“Bring the sinner out!”

At the executioner’s order, two soldiers pulled Raphia’s arms roughly. Helpless, she followed with dragging feet.

“Walk faster! How much longer must you keep the nobles waiting!”

The soldiers forced her to step forward with swords pointed at her back. Soon, they entered the imposing gallows where many spectators came.

The Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the person who ‘those people’ hated, Duke Soleia.

Black hair that reflected a blue tint and the bright golden-yellow eyes of a beast.

Standing atop the platform of the gallows where a lone noose swayed in the air, Raphia directed her gaze towards the Duke.

The crowd that gathered to watch began hurling curses.

“The most despicable wench in the whole country!”

“How dare you harm the Imperial Family!”

Harsh voices mixed together and deafened her ears.

“You have one last chance. How did you sneak into the victory banquet? What was your reason for attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince?!”

None of these allegations were true, but Raphia uttered not one protest.

Before she was brought out here, she had tried countless times to prove her innocence until she lost her voice, but no one believed her. This time, too, her efforts would be fruitless.

Despite her actions, she certainly stayed silent not because she wanted to protect ‘that person’ who fled and abandoned her that day.

It’s just that she realized it was easier to bear the brunt of the burden so she’d be able to leave this world even faster.

“Answer now, sinner!”

When Raphia continued to keep her mouth shut despite the continuous roars, disapproval filled the eyes of everyone around her.

It was only Duke Soleia who did not betray his inner thoughts.

“That—that impudent little . . .”

As the Emperor jumped out of his seat in disbelief, the people on the stands beneath him started hurling stones.

Raphia burst into laughter.

‘How ironic to feel relieved that those stones won’t reach me while I’m about to die.’

The executioner’s eyes were set ablaze.

“You even dare smile on the verge of death!”

Raphia bit her lower lip.

‘It’s just that I must look so hilarious right now.’

‘I just wish for it all to end right now.’

Raphia was tired of living.

So now, although the verdict was unjust, Raphia was inclined to accept.

“I do not dare to weigh the atrocious sin of attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince! Let her have it, Your Majesty! Let that wench taste the miserable end she deserves!”

The Emperor cleared his throat briefly before he spoke.

“I have graciously given you many opportunities, yet it is apparent that you don’t feel any remorse.”

The crowd howled. Within its walls, madness thundered throughout the plaza.

“I hereby sentence the sinner to death by hanging! Your body shall be left to rot! Even in death, your disgrace shall be for all to see, and so you shall set an example against anyone else who dares challenge the Imperial Family’s eminence!”

“We heed His Majesty’s command!”

Soon enough, they placed a stepladder before Raphia. Calmly, she climbed the steps and eyed the noose.

‘I wonder how much it’ll hurt.’

As Raphia bit her lower lip once more, she strove to swallow her fear.

‘Be that as it may, this will be the last time I’ll feel any pain.’

She had already experienced all kinds of agony while those people exploited her.

While thinking about how she would no longer suffer if she could endure just one last time, then she’d be able to withstand anything.

The soldiers readied the ropes that would bind her.

Then the executioner asked, “Any last words?”

She simply shook her head.

“It wouldn’t help.”

Scowling, the executioner cursed at her as if he’d had enough of her detached and calm demeanor until the end.

“Withdraw the stepladder!”

Though she was unperturbed by her own death, her body instinctively reacted differently.

“Die! Just die already!”

The more her body struggled on the noose, the more the crowd jeered.

“I won’t let you go that easily.”

A cold, low-pitched voice rose above the frenzy.

It was that man, Duke Soleia.

‘You’re alive . . . so it’s a relief.”

That day, she saw how deeply the monster’s horns stabbed him, so just to see him move freely like this was truly fortunate.

From behind the Imperial Family, he stepped forward.

The Duke looked up to glance upon Raphia’s unsightly, distorted, tear-filled face.

“Do we really need to go this far?”

He drew his sword and cut the rope without any hesitation.

Thud! Raphia’s body plummeted to the ground. Curling up on the floor, she immediately opened her mouth to fill her deprived lungs.

“Duke Soleia! What do you think you’re doing right now!”

“Are you going against His Majesty’s orders?!”

The Emperor and the executioner raised their flustered voices one after another.

