Chapter 4.
Translator: Gold
“We have to take Lawrence down somehow. However, the power gap is too big. My subordinates and I only know about military affairs, we have no idea how to narrow that gap.”
Artizea stared at him blankly.
Cedric’s face, which she had thought was like a statue, had become a blazing sun.
He didn’t raise his voice. Yet for Artizea it was as if he had roared.
“I know you’re a very intelligent woman.”
“…”
“You didn’t have the insight to choose correctly who to serve, but I think you were blinded by affection for your family. Though you made many horrible schemes, I know it was for Lawrence.”
“…”
“The only person who can reverse this situation is you. Marchioness Rosan, I need your help.”
Cedric bowed his head.
But as if he didn’t think that was enough, he got down on his knees, put his hands on the floor and bent his back until his forehead almost touched the ground.
Artizea was startled.
She shook her limbs. If it wasn’t for the butler who held her, she would have fallen, as she could barely sit up straight.
Cedric raised his head. His black pupils were like burning coals.
“You no longer have Lawrence’s affection or that of your family. When you look around the empire, don’t you regret how it fell into ruins?”
“…”
“I know you were just a schemer following orders, not a devil. Unlike Lawrence. Didn’t you ever think to do anything good with the power you had?”
Artizea shook her head.
She thought she had no right to regret it.
People were right.
If there was a witch who had made a pact with the devil, that would be her.
Even if she had changed her mind, she had no tongue to speak and no hands to write.
She couldn’t even think straight with her tired and aching body.
“Marchioness Rosan, you still have a brilliant mind. You can write by holding a pen in your mouth, or you can point to the words with the help of another person. As long as you live, you can accomplish anything if you have the determination and will to do so. I need you.”
Artizea looked at him for a while, her vision blurred.
It was funny.
She had never heard Lawrence, the person she had dedicated her life to, say he needed her.
She knew Cedric.
As an enemy, she knew him better than anyone else in the world.
The resentment in his heart should be hotter than a valley of lava. The people around him would expect him to kill her fiercely.
But he was kneeling before her. All for a good cause.
However, Artizea could only shake her head again.
She was only good at persuading others to do her favors, to plot, to murder, and to scheme. She did not master tactical strategies.
Artizea couldn’t accomplish something Cedric wasn’t capable of.
Even if she were a truly brilliant strategist, there was no way to overcome the current imbalance of power.
“I see.”
Cedric seemed to understand quickly why Artizea shook her head.
“Even you can’t do anything about it.”
He said grimly.
Tears fell from Artizea’s eyes.
She had decided from the first time her hands were stained with blood, that she would regret nothing until the day she died.
All the things she had done, cannot be forgiven just because she regrets them later.
Even if the dead held some resentment against her, she thought that what they must resent is the fate of having been born into this world.
No one is innocent in the world after being born.
No. Even a newborn baby is a sinner for being born.
Just like her. And so is Lawrence.
Still, she regretted it.
In fact, the regrets accumulated deep in her heart came together like a huge rock that struck his heart.
“I’m sorry I was reckless with my words.”
Cedric stood up.
“I can’t give you better accommodation because of the poor conditions in the military camp, but I’ll soon send you to the countryside with some of my men. I hope you can live in peace for the rest of your life.”
Artizea looked at him, unable to say anything and shedding tears.
That night she was huddled in the tent, thinking to herself, of a way to fix everything.
In the current situation, there was no way.
But the truth was that Artizea had a method.
She crawled slowly and sat down.
She didn’t want to use this method. Because she was a sinner.
Artizea didn’t believe that Lawrence was to blame for her sins.
She just wanted to die and rot, embracing all the evil she had done for Lawrence.
But…
‘There is no plan, but there is a method.’
If the balance of power was too tilted to be reversed, then she must only turn back time before the balance of power tipped.
Artizea bit off what was left of her tongue, then started drawing a magic circle with the blood.
Magic has long since disappeared from this world.
However, the method of using magic is still passed on.
