CH 3 Another lifetime different choice

Clop, clop.

From the comfort of her carriage, Irene gazed at the fortress of the Alliance of Kingdoms—the place where purifiers and knights gathered to make contracts, a place she thought she would never return to in her lifetime.

“And yet, here I am.”

Irene smiled bitterly.

“It’s not a return.”

This was undoubtedly her first visit in this lifetime. Unsure of what happened since she had opened her eyes again, Irene pleaded with the Count just like in the past.

For six months. Give me six months to form a pair and earn money.

As expected, the Count, just as she remembered, exploded in anger but reluctantly granted her what he considered her first and last chance.

Afterward, Irene locked herself in her room for a day, thinking.

They say your life flashes before your eyes before you die, but this wasn’t just a glimpse. All day long, she waited for this dream to end, for this illusion to break. Just like in the past, the maids brought her meals like they were throwing them in the garbage, and the butler laid a bag at her feet, instructing her to prepare to leave.

Watching their vivid mockery and disdain, Irene realized.

This wasn’t an illusion. Irene had truly returned to the past.

‘How?’

The reason was unclear, but she had her suspicions.

‘Could it be because of this?’

Irene took out a seemingly broken piece of metal from her pocket that looked liked it had been split in half. It was undoubtedly an item she obtained in the ‘Reward Room’ in that dungeon before her death. It was the same place she fled to in desperation after she was grievously wounded by a demon.

The ‘Reward Room’ was at the very end of the dungeon, where the demons could never enter. In that place, there were chests of unknown origin filled with not just gold and treasures but also the occasional otherworldly artifact.

Before her death, Irene had opened the rotting wooden chest beside her. It was the type of chest that would clearly contain the lowest-grade rewards of useless trinkets, strange feathers, or odd-looking stones.

So when this peculiar, half-broken metal fragment appeared, Irene accepted it with resignation.

‘I died clutching this.’

And yet, back in the past, her hand still held it.

After staring at the fragment, Irene placed it back into her pocket. Then she turned her attention to the piece of paper in her lap.

She had written down all the information from the past that she remembered on that sheet of paper. From the moment Irene realized she had truly returned to the past, she obsessively documented everything she could recall from memory—how many dungeons had emerged in the danger zone in the past, which dungeon had the best rewards, where they were located, and what power it held…

‘I couldn’t help but remember.’

Always alone, Irene grew tired of simply sitting in her room, so she read through the archives, starting from information on the most recently created dungeons to records of dungeons from the past.

While the dungeons themselves were interesting, Irene was more interested in the things that came out of them. A necklace that prevented any harm from demons when worn. A gemstone that glowed when left standing still. A statue that remained unscathed even in the midst of flames. These items endowed with mysterious abilities were known as artifacts, and they were the most valuable rewards one could find in a dungeon.

For instance, the necklace worn by the King of Heron Kingdom possessed the power to delay the wearer’s aging. Thanks to it, the 80-year-old king still appeared to be in his early thirties.

In any case, such potentially life-changing artifacts would undoubtedly sell for exorbitant prices.

‘Something so remarkable would occasionally show up in lower-level dungeons and turn everything upside down.’

People would lament, claiming that if they had known it was there, they would have done anything to get their hands on it.

And now, Irene knew which dungeons yield what. And it wasn’t just the rewards she remembered. She vividly recalled which dungeons had what kind of spirits, their strengths and weaknesses, and even which attributes they possessed.

‘So if everything still unfolds according to my memory…’

Even if she entered an unfavorable contract, she could still yield favorable results for herself.

The 100,000 gold she had to repay to the Count seemed like nothing now to Irene. She recalled the Count slapping her cheek. Back then, he seemed so massive and intimidating, but this time it was different. Even as he shouted for her to repay the value of her body, there was no fear in her eyes, only disdain.

It wasn’t just the Count. The maids and the butler who used to mock and scorn her at the Count’s estate seemed pitiful this time around, not frightening at all.

‘Everything seems so laughable after dying once.’

At that moment, the coachman shouted, interrupting her thoughts.

“Hey! We’re almost at the fort! Get ready to get off!”

In the past, even this shout would startle her, making her cower. But not anymore.

Irene calmly placed the paper into the bag she brought from the Count’s estate and placed it on the adjacent seat. After tidying up her luggage, Irene lifted her head.

‘It was a life that failed once before.’

And then, a miracle happened, granting her a chance to start anew.

‘So, I can’t go back to living like the fool I was.’

After observing for a week, she discovered certain facts. The significant events she remembered from her past were happening the same way. But there were changes too. For instance, when she demanded proper food from the chef who used to give her stale bread in her past life, he hesitated but eventually served well-cooked soup and soft bread.

In her previous life, she received nothing more than rags for clothes, but this time, using the contract as an excuse, she managed to get proper clothes.

It was entirely possible for her choices to bring about different outcomes.

‘So then…’

She thought to herself as she watched the fortress grow closer and closer.

