episode_0003

The moment she opened her eyes, she knew.

“Ah…”

The opulent mansion ceiling, untouched by ruin. The mana within her, far from sufficient. And… her chest, not as full as it once was.

It wasn’t hard to compare this mansion and Christine herself to the world she remembered and draw a conclusion.

Regression.

She had thought it was something only found in legends that began with “Once upon a time,” but now that she was the one experiencing it, she felt oddly dazed.

Just in case, Christine hurriedly looked around the mansion.

“Oh! Lady Chris. You’re awake.” “Good morning, my lady!” “Did you sleep well, Lady Chris?”

Everything was the same. The kind maids, the head butler who always checked on her well-being. Even the chef, who would secretly place an extra cherry on her pudding, whispering, “It’s our secret.”

Thank goodness.

The pocket watch Eric had given her had truly worked a miracle.

Eric.

What about Eric?

If she had regressed, that meant he was still in this mansion too.

The moment she realized it, Christine’s feet were already moving.

“Hah… hah… hng…”

She had to stop after running only a short while.

Was it because she had returned to the past? Her mind screamed that she could keep running forever, but her body wouldn’t cooperate.

The physical abilities she had gained through training with Lu were gone, returning to their original state. Logically, she knew it was to be expected, but frustration welled up uncontrollably.

“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”

“My, my.”

As she grumbled and ran recklessly, someone gently caught her just as she was about to lose her balance and fall.

“What’s gotten into you? I’ve never seen Lady Christine act so carelessly before.”

A brown-haired maid looked at her with a puzzled expression.

It was Anna—Eric’s assigned maid.

“Ah, Anna! Perfect! I need to ask you something. What’s today’s date?”

“Huh? Well…”

The date Anna gave was years before the last one Christine remembered.

Just as she thought.

“Then, what about my brother?”

“Pardon?”

“…Eric, I mean.”

“Ah! You mean that brute!”

Anna clapped her hands together.

“My lady, really—there’s no need to worry about him! He’s just as he’s always been. If Mr. Jubeju hadn’t stumbled upon him by chance, who knows? There might’ve been a giant tunnel dug behind the mansion by now!”

“Ah…”

“In the end, we threatened to cut his meals again today. Like an animal, he finally calmed down. Even he wouldn’t want to go hungry for three whole days. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He seemed fine when he was younger.”

Fine?

Of course he wasn’t fine. If he had seen that thing, staying sane would’ve been the real madness.

Only now, after regressing, did Christine finally understand.

All of Eric’s insane words, all his bizarre actions—everything.

Because the future she had experienced before regression was a horrific place.

And yet, Anna—no, everyone now—called Eric a brute. A beast.

Because she had called him that.

Because Christine Grave, the hope of the Grave family, had said so.

Even his own parents had given up on him, calling him mad. To the rest of the family, the words of a well-behaved, clever orphan would naturally carry more weight than those of the eccentric heir who had caused nothing but trouble since childhood.

Desperate not to return to hell, Christine had worked tirelessly to earn her place in the family. But once she was recognized, what filled the void left by that passion was arrogance and envy.

No matter what anyone said, Eric was the legitimate heir of the Grave Ducal House. No matter how exceptional she was, if he were even average, the title of family head would still go to him.

That was why she had resorted to something as simple as starving him—a desperate measure. That was why she had deliberately undermined him.

Because nothing else had worked.

Not sermons, not labor, not even discipline or punishment.

No matter what trials she set before him, he endured them all with that unyielding gaze. And the more she saw it, the more she wanted to break him.

If only she had realized the resolve behind that will a little sooner—

“Ugh…”

Swallowing the rising self-loathing, Christine asked,

“So, is he in his room right now?”

“Yes… But if I may, my lady, please don’t go near him.”

“Thanks for telling me!”

“Huh? W-Wait! My lady! It’s dangerous! He’s like a wild animal—!!”

What nonsense.

No—of course they’d think that way.

Tap-tap-tap-tap—

“I’ve seen the future.”

That was what Eric had said when she had screamed at him, demanding to know why he acted the way he did.

Knowing the future was an overwhelming advantage.

And given how unstable it was, of course keeping it to himself would’ve been the smarter choice.

If Eric had just kept his mouth shut and avoided getting involved with them, he could’ve easily secured his own safety.

But he had told them. He had shared his secret.

And in return, everyone had called him mad. No one believed him.

“What a fucking idiot I was…”

She mocked herself.