The Duke turned around, blocking anyone’s sight upon Raphia as if he were defending her.

“Not at all, I have no intention of doing so. I merely thought it was too hideous.”

The Duke glanced behind him, only to see Raphia lying on her stomach.

“If you’re to be killed anyway . . .”

Why was he acting this way?

It might be her imagination, but she could trace a hint of reluctance in the Duke’s voice.

‘I must be going mad.’

Letting out a sudden, uncontrollable cackle, she struggled to raise her body and promptly went down on her knees. As if fulfilling a promise, he turned once more toward her.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to die neatly?”

But contrary to his words, his golden eyes now seemed to waver. Raphia donned a smile as if to encourage him, but a vein on the Duke’s lower jaw throbbed.

The hesitation was for but a moment.

In a blink of an eye, he rammed his sword into Raphia’s chest.

No one could stop him.

Raphia raised her head with great difficulty.

“Th—anks. For . . . killing me,” she said as blood poured from her lips.

Then, she looked up with a grueling smile.

“You’re actually a good person, right? You.”

At those words, the Duke’s brows furrowed.

“You think you know me?”

“. . . Not really.”

Quickly losing strength, the light in her eyes dimmed and her vision blurred.

Crackle!

Beneath her feet, a blue flame blazed. Startled by the sudden appearance of fire, everyone stepped back.

“Your Majesty, please vacate your seat! We don’t know what else that wench has up her sleeve!”

The Emperor, the Crown Prince, and everyone in the plaza fled. However, Duke Soleia remained motionless, as if he intended to protect her until the bitter end.

“Even for a little bit, I hope you feel comfortable.”

As the corners of her lips rose, she calmly met his golden gaze.

“Really. Thank you.”

If it were him instead of those people who took her that day, Raphia wondered what her life would have been like.

Without the need for words, there was a tranquil smile on her face as the flame curled up like a lotus petal and engulfed the entirety of her body.

In no time, Raphia was devoured by the flames.

She closed her eyes.

Finally, she was now in the embrace of eternal rest.

* * *

‘Where am I?’

It was dark and humid, just like a basement.

While Raphia looked around with her vision still hazy, cold water suddenly splashed over her head.

“What are you doing dozing off! The rest of us are already working! You think you can just eat without doing anything?”

As she shrugged her shoulders, Raphia realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

‘What kind of situation is this?’

No matter how many times she blinked vacantly, the situation wouldn’t change.

‘How is this possible? Didn’t I die?’

The sensation of a cold, sharp sword stabbing her heart was still vivid.

‘But how . . . am I alive?’

The cognitive dissonance caused by the unbelievable circumstances she found herself in made everything she saw hard to believe.

At that moment, the woman slapped Raphia on the shoulder, at which she yelped.

“Are you going to keep being disobedient?”

When Raphia finally turned to look at her, a freckled middle-aged woman met her eyes furiously.

“Huh . . . ?”

It was a familiar face.

“If you don’t gather your wits about you right this second, I’ll hit you harder!”

Anna, the orphanage’s handywoman who did every odd job. Everybody called her Auntie Anna. Although she worked in a place filled with children, Anna hated them, and in consequence, also loathed her job.

Raphia shook her head from side to side, wondering if this was only a dream.

‘Why is Anna in front of me? What the hell is going on?’

Ever since Raphia left this place and followed ‘that person,’ she never saw the older woman ever again.

‘And it’s strange.’

Hadn’t it been nine years?

Anna was still obviously older than Raphia, but her appearance was exactly as she remembered.

“You’re the only one left who needs to be bathed! Turn around!”

This was something she’d heard before.

A sense of foreboding dawned upon her as déjà vu enveloped her.

Anna forced Raphia to turn around.

“You know how important tomorrow is! If you don’t clean up, I’m the one who’ll get scolded by the Director!”

This line . . . she also heard this before.

Nervously, Raphia’s red eyes quivered like a leaf. With her lips equally trembling in confusion, she asked, “Is . . . today the first time I’m taking a bath?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

The more a child wouldn’t listen or would rebel against Anna, the dirtier the water she used to wash them.

The only reason Raphia could take a bath for the first time was because the Director saw value in her.

The longer Raphia stayed here, the more she continued hearing familiar phrases she’d already heard before.

