Chapter 1

“Haa, haa…haa…”
She was losing her breath. She could feel her life slipping away.

However, she couldn’t just give up like this. It couldn’t end this way. She was kneeling on the floor, and she leaned on her sword to pushed her body up with all the strength left in her body. Please, just a little more…

Standing right in front of her, was the very man who killed her father and brother and hung their corpses on the wall as a spectacle for everyone. But that wasn’t all. Because of him, her sister, who was as lovely and as delicate as a puffy bird, ended her life in a miserable way.

This is the moment she had been dreaming of. This is the moment she had endured this living hell to survive for. This is the moment when she could stab the enemy in the neck with her own hands!

However…even with that goal in sight, she didn’t have any strength to hold on to her sword. Please, please, please! She hoped she could drag him down to hell with her, for she was not afraid of death. As she struggled to lift the sword with all her strength, she heard slow footsteps coming towards her, and a chilling voice resounded in the air.

“Well, well, well… a bitch like you did well to come this far.”

The sound of footsteps did not stop until they came right up to her. Before she knew it, she saw two sturdy feet standing tall even in her lower field of vision. As she struggled to raise her head, her dim eyes reflected his tall figure.
At first glance, he was a middle-aged man with an intimidatingly muscular body and a shaggy beard, but he still appeared impressively charismatic.

However, the man’s left arm had been ripped off. Blood constantly flowed from his wound, but his condition was much better compared to her own. However, comparing with losing an arm, the price she had to pay was much greater.

The woman was one of the continent’s top swordswomen for decades. Nevertheless, she could not overcome the fact that the man was praised as a genius sword master.

Her whole body was nearly in tatters and the floor was drenched with her blood. However, her eyes glared at him in a murderous spirit, as if she did not care about her wounds.

“I swear… I will kill you…with my own hands…”

“Well, I suppose that is very unlikely. Even if you were reborn, the outcome wouldn’t be any different.”

She clenched her teeth. The man stole everything she had. She could never forgive him.

“Aaaaah!”

She leapt up and dashed at him with her sword.

Urk!

With a hideous noise, a blade tore across her throat.

The last moment of her life passed very slowly. Beyond her shaky vision she could dimly see her father and brother and her sister Amelia.

‘…I’m sor…ry.’

It was the year 387 of the Empire of Keith.

Amanda, the best female swordswoman on this continent, died in the Battle of Huilena, unable to carry out her bloody vengeance.
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Flash!
Amanda opened up her eyes.
Something was very strange.
Unlike what she had just experienced, her body were covered by soft sheets, and there is warm sunshine coming through the windows
‘This must be… heaven.’

She closed her eyes bitterly. The anger at not being able to avenge her family burned fresh in her heart, but when she came to her senses she was lying in a completely different place.

At least it was more comfortable than the hell she had lived through. She had never laid down in such a soft bed since her whole family was wiped out, and she had never slept deeply because of the nightmares.

It was as if she had returned to to the era of her youth before her family came to the miserable end.
‘Wait, it’s like I’ve gone back to the past…What?’

Amanda scrambled out of bed. As she got up the large, cushiony mattress yielded under her. Although it would be hard for someone who knew Amanda to believe, as a youth her skin was sensitive to touch and she used only the finest mattresses.

However, she still felt a sense of dread.
“…How is this possible?”
Amanda’s mouth gaped like a fool as she looked at the room around her. It was the room she had been living in when she was young. The details were so perfect that it was impossible for it to be a recreation.

On one side of the wall were the lines she had drawn to measure her sister’s height at seven years of age, then at ten and then at fifteen. Those little letters next to the lines were all her own. She couldn’t imagine how this was happening.
After sitting dumbstruck for a moment, Amanda rose from the bed as if she were possessed. She slowly approached the window and gazed outside. As she overlooked the garden she saw flowers blooming in dazzling colors in the morning sun. She could never forget her home. The scenery was so familiar to her. It was unchanged from the past.
‘I miss this period of my life so much…is this some sort of fantasy that came to me right before I die?’

Amanda Windsor. She had always used her family name with pride.

Although she didn’t grow up in extreme extravagance, the Windsor family had been around for many generations and lived in the south of the capital city. The family were historically counts and served as the Fourth Order of knights the royal court.

As the eldest daughter of the family she took care of her father on behalf of her dead mother, as well as helped her brother become a better knight. Sometimes it was also difficult to take care of her sickly sister by herself while managing the Count’s affairs, but it was a peaceful life and she was grateful for that.

