I Just Raised Men for Revenge (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16

Afraid of being discovered, she shouted in panic, but the Emperor remained resolute.

“So… Elzer, you should have been a bit more careful. If you hadn’t been in such a rush to kill the Marquis, I wouldn’t have had to investigate this matter—and I wouldn’t have had to send you to the executioner. You were truly… a foolish woman.”

“Executioner? Are you really going to kill me now?”

“Of course. But don’t worry—I’ll make sure to kill my traitorous younger brother along with you.”

“W-wait, are you seriously going to kill me?”

But her words fell on deaf ears. No matter how much Elzer denied it, the Emperor refused to believe her. The more she protested, the more amusedly he laughed.

“For poisoning your own kin and framing Sesenia to disgrace me, the Emperor, you shall be sentenced to death.”

That was the end of it. Elzer’s execution came even faster than Sesenia’s. She wasn’t even granted a chance to defend herself. Before carrying out the sentence, the Emperor cut out her tongue so she couldn’t speak at all. She was executed alongside Ian.

And when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to this time.

“I can… start over again.”

Elzer rejoiced, believing the gods had finally granted her another chance.

Now, she could undo everything. Pondering what had gone wrong, only one thought filled her mind: all of this had happened because she hadn’t taken control of the Marquis’s household from the very beginning.

The Marquis’s household had always been hers by right. Taking back what was originally hers would solve everything.

Thus, she purchased Hephria cotton, just as Sesenia had done in the past.

“But—why, why is Sesenia here too?”

Everything had been perfect. The gods had finally given her a second chance—a chance to craft a flawless future once more. Yet Sesenia was here as well.

“No. This time… I’ll just kill her quickly. Actually, I don’t even need to kill her. I’ll simply do exactly what she did and claim it all for myself. After all, I’m smarter than Sesenia, and Father loves me more. There’s nothing to fear.”

Elzer forced a smile, pushing aside her unease.

“Everything will be fine. I just need to recover what was once mine, one item at a time.”

Rising again from her seat, Elzer curled the corners of her lips into a grim, unsettling smile.

“In the end, everyone will love me. Unlike you, Sesenia—I was born to be loved.”

Having finally regained her composure, she immediately stepped outside.

**

Time flowed swiftly.

Two weeks had passed since that day. The sudden cold snap that had arrived days earlier left the Empire in uneasy tension. Lizbet gently draped a shawl over Sesenia’s shoulders as she gazed out the window. The air was so cold it formed mist with every breath.

“The time has come, it seems.”

“People will start looking for Hephria cotton now, won’t they?”

“Yes. Even if we don’t act, Elzer older sister will move first.”

“What kind of move?”

Crackle, crackle. Lizbet, having loaded the fireplace with logs due to the abrupt chill, poked at the burning wood with a poker as she asked.

“She’ll launch a full campaign touting how wonderful Hephria cotton is.”

In the past, Sesenia had never done that. Even without promotion, demand for Hephria cotton had surged silently—customers had flooded in without her needing to exert any effort.

But Elzer had already begun spreading word-of-mouth claims that everyone ought to prepare for the cold by securing Hephria cotton early.

Since she now held all the Hephria cotton Sesenia had failed to purchase before, it was obvious how eager she’d be to spread rumors.

Through this, she intended to elevate her family’s status, just as Sesenia had done in the past—ultimately, to seize the Marquis’s household entirely for herself. Her strategy was painfully transparent.

Knowing this, Sesenia quietly kept her gaze fixed on the window.

Frost had settled on the glass.

Watching it, Sesenia sat still, waiting for news. And just as expected, Elzer began spreading word about Hephria cotton throughout the Empire.

As a result, demand for Hephria cotton skyrocketed. Since all available stock couldn’t meet the demand, people rushed to buy it up immediately.

But with supply blocked, further purchases became impossible.

Exactly one week later,

Elzer stormed into Sesenia’s room, fuming with rage.

“You wretched girl!!”

Sesenia, sipping tea at the table, tilted her head in confusion as she looked up.

“Sister, what’s wrong? Why are you so angry?”

“It’s you! You’re the one behind this, aren’t you!?”

“What did I do? Did something happen?”

“Look at you pretending ignorance! It was you! You sabotaged my cotton!!”