“This—this can’t be . . .” she said, with an increasingly trembling voice, desperately denying reality.

“H-how the hell is this possible?”

“What’re you saying? It’s annoying, shut up!”

Anna smacked Raphia’s unclothed back, then began rubbing it with a rough towel.

Raphia lowered her head.

At nineteen years of age, the hands that entered her vision could hardly be called that of an adult’s. No matter how many times she would close her eyes and open them again, they remained a child’s hands.

‘I need to get my head on straight first.’

Considering Anna’s cold reception, Raphia rose carefully, took a deep breath and said, “Just a minute, Auntie Anna.”

Annie glared at her and said, “What? What is it this time? If you keep wasting my time by talking nonsense, you’ll be punished severely.”

If Raphia was really ten years old, she might have cowered, but she didn’t even wince now.

Calmly, Raphia continued without missing a beat, “Please give me the towel. I’ll do it myself.”

“. . . What?”

“Auntie’s busy because you have to wash up the other kids. I can wipe my body, so please hand me the towel.”

The children in this place were all the same, either doing nothing but cry while feeling terrified, or living every single day like they were stepping on glass everywhere. But the Raphia that was here today did not belong to either group.

Anna stared at her with eyes full of distrust. None of the children she’d encountered thus far acted the way she did.

At that moment, a ladder popped out as the door it was attached to burst open.

*****

Peering through the door above, a man asked with a gruff baritone, “Anna! How many have you washed? Are ya almost done?”

He said so in the form of a question, but it was clear that he couldn’t wait long.

“No! It hasn’t been long since I started! Don’t rush me!”

“Hurry up! Even the slowest one here could move faster than you!”

The hotheaded man slammed the ceiling door shut.

“Damn insolent bastard. S’not even the one paying my wages.”

Anna gnashed her teeth as she looked up with a resentful glare.

“Please give it here.”

Raphia stared right into Anna’s eyes and reached out her hand, asking for the towel so she could take care of it.

Gritting her teeth obstinately, she tossed the towel into Raphia’s small hand as if she were throwing it away and handed her some clean clothes to change into. Because she was forced to rush, Anna hurried her movements.

The towel, at first glance, would seem like it could be used to dry well, but the worn down cloth had a distinctly damp smell.

“I’ll do it obediently,” Raphia said and walked away before the older woman could change her mind.

The basement where children were bathed was quite spacious as it had many rooms. She entered the furthest one, and it was only after the door closed behind her that Raphia let out a deep sigh of relief.

This space allowed her to be alone at last.

It’s because, from now on, Anna would be facing quite a few difficulties.

If memory served her right, the next child to be washed would spill a lot of water while struggling. That’s why Anna would be grumbling as she’d draw a new bath.

True enough, she heard the sound of something rolling over and someone crying from beyond the thin door.

After wiping herself and getting dressed, she moved to one corner that light did not reach and took a seat there.

‘What the hell is going on here?’

Raphia only pretended to be calm in front of Anna, but in truth, she was terribly confused.

‘Did I just turn back time?’

She tried to make sense out of the situation by herself, but there was no other explanation for it.

But why was it that she returned nine years prior, at the time when she was ten years old?

‘I just wish to rest in peace . . .’

Gods, or anything like them, might not exist after all.

Just the thought of reliving this hellish life again was excruciating.

However, the girl soon shook her head.

“No, let’s not be so pessimistic. Maybe this could be another chance.”

She didn’t drag it out for too long. If she were to look at it in another way, this could mean she could start all over again.

Taking in a deep breath, she looked back and recounted what she knew one at a time.

Raphia Grenier.

She was the only one left to inherit the Grenier name.

For generations, the Grenier clan was known for its ability over speech called ‘Way of the Word,’ a technique involving language. Very few members of the family had control over this ability.

Within a lineage that had retained their power for thirty long years, the child called ‘Raphia’ was born and had inherited the clan name.

Time and time again, the Greniers had a long history of being taken advantage of by those in power. And so, as tragedy constantly struck, the elders decided to live in recluse to protect the remaining members of their family.

It was more than a century ago that they hid in the rough terrains of the Magent Gorge, the highest and most dangerous in the continent.

However, their peaceful days were short-lived.

