When I was very young, I used to play games without my parents knowing. I had gotten sick of my classmates chattering that they played it since the game was tremendously popular at the time.

I started the game nervously while hiding. I couldn’t understand the game, nor where the strong monsters were at.

Ultimately, my character perished after a brief encounter with the monster in the game.

I blankly stared at the 0-star result on the computer screen, and my feelings and interest towards the game cooled down after I quietly turned it off.

That moment perfectly described what I was feeling right now. It felt like everything had cooled down.

My steps felt light as I walked up the stairs of the bell tower.

There was a legend that when a person died, they would ascend the stairs that lead to heaven. How did the people who climbed those stairs feel?

Right now, I felt okay in my own way. I had climbed these stairs in my previous life, so I was used to them.

When I eventually arrived at the top of the bell tower, there was a huge bell greeting me.

‘If I ring the bell here, will everyone jump out of surprise?’

What a joke.

However, imagination was just imagination, and nothing more.

‘I’m sorry, Selena. I don’t think I can make your wish come true.’

I honestly didn’t have the confidence to make people grieve at my funeral. Even more so when those people cried uncontrollably when I was in the center of the room. I really couldn’t.

Did you hear that? I rejected her without a second thought, so I think she got a little wounded from the impact. Oh my.

Anyways, why should I have been bothered by her affairs from a long time ago? There was a time when I struggled in my previous life, yet nothing changed.

‘But, Selena, your resentment was basically about your miserable death, right? I’ll do the best I can so that your death won’t be as miserable. At the very least, your death won’t be as miserable as before.’

After I spoke for a long time in my heart, I took long steps. Walking to the rails, I was able to see the grass below after passing by the bell that was bigger than my body. I slid my hand off the railings and closed my eyes. The sun felt nice and warm on my skin, and the wind was cool and pleasant.

I was currently wearing a luxurious one-piece. Up until now, I received the care of some people from Selena’s family. I felt like she received worry and affection from people because she’s the duke’s little princess. Hence, even though everyone might leave her, at least Selena’s family will cry once I chose to die…

That was good enough, maybe even excellent. Selena was far better off than me.

My body became more relaxed. With my eyes still closed, I took a step forward. I felt the empty space without any road as my body leaned down.

It will be my second death which I chose for myself.

As my body tilted, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back at the same time. As soon as I felt the unfamiliar sensation, I opened my eyes wide and looked at the person who pulled me.

“Sir Lukaf?”

“It’s Lucas.”

Lucas who answered me was breathing heavily and shaking. His face became distorted as if he was angry.

“Did you follow me?”

***

Lucas was dumbfounded, to say the least.

‘Is that all she has to ask?’

Even though this woman was about to die, she was so calm.

Except for the slight surprise in her eyes when she saw him, she remained calm again.

“Yes.”

Lucas actually saw the princess heading for the bell tower and just went on his own way. However, he felt that something was strange.

After suffering from the accident and losing her memory, the princess’ personality changed and she locked herself up in her room for several days.

But why was she here alone? And why did she ask him to be friends?

He refused to be friends with her because he knew of the princess’ original temper. However, she was too indifferent to his refusal.

It felt something like, ‘Ah, I’ve been rejected. Oh well.’

‘Just what is up with her…?’

It felt like he swallowed something rough, or he swallowed something undercooked. Of course, whatever just happened could’ve simply been a joke if he threw it out without any meaning.

Lucas turned around and looked at the bell tower. What was in the bell tower?

He felt uncomfortable for some reason, it was strange. It felt like he missed something he shouldn’t have missed. Maybe he regretted it when he rejected her or else he wouldn’t have felt this way, or he would’ve just passed her by if she didn’t act so indifferent like that, her face even looked like it was numb and she wasn’t alive…

‘Doesn’t look alive?’

Lucas turned to the bell tower and started running before he could connect his thoughts. How far did he run? After climbing to the top of the bell tower, he could see Selena’s back at the end of the railing.

