Chapter 5
I grabbed the damaged carriage door and pulled with all my strength. Suddenly, someone reached around me and held my arm.
“Careful. You’ll hurt your hand.”
It was Owen ta Glentino.
With hardly any effort, he ripped the carriage door off. I barely had time to be surprised by his strength before I rushed to look inside the carriage.
But there was no one there.
‘Why is it empty?’
My mind went blank. Maybe I used up all my energy running here, because I couldn’t think straight.
Owen tossed the door aside carelessly. Then he pulled out a handkerchief from somewhere—wait, he carries one? Even in my dazed state, I was a little surprised—and started gently wiping my hand as he said,
“Your sister must’ve known there would be an assassination attempt.”
“…What?”
Even I thought my voice sounded dumb.
He explained calmly.
“She knew they were waiting along this road, so she sent a decoy carriage to make it look like she was inside. Your sister probably took a different route and is on her way to the palace now.”
“Oh…”
I laughed awkwardly and nodded.
I walked a few steps before my legs gave out and I collapsed.
I didn’t know how to describe how I felt.
Most likely, Leonie avoided the assassination in the same way in my previous life. As if she already knew exactly when and where it would happen.
Which meant… she didn’t believe me.
Even after I confessed everything during our meal, she must’ve heard from someone close to her that an assassination was likely, and chose to avoid this road.
I wondered—did she hesitate even a little? Did she think, “Maybe my sister has changed. Maybe I should trust her one more time.”
“…No.”
Of course she didn’t.
What hurt even more was that she made the right decision by not believing me.
Now, I was just the lying older sister—even when I was being honest.
‘How pathetic.’
At least before, I never lied to her.
We hated each other openly. We growled and fought and poisoned each other and sent assassins—but we never lied. That was our way of doing battle. In a twisted way, it felt like our version of loyalty.
I murmured blankly,
“I’ve become… a coward, Your Grace.”
“Coward or not, if you’re done here, let’s go home,” he said flatly.
My tears dried up instantly.
“What?!”
I turned my head sharply—but no one was there.
Then I realized my feet were off the ground.
Owen had come up behind me and picked me up again.
Startled, I touched the ground with both feet, but pain shot through one of them. I winced, and he noticed.
“Tsk. I knew this would happen. Who runs down a mountain path in indoor slippers?”
Before I could say anything, he lifted me again—effortlessly, like I was some small pet.
Then he placed me on his horse.
It was tall and sleek, like a racehorse, with shiny black fur. Thankfully, it had a saddle.
He handed me the reins and said,
“She has a nasty temper. She won’t let just anyone ride her.”
He was talking about the horse I was now sitting on.
But…
“She’s calm with me.”
She wasn’t fussy at all.
From past experience, I knew horses often tested their riders. So I could tell right away—this one was gentle.
As proof, when I leaned in and stroked her mane and patted her nose, she stuck her tongue out and licked my hand.
“Huh… look at her…”
Owen muttered in disbelief beside me, but I ignored him.
I sat up straight and kept petting her.
“Nice to meet you, Dagadak,” I said.
“What kind of name is that?”
“It’s a name from my heart.”
I was just about to give the reins a tug when Owen suddenly got on behind me.
“Let’s go.”
…What?
“You’re riding with me?!”
I could feel his chest against my back. Every time he spoke, I could feel the rumble of his voice.
Even though his attitude was a bit sharp, his voice was really pleasant to listen to.
He wrapped his arms around me without hesitation and took the reins too.
“So I’m supposed to walk home while you ride?”
“You could take Thunderroot!”
“You mean the horse you left behind? Also, riding without a saddle isn’t exactly easy. You took my horse.”
You’re the one who put me on her!
I glanced behind us. Poor Thunderroot looked abandoned and betrayed, like he was asking if I was just going to leave him here.
“Will Thunderroot be able to keep up?”
“If he values his life, he will.”
Fair point.
“We’ll go slowly,” Owen said gently.
Honestly, I didn’t care about the speed anymore. This wasn’t so bad. I nodded.
Dagadak walked slowly, and Thunderroot followed behind calmly.
I could feel Owen’s breath on the top of my head. When Arnold, my fiancé, held my hand, I felt uncomfortable. But now, with Owen—his older brother—sitting so close, I didn’t feel anything bad.
In fact, my heart was beating in a good way.
His chest against my back gave me a strange sense of security.
We shared the reins, so whenever the horse swayed, we gently bumped into each other. It wasn’t unpleasant. Except for one thing…
There was something long and solid pressing against me from behind, like a pepper grinder.
‘Arnold wore tight pants and you could barely see anything, but this guy… why does it feel like it goes down to his thigh?!’
I fought the urge to fan my red face.
There was no point thinking about it—it was my loss if I got flustered.
To distract myself, I looked at the horse we were riding.
There was a paper bag hanging from the saddle. Inside, I saw my slippers and an unlit torch shoved in carelessly.
Out of nowhere, I got curious and asked,
“So… where were you going this late at night? Visiting a secret lover, maybe?”
“There’s no such person.”
A man like him without a lover? What a waste for the empire.
Still, he refused to tell me where he had been, so I tried to guess.
That bag looked like something from a shop in the capital. Why would a duke’s eldest son run errands himself, late at night, instead of sending a servant?
Trying not to look obvious, I leaned a little to peek into the bag.
But he stopped me right away.
“It’s dangerous to move around on a horse.”
Tch.
Still, I managed to catch a glimpse: my slippers, the torch, a children’s toy cube, a kid’s fountain pen, and a colorful notebook.
‘…Huh?’
All of those were things a child would use.
But the duke’s family only had three grown sons. None of them had a kid that age.
The eldest (Owen) was unmarried. The second son was my fiancé. The youngest had only recently married.
So… who were those things for?
‘Forget it. Don’t dig into other people’s business.’
Especially since this man had nothing to do with me in my previous life.
I let the thought go.
Soon, Dagadak carried us over the hills.
I relaxed a bit when I saw the familiar streets where I’d grown up.
Nothing had really been solved… but looking at it another way, it wasn’t all bad.
Even if Leonie now trusted me less than she did in my past life, at least she was alive.
I’d come back younger and healthier. I had another chance.
Popo was alive again.
And now I was riding home on the horse of the duke’s eldest son—someone I had never been close to before.
“…This feels nice,” I murmured without thinking.
“Huh?”
“Being alive.”
“For someone saying that, you don’t seem to value your life very much.”
There he goes again. So much for being emotional.
Still, I knew it had been reckless trying to cross a mountain with no armor and no plan. I must’ve been too excited after returning to the past.
I mumbled like I was making an excuse.
“It was an emergency. My sister almost died.”
“……”
If he knew how many times I’d tried to kill Leonie before… he’d probably be speechless.
Maybe he’d snap, “Why pretend now?”
But honestly, I didn’t care anymore. And strangely, I felt like he wouldn’t care either.
He stayed quiet for a while.
I started feeling sleepy. I’d overdone it today. My thighs ached from riding, my backside hurt, and the night air was cold.
My head kept nodding as I fought to stay awake.
Then I heard his voice softly behind me.
“You should start worrying about yourself more than your sister. She’s already got layers of guards around her.”
“I… I have a guard too…”
Oops. I shouldn’t have said that.
But my sleepy brain wasn’t thinking straight.
“…Who?”
