Chapter 10: A Familiar Encounter

Selonia glanced at the entourage who had accompanied the princess and duchess of the Telu’a Kingdom, then veered away.

Her destination was the cluster of attendants and knights loitering nearby, as it would have been awkward for them to join the tea party.

“Guests, please follow me. I will escort you to the waiting room.”

As this was merely a gathering to foster goodwill, not a formal conference, the Telu’a knights and attendants had no duties until the tea party concluded.

Selonia, having led them to a temporary waiting room near the garden, gestured politely towards the prepared tea and refreshments.

“If you wait here, a palace attendant will inform you when the tea party concludes.”

After watching them nod in acknowledgment, Selonia stepped out and gently closed the door.

She continued her slow walk down the corridor, her guard still up, when she sensed quiet footsteps following close behind. Unconsciously, she clenched her palms, now slick with perspiration.

Just as she anticipated, a low, unsettling voice drifted from behind her.

“Hey, Lady.”

Selonia slowly halted, then turned to identify the speaker. A man, unfamiliar to her, entered her line of sight. He appeared to be in his early thirties and wore the distinctive uniform of a Telu’a Kingdom knight.

“What is it you need?”

Selonia asked, feigning ignorance of his unsettling gaze that seemed to rake over her from head to toe. The man, however, appeared to have no intention of concealing his base desires.

He stepped so close that she could feel his breath, then lowered his head, his eyes gleaming as he stared at her.

“Are all the women of the Empire this beautiful?”

“……”

At his words, Selonia’s sky-blue eyes deepened. It was exactly the same: the man’s voice and words, which had once pursued her, pestered her, and caused her such distress in her memories.

As she stood frozen, her heart thrumming so loudly it echoed in her ears, the man seemed emboldened by her silence and smirked.

“I’m rather bored with simply waiting, so it would be delightful if you would spend some time with me.”

His hand, hovering near, twitched as if poised to caress her hair. Selonia instinctively recoiled, her expression hardening as she fixed him with a resolute gaze.

“Please maintain your decorum. This is not the Telu’a Kingdom.”

Unlike her past memory, where she had been too flustered to utter a word, she spoke firmly now. Yet, the man showed no sign of retreating. As she turned to exit the corridor, he swiftly stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

“Ha. Decorum? If you knew who I was, Lady, your opinion would surely change.”

“No matter who you are, my opinion will not change.”

She retorted coldly, but after a moment of surprise, the man merely offered a suave smile. A faint flicker of dismay crossed Selonia’s face at his unexpected persistence.

The man then stretched out an arm, blocking her passage, and whispered.

“I’m not usually this forward, but I was utterly captivated by you at first sight, Lady. Give me just a little time, and I could make you feel the same.”

“……”

“I hadn’t meant to reveal this, but my family is the Vasquez Ducal Family. What do you say? Surely, pursuing a duchess of the kingdom is more advantageous than a paltry noble family of the Empire?”

Her silence, it seemed, was mistaken for assent, as the man drew even closer. When his hand reached out, poised to grasp her shoulder, Selonia reflexively dodged sideways.

She glared at the man, her voice a cold warning.

“Stop this at once.”

“Hey. We’re here for diplomatic exchange; there’s no need to cause a scene, is there? I just want to amuse myself for a moment.”

In her past life, she had believed her predicament stemmed from her own inadequate response, but now she understood that wasn’t the truth.

Any forceful reaction she made would undoubtedly be perceived by this man as mere playful resistance.

Noticing her voice, which was calm yet beginning to tremble, the man burst into a derisive laugh and swiftly seized Selonia’s arm.

“Let go of me at once!”

“Your frightened face is even more enticing, isn’t it?”

It was clear that reasoning with him was utterly futile. Selonia bit her lip, then let out a sigh, her resolve hardening as she struggled to escape the man’s tenacious grip.

In her previous life, she had been too terrified of expulsion from the imperial palace to properly resist, but this time, things were different.

She drew a deep breath, preparing to scream with all her might. To escape the man’s repulsive grasp, she knew she needed to unleash a cry loud enough to reverberate through the entire corridor.

***

Before her voice could erupt, a chilling voice cut through the air from directly behind her.

“Remove your hand.”

“Who are you— Aagh!”

A short, yet undeniably forceful, voice resonated low in the corridor. Before she could even turn to face the speaker, a cry of agony erupted.

