Episode 48: Gillian’s Threat

Laurence sat right beside the Marquis of Heslo, serving as his personal attendant. From the sound of his polite voice, he seemed to be chatting with a woman seated nearby.

Five minutes before the meal began, Valerie’s brothers—sons of the Marquis of Oppreesé—arrived, filling the remaining seats. Lara, upon seeing their faces, quietly calmed her rapidly beating pulse.

Laurence paid no attention to them. He treated Valerie the same way, as though their arduous past had either been forgotten or had never existed at all. Laughing and chatting with others, he acted as if he were simply passing the time. The meal was slow to begin.

Familiar with the long traditions of the nobility, Lara sat quietly with her hands folded. It was a skill she had learned during her time as empress. While Valerie and Gladys busied themselves with various duties, Lara had done nothing at all.

Because nothing had ever been assigned to her. After losing her first child and watching her second fall to ruin, Lara had lived a hollow life as empress. The constant attacks had left her defenseless, and over time, she had simply collapsed into despair.

That had been the truth. Whenever Lara tried to do anything, people would whisper in unison. The belief that a mere slave had seduced the prince was a rumor shared not only by the nobility but also by the palace servants. Their constant scrutiny of her every move had left her powerless.

“Try some apple juice.”

Lara had been staring blankly at her empty dish when Alec, sipping his aperitif, offered her a glass of apple juice. It was a clear, yellow drink served in a slender glass, much like the one he held for his aperitif.

It seemed he had requested the alcohol-free beverage out of consideration for her pregnancy. Lara looked up at him blankly before nodding. She took a sip of the juice.

Valerie’s green eyes flicked toward them. Lara set down her glass and spoke softly.

“Your wife is looking at you.”

---

The wife had her wavy, sand-colored hair styled low, adorned with tiny pearls woven delicately between the strands.

Her smooth, white nape was fully exposed—so pristine it seemed to invite a biting impulse. Her chest, more prominent since pregnancy, carried the fragrance of blooming magnolias. The puffed sleeves and the crinoline dress she wore were a pale shade of pink.

Lara’s appearance was now flawlessly beautiful, befitting her position as the prince’s wife. It was a striking contrast to how she had been before regaining consciousness.

Unlike a few days prior, when she had been overwhelmed and intimidated by anything belonging to the upper class, she now appeared perfectly at ease.

Considering how just days ago she had clung to her maids, unable to decide on a single piece of jewelry, the change was nothing short of remarkable.

It was as if someone entirely different now inhabited her body. She even displayed a discerning eye when choosing a pearl bracelet for her wrist. Lara had transformed into a woman of refined taste—the kind of noblewoman who exuded grace and elegance. And behind that transformation was…

“Your wife is looking at you.”

Afrosa’s gaze fell on Valerie. It had been said that the Marquis of Oppreesé, who had been watching them closely ever since their move to Dranberk, had sent his children in his place. Even though he had anticipated encountering them, his emotions refused to settle.

“Have you greeted them yet?”

He wanted to kill them. He wanted to tear them apart, shred them until they were unrecognizable. Restraining that urge was both agonizing and disorienting.

“Rose.”

He called his wife. He wanted to ask her—what is it you want to say? Ever since she regained her memories, she had deliberately pushed him away. Even before that, she had been pulling away from him, little by little. Or perhaps she hadn’t even known he had returned back then.

She had believed she was the only one who came back, the only one given a second chance. If she had known Aphrosa had also returned… His mouth went dry.

He stared at his wife’s pale face, which refused to answer his call. Sitting still and expressionless before the meal began, she resembled the woman she had been in the palace—an empress in name alone.

“Look at me.”

Something inside him crumbled silently. It was an unspeakable feeling of horror and devastation. When his wife turned her back on him, when she finally declared she would leave him—

In their past life, he had chased her relentlessly, time and time again, never tiring. That overwhelming, wretched feeling he had known all too well was called despair.

“Please.”

He whispered, his voice just loud enough for her to hear. But she stubbornly refused to look at him. It was as though turning her head would kill her. Instead, she looked straight ahead, maintaining an air of calm. It was a familiar sight.

Sitting next to him, she pretended he didn’t exist, as if he were a part of her life that had already been cut away. She rejected him with unwavering resolve.

“If you don’t want to see me kill that woman in this life, too…”

Finally, her blue eyes turned to him.

“Listen to me.”

Afrosa froze, her face going stark white. Alec turned to Valerie with a chilling and menacing look. Sensing something, Valerie averted her gaze.

Alec then turned his attention back to his wife. He softened his expression, trying to soothe her obvious turmoil.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, clinging to her. Sliding his arm like a snake between her back and the chair, he pulled her closer. She bit her lip, her face taut with tension.

Her face, once as gentle as a white, rounded stone worn smooth by the waves, hardened with resolve. Even that expression was so endearing that Alec wanted to devour her whole.

Eventually, the meal began. Whatever was served, Lara chewed and swallowed absentmindedly. His words kept echoing in her mind. “In this life, too…”

“What happened to Valerie in the last life?”

Lara glanced at Alec, thinking. But no matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t know the answer.

Lara had died holding Loras. That was the end. What Alec had done to Valerie afterward was beyond her knowledge. She had no choice but to suppress her growing anxiety and continue eating.

