If I didn’t have a goal, I could have ended the lives of Lahert and Medeia in an instant as soon as I learned the truth. But I didn’t. Because I have a goal.

To save the North and the Northern Grand Duke, Sion Belfast.

And to live a life different from my previous one.

These are things I cannot achieve with the methods I’ve learned and lived by.

Just now, the Northern Grand Duke gave me a lifeline to take that first step. So I must grasp it well.

I don’t want to cause even the slightest harm to the Grand Duke. So now it’s my task to persuade the South.

“Lady Medeia, I hope you won’t lay hands on what’s mine again.”

The Grand Duke said. His lips still wore a smile, but his eyes did not. Medeia trembled at that tremendous pressure.

After the Grand Duke closed the door, only Medeia and I remained in the room.

“Explain what’s going on, Bella.”

Medeia growled lowly.

I knelt on one knee before her. In the same posture I had sat before her just before dying in my previous life.

“My lady, do you believe everything the Grand Duke said? I am still your Bella, and yours alone.”

“Ha, you expect me to believe that now?”

“From age five, when my memories of this life began, you have been my only master. You were the only one in this world who treated me as a person, who called me a friend.”

“What are you trying to say.”

Her voice was still angry, but slightly calmer.

I kept my head bowed and did not relax my posture.

“I thought I wanted to stay by your side as long as I lived. Until the day you reached the highest position.”

“…”

“But… I realized it when the Northern Grand Duke entered this place. I understood as I watched the Southern jasmine being trampled under Northern hooves.”

Recalling the memory of the red victory ceremony she wished to forget, Medeia stiffened.

I bowed my head even lower.

“Perhaps my place is not by your peaceful side. Maybe I need to go somewhere harsher and more dangerous to protect you.”

Medeia’s red eyes searched me.

“Perhaps I cannot raise my master to a higher place without trampling the North.”

“Bella. Speak plainly.”

“I thought as I heard the people’s cheers. The North will become a threat to my master. To defeat them, we must plant our people among them, but it is extremely difficult to plant Southern people among them.”

I lowered my voice as much as possible.

“The Northern visit may be an opportunity given by heaven. How can we not miss this chance? Yes, I could become the Southern person who enters among them.”

I raised my head to look into Medeia’s eyes.

“Let me gain the Northern Grand Duke’s trust. That’s what I thought.”

“Why did you bring up the poison to the Grand Duke?”

“I don’t know all of the Southern Grand Duke and your plans, but there’s nothing to lose by warning about poison. If he’s not poisoned, he’ll think it’s thanks to his own caution, and if he is, he’ll remember me who warned him. Regardless of the outcome, he’ll remember this humble person, so I had to take the gamble.”

“I did not use poison on the Grand Duke.”

“…I suspected as much. It must have been the Grand Duke’s own act.”

“Why didn’t you consult me first?”

“Even if it failed, it should end as my crime alone.”

Medeia was silent for a long time.

I endured that silence. Adding one last thing.

“If you cannot trust me, kill me. I will gladly accept punishment for deceiving my master.”

She fell into deep thought. After a while, she opened her mouth.

“Did you know the Northern Grand Duke would pull something like this today?”

“I was very surprised, but… it’s actually a good thing. Because I can become a double agent.”

“Dou. ble. a. gent.”

Medeia rolled those words on her tongue. As if savoring their taste.

“I can pretend to be on the Northern side and extract their information. That way, can I become someone more helpful to you, my lady?”

I looked up at her questioningly.

She asked me as if testing me.

“Why do you want to help me?”

“I hope for a world where character and ability, not bloodline, qualify one for the throne. The world you will create, my lady.”

I was sincere. The Northern Grand Duke is a person with both character and ability.

Medeia’s red pupils shook greatly. Does she remember that those were her own words?

“It may be words deserving immediate death, but… that is what I think, my master.”

“…What an excellent idea, Bella.”

Her voice trembled slightly. As if choked with indescribable emotion.

“Bella, I’ll discuss your situation with Father once more. To see if we can do that…”

She lowered her voice as much as possible.

“Double agent work without sending you away.”

“That would be best, but I will follow your decision, my lady. Even if I’m discovered and face death, everything will be my sole responsibility.”

“Excellent.”

Medeia seemed sincerely impressed.

She knelt and embraced me. Then she spoke as if pleading.

“Never, ever will I abandon you, Bella. So please, survive.”

After she left, I opened my mouth.

“I’m the one abandoning you, Medeia.”

In a voice too small for anyone to hear, I murmured.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning, someone knocked on my door.

None of the Southerners would knock so politely.

When I opened the door, the Northern Grand Duke was standing there. In very casual attire of tight black pants and a white shirt.

I thought my heart would leap out of my mouth in surprise.

“Wh-what brings you here!”

I barked like a soldier without realizing. Then immediately regretted it.

“I didn’t mean to shout. I’m trying to speak politely. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

Why am I like this…

In front of the Grand Duke, I blurt out nonsense like a broken clock.