Precise magic circles drawn in blood, and human sacrifices.
In fact, the main reason for the disappearance of magic was not due to human sacrifices, but the fact that there were few people who could accurately draw a magic circle.
The characters of the magic circles are written in an ancient language.
Even if someone could copy them, no one could activate them at will.
But Artizea could.
She was one of the few people who could easily write the ancient characters of that dead language.
She had studied the magic circles to use them in evil acts.
Although the bleeding did not stop, Artizea bit her tongue many times and also bit the inside of her mouth to bleed even more.
She had to draw a magic circle of considerable size with the spilled blood.
She drew the magic circle all night long.
There would be no second chances, so she had to draw it correctly on this one occasion.
Halfway through, her vision became blurred, and she had to bite her tongue harder to stay awake.
Before dawn she finally managed to finish, and collapsed on the magic circle due to great blood loss.
‘It’s a proper human sacrifice.’
Artizea closed his eyes helplessly.
The magic circle that would take her life began to glow blue.
Cedric, who realized that something strange was happening in the tent, rushed in and looked at her in amazement.
But the magic circle had already begun to work and required no further sacrifice.
There was a flash of light that prevented him from approaching.
‘I hope that your wishes will come true in your next life.’
That was Artizea’s last thought.
The magic soon became a pillar of light that extended to the ends of the sky and illuminated the night sky.
***
When she opened her eyes, it was almost dawn.
Artizea moved her feet under the blanket and then moved her hands.
Finally, she touched her tongue with a finger.
She tried to speak out loud. Her voice came out loud and clear.
“Did I make a mistake in the magic?”
The ancient characters written on the magic circle meant < In return for Artizea Rosan’s life, time will return, turn back time. > For that reason, Artizea thought she was going to die.
But now she was alive.
There were no wounds or pain in her body. However, the huge rock formed by her regrets continued to strike at her heart.
Feeling strange, she raised her hand.
The moonlight filtered through the window and dyed her nails blue.
Artizea looked at her nails in silence, took off her sheets and got off the bed.
Then she lit the lamp and went out to look at herself in the mirror.
“I have returned.”
In the mirror was a girl with bright blond hair and turquoise eyes.
She touched her cheek with her fingertips. She felt that her own face was not hers.
‘Did my face look like this?’
She realized that she had never cared for herself.
She had only seen herself a few times in the mirror. Because she hated that her face was different from Lawrence and Miraila’s.
Miraila often said she was so ugly that she didn’t even want to look at her.
Lawrence rarely looked at her directly.
However, between siblings it was normal not to notice each other’s appearance. Although Artizea was obliged to do so since she was in charge of Lawrance’s image for social events.
Artizea turned around and went back to her bedroom.
She had no plans to return herself. Her goal was to give Cedric another chance.
Without her, Lawrence’s power would be greatly weakened.
Miraila had an exceptional ability to manipulate the emperor, but she possessed an impulsive personality.
No matter how much effort she put into her schemes, she would always leave some trace.
From the beginning, Lawrence was not the kind of person to conspire.
Besides, he was originally the only one who distrusted Cedric.
Back then, as he was the emperor’s nephew and had not yet excelled, Artizea kept him under control by tying his hands and feet.
If she had done nothing, Cedric could have preserved his power until the decisive moment.
Even after all the damage she did to him, he survived to the end and resisted Lawrence.
‘The important thing is that I have returned.’
Whether it was a magic circle glitch or some other problem, there must be a reason why she has survived.
「 I need your help.」
Artizea remembered the moment when Cedric had bowed his head to her.
She felt a weight on her chest and gently placed her hand on her left breast.
‘In return for kneeling before the devil, you got the devil to get his hands dirty for you.’
It was like a promise.
Artizea went to his desk.
At the bottom of the desk drawer was his diary. She took it out and opened the diary on the last page.
< June 2nd, 482 in the Imperial Calendar >
Eight days ago, Artizea turned 18.
It was almost two years before her 20th birthday, when she would inherit the title of Marchioness Rosan.
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