Her eyes widened as she looked ahead, witnessing the man’s wrist grotesquely twisted within a large, powerful hand.

“My wrist!”

“Scream again, and I’ll snap your neck right along with it.”

“Hmph. Ugh. Do you know who I—!”

“And do you know who I am?”

The man, who had been on the verge of shouting, instantly clamped his mouth shut at the imperious voice. This was a stark contrast to how he had brazenly ignored Selonia’s every sharp rebuke.

Whimpering and shedding copious tears, the man cast a terrified glance behind her, his face ashen, then fled without a backward look.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to escape a difficult situation.”

Selonia, who had been watching the man disappear into the distance with a bewildered expression, turned back with words of gratitude.

Her complexion instantly blanched as she looked upon the owner of the voice, which had sounded eerily familiar.

“Are you alright?”

“……”

The man, draped in a crimson cloak over a crisp uniform, asked again, his voice considerably softer. Yet, she found herself utterly unable to reply.

Beneath his jet-black hair, amethyst eyes shimmered, and an intimidating aura of dignity emanated from his lean, powerfully built physique.

It was Kylos, Grand Duke Lahardian, the formidable ruler of the North.

An inexplicable wave of confusion washed over her. Her body began to tremble, as though a fierce winter wind and a scorching blaze capable of incinerating bone swirled within her.

Princess Consort Camilla was the sister of the late Grand Duchess, who had succumbed to illness prematurely, making Camilla Kylos’s aunt.

Consequently, whenever the Grand Duke visited the imperial palace, he would call upon the Princess Consort’s chambers to pay his respects.

After Selonia became the Princess Consort’s lady-in-waiting, she frequently found herself encountering Grand Duke Lahardian in this manner.

Why had she, like a fool, failed to remember this crucial detail? That day, the one who had come to her aid in her moment of distress was none other than Grand Duke Kylos Lahardian.

The very man who had later vehemently argued for her execution by fire, ultimately condemning her to the pyre, had once stood as her rescuer.

Her body frozen, Selonia’s gaze remained fixed on Kylos.

Seeing him appear slightly younger than in her final memory, she saw his face from the pyre superimposed over his current features—the face that had looked up at her through the flames, shouting something with an unreadable, complex mixture of emotions.

“Are you alright? You look quite unwell.”

Selonia’s unmoving, fixed stare seemed to trouble Kylos, whose expression grew increasingly stern.

His eyes, sharp as honed blades, narrowed, and his subtly glowing amethyst irises slowly scrutinized her, as if searching for something profoundly amiss.

“I, I am…”

Under his intense gaze, she belatedly realized she had been standing there, utterly blank.

Barely regaining her composure, she attempted to speak, but her mind had gone completely numb, leaving her only able to stammer.

Her rigid body suddenly gave way, causing her to lose her balance and sway precariously.

“Lady Brienne.”

Kylos, his brow furrowed, reached out an arm as if to steady her, but her instincts were faster. She swiftly retreated from his proximity, stumbling backward, her shoe heels clattering sharply against the cold stone floor.

“I’m, fine.”

Her unmistakable rejection caused Kylos’s eyes to waver. She smoothly retracted her hand, then bowed her head to the man who watched her with an unreadable expression.

“I must have been… too startled. Thank you again for your assistance, Your Grace.”

Though she stammered awkwardly, Kylos seemed to find her explanation sufficiently convincing. He averted his scrutinizing gaze from her, then deliberately took a step back, creating distance, before speaking.

“I will report his insolence to Her Highness.”

Even with the increased distance, his gaze lingered, as if still fixed intently on her. In her previous life, she had adamantly refused, claiming it was unnecessary, but this time, there was no need for such a refusal.

With a slight nod of gratitude, she cautiously stepped forward, passing Kylos.

She did not hear his footsteps until she had left the corridor. Selonia, returning to her room as if fleeing, closed the door and immediately leaned against the wall, exhaling sharply. Her heart was still pounding wildly.

Now, she understood clearly. The past events stored in her memory were repeating themselves, not exactly identically, but following the same pattern.

‘Regression…’

It seemed certain that she had been granted a second life. Had the gods taken pity on her, unjustly burned at the stake, and turned back time?

If so, what should she do now? Her heart urged her to immediately quit her lady-in-waiting position and flee somewhere far away.

However, before acting on such an impulse, there was something she absolutely had to confirm.