“Hey, I found something new… In the dungeon, the… the curse can… be applied.”
“…”
“…”
Jill and Yerina were momentarily at a loss for words.
Their minds felt completely wiped and reset, leaving them with no thoughts at all.
They simply felt the remnants of pure madness and shock wash over them, staring blankly into space.
Yulia, like a puppy eager for praise, looked back and forth at Jill and Yerina with expectant eyes.
Only after noticing that their expressions were not particularly cheerful did Yulia divert her gaze.
“Indeed, it’s an astonishing discovery, but could you explain how it relates to us, Lord of Petenburg?”
“Hmm, hmm… I-I’m sorry. I got too excited and skipped the introduction…”
“…”
Watching Yulia clear her throat, Yerina wanted to sprint out of the room immediately.
What kind of introduction precedes stating that a curse can be placed on a dungeon?
This woman was clearly a madwoman obsessed with new discoveries.
Yerina concluded this and began brainstorming for an excuse to escape this conference room.
‘Hmm… Crazy lady. I’ll just humor her for a while and then make up an excuse to run away.’
Jill felt the same way.
“The reason I’m sharing this with you is… we share the same secrets and goals…”
“What do you mean by that? You’re not suggesting we should participate in some insane ritual just because Palana has a stake in the Petenburg Foundation, right? That’s totally off. It’s a bit offensive, you know? Can we just pretend today never happened?”
“…”
Yerina, who was clueless, was getting angrier.
However, Jill seemed to be catching on to something and kept her lips sealed.
Jill and Yulia exchanged glances.
Ignoring Yerina’s grumbling, the two acquired a sense of certainty in their silent exchange.
‘Just as I thought. The Priestess also has memories of the previous cycle.’
‘So she also regressed.’
Though the details might have varied slightly, they shared the same certainty that they had each retained memories of the previous round.
Jill had known of Yulia’s existence since long ago.
She was also well aware of Yoo Jin’s relationship with her, and out of jealousy, had scolded Yoo Jin, ruining their relationship in the process.
Since the moment her memories of the previous cycle returned, she had been plagued by one doubt.
Was she truly the only one to have regressed?
Until now, the only person who behaved differently from others was Yoo Jin.
So she thought they had regressed together.
“I wasn’t alone.”
“Of course not. Y-You didn’t think… you were special, did you?”
“…”
Yulia had a sly smile on her face.
Jill mentally cursed, ‘You homewrecker’ and grit her teeth.
So that meddlesome one regressed too.
Things were getting messy.
Jill, who was glaring at Yulia as if questioning why Yoo Jin would fall for someone so awkward and foolish, found her gaze drawn to Yulia’s chest.
And just as she was about to understand it slightly…
Her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
“What are the two of you talking about right now?”
“…”
“…”
Jill and Yulia turned to Yerina, who still hadn’t grasped the situation.
Yulia had said that the people gathered here shared the same secrets and goals.
If Yulia is also a regressor, then what about this blue-haired one…?
Jill’s mouth slowly opened.
A delayed realization dawned upon her.
Shock spread across her face.
“No way, Frost Duchess, you regressed too?!”
“What are you talking about? Regressing?”
“I’m asking if you came from the future too.”
“How did you know that…?”
Yerina’s poker face shattered, her eyes darting around.
She had never told anyone about regressing.
The only ones she had mentioned knowing the future to were a few close associates.
She thought these stories wouldn’t leak outside, but hearing the Priestess and Yulia bring it up so suddenly made her feel doubly bewildered.
“You… you must have had… a love affair with Yoo Jin, right?”
“How does the Lord of Petenburg know Yoo Jin? Oh, no. More importantly, how do you both know about that…?”
“Well, it’s because we’re just like you.”
“…?!”
An utterly hard-to-accept reality was thrown at her.
This couldn’t be.
A series of unbelievable stories unfolded.
If what they said was true, then they too regressed from the future where they loved Yoo Jin.
But that couldn’t be.
Yoo Jin only looked at her and loved her.
His devotion was well-known; in Palana, people might deride him for his status, but none would say he was mismatched with the Frost Duchess because of his character and worth.
Anyone could tell it was a destined romance.
Even those who scorned the love between a commoner and a ruler acknowledged his sincerity.
The day she and Yoo Jin got engaged…
Yerina regressed, and the Yoo Jin from the past had not come to her.
She was aware that some change must have happened to the past Yoo Jin.
But what did these women, who had no connection to Yoo Jin, have to do with anything?
They claimed to have shared love with Yoo Jin; how absurd!
She couldn’t comprehend what they were saying.
“Ha! I get it. I know we all regressed, but… with Yoo Jin, what? Say that again.”
“W-We three… shared love with… Yoo Jin and… promised a future together…”
“I hate to admit this, but I think the Lord of Petenburg might be right. Huh. I expected a lot when it came to Petenburg, but I never thought you’d charm the Frost Duchess too…”
“…”
Yerina shot a threatening glare, but Yulia and Jill remained unfazed and replied calmly.
The response Yerina dreaded most poured out of the mouths of the two.
Reality began to distort.
All the steadfast beliefs she had about the devoted Yoo Jin, things she desperately wanted to continue believing began to shift one by one in her mind.
There wasn’t a detail she could forget.
The fact that Yoo Jin extended his stay in Hameln due to business negotiations.
He once returned unexpectedly after getting entangled in a copyright issue.
Later he made trips back and forth between Hameln and Petenburg for additional discussions.
At the time, neither the surveillance nor the informants could gather concrete evidence; the two women remained candidates on her list of potential flings.
Now Jill and Yulia were right in front of her.
Both confessed they’d committed adultery with Yoo Jin.
