

“Could it be that you make my heart light?”

Gi Yang smiled softly and called out loudly towards my disciple’s room.

“13th Prince, Lord Yo has arrived.”

Nodding to her, I entered that room I used to visit daily before.

Opening the door and pulling back the thick curtain, I saw my disciple just getting up from his desk.

Not the dignified and mature appearance I saw before dying, but a fresh face revealing his seventeen years.

“Teacher.”

But that voice was the same now as before. As always, my disciple greeted me warmly when he saw me.

“You’re early today.”

The moment I heard that voice, my proud heart instantly shriveled.

My fingertips trembled involuntarily. The image of him handing me the poisoned bowl kept flashing in my mind.

‘No. How can I be scared already? I need to check if my disciple returned or not first. If he returned too… I need to be more careful. My disciple must not know that I’ve returned.’

I put my hands behind my back as if clasping them and forced a smile.

“It’s a nice day.”

“Yes. It is a nice day.”

His voice being exactly the same as when he whispered just before dying gives me chills. That terrifying feeling as I was dying vividly came back to life.

Feeling like even my lips might tremble, I quickly walked forward.

Though a teacher is higher than a disciple, since that disciple is royalty, when we had lessons we sat at two desks of the same size facing each other.

I went to my desk and deliberately bent over pretending to look through the drawer to hide my face.

In that position, I rummaged through the desk while barely regulating my breathing.

Don’t act stupidly. Act sharp. Yo Yohwa. You don’t know yet if the 13th Prince is still an innocent seventeen-year-old prince, or a cunning snake who’s returned many times.

‘Let’s hope for the former.’

As I was praying inwardly, the sound of wood scraping came from across. Even though it wasn’t close, that sound made my skin crawl.

I took something random out of the drawer and put it on the desk, then looked across with as composed a smile as I could manage.

The wood scraping sound was from my disciple pulling out his chair.

My disciple smiled at me and sat down, and I too sat in my seat.

Then another crisis came. Now that we’re sitting face to face. I couldn’t remember at all what lessons I taught during this period.

No matter how good my memory is, I can’t remember every single daily routine, right?

But… that’s for me, so why is my disciple acting like that? Just like me, he’s only staring at me blankly. He’s not opening any books.

Finding that strange, I stared blankly for a while. My disciple looked at me and asked, tilting his head.

“Where are we starting today’s lesson, Teacher?”

The moment I heard that question. I realized. That bastard returned too! It wasn’t just me who returned!

There was no doubt. Just as I suddenly returned to the past and couldn’t remember where we were in the lessons, that bastard also forgot where we were supposed to start learning.

He’s returned many times so he probably knows more about the past than me, but he still can’t remember every single detail of the lesson progress.

The moment I realized that, a chill ran down my spine.

Revenge? Taking revenge for him killing me? Absolutely impossible. What good is it if I know the future? My opponent knows even more than me.

Moreover, his desire for revenge after being killed multiple times is probably even greater than mine after being killed once.

“Teacher?”

As I was trying hard to calm my shaking heart, my disciple called out to me, narrowing his eyes.

I managed to open my mouth.

“Today’s lesson… will start from where we left off last time.”

For the first time, a troubled look flashed across my disciple’s face that had been smiling kindly.