And she met Asher and killed him and committed suicide.

After that, the past kept repeating.

When she died and opened her eyes, she kept returning to 16 years old, and kept meeting and killing Asher.

She stabbed him to death with scissors, hit him with a water bottle and stabbed him, took him to the pond saying let’s go for a walk and killed him by submerging his face and suffocating him, pushed him down the stairs to kill him, pretended to accept his proposal and chased after him as he was leaving to kill him, and even secretly kidnapped and tortured him to death by hiring mercenaries who said they wouldn’t refuse dirty work if paid.

She didn’t hesitate to mutilate that beautiful face.

She killed him again and again, kept killing him. She met and murdered him countless times.

Sometimes she went back unconsciously and killed him. She was blinded by the satisfaction of revenge. Killing Asher seemed to be the joy of her life. She knew it was murder but didn’t care.

She killed Asher countless times, too many to count anymore. She tormented him with hatred, recalling the things he had done.

She appeased her anger by watching his dying face. She didn’t know how many times she had killed him. It seemed she had killed him to the point of being sick of it.

When the anger that had burned her heart black began to subside, she suddenly wondered what meaning this had. And she grew sick of it.

‘I don’t want to meet him anymore.’

And when she opened her eyes, she didn’t kill him when she met him again. Looking at the face pretending to be kind and smiling, no emotion arose. Instead, she politely declined his proposal.

“I no longer love you, Your Highness. So I will refuse your proposal.”

Asher was bewildered seeing her indifference, but her resolve was firm. Afterwards, she had a deep conversation with her father who came to see her.

“You’ve been desperately wanting to marry Prince Roel all this time. You wouldn’t eat and just kept crying, may I ask why you suddenly changed your mind?”

“Father. I was too young. I acted immaturely, blinded by love. How happy could I be marrying someone who doesn’t even love me? I no longer want to force my feelings on him or be associated with him. I’m not disappointed or anything. I sincerely want to be happy now.”

“Veronica, my lovely daughter. Someday you will surely meet someone who truly loves you.”

“Yes, Father.”

Her father embraced her and patted her back.

Held in his large embrace, she realized she hadn’t even shared the joy of reunion with her father who had come back to life.

Only then did Veronica feel the joy of her father’s revival with peace of mind. She resolved never to make her father unhappy again.

After that, she lived an ordinary life. It seemed like it had been a long time since she thought of “ordinary”, but it was quite a good life.

When she turned 18, she shared good feelings with a man she met at a social ball.

Because of the memory of being betrayed in love, she couldn’t fully love someone, but he said that was okay.

They exchanged engagement rings right away. She took bridal lessons while waiting for the day to marry that man.

The lessons were actually boring, but even that was nice.

Veronica felt peace for the first time in so long that she couldn’t remember when she had last lived like this.

Having grown into an excellent lady like that, Veronica was about to get married.

It was a somewhat late marriage past the appropriate age, but considering the time she had been with her fiancé, it was an appropriate time.

The families exchanged portraits, and discussed and prepared in advance the marriage procedures, dowry, and property division in case of divorce.

She also had a pretty ceremonial dress made. She whispered childhood memories with her father in front of it. She thought only happiness remained ahead.

But the day before the wedding, soldiers from the imperial palace raided and took her father away. It was on charges of attempting to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor.

The future she thought was over once again loomed before her.

The soldiers thoroughly ransacked the mansion and all the private soldiers were captured. Her ceremonial dress was cruelly trampled under their feet.

The one who informed on her father as the emperor’s assassin was a maid who worked at the mansion. She presented a letter from her father as evidence.

She also falsely testified that he had created a rebel army to seize imperial power.

Their property was confiscated and the family was exterminated. The wedding was canceled. Her fiancé abandoned her. Everyone left her.

At first, she didn’t know what had gone wrong. She just went back to being 16 again and kicked out that maid. She ignored the face crying and begging for forgiveness.

She thought everything would be fine now, but this time a servant informed on her father for forming a rebel army and fabricated evidence.

She went back again and drove out that servant, but afterwards the cook, the butler, the coachman, other maids.

Besides them, many others stole her father’s letters and gave false testimony to exterminate the family.

No matter how many times she went back to the past, the ending was always the same. As if taking her place, betrayers kept appearing.

“Why, why, why on earth!”

Why is it always the same! Why doesn’t it change!

Even though she refused Asher’s proposal and had no contact with him, every time her father was falsely accused and executed, and the family was exterminated.

Asher ascended to the emperor’s throne and she was left alone.

