Neris Trude woke up from her sleep with tears in her eyes.

The dark prison that reeked of rotting wounds was nowhere to be found. In a small room bathed in sunlight, the scent of geraniums wafted through the window, and the bed, though not plush, was clean.

There was no one in the room. Instead, there were familiar household items she had long forgotten.

A rustic wardrobe and basket adorning the walls of the house her father had built, with the wood grain still visible. Even the old rocking chair her mother often sat in.

Was this a dream? Or was it heaven?

If it was heaven, it couldn’t be more perfect. Neris rolled out of bed and put on her slippers.

Then, realizing that her body size was different from her memory, she examined her arms and legs.

It wasn’t the body of a woman already in her thirties. It was much thinner and smaller, but full of vitality. Just like a young child before starting school.

“Liz?”

At that moment, the door opened, and an adult woman’s voice was heard. It was the very voice she had longed for for so long. Neris cried out and approached the owner of the voice.

“Mom!”

“Sweetie, why are you crying?”

Her mother, who had entered the room wiping her wet hands on her apron, widened her eyes at the sight of her daughter’s tear-stained face.

A mother younger than she remembered. Every time she came home for summer vacation, her mother had looked a little older. Come to think of it, while Neris was away at school, had her mother been constantly threatened?

Threats to hand over her daughter, the owner of the purple eyes.

Her heart ached with guilt. After raising her daughter alone and enduring so much hardship, her mother shouldn’t have met such an end.

Neris hugged her mother, fearing this illusion might disappear, and her mother, as a tangible presence, hugged her back and patted her. Her mother’s embrace carried a familiar scent that she wished to smell forever.

It seemed too clear to be a dream, but could this be real? The prison? Valentine? Where were those filthy traitors?

Neris looked up at her mother and asked.

“Is this heaven?”

Her mother burst out laughing. Then, lovingly kissing Neris on the forehead, she asked with affectionate eyes.

“Does home feel like heaven because you love it so much? You don’t want to go to school?”

Those words were the answer. Yes, it must have all been a nightmare. Such terrible things couldn’t have happened. Neris hugged her mother again and sobbed.

Her mother, bewildered, hugged Neris tighter.

“I’m worried about sending you so far away too. My baby, you’ve only lived with me, and now you’re going to a place with such important people.”

…No, was it really a nightmare after all?

She had clearly heard these words before. In the same voice and the same tone. Neris flinched.

She could vividly recall the despair, anger, and pain she had felt just before dying.

She could recall everything that had happened before that too, as if it had happened just yesterday.

She had never heard of such a dream. Then.

She had returned. For reasons unknown, but she had.

From her mother’s words, Neris was now twelve years old, the age of admission to the Noble Academy that all noble children of the Empire of Vista had to attend. Neris’s fist, clutching her mother’s skirt, turned white.

Soon, she would have to leave for that place.

The Academy, where the initial nightmare had begun.

“Mom.”

Neris looked up at her mother. Seeing her daughter’s careful and sad face, her mother wore a gloomy expression.

At least around this time, the mother and daughter had never faced each other with such sad expressions. Because Neris had been bright and cheerful in her childhood, taking after her mother.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Why hadn’t she known when she was young? Her mother must have been sad and lonely too, sending her only family far away.

Yet she had borrowed money from distant relatives, enduring humiliation, to pay for school fees and send Neris to school. Even though it was the family that had disowned her, saying they would cut ties if she married a mere low-ranking knight.

She believed that school would be beneficial for her daughter’s life.

“You know.”

Yes, she had to go to the Academy. However, this time, she wouldn’t let those hateful people have their way with her.

“Yes, my baby.”

“I love you. I’ll do well and come back.”

Her mother’s face, which had been sad, immediately broke into a broad smile.

As her mother’s bright silver hair gleamed smoothly in the sunlight, for a moment, another person with that silver hair came to mind.

Nelrysion Elandria.

A flash of hatred crossed Neris’s face for a moment. Her mother was startled by her daughter’s expression.

But Neris quickly smiled brightly, pretending as if she had never made such an un-childlike expression.

“When was the departure again?”

“Tomorrow morning. You know you have to wake up early, right?”

“I always wake up early, don’t I?”

Her mother burst out laughing.

“As if you would. You even slept in late today.”

Come to think of it, after being adopted into the Elandria family, Neris had changed her lifestyle habits so as not to bring shame to the Duke and Duchess. She always woke up earlier than anyone else, studied all day, and went to bed later than others.

Nelrysion had teased her in passing that that’s why she wasn’t growing taller. Even though she was already past her growth spurt.

While enduring her lonely life in the imperial palace, such trivial memories had been more precious to Neris than jewels. But now, those memories were nothing but abhorrent.

It would never happen again. Neris spoke softly to her mother.

“I can wake up early if I try. You’ll see tomorrow.”

“Our daughter always does what she says she’ll do, right?”

Her mother whispered gently and rubbed Neris’s back. Then, as if telling her to let go now, she playfully patted her daughter’s bottom twice.

“Alright! Now, shall we pack the rest of your luggage?”

“Yes. I’ll pack now.”

So, please wait for me in good health, Mom.

If I’ve really returned to the past, maybe God has given me a chance to save you.

Inwardly reciting these words, Neris embraced her mother’s warmth one last time.

***

The name of the city where the Academy was located was Caten. It was named after Princess Caterina, who first established the Academy, and it was fitting since the city was maintained solely by the revenue from the Academy’s students and teachers.

