Chapter 2
“…What the…”
I couldn’t understand.
“We came together, didn’t we? You and I, Your Highness.”
We’d even promised to have tea together after the subjugation was over.
But Asel’s expression twisted as if he’d heard the most heinous words in the world.
“You were tailing me?”
…Excuse me?
“My mistake. I failed to notice that a tail had attached itself to us.”
Angel bowed deeply before Asel. His head hung low in shame.
“No. From the looks of it, she threatened the clerks to get information. It wasn’t something you could have prevented. Don’t blame yourself.”
And then the two of them turned to me in perfect sync.
This treatment…
It was just like how I’d been treated the first day I woke up as Laura—a shameless villainess.
Suddenly, I remembered the message I heard just before I collapsed:
“Your history is erased.”
…No way.
“Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
Asel frowned like he couldn’t be more annoyed, but at least he answered.
“Do you see me as the kind of person who, in front of you, slaps those who badmouth me, uses my status to oppress them, and behind your back leaks imperial secrets to the marquis—all while sowing discord as my specialty?”
“For once, you’re remarkably self-aware. Is the Empire on the verge of collapse?”
“Who knows?”
Both Asel and Angel looked thoroughly displeased.
On top of that, there was sarcasm in Asel’s voice—“For once.”
…This couldn’t be real.
They remembered me only as the Laura from two years ago.
Fortunately, traces of what I’d achieved were still present in this world.
“I don’t know why I have to do this all over again, but I’m not here to save the marquis. Because the marquis—”
“Committed suicide.”
…What?
“He hid in a cave and resorted to dark magic—and had the nerve to steal a royal sword too… Truly unbelievable.”
There’s no way someone like him would kill himself. And that sword?
That was the one Asel had given me.
Back when I had launched a national business project to replenish the imperial treasury and led relief efforts to prevent a massive famine that had originally killed many in the story…
Asel had personally placed that sword in my hand and said:
[I still don’t trust you.]
[But I want to try.]
[Because I was too stubborn and biased to ever look beyond the surface.]
And yet now, he remembered the sword—but not giving it to me.
“Your Highness, do you remember who established the infirmaries and relief shelters in the west last year?”
“Of course. The Machetta Trading Company, wasn’t it?”
To be exact, it was a joint effort between Machetta and me.
“And who abolished the collective punishment law in the Empire?”
“That was thanks to Pell’s hard work.”
“And I was the one who pushed for it.”
“…”
“Do you not remember anything I did by your side over the past two years? Not even one thing?”
“I remember the last two years quite clearly.”
Asel’s lips curled bitterly.
“You got caught accepting bribes from Viscount Marten in exchange for central promotion. You humiliated Lady Leona and got her kicked out of high society. Oh, and you berated the young artist Calteon so badly he stopped creating.”
“What…”
Okay, yes. The outcomes were technically correct. But—
‘I was offered a bribe by Marten, but I turned it down! Leona got expelled because she bullied the saint! And yes, Calteon stopped painting because of me—but that’s because he was a plagiarist!’
I was starting to get a sense of how this curse worked.
‘The accomplishments remain.’
The marks I left on the world while trying to change the original story—they were still here.
‘Just like the marquis stayed dead and the shelters didn’t vanish.’
The curse hadn’t erased my deeds—it erased how people remembered them.
It made everyone see me as the villainess Laura again.
‘So that’s what it meant when it said history would be erased… Because history always depends on who’s telling it.’
Just like they say: history is written by the victors.
Still, there was something I couldn’t understand.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
Seraphina had the goddess Rudina’s blessing—no curse could affect her.
‘If this were the Seraphina I know, she would’ve spoken up for me.’
But she hadn’t said a word—or even shown herself.
Then it hit me.
“Wait, where’s Seraphina? She came with us. Where is she?”
The story’s heroine—was nowhere to be seen.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Seraphina? Who’s that?”
“She’s the only saint of the Rudina faith.”
“You mean the cult that worships that so-called goddess of life? They have a saint?”
“I… I’m not sure. I don’t know.”