“It feels like chewing sand.”

Everything she put in her mouth felt awful. The ingredients must have been of the finest quality, carefully prepared, but to her, they felt tough and dry, crumbling between her teeth as though mishandled.

The only thing she finished without leaving a drop was the apple juice Alec had specially ordered.

After the meal, people stayed at the table, chatting over dessert and sherry. The dessert, called pionono, was small, no larger than a baby’s fist—moist sponge cake with a swirl of cream, infused with vanilla bean.

It was the same dessert Alec had prepared for her in their past life when she had first entered the palace, pregnant with his child.

Was this an unexpected encounter or a deliberate arrangement by Alec? She wasn’t sure. The dessert stirred unwelcome nostalgia, and it became unbearable to remain seated any longer.

Finally, she excused herself and rose from the table. Alec’s gaze followed her, but Lara ignored him, heading toward the gazebo where few people lingered.

It was the same place where Gladys had previously picked a fight with her. Leaning against the uniquely patterned, exotic railing, she let out a deep breath.

“It’s been a while.”

The voice was unfamiliar—low and rough. Startled, Lara turned around. The man before her had a thick upper body and unusually long legs. His features resembled Lawrence’s, but his expression was far sharper and more menacing.

The deep-set eye sockets, high nose bridge, firm jaw, and well-shaped lips revealed that he had grown into quite a handsome man. But to Lara, he wasn’t pleasant to look at. In fact, she couldn’t even acknowledge him as handsome.

She didn’t respond to Gillian’s greeting. Fear gripped her throat, making it difficult even to open her lips.

If she didn’t focus, she would falter as always—unsure of what expression to wear or how to respond to the person addressing her. If she wasn’t careful, she’d become like a broken wind-up doll, stuttering and malfunctioning.

“Did you eat something bad?”

He gestured behind her with his chin. Lara tried hard not to let her expression crumble. She didn’t want him to see her fear. Focusing solely on hiding her unease, she couldn’t think of a way to respond to him.

Gillian was Valerie’s eldest brother—the boy who had once owned her. No, the man who still owned her, as the Marquis’s eldest son.

“What do you want?”

She managed to answer, barely. Gillian stared at her before breaking into a faint smile. It felt like a sneer. After all, what else could it be when someone approaches unexpectedly and smirks at you?

Lara stiffened and stared back at him.

“Dressed like that, you look just like a proper lady. Well, clothes do make the woman, after all.”

Sharp eyes meticulously scanned Lara, his gaze cold and unsettling, like the flick of a snake’s tongue. It was oddly repulsive and filled her with unease. Lara bit her lip hard. If he remembered her, that meant Valerie and Edwid remembered her, too. Even after changing her name and growing into an adult. Even after hiding away in the countryside for over a decade to escape them, she still couldn’t avoid this fate.

No, more than that—she was astonished that Gillian even recognized her.

“What do you want from me?”

She forced herself to ask, trembling as though bracing against a harsh winter storm.

“Well.”

“What is it that you’re after?”

She asked him bluntly. If there was something he wanted, she was willing to give it. She wanted nothing more than to sever all ties with the Oppresse siblings. Gladys alone had been exhausting to deal with. Meeting Valerie, and now encountering Gillian, made it clear that nothing would end quietly.

Especially because Valerie wanted Alec—just as Gladys did. Perhaps Valerie had even stronger reasons, political ones, for pursuing him. In her past life, Lara had once heard that Valerie and Alec’s marriage had been planned since childhood. Valerie was seven, and he was ten at the time.

The Marquis of Oppreese and Eloise, Alec’s mother and the Empress, had persistently discussed the engagement between the two children. But when Eloise died, the matter was left unresolved.

The court ladies who admired and loved Valerie always gossiped about how she should have been Alec’s first wife—his rightful empress consort. They claimed that Lara had stolen all the rights Valerie deserved, the privileges that were supposed to be hers.

So, to put it simply, Valerie wouldn’t even let Lara keep a tiny piece of status. If Valerie believed Alec was her man to begin with, then it was all the more reason for her resentment.

If nothing had changed after her return to the past, then Valerie and those around her still thought the same. Lara recalled Valerie’s green eyes—full of admiration and obsession.

She’d hoped that things might play out a little differently in this life. But no, they hadn’t. She had merely returned, and nothing around her had changed. The circumstances were no different. It was suffocating.

“Do I have to go back to being your slave?”

“You’re still my slave. You’ve always been my possession. That bastard steward stole you away, but you were never not mine.”

Gillian spoke quickly, his words laced with a faint smile. Lara struggled to respond.

“Still, you won’t be able to take me away from the prince.”

“Is the Fifth Prince the only thing you’re counting on?”

Gillian shot back. The Fifth Prince was Alec. Lara held back tears and glared at him, refusing to back down. In truth, she didn’t trust Alec, either.

She wasn’t so naïve as to have learned nothing from her past life. After all the bitter realizations about him, how could she possibly trust him? She felt lonely and afraid, just as she had in her previous life. Familiar feelings began to slowly consume her, creeping over her like shadows.

“…Can’t you just leave me alone? I haven’t done anything.”

“How could someone like you be in this position if you’ve done nothing?”

“That’s because His Highness brought me here. Honestly, I didn’t even know he was a prince when I married him.”

“So?”