Chapter 93
The Male Lead Obsessively Proposes
Rukalina’s expression hardened.
She immediately pulled Senelia to her feet.
Unable to maintain her composure, Rukalina’s face twisted with emotion, and she covered it with one trembling hand. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and heavy.
“Honestly… you and Ben…”
When she finally lowered her hand and faced Senelia again, Rukalina’s eyes were filled with resentment.
“Do you not think this is cruel—what you two are doing to me, all in the name of saving each other?”
Her voice quivered slightly as she continued.
“You’re forcing me to see—right in front of my eyes—just how deeply you two love each other. To the point where you’d throw away your pride, kneel on the ground, and beg—just for each other’s sake.”
Rukalina could no longer hold back the bitterness that had built inside her.
She had never wanted to say such things to Senelia, not when Benelucia wasn’t around.
But she couldn’t endure it any longer.
Because her love, too, was painful—and precious.
“It would have been better if you had shamelessly begged me for help and become the villain,” she said, her voice shaking, “instead of showing me this… this noble sacrifice for love! Then what am I supposed to be?”
Rukalina couldn’t swallow the ache in her heart any longer.
Senelia flinched.
Because she knew—she was fully aware of this already.
Still, she thought… if she acted this way, maybe Rukalina wouldn’t be able to completely turn her back.
That was her calculation.
Because if she wanted to save Benelucia, her own power alone was not enough.
She knew it was cowardly, selfish even—but she couldn’t stop herself.
“…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Lady Elian. But still…”
Even if it made her a coward and a hypocrite, Senelia could not let Benelucia die.
And that’s why she despised herself.
If only she were capable, or at least truly virtuous—then she wouldn’t hate herself this much.
But she was neither.
Senelia was just an ordinary person—ordinary in ability, ordinary in compassion—the kind of person who could become cruel if it meant saving the one she loved.
“…But Lady Elian,” Senelia murmured, “you turned back time too, didn’t you?”
She couldn’t bring herself to meet Rukalina’s eyes.
Though Rukalina spoke casually to her in public, in private she always used formal, polite speech—as though the distance between them could not be erased.
Senelia’s bowed head and the hands covering her face were an admission of guilt.
Even daring to touch that woman’s heart was a sin.
To Senelia, Rukalina was someone untouchable.
Yes… Senelia envied Rukalina, admired her, even as she felt inferiority eating away at her.
She wanted to live like her—strong and good, as most people wished to be.
But Senelia could not desire Benelucia that way.
Because that kind of love—was Rukalina’s.
“Lady Daphnen…!”
Rukalina’s face went pale as she shouted.
Her hands trembled for the first time.
To turn back time after a victorious war—
That meant betraying every comrade who had struggled and bled to survive.
Of course, by rewinding time, she could have ended the war faster, saving more lives.
But there was no guarantee that those who survived the new timeline would be the same.
Even so, Rukalina had reversed time—to change the future.
Because to her, Benelucia mattered more than all her comrades combined.
That selfishness—
That was her one forbidden weakness, her reverse scale.
Through all the years of war, she had not lived a flawless life. But she had never betrayed anyone.
And just as she had held onto her love for Benelucia through all that time—
Yes.
That was why Rukalina’s love could not be allowed to fail.
She had thrown away all the possibilities of those who had survived, just to come back.
But she failed.
Senelia’s words forced Rukalina to face that truth—and it hurt unbearably.
And even before her crumbling expression, Senelia continued to plead.
Ordinary, fragile Senelia—when crisis peaked, all she could do was beg.
So she did.
“Please… please save His Grace. If the Grand Duke dies, then your return to the past will have been for nothing.”
No one had the right to be cruel to others just because they were weak.
Senelia knew that, too.
And still, she acted this way—cruel, selfish—just as Rukalina had accused her.
She held her breath to keep her voice steady, to keep from sounding pitiful.
Because a bad person shouldn’t seek pity through weakness.
“So please… just this once, help me. Please…”
“Enough!”
Rukalina’s sharp tone cut Senelia’s desperate plea short.
She had called Senelia cruel—but Rukalina understood.
She knew what it meant to be desperate to save someone you love.
And she knew the despair of being unable to save them.
Before she turned back time, she wouldn’t have understood such emotions.
But now she did.
“…Fine,” she said quietly. “Even if Ben rejected me, that doesn’t mean I want him to die.”
Above all, Rukalina knew Senelia was weak.
She knew Senelia could not save Benelucia on her own.
So even knowing all this, from her position of strength, Rukalina didn’t want to act heartlessly.
With a deep sigh, she spoke again.
Truthfully, there wasn’t much time to talk.
The powerful aura pulsing from inside the hunting grounds’ barrier was still strong—meaning they still had a little time left.
“But are you sure about this? I can’t find Ben alone. I’ll need a mage—or a sorceress like you, Lady Daphnen.”
There was a limit to how far Rukalina could sense Benelucia’s aura.
The stronger the aura, the more residual energy it left behind—but the range was vast.
And with countless monsters’ mana interfering, tracking his exact location in the vast hunting grounds was nearly impossible.
In short, a mage’s tracking spell was necessary. But the imperial mages of Cliffd would never help them.
So the role of the mage fell to Senelia.
However, casting a tracking spell over such a large area was beyond her current abilities.
If she forced it, her mana would overload again.
Thus, Rukalina would have to narrow down the area using her aura, and Senelia would cast her tracking spell within it.
That meant they had to move together—both of them entering that dangerous place.
“…The real challenge,” Senelia said quietly, “is slipping out without His Majesty knowing.”
Rukalina nodded.
From the start, Senelia had never planned to stay behind in safety while asking Rukalina to save Benelucia for her.
She didn’t look back, but it was obvious that Cliffd was watching them closely.
“I don’t know why His Majesty is letting us act like this,” Senelia added, “but… I have a way.”
It truly was strange—how Cliffd hadn’t interfered or forced the issue, despite clearly hearing their whispers.
If Senelia had been acting alone, it wouldn’t have been so suspicious.
But Rukalina was capable of real action—and still, the emperor was calm.
“What way?” Rukalina asked.
“I’ll make us invisible for a while,” Senelia replied. “But I’ll have to maintain a cloaking spell around us at the same time, so it won’t last long.”
“I’ll carry you, Lady Daphnen,” Rukalina said immediately, understanding her intent.
Senelia didn’t want to keep burdening her—but this was the fastest option. She nodded.
《“Turn transparent.”》
Senelia cast the spell on both of them.
Their bodies vanished from sight.
In the next instant, Rukalina lifted Senelia into her arms and sprinted, breaking free from the imperial mages’ barrier.
The moment they reached the hunting grounds’ boundary, the concealment spell that hid their previous position dissipated.
“Sir Elian and Lady Daphnen are gone…!”
“What happened?!”
Gasps erupted, and Cliffd also realized the two had escaped the mages’ perimeter.
“There—over there!”
“Why are they both—?”
And then, the invisibility spell on Rukalina and Senelia faded as well.
It was the exact moment they crossed fully into the hunting grounds’ barrier.
Senelia’s eyes met Cliffd’s.
The emperor understood exactly what was happening—
and yet, he was smiling.