Eric had proven it time and time again.

And each time, a voice in her head had told her not to believe him.

It had felt like something guiding and controlling her—yet also like a sweet, irresistible temptation.

She could’ve resisted it if she’d wanted to.

But she hadn’t.

She had stubbornly refused to accept that Eric—someone like him—could be special. That someone like him could’ve been given such a gift.

“Say whatever you want. But if you don’t drink this beast’s blood, Anna will—”

“Stop bothering me and get lost!”

Anna had died. By the time it was discovered that the “blood” Eric had mentioned was the cure for the plague that would later spread, it was already far too late.

“Are you trying to bring the whole mansion down?”

“What’s beneath it is important.”

The mansion had collapsed in an instant. The Grave Ducal House, built atop a demonic vein, and all the servants within it became perfect offerings for the Demon King’s army.

“Just believe me this once…”

“This time, I swear—”

“Chris!”

“Chris—”

“Shut up!”

By the time he stopped calling her name and simply followed silently behind everyone, Christine had become a proud member of the Hero’s Party.

Alongside him—the burden, the family’s problem child.

The contrast was amusing: her, a distinguished member of the Hero’s Party, and him, her mad older brother. The difference in their statuses—commoner and noble—made for an entertaining story.

The commoners of the kingdom admired her as a role model, while the nobles held him up as a cautionary tale.

He wasn’t part of the Hero’s Party, yet he followed them anyway, meddled in their affairs, and then died—just like that.

Why?

Why had Eric—no, why had her brother gone that far?

There was no reason for him to devote himself so utterly to someone like her.

There was nothing resembling family between them. They weren’t even related by blood.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

A voice that sounded like it was mocking her echoed in her mind.

She knew.

That foolish brother of hers hadn’t wanted her body, her affection, or even to be accepted as family.

Just a tiny bit of trust. That was all he had wanted. And she had cast him aside—more coldly than anyone else.

“Thank you.”

Those were Eric’s last words. No doubt, they were his gratitude toward the women who had reached out to him in his final moments.

“Ugh.”

Her chest tightened. Not just because she was out of breath.

How could he throw his life away for something so trivial?

They didn’t deserve his gratitude.

But it was fine.

From what Anna had just said, everything was still intact.

Her brother was alive.

Her relationship with Eric wasn’t broken. No—even if it was, it could still be fixed.

Even if she treated him well now, it wouldn’t erase the sins she had committed in the previous world.

And Eric wasn’t foolish enough to not realize that her actions now stemmed from guilt.

But it didn’t matter.

Even if he cursed her, even if he trampled her into the ground, she would accept it gladly. In fact, she wanted him to.

“Ha… haha…”

Christine stopped and stared at the door in front of her.

A crude, rough door—nothing like her own.

She had hated even looking at it whenever she passed by before. But now, it seemed unbearably precious.

BANG!

The moment she flung the door open, she saw Eric flinch in surprise.

More accurately, he was clutching his stomach. Probably hungry.

No. This went against the family rules she had upheld all this time, but she had to eat with Eric right now.

“Brother!”

Christine strode into the room and grabbed Eric’s limp hands.

Warmth—and the unstable flow of Eric’s mana—seeped into her through their touch.

Something so simple. Why hadn’t she done it before?

It was fine. She could make up for it now.

A hundred times? A thousand? However many times it took.

“Ngh…”

Eric’s eyes darted around, as if he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

What should she say first?

I’m sorry? No, that was too shameless.

Hit me if you want? But even that would just be for her own peace of mind.

First… she had to treat him well. He deserved that much.

Desperately, Christine tried to recall today’s menu.

“Brother. Listen, I—”

“Ugh…”

Something was wrong.

Eric kept flinching uncomfortably as she held his hands.

“Brother? What’s wrong?”

“S-Sorry.”

Only then did she realize how foolish she had been.

Three years. The sins she and the others had committed over those years couldn’t be erased with a few kind words or a shared meal.

Especially not for Christine, who had lived in the same house as Eric longer than any of them.

As if to remind her that atonement was never simple, Eric muttered,

“S-Sorry. I d-don’t know what I did, b-but I’m sorry. P-Please forgive me. I’m hungry… N-No, I mean, I’m hungry.”

Eric Grave had not regressed.

To him, she was still the feared heir of the family, the one who controlled his life with the weight of the household behind her.

“Brother…”

Confronted so starkly with the sins of her past, Christine could only bite her lip hard.