I wonder if he thinks I’m an idiot.

“Heh, hahaha.”

For a moment, the Grand Duke burst into laughter. It was brief, but those deep blue eyes revealed a gentle surface towards me.

“Just like a broken alarm clock.”

“Wh-what?”

“Oh, I apologize for the rude remark. I came to tell you that you will be going to the North with me. From today, you are ‘the only one I wanted,’ so you are my subject. That’s why I came personally.”

“…”

“Why are you silent? And what’s with that expression?”

Stammering, I barely opened my mouth.

“Would you… close the door?”

The Grand Duke looked at me with a puzzled expression. But he did as I asked, entering and closing the door.

I collapsed to the floor in that spot.

All strength left my body. Tears streamed down uncontrollably.

The Grand Duke asked in confusion.

“Is coming with me that unpleasant?”

“No, no, that’s not it. It’s not that.”

“…”

“Why me? Why did you save me?”

The Grand Duke’s gaze sank back into the blue lake.

“Save you… Was that what it was?”

Without realizing, snot came out and I wiped my nose with one arm.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm. You seem useful in many ways.”

The Grand Duke lowered his voice.

“You said you received assassin training, right? The North needs capable knights. The more the better. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“I didn’t say I trust you. Not yet.”

He said matter-of-factly.

It seems to be the Grand Duke’s talent to calmly utter words that hurt to hear.

“We depart tomorrow morning. Can you avoid dying or getting injured until then?”

“Of course.”

The Grand Duke nodded at my prompt answer.

“Um, Your Highness.”

I called out to the Grand Duke as he was about to leave.

“What is it?”

“There’s one… thing I’d like to ask.”

“What?”

“Could you take one more person with you? To the North.”

“?”

I removed the blanket covering a corner of the room. Underneath was a yellow caterpillar that had not yet awakened.

Seeing the caterpillar, the Grand Duke looked at me with a face demanding explanation.

“This is a boy Lady Medeia cut out the tongue of and killed on charges of being an assassin. He received assassin training with me… a boy from the North who longed for the North. I don’t even know his name, but I know he’s not the culprit. He took the North’s side and tried to assassinate the black bug- ah! Lord Arcadia. He was punished by that person.”

“I know this child is not the culprit.”

The Grand Duke said heavily.

“So he didn’t die.”

“He’s alive. His breathing is getting stronger.”

“I see.”

“Your Highness, you said you knew he wasn’t the culprit. Was it really your own act?”

I had been curious. So I couldn’t help but ask.

After a moment of silence, the Grand Duke opened his mouth.

“Yes. It was Northern poison I already had. I drank it myself.”

I was surprised.

“But why…”

“To save Arcadia.”

Sion Belfast answered in that same calm tone while looking me in the eye.

I could only swallow my breath. I understood at once what those words meant.

This person risked his own life to save his subordinate.

He knew it was a fight that would be hard to win otherwise.

“A boy from the North, you say. What’s this child’s name?”

“…I don’t know.”

“I see. If he doesn’t have one, I’ll give him one. Make sure he lives, I’ll take him with us.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Remember, I don’t trust you yet. I’ll be watching.”

“Yes.”

I bowed deeply to him.

It’s fine if you don’t trust me.

Because I trust you.

That afternoon, I joined the procession of Northern knights leaving the South.

[Don’t forget your promise to me, Bella. You are my person.]

The words Lady Medeia said one more time when she called me before I left.

Looking back, I could see Medeia standing at a window of the main castle, looking towards me. Pushing the cart hiding the yellow caterpillar, I bowed my head towards the lady. The lady gave a relieved smile.

‘I’m sorry Medeia, but I won’t keep my promise to you. Because I won’t forgive you.’

Turning my head, I saw the procession of Northern knights advancing towards the vast horizon.

In the distance, I could see the back of the Grand Duke at the head of the knights.

I placed my hand on my mother’s dagger hidden at my side. My sword that I had stolen from Medeia’s room before leaving.

‘Mother, I have finally gained freedom. This life, I will live by my own will. I will live by my own choices.’

In the distance, a red sun is rising over the horizon.

Sion Belfast’s black hair fluttered in the wind as he rode a black horse. He looked back.

There were blue eyes holding the sun on that beautiful face shining even brighter in the sunlight.

I spoke to him in my heart.

‘You are the only noble in this empire worthy of your position.’

You who were killed for walking the right path. You who risk your life for your subordinate.

A person who endured a life I wouldn’t dare imitate even if I lived countless lives again.

The shield of the empire. The battlefield hero hated by the emperor.

Perhaps what’s more important than bloodline is the qualifications of a lord.

No matter how many times I’m reborn, I don’t have those qualifications. My sin of killing countless people doesn’t disappear just because I’m a princess.

‘So, Grand Duke Sion Belfast. In this life, I will save you. I will save you and make you the successor to the heirless emperor. Not an evil woman like Medeia, but you who are qualified, I will put on that seat. Until that day, I will become your loyal servant, someone you can gladly entrust your back to.’