When Idren opened his eyes again, what he saw was a blue sky.
He thought as he looked up at the bright blue sky bathed in warm sunlight. The weather is nice. It's as clear as the southern sky.
And then, he rose from where he sat, bewildered.
Edegrun, the capital of Aglante, was a place where it snowed for a third of the year. Of course, there was no way to see such a clear and blue sky.
Standing on his two feet, Idren realized he was aboard a ship. The surrounding blue waves and rocking floor made him aware of the reality.
“…What is this?”
Idren blinked at the absurd surroundings.
Edegrun was inland. The location of Sigrasil Castle was right in front of a steep and high mountain range.
Moreover, if his memory served right, he should have been trapped at the bottom of a well.
Not on a calm river like this.
Idren looked around. He saw small boats decorated with colorful flags and a waterfront with bright flowers in bloom. It was a somewhat familiar scene.
It looked like the small canal between the southern end of Aglante and Leden.
Someone spoke to him as he stood dazed in the unbelievable scenery.
“Your Highness, are you okay?”
Idren's eyes widened as he turned around at the sound of a familiar voice.
“… Penrel?”
Then the young knight with black hair narrowed his eyebrows slightly and answered.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Staring in astonishment at Penrel, who looked as vivid as any living person, Idren muttered.
"Penrel Soer, how are you..."
A knight with black hair like him and a similar physique must have died last year.
The knight with the same black hair and similar build had definitely died last year.
Idren clearly remembered Penrel's death. In the war against Brynwell, he had died in Idren's place.
It was less than three years after Idren's coronation when Brynwell, the former queen's paternal family, invaded with an army to avenge the dead princes who were descendants of the former queen.
The war that began in early spring consumed the entire year.
Idren tried his best, but did not achieve good results. He was too inexperienced then to deal with the old king of Brynwell.
As the war neared its end, he was eventually surrounded by Brynwell's forces. He was with several knights who were close to him.
One of them, Penrel, pretended to be him and lured the soldiers, and eventually died.
After that, the victory and defeat were reversed and Brynwell's army retreated, but the death of the knight who had been with him for a long time remained a great loss to him.
How could Penrel be here now?
Idren rubbed his face with a trembling hand.
"Don't tell me I'm dead... Penrel, is this the afterlife?"
But the land visible in the distance looked too much like Leden to be called paradise.
As Idren scanned the surroundings with bewildered eyes, the knight spoke up.
"What are you saying, Your Majesty?"
* * *
After some awkward conversation, Penrel realized that his lord didn't know where he was, and the knight explained the situation.
“It is the fourth month of the year, and Your Majesty is on his way to the palace of Leden. You are to meet King Dareth and Prince Mahanas there.”
Throughout his explanation, the knight seemed worried about his lord's mental state.
"And you also mentioned hoping to meet your future spouse while there."
And Penrel finally asked again.
"Are you really alright, Your Highness?"
Idren said to the knight that he had been mistaken for a moment. Penrel looked like he didn't believe the insincere excuse at all, but he didn't ask any further questions.
After sending Penrel to the back of the ship, saying he wanted to be alone, Idren sat down and gazed at the water's surface, watching the gently parting currents.
He couldn't believe it, but it seemed like he came back to the past.
Of course, the idea of a person traveling back in time was nonsensical, so this must certainly be a vision he was seeing before death.
So Idren did not ask Penrel any more questions. He didn't want to cause a rift in this vision.
Though he wasn't particularly pleased that of all times, it had to be this period.
As far as he knew, it was now three months before the wedding ceremony. If he was meeting the King and Prince of Leden in the fourth month, then that's the only possibility Idren could think of.
At the beginning of his reign, King Leden accepted his courtship letter and invited him to Leden once half the bride price was paid.
Leden was located at the southern end of Aglante, and Edegrun, the capital of Aglante, was located in the north, so it was not a good distance to travel, but Idren accepted the invitation. This was because he wanted to meet Ophelia at the Royal Palace of Leden.
He wanted to let her know that the unimpressive boy from the past had grown up quite well. He didn't forget their conversations together, and came to repay her past kindness. So she need not worry about associating with him...
What a fleeting dream that had been.
