Ellier thought that she had become somewhat dull after her hardships in Rubelfast, making her completely forget about the coming events!

During next year’s Spring Banquet, the Emperor will make an announcement regarding the succession.

While it would probably be better if the announcement was simply a decree naming someone as the Crown Prince or Crown Princess, the problem was that this was not the case.

This announcement shook the Imperial Family and High Society to the core, and also reversed the fate of Princess Lilliette completely.

It was both the beginning of her glory and her despair, and the event she had thought of the most while she was in a vegetative state for 10 years. 

‘Could that be the reason I’ve returned to this point in time? But why in the body of a slave…?’

Ever since she had awakened in this life, she had mulled over the reason for her new life several times, but till now she has yet to reach a convincing conclusion.

But if it was because of the Emperor’s announcement…

Chills ran down her spine.

Does it mean that she would have to repeat the situation where she couldn’t die and spent 10 years wallowing in regret? 

No, she has the status of a slave now, so that can’t be possible.

‘Then what is it? Why did I have to return to this point? Other than that announcement, there wasn’t anything occurring at this point in time that was important! Is it just a coincidence? No, aside from all that, why do I have to live this sh*tty life again?’

Just as she was feeling suffocated by her frustration and grievances, the door opened quietly.

It was Mrs. Adler. 

The appetising smell seems to indicate that she has brought dinner.

“You’ve woken up, Ellier. I should have woken you up… How are you feeling? Goodness, your complexion still looks pale.”

“N–no. I don’t feel that energetic, but I don’t think I’ll faint again.”

“That’s great. Eat quickly. If you eat well, your body will heal faster. Up until now, I had only been able to feed you broth made from boiled vegetables and barley.”

After helping Ellier up to lean on the head of the bed, Mrs. Adler placed a bowl of watery soup that’s milky coloured on the bedside table.

Perhaps due to concerns about her weakened digestion, there weren’t any solids present, but the fragrant smell made her mouth water.

Ellier grabbed the spoon unwittingly and began to bring soup into her mouth. 

It was pure survival instincts. The simple thought to continue living completely cleared up her previously complex mind.

‘Yeah…. In any case, I want to continue living so there’s no other choice. Perhaps God wanted her to straighten out the 10 years’ worth of regrets and resentment.

While the ‘hows’ were still unknown, no matter what, she had to survive, and recover her energy in order to plan for the future. 

And no matter what happened from now onwards, there was no way that Ellier, who had endured the hellish place of Rubelfast, could not overcome them.

Afterwards, Ellier focused completely on recovering her body’s condition. Even if the food didn’t sit well with her, and even if it caused her to throw up eventually, she kept emptying her plate during meals.

After a meal, she would walk around the room for exercise.

She never had imagined that she who rode on horses and ran about wielding her sword, would term walking about the room as exercise, but currently her body was to the point that even this was strenuous. 

But Ellier didn’t laze and persisted in moving about.

Thanks to that, her body, which trembled like a newborn fawn, gradually gained weight and strengthened.

One day, after many months of not seeing him, Slarhan appeared. 

“I’ve heard that you’ve worked hard to recover, you do seem more like a human.”

“Le, no, Master.”

Ellier had almost spoken aloud the nickname that she had called him in her previous life, “Lehan”. 

Whenever she called him Lehan without permission, he would politely respond with, ‘Yes, Your Highness Lilliette.’

She told him cheekily that it was alright for him to call her by ‘Lily’, but he had never crossed the line.

But now, he seemed to narrow the distance between them too easily. Of course, this was in comparison to her previous life. 

“But you still need to gain more weight. You’re taking your medicine on time, right?”

“Although I have been thankfully consuming my medicine on time, aren’t you giving me too much of that precious medicine? I think I don’t need to take the medicine anymore.”

The medicine was his blood.

Due to such medicine, it was unpleasant to have to live depending on Slarhan, but there was no dispute over the fact that it was a miraculous medicine that could even save someone on the verge of death.

Additionally, as it was blood that flowed in the body of the Duke, the precious medicine was invaluable.  

But now that she was almost completely recovered, logically speaking, it did not make sense to give her such precious medicine.

The more precious the goods, the more efficiently they should be used, isn’t that so? That’s what she learned in her previous life.

However, he seemed to find her worries ludicrous. 

“Why? Are you scared? If you’re scared, then you shouldn’t have thoughts about running away.”

“No, it’s not that, no matter what it’s blood… If you keep squeezing out blood like that, how can your body be alright?”

“The mouse is worried about the cat.”

Looking at Slarhan ignoring her well intentioned advice, Ellier thought to herself, scoffing. 

‘Do you think that you’ll be young forever?’

However, she kept her expression gentle.

As he sat in the chair, Slarhan gave Ellier a once over. 

“Did you say you were fourteen?”

“I am sixteen years old.”

“…What?”

Slarhan frowned at that answer with a look of disbelief.

“There’s no way, you can’t be sixteen now. I think you’re mistaken.”

“I don’t remember my age either, but the slave certificate said I was 16. The younger the slave is, the more its worth, so the slave traders might have reduced my age on purpose.”

“You’re actually sixteen…”

It wasn’t that Ellier couldn’t understand his feelings. 

