Raindrops tapped against my cheek, tracing cold paths downward.
“Go,” the executioner beside me said, face hidden behind a black mask.
Despite the title, he was merely the one who released the guillotine’s rope. His build was neither particularly large nor imposing.
…So this is how it ends, I thought, climbing onto the platform.
The sharp blade of the guillotine loomed, while the surrounding crowd howled, filling the air with their jeers. Among them, some even hurled filth at me.
“Heh…” I curled my lips into a bitter smile. Scattered cries of ‘Traitor!’ reached me, but they were merely laughable.
Who among them truly knew the full story? Were they really hurling stones, possessing any understanding at all?
To that question, I could only shake my head decisively.
These people simply needed someone to direct their fury toward. Not a single soul cared about my innocence.
As I reached the top of the platform, the executioner ordered, “Insert your head.”
A commoner giving me orders… It served as a fresh, stinging reminder of just how far I had fallen.
“…Very well.”
I placed my head and hands through the guillotine’s stocks. I felt the coarse, splintery texture of the wood against my skin, and the chilling, razor-sharp presence of the blade poised above my neck.
With my head fixed in the stocks, I tilted my gaze upward. The gloomy sky was heavy with rain. Crows circled overhead, their screeching cries waiting for my death.
“…Now, it seems only they want me.” I scoffed, muttering the words. Perhaps this is just how things were meant to be?
The beginning of it all was my marriage.
The Duchy of Artezia, my wife’s family, and my wife, Hera Artezia. My misfortune began the moment I became entangled with that accursed House.
Yes, I loved her at first. I dedicated my life to making her smile, and I fought in wars and schemed in political battles just to win her family’s favor—I risked even a rebellion.
But my current charge? Insurrection.
The accusation against me and my House was that we might become the primary instigators of another rebellion.
It’s laughable, especially since the Artezia Duchy’s rebellion succeeded.
The Artezia Duchy, successful in their rebellion, ascended the imperial throne and immediately vilified my House, declaring us a family that would stage a future betrayal. Thanks to that, my House was annihilated, and my neck was sent to the block.
I gave my all, only to be discarded.
I still gazed at the indifferent sky, then looked towards my wife’s family, seated upon the imperial throne in the distance, smirking. Had they come solely to mock my death?
A muffled, hollow laugh escaped me. I twisted my lips, staring at them sitting there.
Curse you. I curse you all!
“See you in hell, you damned scum.” I muttered the words low, fixing them with a wide-eyed glare.
Then at last, the executioner released the rope, and the chillingly sharp blade plummeted towards my neck.
The world fractured.
Please. If there is a next life, let me have my revenge on them, I thought as my body fell away.
And let me apologize to my family.
* * *
—It had already been a week since I’d made that prayer.
“…Goddamn it.”
Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains. Wiggling my fingers, I confirmed that I was, yet again, alive.
One week ago, I had definitively died… and one week ago, I had been resurrected.
To be exact, I’d traveled back twenty years in time, before I married into the Artezia family.
I’d initially believed it was a dream, but after a week of grappling with it, the conclusion was undeniable: This was no dream.
This was reality—a reality where a miracle had occurred.
…I can’t waste more time, I thought.
I didn’t know why this had happened, but the reason could wait. What mattered now was the undeniable truth that I, Louis Berg, had regressed.
I got out of bed, opened the door, and stepped out. As I did, the attendants all bowed their heads in unison, offering their morning greetings.
“Y-Young Master. You’re awake?” Fear filled each of their eyes.
…Goddamn it.
It had been like this for days. But thinking about it, their reaction was only natural.
I had been a ‘black sheep’ in a different sense than the executioner beside the guillotine. A black sheep who knew how to wield a spear, just a little. A wretch born into a Count’s House, spoiled rotten by family love, living his life utterly imperiously.
That had been me.
Yet, since I’d stopped my usual antics a week ago, the attendants had only grown more terrified.
Damned if I act like a profligate, damned if I don’t, I thought, sighing as I headed for the dining hall.
Perhaps it was because my House was famously wealthy even within the Empire, but the dining hall itself was utterly magnificent.
“Young Master, please come and be seated here.” The head butler bowed slightly, guiding me to a seat in the dining hall.
Unlike the others, the butler didn’t shrink back or tremble around me. Then again, it wouldn’t make sense for the head butler to cower before someone like me.
I went and sat where he guided me. Soon after, my family members came down to the dining hall, one by one taking their seats and speaking up.
“Oh! Look who finally came down to eat today! Is your hangover gone?”
“Living pickled in alcohol day after day will make you sick. Start coming out for training every morning.”
My second and first elder brothers spoke in turn.
“Yes, I’m feeling a bit better now,” I replied nonchalantly.
For the past week, I had refused to dine with my family. Of course, I desperately wanted to hug them, but fear held me back more.