It wasn’t until she lost everything later that she realized how happy their ordinary lives were. She remembered the day when all her misfortunes came at once. The last time she had looked upon the garden there were no beautiful flowers, but dozens of red torches coming into the castle in perfect order. It was like they were coming closer to her, and she could not shake off her anxious mind even when there was nothing there.

As the terrible memories slowly returned, Amanda shook her head then turned away from the window. As she looked back into the room, and a mirror hanging on the wall came into her eyes.
“Ah…”
Reflected in the mirror was a noble lady in a silk nightgown with smooth blonde hair and skin as white as snow. Her eyes were red like the finest rubies, and her straight nose and petal-like lips gave her the appearance of a beautiful doll, one that is alive.

That was her.
The last image of herself she remembered was very different from the one reflected in the mirror. As she stared quietly at herself her scarlet eyes trembled in surprise. It seemed far too real to be considered a fantasy. Though her natural beauty had not completely faded, she had never had such a fine figure during her career as a swordswoman.

Since she decided to avenge her family and began to carry a sword, she had cut off her long hair and had blisters on her hands from daily hard practice. As time passed, her naturally gentle eyes became venomous, and her milky skin became ghostly pale and lost color. That beautiful, delicate noblewoman was long gone. Only a cold, hardened woman was left. However, even she could not perfectly recreate the distant images in her memory, even if it were a fantasy.
“…What in heaven’s name is going on?”

She touched her face with a perplexed expression. Suddenly, the door opened. It was rude to enter another person’s room like this without knocking, even more so if it was a woman’s room, and Amanda turned her head, frowning slightly.

As soon as she saw the person who came in, she completely froze. Her scarlet eyes widened, showing her surprise before her trembling lips could even speak.

“Amanda!”

Amelia walked into the room, smiling more warmly than the morning sun. It was like a dream. Amanda forced herself to watch with breathless attention. Amelia had the same golden hair and dark green eyes as her father. She was small and thin for her age due to her sickly condition.

Amelia tilted her head briefly at Amanda’s strange facial expression, but Amelia soon smiled and happily looked up at her.

“You’re not gonna scold me for barging in, are you? If you’re going to talk about manners, do it later. I have a real emergency right now. You might be surprised to know this.”

Amanda’s eyes began to wet when she saw Amelia singing like a little bird just in front of her. Was this a dream? It had to be. Otherwise Amelia would not have appeared in front of her like this again. If so…she hoped she would never wake from here.

Tears began to slip down Amanda’s cheeks. Amelia was surprised to see her crying suddenly.
“Sis? Is something wrong?”

Watching Amelia anxiously, Amanda could not answer. She bit her lips to stop the sobs rising up her throat and she wordlessly took Amelia’s small body into her arms. She was afraid this moment would go away forever if she made a sound.

Amanda clearly remembered the last time she had seen her sister. It was a pitch-black night, and her sister was surrounded by evil men and she was screaming in a completely different voice than now.

“Sis! Amanda! Help! Help!”

There was the sound of Amelia’s nightgown tearing. Amanda never forgot those blood-curdling screams. It was a tragedy that happened overnight in the Windsor Castle, the most peaceful place in the world.

It was her brother Aaron who caught her running towards Amelia. He whispered sadly but firmly in her ear, It’s too late…

If Aaron had not shut Amanda’s mouth and dragged her away, she could have died there with her sister. How good would that have been, and for a long time, she felt sorry for herself.
Her lovely sister. She regretted that she couldn’t save her.

She hugged Amelia and shed silent tears. She would never miss her second chance.
Nothing mattered now, whether it was a dream or reality. Seeing Amelia again was everything.
Amelia looked at Amanda’s tears with a troubled look, and she immediately raised her hand and patted her older sister’s back.
“It’s fine, sis, I am here with ya.”
“Uh-huh.”
Amanda could no longer hold in a sob and it burst out of her lips. Amelia waited silently as she patted her sister’s back while Amanda let out all the grief she had endured in her life as a cold-blooded female swordswoman. The comfort from that little hand was so warm that Amanda could hardly stop crying.

But as the time passed, Amanda’s composure gradually returned. Amelia was still in her arms and the temperature coming from her tiny body was so real. Amanda murmured to herself with an incredulous look.
“…This isn’t a dream?”

