“Stop.”

The person who prevented Baron Dollion from trampling Amy was Lady Esmaine. She narrowed her eyes and spoke to her brother.

“Why waste energy on someone who’s going to die anyway?”

“But sister…”

“Leave her be if she doesn’t want to speak.”

As Lady Esmaine spoke dismissively, Baron Dollion’s voice rose to nearly a shout.

“What? No, sister. You don’t understand, this is very important…”

“That’s why I’m telling you to leave her alone.”

Lady Esmaine cut off her brother’s words, snapped her fan shut, and looked at Amy with a bright smile.

Amy bit her lip with an ominous feeling. Lady Esmaine tilted her head and spoke sweetly.

“Tell the guard when you want to open your mouth. We’ll wait.”

“Sister!”

“Let’s go, Baron Dollion.”

The lady dragged her brother out of the prison and gave special instructions to the guard.

“Don’t give her anything until she talks. No food, and no water either.”

“!”

“When she truly feels like she’s about to die, give her just a little. Just enough to keep her alive.”

Lady Esmaine turned to Amy and smiled brightly once more.

“I have plenty of time, so I can wait as long as it takes.”

Lady Esmaine was cruel. The guard who received her orders was the same.

Amy went without food for over ten days. Her broken ankle that hadn’t received treatment, along with hunger and thirst, was incredibly painful. But she didn’t reveal anything about the Second Prince or the jewel. Even though the Crown Prince, who supposedly liked her so much, had betrayed her so easily, she didn’t want to preserve her life in such a way.

When she felt like she was really going to die, some watery porridge was brought in. If she ate this, the painful time would repeat again.

She knew this in her head, and desperately wanted to just die like this, but Amy found herself burying her face in the bowl and eating frantically without realizing it.

She had been keeping herself alive like this for about 3 years. It was 3 years that passed excruciatingly slowly.

During that time, the guard was very talkative. He constantly chattered to Amy about what was happening in the outside world. It was annoying, but she listened attentively to forget the pain.

There were many interesting stories, so it wasn’t difficult. Moreover, since he knew someone whose child lived in the north, she often heard stories from there as well.

But that was only for a day or two… Later, it felt like he was forcibly opening her ears and pounding the stories in.

Lady Esmaine, who used to come often to mock Amy, seemed to have forgotten about her at some point. Eventually, she became emaciated and slowly starved to death.

Even when her mind was fading and she was just lying on the floor gasping for breath, Baron Dollion, still not tired, came to threaten her by holding the jewel in front of her face.

“If you tell the truth, I’ll at least spare your life. Where did you get this?”

“…Where did you learn to speak? A wild boar speaks better than a person?”

“Ugh!”

When the end was near, she couldn’t move a finger. Her body felt like a doll made of sand. If touched, it would crumble…

One day, her tongue was forcibly cut out so she could no longer speak. The next day, Lady Esmaine appeared with the Crown Prince to remind her that she had been abandoned.

Even when she was suffering in pain more unbearable than death, Baron Dollion unfailingly appeared to press Amy.

“Tell me where it came from! Speak!”

Amy’s bony fingers began to slowly trace letters on the dirty stone floor.

“…Shut…”

“!”

Thinking she was finally going to confess, Baron Dollion’s face lit up. He released Amy’s collar, which he had been gripping, and eagerly watched the tip of her finger.

The skeletal finger finally completed the sentence.

“Shut… up, you wild boar.”

“…Aaargh!”

Just as Baron Dollion was about to strike Amy with his fist in anger.

Bang, rumble.

Suddenly, the prison shook violently. Stone dust fell from the ceiling and the floor trembled. It seemed like an earthquake, or an explosion had occurred. The guard and the baron, pale-faced, hurriedly ran outside…

Thud, roll roll roll.

The jewel that was in the baron’s hand fell and rolled towards Amy. Baron Dollion hesitated, then turned to pick it up. At that moment, the ground shook again.

Rumble.

There was a sound like thunder, and this time the stone floor cracked with a snap. Thinking he might die trying to get the jewel, Baron Dollion fled this time without looking back.

“Ha, I guess I’ll die with the jewel after all…”

Amy blinked weakly, lying on the shaking ground. At the edge of her vision was the jewel that had rolled to her fingertips. As it seemed to sparkle unusually brightly and Amy painfully tried to bring her finger to it,

Crack!

A fist-sized stone fell from the ceiling and shattered the jewel. Amy stared blankly at the powdered jewel and felt her vision spin.

“Ah.”

She sensed it. That this was her last moment…

Amy’s painfully outstretched finger touched the jewel’s powder. The next moment, Amy breathed her last.

“Ah…”

When she opened her eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. It was the inn where she had checked in late last night.

She raised her upper body, staggering. When she swept her forehead with her hand, sure enough, it was drenched in cold sweat. Sighing, she put her feet on the floor below the bed.

‘It was nice not having them for a while.’

In the early days after the regression, she often dreamed of the moment of her death. Each time, her physical condition would hit rock bottom, making it difficult. But as she made plans for the future and went to the Second Prince, they gradually decreased, and recently she had hardly dreamed at all…

‘Did I let my guard down?’

She slowly stood up and went to the porcelain jug on the table, pouring water into it. Then she washed her face for a long time. The cold water touching her face made her mind clear.

As she wiped her face with a towel, she pondered.

‘Was it because hearing about the First Prince made my past life feel real?’

She sighed involuntarily, wondering if she would continue to be haunted by these dreams. As she tried to recall the dream, her stomach suddenly twisted and began to ache heavily.

“I’m hungry…”

Amy hastily grabbed the robe hanging on the screen and shoved her body into it. She neatly arranged her disheveled hair, tying it up, and hurriedly left the room and went down the stairs.

Perhaps because it was past breakfast time, there weren’t many people in the first-floor hall. Noah, sitting in a spot where the stairs were clearly visible, spotted Amy and waved his hand vigorously.

“Amy! Over here!”

“Was I late? I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

As Amy quickly approached and murmured words of apology, Noah opened his eyes wide and shook his head hurriedly.

“N-no, that’s not it. I was the one who told you to rest well. Joseph only came down a little while ago too.”

Joseph, suddenly brought into the conversation, flinched. A brief moment of indignation flashed across his face, but unlike the head maid, he meekly lowered his eyes when he saw his new, not-so-easy-going master glaring at him.

“Yes. Since you’re not late, please have your meal.”

“See?”

Noah excitedly pulled Amy to sit in a chair. Then he gestured towards the kitchen. The inn’s servers then began bringing out dishes filled with food and placing them on the table.

“Your Highness, haven’t you eaten yet?”

Seeing the amount that looked easily enough for two people, Amy asked in a whisper, but Noah shook his head.

“I ate. This is all for Amy.”

“But…”

As she looked around the table with a gloomy gaze, wondering how she could possibly eat all this, Noah said from beside her,

“And it’s Noah, not Your Highness.”

“…Ah, yes. I’ll be careful.”

“Okay. Eat up.”

As Noah grinned, Joseph cautiously spoke from the side.

“Noah seemed to have a poor meal… I thought you two were going to eat together.”

“You shouldn’t eat like that.”

Surprised, Amy quickly placed a spoon in Noah’s hand. Noah glared at Joseph with tightly pursed lips. Startled by the sharp gaze, Joseph bowed his head deeply. Then he mulled over what he had done wrong.

Noah turned his head to look at Amy.

“Then let’s eat together.”

“Yes.”

Amy took a spoonful of stew with meat and tomatoes. Eating the hot food settled her stomach, and the unpleasant feeling from the dream mostly dissipated. As her spoonfuls quickened, Noah smiled contentedly.