A raging fire rampaged throughout the forest where they hid, and so they evacuated to a deep cave to escape the flames. But soon after, smoke followed them. At the overwhelming fumes, everyone shed tears and had runny noses, yet not one person there craved fresh air.

It was only Raphia, the youngest member of their extended family, who cried because she couldn’t understand why they were enduring such agony.

—Mother, i-it hurts a lot.

Raphia’s cries mixed with sporadic coughing weakened everyone’s resolve.

—Elder, can’t we save even just this child’s life?

—She is Granier’s child. Even if our eyes are shrouded, her life and death depends on God’s will.

Agonizing over this dilemma, the Elder eventually made a decision.

—Bring Raphia here.

Folded into the arms of her mother, they brought Raphia to the innermost corner of the cave. They faced what looked like a dead end, but there was actually a small opening that was just big enough for Raphia to crawl into.

The Elder carried the child and urged her over.

—Go on now.

As Raphia looked back over her shoulder, she saw her mother’s crestfallen smile.

—Run away, my child. Live quietly and hide your strength until you can reveal it one day. And my dear Raphia, you must never, ever forget your name, understand?

Her mother suppressed her tears and continued to tell her daughter to leave.

To the point that soil was etched into her fingernails, Raphia crawled laboriously until she finally reached the exit.

She could finally breathe in some fresh air.

But at that moment, several dark shadows loomed before her.

—I was waiting just in case, but I can’t believe someone really came out this way. What are you idiots doing, go catch the kid now!

Contrary to her family’s wishes, Raphia was captured in vain.

Amidst the tumultuous forest fire, the despicable men who caught the child clicked their tongues.

—Let’s go in and drag ’em all out, boss.

—You moron. We’re all dead if you do that. It’s a shame, but let’s just take this kid and leave.

—What can a tiny brat like this do anyway?

—We don’t need to know.

They mentioned something about a place where they could drop her off, and there, those men would finish their job.

At that, those men dragged Raphia away.

Her mother, aunts, uncles, elder grandpa, grandma neighbors . . .

They were all left behind in that burning forest.

* * *

‘The men who set fire to the forest might have been bandits.’

Before returning to the past, Raphia used to hear about the increasing number of bandits that caused trouble all over the Coppen Empire.

‘It would have been better if I came back at an earlier time.’

If she had, then she could have taken the entire clan and fled to another place before the fire was ignited.

But it already happened, and Raphia had already been handed over to an orphanage.

‘Tomorrow—’

Reflecting on what Anna mentioned, Raphia pulled her knees closer towards her torso.

‘Will the same thing happen again?’

That thought alone made her heart heavy. She gnashed her teeth.

‘No. I don’t want to live like that again.’

The life she lived once was so difficult and wretched that she didn’t even want to be reminded of it any longer.

‘I’m not going to relive that hell.’

Raphia clenched her little fist.

‘So I’m going to change it.’

My life. My position.

There wasn’t much time.

‘It won’t do to stay still like this.’

That person was scheduled to pick her up tomorrow.

‘I absolutely have to run away from that person.’

Unconsciously biting her thumbnail, she continued to think nervously.

The orphanage she stayed at was in a state of chaos. It was because they were preparing to send the children who had no parents away rather than continuing to take care of them, especially those with stronger personalities.

‘Marlon said he was helping the children to gain their independence, but . . .’

Though he said he was working for the children, he would pocket the donations he received. In consequence, the orphanage was placed under a strict, brutal surveillance.

Since only a few people entered and practically everyone wanted to leave, the Director was overly cautious, which was why many guards were placed inside and outside the institution.

‘My escape can’t be sloppy.’

Raphia was going to stay in this place for only three or four days. As it was now, she was detained, couldn’t walk around freely, and didn’t know the building’s layout.

‘I’m not even sure where I am exactly.’

On the off chance that she could escape safely from the basement, she would surely be caught again in no time.

‘Then I’d be placed under stricter surveillance.’

Raphia didn’t want to make any mistakes.

Curling into herself even more, she tried to think of a way—until something finally crossed her mind.

She pursed her lips.

‘Just one chance. There’s a way.’

Far from a life in the gutter that was originally in store for her, she now had an opportunity to run away and choose her own fate.