Seeking to dispel the shade of doubt in her heart, she hurriedly released her arm that had been hugging Amelia and grabbed her sister’s small shoulder and examined her thoroughly. Amelia gave Amanda a worried frown.
“You’re having a hard time managing the Count’s affairs alone, aren’t you? I didn’t know about that…I’m sorry that I keep whining about things.”

“…What?”

Amanda couldn’t help let her mouth drop open again after seeing Amelia speaking as if she were really there in front of her. This was not a fantasy. Moreover, it was not even a dream. The Amelia in front of her looked too alive for that.
Amelia continued to speak with a gloomy face, as if she mistook Amanda’s dumbfounded look for being scolded for her immature behavior.

“It’s just the for the first time the crown prince, who had always been away at the battlefield, will show up at the ball. I really wanted to go there with you…”
“The crown prince? Who?”
“What’s wrong with you today? I’m talking about the crown prince of the Keith Empire!”
Amanda’s head began to spin rapidly, but she hadn’t a clue as to which crown prince Amelia was talking about. The Keith Empire was one of the largest kingdoms on the continent. In every respect, their military was far superior to those of smaller nations. From generation to generation, the belligerent emperors of the Keith Empire loved war, and the rumour even suggested that the founding emperor of the Keith Empire had the blood of a dragon.
Only the 12th Emperor Howard of the Keith Empire had a gentle nature, and he helped develop an empire that cared more about developing state affairs rather than war. Under his reign, the empire that was once obsessed with bloodshed came to prosperity. In order to achieve this, it had been said that the previous emperor intentionally chose the gentle-hearted Howard as his successor, different from any other emperor. If that was true, it was an wise decision.
However, the problem was with Howard’s brother, Luke.

Luke was at first thought to become the next emperor, but in the end he was deprived of the throne by his brother Howard and instead ruled over the small duchy of Edel as a grand duke. Though many people expressed concern because Luke had been born with the nature of an emperor, Luke had kneeled and submitted to his brother.
For as long as a decade he didn’t show his ambition. He waited for his chance, then the traitorous brother eventually rebelled and won. The Windsor family, who headed the Fourth Order of the Royal Family in the course of the regime’s replacement, was also purged by Emperor Luke.

That was the man that Amanda wanted to kill all her life. Luke, the future Emperor of the Keith Empire.
‘…Damn it.’
Amanda’s eyes turned cold as she those unpleasant memories came to her mind. She remembered the sensation of Luke cutting her throat and she brought her hand to her neck.
There had been many incidents before Luke ultimately succeeded in his rebellion, but he could not install a crown prince because of his disgrace for being a treasonous emperor. As far as Amanda remembered, there was only one official crown prince, but he had been assassinated twenty years ago. Although he had made many brilliant achievements in the battlefield, he disappeared without a single appearance in society. It was rumored that he would become the most brutal of all emperors, and if he were alive Luke’s rebellion would have failed. However, he died before his official debut to the royal family, so he was unknown to most people.

So far no one else came to mind.
“A crown prince…did that mean the treacherous emperor eventually used his force to put someone in that position?”
It was bound to happen eventually. The Keith Empire was extremely powerful, and even with a treacherous ruler he had leverage to get what he wanted.
“What are you talking about, sis? That’s treasonous! If our father knew that you had such a profane words in your mouth, you would be in so much trouble no matter how old you are.”
Amelia glanced around to see if anyone had overheard their conversation. Her cautious demeanor filled Amanda’s mind with questions. She couldn’t figure out what this was all about.
“You’re being so strange today, sis. Of course, there is only one Crown Prince of Keith. Prince Oliver.”
Oliver? As soon as she heard the name, recognition flashed into Amanda’s head.
Oliver von Keith.

Who Amelia referred to was the prince who was assassinated twenty years ago. Amanda had a sudden realization, and it was if a tangled silk thread unraveled all at once.
“Amelia, what year is it?”
“Oh God. It’s year 367 of the Empire. Do you not even remember that, sis?”
At that moment Amanda was unable to say anything, as if she had been struck by lightning. It was exactly twenty years in the past around the time of the crown prince’s death. And it was only year or so before the royal family was destroyed.
Amanda remembered it clearly. In the past, the crown prince was about to make his first official debut, and Amanda was accompanied by Amelia at the ball. At the end of the day however, they had gone home without seeing him. It was only later that it was revealed that the prince did not attend because he had been assassinated, then six months later the royal family began to decline when it had been revealed that the emperor had been fighting a long-term illness.
Yes, she remembered now. Amelia had also rushed into her room like this when she learned the crown prince was going to attend the ball this time.