I couldn’t understand.
Even if the curse erased my credit, why had everyone forgotten Seraphina?
‘I need to find her.’
I needed Seraphina if I wanted to break this curse.
So I got up.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The first prince’s sword was at my throat again.
“The young lady is under suspicion. Until we determine whether she colluded with the marquis—”
“Yes, I’m sure you’d like to detain me. But right now, I’m a bit busy. Akapillace!”
I was wondering when you’d call!
At my cry, the shadows on the cave floor began to gather.
Apparently, since Akapillace wasn’t human, the curse didn’t affect him.
As the shadows cleared, a tall, handsome man emerged. Asel and Angel immediately raised their swords in alarm.
Akapillace made quick work of them—breaking Angel’s sword, untying my restraints, and wrapping me in shadow to escape the cave.
But we didn’t get far.
This is as far as I can take you.
He set me down in the shadowy back alleys where the marketplace and housing intersected.
Once I could properly examine him, I saw his condition. His shoulder was torn open, and instead of blood, darkness seeped out.
“You—”
Don’t apologize. Better to save my contractor and get reverse-summoned than let you die.
“…”
We’ll meet again in a hundred days.
That’s right.
Spirits can recover even from fatal wounds, given time to heal.
Still, I couldn’t help feeling bitter.
I’d confided in Akapillace—shared worries I couldn’t even tell other people.
“…Ha…”
Thankfully, we were near Seraphina’s temple.
I didn’t know why or where she had disappeared from the cave, but the temple was the most likely place to find her.
‘Yes. I can still break the curse. I just have to find Seraphina—just her…’
But that hope shattered the moment I saw her.
“…Why… why are you like this?”
Seraphina stood weakly, using her wand—the symbol of sainthood—as a splint.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Lady Laura…”
The moment our eyes met, tears welled in her pale blue eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
“I tried to break the curse for you…”
“…”
“But I failed. No—I ruined everything. I messed with the wrong point in time…”
Seraphina said she’d tried to rewind time to just before I was cursed.
Her plan had been to take the curse in my place.
‘Because no curse can affect her.’
But she failed—and as a result, her own time was erased.
Now I understood why Asel didn’t remember her, why he called Rudina a false goddess.
‘Because even the traces Seraphina left behind were erased.’
In my case, only my history was lost. But Seraphina had lost her existence.
The temple was in ruins—crumbling, neglected, covered in moss and scribbled graffiti.
Compared to how it used to gleam from constant care, it was heartbreakingly pitiful.
But it made sense.
Rudina’s church had only grown after Seraphina appeared—gaining donations, believers, and power.
And now, Seraphina herself was fading—her body flickering like she might disappear any moment.
“Seraphina?”
“There’s no need to worry. This is the punishment I deserve. I was careless. Time is a power reserved for gods.”
A faint smile played at her lips, tinged with sorrow.
“But at least I found a way to break the curse.”
And then, I had a feeling—that whatever method she meant was closely tied to her current condition.
“Wait, don’t—”
“I already paid the price. It’s nonrefundable.”
She smiled again.
“So… may I ask you one last favor?”
“In a situation like this, it’s more like a demand than a request.”
“You’re not wrong.”
And then, the light that swallowed Seraphina collapsed my entire field of vision.
Even as her body disintegrated, she kept speaking.
“Thankfully, we’ll meet again. Even if history forgets, it repeats. So, I ask you this…”
…You must raise me.
Her voice was quiet, but the silence of the temple made every word clear.
As the meaning sank in, my mouth fell open in disbelief.
“…What?”
And the moment Seraphina vanished—
So did the light.
✦ ✦ ✦
I stood frozen, staring down at the child before me.
A tiny child who barely reached my knees.
I had never seen this child before. And yet—their features were eerily familiar.
And the moment I recalled Seraphina’s final words—
“You must raise me.”
“…No way. Seraphina?”
The child, who had been looking at the ground, suddenly looked up and called to me.
“Mommy!”
“…?!”
“Mama!”
…What the hell is happening now?