She herself also couldn’t tell that her body was sixteen years old. Perhaps the body’s owner did not have proper meals even before waking up in Rubelfast.

“You would be of age in two years, but who would think of that when they look at you?”

“It seems that way to me as well, but what can I do? Age is not something I can increase or decrease as I please.”

“That’s true.”

Ellier brushed against her skinny wrists that were close to a skewer awkwardly, then looked at the autumn light outside the window. 

Ventiark was located in the Northeast region. The winters were long and summers short. It was an expansive territory that only saw the flowers bloom when the spring flowers in the capital bloomed, and when the autumn leaves were vibrantly on display in the capital, it was only the Northeast was still enjoying the last days of summer, 

The short summer had passed, and the leaves of trees were dyed a yellowish red. 

“Excuse me, but may I ask what the date is today, Master.”

At that question, Slarhan, who was still looking at Ellier, raised his eyebrows slightly, before answering indifferently.

“September 18, 892.”

Ellier mumbled the date several times, “So it’s September 18th…”

During the Spring banquet on March 15 of the coming year, the Emperor will announce the matter of his successor. She had to be healthier before then.

No matter what, this announcement seemed to be a matter of importance to her, especially now that she was relying on Slarhan more than ever. 

Perhaps, she had no other choice but to choose the completely opposite path from the one she took in her previous life.

“How did you live like before you were captured by a slave trader?”

Ellier was taken aback by the sudden question, but immediately made an expression of confusion.

“I… am not sure.”

“Ah, did you lose your memory due to the poisonous fumes used by Rubelfast?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Is there a possibility that you might have been from nobility?” 

Her heart pricked. But Ellier shrugged her shoulders and spread out her palms.

“Could I have been a noble? I’m not so good looking.”

“Well…”

He was expressionless, so she couldn’t figure out what that meant. But the eyes observing Ellier were sharp.

To not be seen as a pushover, Ellier instinctively straightened her shoulders and back.

She didn’t know that it was a typical attitude of aristocrats that slaves and commoners could not imitate.

“How unique. Truly…”

Goosebumps rose as Slarhan continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes. 

‘Who would be scared if you kept staring like that? I, a woman that has even become the Emperor before! I’ve even been on battlefields, this is nothing!’

Ellier, who had unknowingly became nervous, felt a blow to her pride due to her own nervousness, and immediately gave a smile while pretending to be composed. 

A thought seemed to have come to Slarhan’s mind, and he gave an unexpected suggestion. 

“The condition of your body seems to be in good shape, so let’s go for a walk. Follow me.”

After coming to Ventiark, Ellier had only stayed in this room. With the feeling of a prisoner leaving solitary confinement, she immediately followed after him. She felt as though crossing the room’s threshold was akin to crossing country’s border

As she glanced around while descending the stairs, she found that all of Slarhan’s servants stopped what they were doing, and bowed their heads in greeting.

It was only when she saw this image that Ellier had realized that she held her head up with her back straightened, just like Slarhan.

At the same time, she met the disapproving eyes of Slarhan’s aide Tariq, and hurriedly lowered her head. 

‘Ahhh! I just can’t get used to this.’

Although it has already already been half a year since the regression, but Ellier forgets that she is a slave constantly.

This may be because she had endured through Rubelfast with the dignity of an Emperor. 

After coming to Ventiark, neither Slarhan nor Mrs. Adler criticized her behavior, so she did not realise this until now. 

However, not everyone remains composed about the existence of slaves. Tariq, who went to the place Ellier was living at with Slarhan, was annoyed with the existence of slaves itself.

It wasn’t because he was a bad person.

Recalling the Tariq Dinell she knew from her previous life, although he spoke gruffly, he had an upright and loyal character, and was good at taking care of his subordinates. 

He was also a rarely found spearmaster in the Empire, and he just thinks of the existence of slaves itself as blasphemous. That was also an accurate view.

However, slavery has already became a necessary evil in the Paldinas Empire, and since the Empire itself cannot be changed, so he would rather be rid of slaves that were before him.

In any case, as soon as he spotted Ellier and Slarhan, he followed behind Slarhan and stared at Ellier with a slight frown, as if he was dissatisfied with Ellier.

When the tanned muscular giant frowned his thick eyebrows, that image alone was threatening enough.

‘What? What about me?!’

Both receiving medical treatment in the castle and her leaving the room were Slarhan’s orders, so she didn’t know why he was glaring at her. Ellier’s petulance appeared and she pouted her lips.

Whether he knew that there was a strange battle occurring behind him or not, Slarhan walked towards the back gate of the castle and opened the large door leading towards the garden.

The sudden gust of wind made Ellier shiver.

Residents living in Ventiark might still perceive this as late summer. However, Ellier was living in Rubelfast up until recently, which was located near the desert, and the fact that Ellier’s body was still weak, was sensitive to the chilly air that the wind brought. 

She felt that if she caught a cold, it would become a headache, so she rubbed her forearms. Suddenly, Slarhan turned around and placed the thin jacket he had on onto her shoulders. 

Ellier was so surprised that she froze stiffly. 

In fact, she wasn’t the only one who froze. The servants that were around them doing their jobs, also had expressions of surprise.