After a long carriage journey, when Neris alighted at Caten Station, she saw children around her age.

Neris recognized all their faces, and she felt strange seeing that these children, who had been malicious and cruel when mocking her, now looked much more innocent and timid than she remembered.

Neris, already familiar with the city’s geography, walked confidently and skillfully despite carrying a bag as big as herself. The gazes of children who were looking around, unfamiliar with the surroundings, focused on her.

Firstly, because of her demeanor, and secondly, because of her purple eyes.

Purple eyes were quite rare, but violet-colored ones were still occasionally seen. However, no one present had ever seen irises of Tyrian purple like Neris’s, with their reddish tinge.

Wasn’t it because of the symbolism of the purple eyes that the Elandria ducal family had specifically taken her in as an adopted daughter and sent her as the crown prince’s bride? The symbol of Elandria, one of the three heroes who defeated the evil dragon long ago and established the foundation of the empire.

The current Elandria family claimed to be the legitimate descendants of the hero Elandria, but they had no one with purple eyes.

Neris found it strange that she had purple eyes when even her mother didn’t, but it was possible that she had inherited the trait from a distant relative.

Later, when she turned 18 and her jewel eyes manifested, the gazes upon her became even more intense. Whether in a good way or a bad way.

“Hey!”

An adult woman’s voice was heard nearby. Neris looked around. A fine carriage had stopped by the roadside.

A tall woman got out. Judging by her attire, she seemed to be someone’s maid, but Neris couldn’t remember her. Perhaps she was an attendant of someone about to graduate?

The maid approached Neris and looked down at her, asking. Seeing that she showed no reaction to the purple eyes, she probably wasn’t from a very high-ranking family.

“Do you live around here, child?”

The maid seemed to think Neris was a commoner, seeing that she had no attendants and was carrying a large bag. Certainly, Neris’s current appearance wasn’t very neat due to the long journey.

Neris put down her bag and raised her chin high.

“I am the daughter of a knight. How dare you look down on me and speak so impertinently?”

The maid’s face showed shock. She quickly bent her waist.

“I apologize, young miss.”

A laughing voice was heard from inside the carriage. Shortly after, a girl with a bright smile poked her face out through the open door of the carriage.

The girl with chestnut-colored hair had an unfamiliar face. Neris tilted her head, seeing that the girl seemed to be about her own age.

Of course, Neris didn’t remember every young lady in high society. But if it was someone her age who had been with her from admission to graduation, she should know them all.

According to imperial law, children of nobles in the narrow sense, that is, direct descendants of barons and above, were required to attend the Academy.

On the other hand, nobles in the broader sense, such as collateral relatives of nobles or children of knights, only enrolled if they could afford the tuition and wanted to attend.

Neris fell into the latter category. However, some children in the latter category sometimes disappeared midway through their schooling if they couldn’t afford the tuition.

Was this girl one of those cases?

Just looking at the carriage and the maid’s attire, she seemed to be the daughter of quite a wealthy family. While Neris was pondering this, the maid quickly approached her mistress.

“Young miss, you’ll get hurt.”

“I’m holding on well.”

The girl spoke firmly, as if her pride was hurt, and addressed Neris.

“You’re smart. You speak well.”

“You look smart too.”

Neris replied casually, not knowing what else to say. The girl beckoned to Neris.

“If you’re going to school, let’s go in our carriage. Isn’t your bag heavy?”

“It’s heavy, but I don’t want to be indebted for no reason.”

Although it wasn’t yet the time when the children would ostracize her indiscriminately, as that would come after admission, Neris was habitually cautious.

She had learned, painfully, that she shouldn’t trust anyone.

The girl, unperturbed by the rejection, widened her eyes.

“What’s the big deal, we were going to ask you for directions anyway since we don’t know the way. Are you a second-year student?”

“I’m enrolling today.”

“Just like me! My name is Diane McKinnon.”

“Neris Trude.”

The McKinnon family, though not with a long history, was a family that held significant weight in the upper echelons of society.

By the time Neris became an adult, they would decline, but she remembered that around this time, the McKinnon Trading Company was one of the three major trading companies in the empire.

But had she attended school with the daughter of Count McKinnon? Neris wasn’t sure because she had been so disinterested in her surroundings and only read books in her early school years.

It was only towards the end of her second year that she memorized all the names of her peers. Even then, it took some time studying together to match faces with names.

At least Diane was definitely not among the children who bullied Neris in her upper years.

The McKinnon family’s situation wasn’t bad even until Neris’s death, so how did this child end up quitting school midway?

Anyway, Diane’s proposal to give her a ride in exchange for directions was reasonably fair. The maid kindly took Neris’s bag and passed it to a neatly dressed servant, and Neris skillfully climbed into the carriage.

Once inside the carriage and seated, Neris realized why the maid had overreacted when she saw how Diane sat down. Diane was limping on one leg.

Seeing Neris’s gaze, Diane smiled brightly.

“I have a bit of trouble with my leg. That’s why the adults said they’re not sure if I can continue school life.”

“Why? Does it still hurt?”

“Not really, but they’re still worried.”

Neris roughly guessed the situation. Children instinctively recognize the weak. Perhaps Diane might find it difficult to adapt to school life, though probably not as much as Neris, who lacked family power.

The carriage moved slowly in the direction Neris indicated. Neris quickly took her eyes off Diane and focused her gaze on the approaching school building.