Today was…
Was it really that day? What had happened so far passed through Amanda’s head in a panorama.
‘So I AM back in the past, ain’t I?’
It was impossible to believe. How on earth? Why? A host of unsolved questions arose. There was no one to ask, and no one to give an answer.
She began to realize that this moment, which she thought was only a fantasy, was in fact reality. She turned pale as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
“Are you alright, sis?”
Amelia held her older sister’s hand carefully, gazing at her with anxious eyes. Despite such this small gesture, Amanda was on the verge of crying again. It didn’t matter how she got back to the past. Now there was a real chance to protect her family she treasured so much. She would never let that fortune come again.
Amanda gripped Amelia’s hand and spoke with a devoted whisper.
“This time, I promise to protect you. No matter what happens…”
Amelia slowly nodded at her sister’s strong words. She was acting strangely today. At first she had thought Amanda was under stress for having to manage the Count’s affairs, but Amanda had said some unexpected things.
“Why would you say such things all of a sudden? Are you really okay, my sister?”
“Of course, especially when you’re in front of me like this. How could I not be okay? This moment is for me…I cannot describe how much I appreciate it. Thank you for being alive, Amelia.”
Amelia’s face flushed with embarrassment. She didn’t understand why her older sister was acting this way, but she smiled shyly anyway because it meant Amanda loved her. The fact the Amanda was the best sister in the world would never change.

Amanda leaned back, hugging Amelia tightly, and looked at her tenderly as if she was handling a fragile object. Amanda couldn’t almost bear to look at her, and her heart ached for the future that Amelia didn’t know.
A thought suddenly came to Amanda’s mind.
“Where is Father now?”
“What? You told me yesterday that Father had urgent business today and he wouldn’t be back until evening. Don’t you…”
“Oh, did I…”
Amanda gave her an awkward smile then thought carefully. In order to avoid the same tragedy she had to do something at once. There wasn’t much time left to change the future.

Should she run to her father and tell him about his future? Amanda immediately shook her head. It was doubtful whether he would believe this outlandish story, which she found difficult to understand herself, and even if he believed what she said, the Windsor family was absolutely loyal to the royal family. Her father was a man who would fight to the death rather than run away. Because of this, he had been killed in his previous life by the Emperor Luke.
How could she stop Luke from becoming emperor? No one knew it now, but the 12th Emperor Howard was suffering from a serious long-term illness. The present emperor would die soon.

‘…Should I assassinate Luke before then?’
Even if she returned to the past and her skills with the sword did not disappear completely, it would be necessary to train her body again to peak physical condition. She had failed in her original goal, but she was still the one who pointed her sword at the infamous Emperor Luke cut off his arm.
But even if the assassination was successful…
The royal family would hunt down the person who killed Luke, ignorant of his deeds. The Windsor family wouldn’t be able to avoid responsibility. And if she failed…

She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to even think of the outcome. Although she did not want to admit it, she had worked her whole life to kill Luke. Amanda knew better than anyone how strong he was. She had already lost to him once. Was it possible to win with this second chance? There wasn’t a guarantee that she would be able to kill Luke this time while concealing her identity. She could not risk the lives of her family against such a slim chance.
‘…I can’t afford to fail.’
Even if the worst possible outcome were to happen, she needed to be able to ensure that the Windsor family survived, but a good plan didn’t come to mind. Even though she had valiantly sacrificed herself in her previous life, she was more ashamed that she could not avenge her family’s deaths.

She had done everything that could be done alone. Now he needed an assistant to offer her strength.
‘If there was only someone who could help me…’
There was only one person that came to mind.
‘…Prince Oliver?’

To her knowledge, he was supposed to die in a few days. But…what if he didn’t die? The crown prince, son of the present emperor, would be the biggest obstacle to Luke, even if Oliver only accomplished half of his achievements on the battlefield. No, it would be very helpful if the rumors about him were true. Furthermore, if she could make him emperor he could stand in the way of Luke’s rise to power.

She had to save Prince Oliver, someone who should have died. It would be a decision that would further shake the whole continent. The effects of it would be unpredictable. After a moment’s hesitation, Amanda laughed at herself coldly.

‘I don’t care if the whole world drowns in blood. I only want to save my family…’
She would walk with a smile down this bloodstained road. Amanda looked down at Amelia’s bright eyes and made a deep vow once again.
She’ll save her this time. No matter the cost.