Chapter 1: A Life Filled with Regret

──Ah, what a life filled with regret it had been.

I had hurt countless people and even driven innocent lives to their deaths.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

No matter how many times I uttered words of apology, nothing in reality changed.

There was only despair.

Rashel could do nothing but tremble as she stared at the coachman and maid before her, their bodies stained bright red and unmoving.

She shook her head desperately, struggling to force her limp body to move somehow.

As if mocking her, the large men standing before her wore vulgar, twisted grins.

The bloodstained swords in their hands were just about to be brought down upon Rashel.

───Snap────

At that moment, Rashel’s consciousness faded, and her short eighteen years of life came to an end.

…Or at least, it should have.

♢

When Rashel opened her eyes, she found herself in her usual bedroom in the Marquis household.

Pure white sheets, a soft blanket, and morning light streaming in through the curtains of the large window.

──Why?

How was I saved?

No, I should have died at that time.

On the road to the convent, just before passing through the forest, bandits had appeared and attacked us.

Sarah, the maid who had accompanied her to the convent in tears, saying, “Milady cannot manage without me,” refusing to abandon her until the very end.

And the middle-aged coachman who always wore a warm smile.

They had been dragged into it because of me, and I most certainly died.

I can still vividly recall the stench of blood and the sensation of the sword piercing my chest.

It was thrust straight toward my heart, so there was no way I could have survived that.

Then… was it a dream?

No, it could not have been a dream.

Then why am I alive?

As Rashel’s thoughts churned, a light knock echoed gently at her door.

“Yes,” she replied out of reflex, and the door opened.

This can’t be.

Rashel instinctively covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from screaming.

But her hands would not stop trembling.

Her face was surely pale.

Because the one who had appeared was Sarah, the very maid who was supposed to have been killed alongside Rashel.