At that, Sesenia simply shrugged, wearing an expression of genuine bewilderment.

“Sabotage? I didn’t do anything. Did something happen? Oh—did mold grow on it or something?”

“There! You admit it! That’s how I knew—you knew all along!!”

Sesenia clicked her tongue, watching Elzer’s earsplitting shouts.

“That’s precisely why I knew. Anyone with even basic knowledge about Hephria cotton could predict this outcome.”

“What?”

“You’re truly dense. Simply copying what I did won’t work. You should’ve at least understood what Hephria cotton actually is. Instead, you blindly copied everything I did without understanding, obsessed only with taking what I had—and now look where it’s gotten you.”

Elzer’s face flushed crimson. The very day she’d heard Elzer had bought Hephria cotton—or rather, the day Sesenia realized Elzer had also returned through time and was now copying her past actions to claim everything as her own—she’d already foreseen this outcome.

She’d known Elzer would rush to imitate without truly understanding.

She’d known Elzer would focus solely on acquisition, as she always had. Though others had helped her maintain a decent reputation, Elzer had always been foolish—and nothing had changed.

‘Predictable as ever.’

Hephria cotton required special care. Teddy’s regular routine—beating the cotton periodically—was essential to maintain air pockets within, preventing mold. If kept in warm places or left unattended, it quickly became unusable.

Worse, once mold took hold, it absorbed so much moisture that it became heavy, turning into a worthless, troublesome mess.

And everything unfolded exactly as Sesenia had expected.

Behind Elzer, Lizbet stood with a faint, satisfied smile.

On the day Lizbet had especially worried about Sesenia, Sesenia had confided in her: “If it’s Elzer—if she’s busy copying everything I do—she’ll fail to maintain the cotton properly, and mold will appear. So don’t worry.”

“What are we going to do? It’s completely unusable now. It’s lost all commercial value… This is a disaster.”

“That’s something you should’ve figured out yourself!!”

“Why should I? I assumed you knew everything since you were copying everything I did. Who’d have guessed you’d only mimic the surface?”

“Hey!”

“What? I told you—you should’ve exercised some restraint. You were acting like you’d already won. Look at you now. You must’ve suffered a huge loss.”

Sesenia lifted her teacup and drank noisily, slurping deliberately. Seeing this, Elzer trembled with fury—drinking tea audibly was a clear sign of disrespect, a breach of etiquette.

But Elzer was in no position to correct her.

“You… you really…!”

“You’ll have a hard time recovering from this. You wanted to swallow up the Marquis’s household—how can you possibly manage it like this? With your family’s fortune already declining… such a massive loss. What will you do?”

“…”

“Did you at least stock up on firewood? If the cotton’s ruined, you should’ve bought firewood instead.”

“I… I…”

“What? Did you deliberately avoid buying firewood, thinking you’d beat me by flooding the market with cotton the moment you heard I’d purchased firewood?”

Elzer’s face turned deathly pale once more. How could she keep moving exactly within Sesenia’s predictions?

‘How foolish… and amusing.’

After realizing Elzer had also returned through time, Sesenia had immediately sought out the Marquis, requesting additional support. She then bought extra firewood and specifically asked the Marquis to ensure Elzer learned about it.

Elzer, in her usual fashion, would then scheme: holding onto Hephria cotton would drive up firewood prices. Conversely, flooding the market with cotton early would cause firewood prices to plummet.

[“Sesenia, as in the past, has bought large quantities of firewood and will hoard the cotton—this will boost profits from firewood and multiply the value of her cotton.”]

Based on this assumption, Elzer resolved to do the opposite this time.

By releasing her cotton early at reasonable prices, she expected firewood prices—purchased by Sesenia through her father’s influence—to crash dramatically.

Firewood was most expensive just before winter. So Elzer planned to dominate the market by quickly releasing her cotton before Sesenia could and simultaneously drive down firewood prices to inflict maximum damage on Sesenia.

Knowing this, Sesenia had specifically instructed her father to mention the firewood purchase—certain Elzer would resort to this obvious ploy.

And, as expected, Elzer played right into her hands.

“…How… how can this be happening…!”

“That’s why you need to think for yourself, using your own head—not just blindly copy others. Because you refused to use your brain, obsessed only with mimicking me and trying to ruin me, you’ve ruined yourself instead.”