The first mistake she needed to rectify in this life. That would be…

‘I will not pair with Michael.’

***

Irene still vividly remembered the way he looked at her. The shock, confusion, and even shame that spread across his face when he realized they had slept together.

It seemed like a natural reaction. Despite his blatant contempt, Irene didn’t harbor any resentment towards him. Even if it was done to save his life, his beliefs were completely shattered.

‘If I were a stronger purifier, he wouldn’t have ended up like that.’

Had Princess Cecilia, said to be the strongest of this century’s purifiers, been Michael’s pair, she might have been able to save him by simply holding his hand. If that were the case, he might not have been excommunicated from the temple.

Irene thought of all the bad choices she had made in the past that had hurt everyone.

‘I can’t repeat the same mistakes.’

So, in this life, she will find a different pair, not him.

She had to.

In the danger zone where the dungeons appeared, the fortress that stood before them was a fortress in name, but in reality, it was indistinguishable from a huge city.

‘It’s no wonder considering the money they make from dungeons.’

Each kingdom was obsessed with acquiring the gold and treasures in the reward rooms at the end of every dungeon. So they provided every comfort and luxury possible to the knights and purifiers who brave them.

‘Not that it matters for a bottom-tier purifier like me.’

Irene stood in a corner, observing the purifiers and knights already exchanging greetings and searching for pairs. A pair consisted of a purifier and a knight who had agreed to a contract. Once paired, a purifier exclusively treated that knight. Similarly, the knight only received healing from the purifier with whom they formed a pair.

For some reason, the efficiency of healing increased significantly when dealing only with the contracted pair. Of course, even if that were the case, it wouldn’t look good to see unmarried people sleeping together all the time. Therefore, the Alliance of Kingdoms labeled such relationships as ‘pairs’ and recognized them as temporary marriages.

It was a way to save face, even if it was just a meaningless change of terms.

Unlike in her past life, Irene calmly surveyed the glamorous space, then shifted her gaze to the knights.

‘It feels strange to see those who died once again.’

She smiled wryly. Wasn’t she someone who had already died once herself?

Irene touched the piece of metal in her pocket. Perhaps in this life, she should find out what it was.

Then a knight caught Irene’s eye. He was laughing and chatting without a care with his fellow knights.

‘Despite his carefree appearance, he was quite skilled.’

Moreover, he was a knight who didn’t enter challenging dungeons, given his extreme concern for his own body. So he was someone who survived until the end.

He had approached Irene several times in the past.

“To be honest, I’m kind of regretting it. If you’re anything like me, we could have given up dungeon exploration for about a year and just enjoyed ourselves.”

He wished she hadn’t been Michael’s pair, so he could have paired her with him.

‘Someone who would accept even the lowest purifier due to his open-minded nature. Someone with a decent level of skill.’

That was what she was looking for in a pair now. And the man in front of her met those criteria.

‘Honestly… as long as it’s not Michael.’

Irene approached the knight. In response, he ran his eyes up and down her body, licking his lips.

Rather than feeling offended, Irene felt relieved.

She would rather be with a man who had clear desires. That way, she could calculate what they would give and take from each other, devoid of any emotions.

“Will you make a contract with me?”

“You’re.. obviously a lower-ranked purifier, as far as I can tell.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m willing to compromise on many conditions for the contract. You can take all the rewards from the dungeon. Just give me one reward from a lower-level dungeon once a month.”

At those words, the knight’s eyes gleamed.

Irene’s proposal was truly radical. Normally, purifiers demanded a fifty-fifty split in contracts.

The knights didn’t like those terms, but they had no choice. Without a purifier, they wouldn’t even qualify to enter the dungeons, and if they offended the purifier, they might not be healed properly.

Yet here she was, presenting conditions that seemed too good to be true.

‘Besides, lower-level dungeons are easy to conquer, and even if the rewards are trash.’

No matter how you looked at it, the conditions were favorable for him.

“Really? Is that enough for you?”

“Yes. In return, the dungeons for my rewards will be of my choosing. There are no other conditions.”

“Hmm.”

The knight looked at Irene and quickly calculated in his head. Though she had been in the corner, she had already caught his eye. Tall stature, slender body, curves in all the right places, and a serene and neat face that kindled his desire. If she weren’t ranked so low, she would have been quite popular among the knights.

“Alright.” The knight extended his hand to Irene. “Then I would like to spend the night with you, now and for the future.”

Irene swallowed a small sigh at the look of desire in his eyes.

Suddenly, she remembered her past—and Michael who had asked for nothing from her. A past that was more miserable because of it.

‘It’s better this way.’

If both parties were clear about what they desired and what they offered, at least she wouldn’t be tormented by guilt for ruining someone.

As Irene was about to take the knight’s hand.

Bang!

With a loud noise, the door to the banquet hall was forcefully thrown open.

A man entered the hall, drenched in fresh blood.

Irene’s eyes widened in astonishment.

The gruesome figure entering the hall was… Michael.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***