IRTHP 01

Chapter 1…

 A Miserable Life

In the pitch-dark night, without even a trace of moonlight, someone dashed fearlessly into the mountain. Clutching the hem of her skirt—completely unsuitable for climbing—she kept glancing nervously behind her. Her face was filled with anxiety and urgency, clearly showing that she was being chased.

“Huff…”

A branch she hadn’t avoided in time grazed her cheek, leaving a scratch. Aileen wiped the blood away with the back of her hand, but it was no use—she only ended up worsening the cut on her hand, smearing more blood on her face.

“Ugh…”

She flinched at the sharp pain that suddenly shot up from the soles of her feet. At some point, her shoes had come off, and she had stepped on something sharp. She wanted to keep going despite the pain, but her feet wouldn’t obey her.

To avoid putting more strain on her feet, Aileen groped for a nearby tree and leaned against it, gasping for breath. Once her breathing steadied a little, she bent over to check her throbbing soles. As she did, the necklace she always wore slipped out from under her clothes.

The pendant, hanging from a thin chain, swayed restlessly—just like Aileen herself.

‘Where did everything go wrong?’

Gripping the necklace, her brother Ethan’s memento, Aileen traced back the misfortunes that had led her here.

It had all started when Ethan married the Grand Duke.

Ethan, who had manifested as a dominant Omega, entered into a political marriage with the dominant Alpha Grand Duke. But before a year had passed, her brother returned home as a cold corpse.

At first, she couldn’t believe a healthy person could die so suddenly. But once she learned what had happened to her brother, there was no room for doubt.

He had never been loved by the Grand Duke. Consumed by the burning agony of his heat, Ethan had eventually sought relief not from his husband but from others. Overcome by despair at his situation, he took his own life.

Aileen only truly understood how much he had suffered when she manifested herself.

She realized just how unbearably sensitive the body became in heat from an Alpha’s pheromones. How despairing it was to be ignored in that state, as though one’s body were crawling with ants.

She experienced firsthand the humiliation of clinging desperately to anyone’s pant leg like a beast—through an unwanted marriage, unwanted physical relations, and suffocating pheromone showers that felt more like acts of violence than intimacy.

Her life had crumbled piece by piece.

“Aileen!”

Her heart nearly stopped at the thunderous shout that echoed through the mountain.

She forced her unsteady legs to move again, though her exhausted body was reaching its limit and growing numb.

She wanted to rest so badly—but more than that, she wanted to get away from her husband. So she stumbled forward with everything she had left. But before she could get far, she sensed another presence, and terror filled her eyes.

It was her husband, Patrick.

“How did he get here so fast…?”

It didn’t matter how he had caught up. Instinctively, she tried to back away from him—but something felt wrong.

She looked down. A cold wind howled up from a bottomless cliff.

As she stared blankly at the precipice before her, Patrick climbed up behind her.

“Aileen.”

She spun around. Patrick stood there with a chilling, mocking smile.

“Did you really think you’d gotten away?”

“Don’t come any closer.”

“Alright.”

He laughed lightly, glancing at the cliff as though enjoying himself. Like a cat cornering a mouse, his eyes gleamed sharply.

“There’s nowhere left to run now.”

Aileen bit her lip and instinctively clutched her necklace again, as she always did when she was desperate.

“You must’ve had a hard time getting this far, Aileen. So why don’t you just be a good girl and come back to me?”

His gentle voice was completely at odds with the fact that he’d come to capture his fleeing wife. Even in the darkness, his gleaming eyes made her retreat instinctively.

When her body swayed dangerously, Patrick stopped.

“Aileen, if you move like that you’ll fall. Come here.”

“You stay back! Please… let me go.”

She pleaded with him, desperate.

She didn’t want to live with him anymore.

Every single day had been a nightmare.

She had screamed through countless days, until her soul felt like it had withered away. But Patrick ignored her words entirely.

His eyes were still filled with dark, lustful greed as they swept over her pale skin.

