HCM – 63

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‘What is this… … .’

A rush of cold overcame her and a chill reached deep within her. Marianne pulled the blanket over her. Countless voices of beings that filled the whole world. Fairies. Spirits dwelled in everything, including grass, trees, and rocks.

They were all against her.

‘Why?’

Marianne wanted to scream.

She returned and did nothing wrong. She was only awarded a small title for obviating a number of terrible things from happening.

‘Just because you get paid doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing!’

If there was one bad thing Marianne did, it was that she murdered Jeremy. But Jeremy put her in such a mess, so it could be said that it was his karma.

‘You’re so unfair.’

She knew she had done bad things before her return. But that was something Aslei could blame her for, not something that should turn the whole world against her.

So, in return, she turned the whole world around and went back in time before hurting Aslei. He would fall in love with her again, so she was just trying to be nice to him!

‘Of course, it’s not that I wasn’t greedy… … .’

Aslei was hers from the beginning. She figured there was nothing wrong with being greedy for things that were already hers. She was not going to have an affair in this life and was planning to get along with Aslei.

‘I won’t give up.’

She wasn’t just getting a free ride at the expense of Jeremy. Marianne herself made an immeasurable sacrifice.

Her baby. Regressing also cost Marianne her baby.

In fact, she was horrified to learn that she was with child, but she forgot that. She even cursed her child for not being Aslei’s, but Marianne couldn’t recall such a thing.

All she remembered was that she had a baby and she lost him.

‘I was disappointed that it wasn’t Aslei’s child, but I never thought of giving up on him!’

Using her unborn child as bait to manipulate and use Jeremy, Kion, and Trevor was also a thing of the past.

Now that she had regressed, all of that was erased. She had never committed such sins!

‘Yes! I didn’t sin!’

Although that assertion contradicted her claim that Aslei was hers, Marianne didn’t think so.

There was only one thing that mattered.

Aslei.

‘If he becomes unhappy… … he will accept me.’

By any means necessary…. as long as Aslei would love her again, she thought, Marianne would do her best for him.

They could be happy again.

‘Unhappiness, misfortune… … .’

As Marianne knew, Aslei had been unhappy in the past. After becoming a duke, he escaped misfortune but lived without thought of being happy.

‘What about Aslei now?’

Since his marriage, Marianne had not met Aslei. As Ian’s partner, she attended balls and banquets held by high-ranking nobles, but it was not easy for her to greet Duke Tintalion.

In addition, he, who had just become a duke, was very busy. 

Marianne thought she would have to meet Aslei before going ahead with her original plan.

❁ ❁ ❁

Frisia woke up in Aslei’s arms. Relieved by the languid sound of his breathing, she blinked.

‘What kind of dream was that?’

Whatever it was, it was an unforeseen dream. However, there was one word that answered her mounting pile of questions on why everything had changed.

Regression.

‘Marianne turned back time? Why?’

Perhaps Marianne’s life had unfolded according to the plot she knew. Including marrying Aslei, the Duke of Tintalion, and becoming the future Duchess.

Even though she grew further from Ian, they exchanged letters, and she lived a life receiving the protection and affection of a wizard, a priest, two knights, and a youth from the beastman tribe.

It was a perfect ending for the main character—but to turn back time? She didn’t understand.

It was a life that not only had it all but was overflowing. She was loved so much that she couldn’t carry it in her arms, so it didn’t make sense why she had regressed. Plus that criticizing voice was condemning her! 

‘It said it was for selfish reasons.’

If it’s a selfish reason, it was probably not because the male lead or a sub-male lead died, nor was it because the world was doomed.

It seemed that countless voices were rallying against her, trying to stop her.

‘… … That’s why you didn’t become an Elementalist.’