In that dangerous situation, he could see her sky blue hair fluttering on her back. And her body slowly tilted.

Lucas rushed and grabbed her. It was such a close call and his heart was beating wildly. However, the woman was still calm after her pratfall.

***

“Princess, no way… do you want to die because you were rejected by me?”

What was Lucas talking about? I had been thinking about this for a while.

So, he assumed that because he refused to be my friend, I tried to die out of heartbreak?
How did he come to that conclusion?

“Um, it’s not like that, though.”

Of course, his rejection felt like a blow to me, and it was the second time I felt something like this after the 0-star incident, but that didn’t mean I wanted to die just because I couldn’t be friends with him.

Even if it was not Lucas who rejected me, I would’ve still climbed this bell tower. Even if I was rejected by an uncle who was passing by near the mansion, I would’ve still climbed up the bell tower.

Despite my firm answer, Lucas stared at me doubtfully.

Come to think of it, he was a man who was talented in many aspects, so he should’ve known better than that.

He was a man who was known for taking advantage of people in any condition. He was a talented man and was full of confidence.

He was that kind of person, so he should’ve understood my action. But then again, it was also my fault that I directly went to the tower after being rejected by him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you want to die?”

‘That’s a bold question.’

It was a misunderstanding caused by his egocentric thinking and my timing, but this question was a bit presumptuous.

Earlier, even though I impulsively asked him to be friends, Lucas rejected me. Isn’t that the end of our relationship?

I didn’t want to tell a story to someone unrelated to me. I didn’t think he’d believe me.

“Are we close enough to talk about that?”

“It’s not about how close we are.”

I didn’t want to hear any more of the strange man’s words. I didn’t want to have a useless conversation with him. Actually, just opening my mouth to reply was tiresome.

I just wanted this man to leave me soon. Because my body was pulled back hastily, my butt started throbbing on the floor.

“Sir Lucas, it’s not because of you, so you don’t have to pay any attention or feel guilty. I didn’t think much about what you did. I’m sorry to make you misunderstand. Please get going.”

Lucas scrutinized my movement as I stood up. I stumbled in the middle of doing it, so he flinched.

‘It’s because of you. You made my butt ache. So please just leave me alone.’

“Are you going to jump again if I go?”

“You won’t do it twice a day?”

I was tired twice a day too. It’s not easy to prepare for death. I made the choice, but sometimes I was hesitant when it was time to go.

If death was that easy, I would have already died by the age of 15.

This was embarrassing. I already said to Selena I would die in a grand way.

I hobbled past Lucas, who still had his eyes fixed on me.

‘Ugh, my butt hurts so much.’

I didn’t have the confidence to go down the stairs easily. That’s why I wanted Lucas to go down quickly. How could I walk down on all fours when Lucas was there?

I glanced back at Lucas.

“Sigh.”

Soon Lucas came to my side and lifted me up. He did that without my consent…

“You’re going to take me down?”

“I don’t think you’ll arrive until night if I leave you behind. So why did you come up here?”

“You saw it earlier. I wasn’t going to use the stairs when I went down.”

I certainly didn’t mean to. But because of him, I decided to let him carry me down to the bottom.
Lucas looked at me and sighed again. He started to take a step. Why does he keep sighing like that?

By the way, this man’s transport skills were great. It felt like I was sleeping on a comfortable bed. A well-trained knight can move a person or luggage without much movement like this…?

My eyes were closing because of the comfortable feeling.

‘I really need to sleep.’

***

Lucas looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. He was absolutely dumbfounded.

Her hair got stuck in the bush and she asked him to help her, then she asked him to be her friend, then she was about to die, and now she’s sleeping?

The duke’s dignity would be gone when he knew his daughter acted like this.

The former princess was better. She was honest, even though she had a mean personality. But now, Lucas couldn’t even guess what she was thinking.