“Aileen, think carefully. You’ve got nowhere to go. Your parents are dead. Your brother is dead. I’m the only one you have left. So you’d better come back and obey me.”

His words stabbed into her heart like thorns.

“Who knows? If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll tell you something interesting.”

He said it lightly, his tone disturbingly casual for the situation.

“About your family. Do you know who destroyed them?”

Her heart pounded wildly. She didn’t want to hear it, but she couldn’t help but be shaken.

“What are you talking about…”

“The Grand Duchy of Rihast. They must have wanted something your family had.”

He snickered.

“The Grand Duke killed not only your brother but your parents too.”

Aileen’s body convulsed in shock.

“If you hadn’t tried to run from me, I never would’ve told you. Why’d you have to provoke me? Now be a good girl and hide in my arms—careful!”

“Ah…”

Her exhausted body lost balance, and she felt herself tipping backward. Her gaze locked with Patrick’s panicked eyes as he reached for her.

A laugh escaped her lips—wildly out of place in this situation.

At last, she had found a way to escape him—through death.

She hadn’t imagined her short life would end this way. But knowing she would no longer have to live in misery, she let everything go and closed her eyes.

And yet, there was still a bitter trace of regret.

She wanted to go back… to the time when her family was still alive.

Aileen blinked.

“Where… is this?”

She was alive. She could breathe, feel the breeze, and think clearly.

Was this a dream? But the dead couldn’t dream.

The sensation of falling from the cliff was still vivid. Everything that had happened was too real to dismiss as a hallucination.

Out of habit, her hand went to her neck. Clutching the familiar pendant calmed her slightly.

“Let’s go through this one step at a time.”

The room she woke up in was her room from before the marriage. And the face staring back at her from the mirror was…

“…What the…”

Coming back to life was already unbelievable, but what shocked her even more was that her body had returned to the time before she had manifested as an Omega.

“This can’t be… Did I… go back?”

“Aileen, how long are you going to sleep?”

There was a knock, followed by a beloved, familiar voice. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she turned toward the door.

“…Brother?”

As if responding to her voice, the door opened slightly, and a blond young man peeked his head in.

It was Ethan.

Underneath his soft, golden hair was the handsome face she had missed every single day. He was alive, vibrant with life.

She still couldn’t believe time had truly turned back—but hope slowly bloomed in her chest.

“Brother…”

“How long are you going to laze around?”

Ethan strode in and grabbed her hand, gently pulling her out of bed. Her feet touched the soft rug—no longer the sharp pain she’d felt before she died.

“You said you had a lot to do today. How can you still be lying around?”

“Today?”

“Yeah.”

He reached over to ruffle her messy hair. She closed her eyes at the touch, hardly believing it was real.

“You said there’s just one last check left, right? Don’t panic about the time. Hurry and get ready. Mr. Cage said he’ll be here later.”

Her eyes slowly widened at the name.

Mr. Cage, the merchant who supplied their medicines.

Realizing what day it was, her body stiffened.

She grabbed Ethan’s hand just as he was about to let go.

“Brother.”

“Hm? What is it?”

She glanced at the clock, panic rising in her chest, then clutched his hand tighter and urgently dragged him out of the room.

“Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

Thinking this was just one of his younger sister’s antics, Ethan smiled gently. But Aileen wasn’t playing—she yanked his wrist with desperate force.

As they climbed the stairs, she tripped on a step, and Ethan caught her by the shoulder, telling her to be careful. But she didn’t stop. She kept dragging him upward.

“This is the attic.”

Ethan ducked slightly to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling.

The soft light flowed through his golden hair, making his face seem almost dazzling. Even in this tense moment, he looked infuriatingly beautiful.

Aileen shook herself out of it and opened the attic door.

“Brother, get inside. And don’t come out no matter what.”

“What, are we playing hide-and-seek?”

At twenty, Ethan thought his eighteen-year-old sister was just being playful.

His gentle voice wrapped around her like music.

“It’s because…”

…a man was coming soon—one who would take her brother away.