It was always the same. Though the process might change, the ending remained unchanged.

Around that time, she was out of her mind with madness.

She tried everything to save her father and prevent the family’s extermination. Even if she replaced all the mansion staff, betrayers still appeared the same way.

She went to people who could help and begged, but they too were executed along with her father.

She tried to abandon her father and the mansion and live far away.

At her desperate request, her father willingly left.

As they went as far away as possible, the environment became noticeably worse than before, but it was okay.

But even there, her father was captured on false charges of creating a rebel army. Even at that great distance.

Her efforts failed every time. No matter what she did, the future wouldn’t change.

She had to watch her father’s head fall at her feet hundreds of times.

Covered in her father’s blood, she trembled uncontrollably. There was no way she could come to her senses.

She went back to the past countless times, too many to count. At some point she went back even when she didn’t want to.

She no longer wanted to live. But regardless of how she felt, when she died she returned to being 16. So she jumped out the window as soon as she returned many times.

As a result, Veronica did not die.

Even if she hanged herself, stabbed herself with sharp objects, jumped from high places, drowned, had accidents that mangled her whole body. She tried every method to find death, but when she opened her eyes she woke up in her 16-year-old room.

Only then did she realize this endless repetition was a curse.

She opened her eyes and looked down at her dry hands through tangled hair.

Her hands that had become rough and covered in dirt were clean as if it was all a lie.

She was self-sufficient in the faraway place she had fled to. Because she had been poisoned in the previous past.

There were few servants so they had to help each other.

Sweating was unpleasant, and the labor she had never done before was hard, but not bad. Now none of that existed anywhere.

“Why do I have to go through this?”

She had never thought about it before. Why she kept returning to being 16. Why she returned to the moment of receiving Asher’s proposal.

She wanted to end this curse. But she couldn’t find a way. How could she find a way when she didn’t even know how this had happened in the first place.

Then Veronica realized.

The moment she saw Asher standing proudly with her father’s blood on him, she noticed.

The fourth prince who had never received anyone’s attention sat on the imperial throne.

He personally executed the emperor and set out to rectify the corrupt imperial family. He was the hope that appeared on the path of national ruin. He was the savior.

People began to praise him like fanatics.

They said this was the destiny set by God, and acclaimed that God had chosen him as emperor. They sang that God loved him.

Yes, God… doesn’t want your death.

He doesn’t want you to be unhappy.

Only then did she understand. This wasn’t God’s arrangement. It was an opportunity to forgive you who are loved by God, to let go of that hatred and live the next life.

But she had killed him, so she had incurred God’s wrath.

“Ah, ahaha, ahahahaha!”

Left alone again, Veronica clutched her stomach and laughed. She couldn’t hold back her laughter. It was hard to tell if her grimacing face was laughing or crying.

The laughter soon subsided and only an eerie silence lingered.

Veronica cupped her face in both hands. She raised her fingertips and scratched her face. She thought of Asher.

She regrets every moment she met him.

She wanted to tear apart all her memories with him. She engraved the hatred she had tried so hard to erase back into her heart.

She let the blood seeping from her torn flesh flow endlessly.

‘You push me into hell to the very end.’

She came out holding a sword. She ambushed the coronation procession and drew her sword. Of course, she was caught before she could even get close to Asher.

Soldiers who were shocked seeing her face dragged her away. She was imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the imperial palace. That was the last time.

She opened her eyes to face the sickening 16 years old that she no longer knew how many times it had been.

She was dressed up by maids announcing guests had arrived, then headed to the reception room.

Asher was there. The scene she had seen so many times unfolded before her eyes.

“Miss Hardness. I would like to propose to you.”

Asher bowed and politely kissed the back of her hand. Veronica looked at Asher impassively, then moved her lips.

“Prince Asher Roel Diastara.”

“Yes, Miss Hardness.”

“I’m sorry, but I no longer love you, Your Highness.”

“Pardon?”

“I have someone else I admire.”

Asher’s eyes widened at the sudden statement.

Veronica shook off the hand he was holding and turned around. Then she walked towards the man who was watching the situation from a distance.

As she suddenly approached him, the man flustered, unfolded his arms and straightened up.

His displeased furrowed face suddenly relaxed, showing a bewildered expression. Veronica stood in front of that man. She took in his face with her eyes.

The emperor’s illegitimate son. The empire’s fifth prince. But this is how she knew to introduce him.

Asher’s half-brother. His most cherished younger brother.

“Prince Cassian Theron Diastara.”

Veronica held out her hand to Cassian.

“Would you propose to me?”