If only I hadn’t married, they wouldn’t have died. Or at the very least, if only I hadn’t pestered them, begging for the marriage contract with the Duchy of Artezia…
This peace would have lasted, I thought.
Even now, I could still hear their screams upon closing my eyes. The sight of them, dying, telling me to escape, was etched into my memory.
I slowly closed my eyes, vowing in my heart: I would never let them die like that again in this life. And I would get my revenge on the damned Artezia family.
To that end, there was something I absolutely had to do.
I steadied my breathing and put down my knife. Sauce and blood clung to the tip of the blade from cutting my steak.
“Father,” I began.
“What is it?” His tone was gruff. But I knew he loved me more than anyone.
I let out a small, humorless laugh before continuing.
“I wish to break my engagement with Hera Artezia.”
* * *
At the mention of ‘annulment,’ silence descended upon the dining hall. Was this the youngest’s rebellion? Or just his usual profligate antics? They’d said he hadn’t been acting out lately, but it seemed he was back to his old ways.
“Uh… Youngest?” My second brother hesitated. “Didn’t you beg and plead for her yourself?”
“I did.”
“You even offered that precious bouquet of Teria flowers. Do you remember your brother went all the way to the Katran Mountains to pick those flowers one by one?”
“I am grateful.”
“Dammit. Looks like his fit is back…” My second brother paused to sigh, then continued in a quiet grumble. “Do you remember what we gave up to secure the marriage with the Artezia Duchy?”
“I believe we gave a mine as the dowry.”
“And do you remember that if we break the engagement now, we won’t get it back?”
“Yes. But it’s not like we can’t live without one mine, is it? Mines are practically everywhere.”
“…I must have been mad to think he had matured.” My first brother also sighed.
And finally. Father gazed steadily at me and spoke. “Youngest.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Until now, I have let you do as you please. Whether you acted like a wretch or caused a scene in a tavern, I always believed in you and never punished you.”
“I am always grateful for that.”
“But I feel you are going too far. Is a marriage alliance between families something so trivial that it can be broken just because you wish it?”
Father’s voice dripped with a chilling intensity. The presence of an Aura Master pressed down on my body.
I swallowed hard nervously.
In the past, I would have tucked tail and agreed. I was afraid of Father, and as a mere Expert in the beginning stages, all I could do was nod my head.
But things had changed.
I met Father’s presence head-on and let it wash over me, unaffected.
“Father, I do not believe a marriage alliance between families is trivial at all. It is simply that, considering my future and the future of our House, I have judged that it would be best not to be bound to the Artezia Duchy.”
Father fell silent in thought for a moment before questioning me again. “Why?”
“The Artezia Duchy views us as mere loyal retainers. Hera Artezia, in particular, has been abusive to our House’s attendants. Even to my brothers.”
“…You do that too, you know.” My second brother muttered something, but I ignored him.
“My House and my family are paramount to me. Of course, I admit I have been immature until now. But that does not mean I must live like that my whole life. From now on, I wish to live for House and family.”
“When did we ever ask you to do that?”
“I desire it myself. And I no longer love Hera Artezia, you see. So, Father. For my sake, to correct the mistakes I have made until now, please grant your permission for the annulment.”
When I finished speaking, silence once again settled in the dining hall. But it was slightly different from before.
It was the silence of people watching their youngest child suddenly grow up and declare they would marry, a quiet contemplation as they stared at the matured wretch.
“Seriously? What in the world happened while I was gone? Was it you, big brother? Did you hit him?” Second Brother exclaimed.
“…I am also surprised. Be quiet,” Eldest Brother replied.
“I mean, what the… Did the youngest drink legendary nectar instead of alcohol? That explains it… I wondered why he’s been speaking formally to me lately.” Second Brother raised an eyebrow, chuckling in disbelief.
Just then, Father asked, “Will you not regret it?”
“No. Far from regretting it, I think I will feel relieved.”
“…Very well, I understand. I will convey the message to the Duchy.”
“Thank you.” As I bowed my head, a small smile formed on Father’s lips.
“…You have really changed,” Father muttered softly.
A moment later, he took a bite of steak, swallowed, and then asked me, “Even if you break the engagement with the Artezia Duchy, you must still marry. I have no desire to hear talk of my son being a half-wit unable to secure a marriage.”
“I know.” I knew that well indeed.
Marriage in this era meant the union of Houses, and it wasn’t decided solely by love. One had to consider the Houses’ benefits, their political standing. In short, a noble’s marriage was directly tied to their House’s gains.
And I knew that fact very well.
A House that can keep the Artezia family in check, and is most necessary to prevent the rebellion that will happen later. While fulfilling this condition, there was only one House in the Empire that could also bring benefits to our family.
I met Father’s eyes directly and spoke.
“I desire an engagement with the ruler of the North, the Duchy of Praha.”