Recalling how futile his hopes from the past were, Idren scoffed at himself.
To cut to the conclusion, he never got to meet Ophelia. Throughout his stay at the palace, she did not come out of her room, saying she was not feeling well.
He should have known then. Ophelia would never be happy with him.
However, in the past, he was extremely clueless, so he believed the letter she wrote. Even though her words, saying that she couldn't show her face because she was sick and that she would make plans for the next meeting, had the weight of a piece of paper.
“… Pathetic bastard.”
Defining his past self in a single phrase, Idren stood up.
They would reach Leden soon.
* * *
The horses were ready at the dock. It was sent from the Royal Palace of Leden.
As he had done in the past, Idren mounted the horse. Penrel, who was checking the ranks nearby, asked in a low voice.
“Didn’t you say you were buying flowers?”
Come to think of it, he did say that in the past. Idren shook his head.
"What's the point when she won't accept them anyway."
He spurred his horse onward. The bewildered knight followed on horseback.
Leden, a kingdom with a long history and nothing other than beautiful scenery, had a small capital. They soon arrived at the royal palace in Leden.
Stopping the horse in front of the small but richly decorated palace, Idren realized that the road was shorter than he remembered. It felt that way even though the scenery had not changed.
Perhaps it was because this was just a vision, he thought to himself as he gazed at the white stone palace.
The royal palace of Leden was as bright as spring. The reliefs carved on the outside were gorgeous, and flowers of various colors not seen in Edegrun wrapped around the building. Idren looked at them impassively.
Penrel, who had been watching the feast of spring flowers with wide eyes, glanced at him.
Even if Idren couldn't fully dispel the knight's doubts, he should at least try to do so halfway, but he lacked the motivation. He let out a small sigh.
Suddenly, he wondered why he couldn't see the Prince of Leden.
In the previous life, Prince Mahanas had come out to greet them even before they arrived at the palace grounds.
But now, no one was in sight, and a noisy commotion could be heard coming from somewhere. Idren raised his head and looked at the source of the commotion. People were gathered near a building and were chatting.
Penrel also seemed to have seen the same thing and lowered his voice.
“It looks like something is going on.”
Idren got off his horse without answering the knight. He approached the gathered people as if he were entranced.
The source of the commotion was a place he was familiar with. Idren reached the center through the crowd and raised his head.
The balcony of the princess's room was wide open.
In the past, when he stayed at the palace for a while, he looked up several times, but it never opened.
But what was even more surprising was someone sitting on the balcony railing.
All that could be seen was the other person's back, made into a dark silhouette by the sunlight, but Idren recognized her at first glance.
He muttered absentmindedly.
“… Ophelia?”
As if those words were any kind of signal, the woman's back tilted.
* * *
The first thing Ophelia Mebasa did when she realized she was in the past was to hit her head on the wall.
She then strangled herself and then bit her tongue. Because she wanted to escape the nightmare at least that way.
The Leden royal palace right before her wedding.
Even if she was used to all kinds of terrible things in the world, this one was of excessively bad quality.
Seeing her pathetically submissive brother strutting around with his head held high made Ophelia want to vomit.
It wasn't just her brother with the disgustingly greasy face. Her avaricious father, Leden which enabled his vanity - it was all exactly the same.
This can't be right.
Ophelia muttered as she was locked in her room, pulling out her hair like she was crazy. This can't be, this can't be right.
In her reality, everything was perfect. Her father, who became king of a ruined kingdom, begged her repeatedly but received nothing. Her brother met a similar fate before dying. The enemy was also avenged cleanly.
After thoroughly mocking them all, Ophelia took her own life. That was her reality.
Not this idiotic, powerless existence as a princess.
But the nightmare wasn't over.
No matter how many times she closed and opened her eyes, she remained in the princess' chambers of the Leden royal palace. The situation stayed unchanged.
The princess of Leden right before her wedding. The mad princess.
Ophelia desperately denied it all, but no one listened to her words. It seemed they thought she had lost her mind after her long-time fiance's death.
Realizing nothing would change, Ophelia stopped her frantic actions. She didn't bite her tongue, hang herself, or bang her head against the walls anymore.
Around a month into living this nightmare, she discovered a blinding light.
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