·····Adultery.
At least in Yerina’s mind, that’s what it was.
Yerina couldn’t hold out anymore and shouted, her face turning crimson.
“You, you conniving cats…!”
“Hah. I hear rumors that the Frost Duchess suffers from severe delusions. Seems they were true.”
“What?! Did I just hear that right, Priestess?!”
“Did you really think you could call me a conniving cat to my face and still hear pleasant words? What a ridiculous notion.”
“Jill Diner…!”
Jill, now showing her true colors, was taunting.
Yerina found herself at a loss for words, simply dumbfounded.
A barrage of large and shocking realizations pounded down upon her in a very short time.
Not only was it hard to believe her destined partner, Yoo Jin, was stepping out on her, but the Priestess had cast aside her angelic facade and was hurling insults as well.
Yerina fervently wished this was all just a bad dream and hoped to wake up soon.
“Evidence! Show me the evidence! I feel like I’m being tricked, and there’s no way! Yoo Jin’s love is undoubtedly for me alone! Until both of you present clear evidence, I can’t believe that you regressed or that you loved Yoo Jin!”
“Hah… Is this how it’s going to be? Seems you’re quite flustered now that your delusional reality has been shattered. Let me help you wake up from this sweet dream. Listen closely…”
Yerina was tearing up, still unable to grasp reality.
Jill felt a twinge of pity for her and sighed deeply, deciding to help Yerina break free from her delusion.
Soon, Jill and Yulia began pouring the special awakener designed just for Yerina.
Evidence of the regression was top priority.
If they weren’t from the future, there were pieces of information they wouldn’t know, tumbling out non-stop from Jill and Yulia.
Confidential matters once transacted in the shadows alongside countless riches were being tossed around carelessly among the three.
Next came proof that they had shared love with Yoo Jin.
Yoo Jin’s personality and speech patterns.
Then his physical traits or habits.
Specifically, he loves to cradle the back of the head while kissing or play with hair around his fingers…
A banquet of largely matching information caused Yerina to feel dizzy.
The sky shattered, and reality crumbled.
That day, Yerina’s world collapsed.
“Ahhh… No… no… don’t do this to me, please… just tell me it’s a lie…”
“W-Was I too harsh?”
“Maybe I told the Frost Duchess a little too much…”
“But I feel like there’s a slight inconsistency. The Yoo Jin I know and the one you know seem to differ just a bit…”
“I felt that way too.”
“To be sure, shall we compare our details more closely?”
Ignoring Yerina, who was sobbing on the floor, Jill and Yulia began sharing their respective experiences from their futures meticulously.
As a result, they discovered that apart from Yoo Jin’s existence, the futures they experienced were completely different.
“This can’t be… I’m supposedly leading the Sacred Knights to invade Petenburg? That can’t be right…”
“N-Nothing matches… Oh, early this year… Yoo Jin was definitely with me… But according to the Priestess, he hasn’t been further than a month away from you at least…”
“Hmph. In my future, Yoo Jin spent more than half of the year with me. That means all the futures you’ve seen are total fabrications. Pure delusions.”
The Frost Duchess sniffled as she added.
This allowed Yulia and Jill to gather another confirmation.
They hadn’t come from the same future.
“Regressing mustn’t have just happened once…”
“Y-Yes… Ah, maybe we didn’t regress; Yoo Jin did… We’ve merely… remembered our previous turns…”
“…”
Jill squeezed her eyes shut.
All this time, she rigidly believed the one who had regressed was her alone.
The shocking realization that she was merely one of many ‘me’s that Yoo Jin had gone through hit her hard.
At that moment, she felt like crying just as Yerina did.
‘How many times have I been through? No, more importantly, how many times has Yoo Jin regressed…?’
A twinge of being let down.
Right after, grave worry about Yoo Jin washed over her.
If it were only one regression, she might have been mad at Yoo Jin.
But if it was at least three, or maybe ten or twenty, or even hundreds… there was no doubt that he had suffered far more regressions than that.
It was clear that Yoo Jin’s personality and habits had changed significantly through those regressions.
What on earth has Yoo Jin endured through all that suffering?
Why…?
What could he have been thinking, facing her like they were meeting for the first time while he pretended to be oblivious?
Her heart ached as she thought about this.
It wasn’t something a person should do in their right mind.
Feeling a profound pain, Jill imagined how much worse Yoo Jin suffered over this countless times, and her heart ached even more.
“Now, everyone… we’ve confirmed that we all share the same secrets and goals, right…?”
“Huff, ha. I get the secret part, Witch. But as for our goal? What could our goal possibly be?”
“O-Our goal is Yoo Jin’s happiness… right…?”
“…”
Yerina’s lips fell shut.
Yoo Jin’s happiness.
Those two words pierced right into her heart, leaving her utterly speechless.
The reason she had pursued Yoo Jin until now wasn’t for him.
Deep down, she rationalized that Yoo Jin loved her, and thus being by her side was a happy life, but it was time to return to reality.
It had all been selfish satisfaction on her part.
A selfish love unique to her alone.
Realizing this, Yerina slumped and plopped down on her chair.
“As you all know… Yoo Jin is busy conquering dungeons… continuously facing some connection to this world… But dungeons are extremely dangerous. From what I know, Yoo Jin nearly lost his life once in a dungeon… So the method I found was to cast a curse on the dungeon, weakening it… With this, I can help Yoo Jin…”
“But why would you share this with us, My Lord? It seems you’ve already known that all three of us received Yoo Jin’s love and how to help him. Wouldn’t it be more rational to help him yourself and win his favor? Something feels fishy about this.”
“I agree with the Priestess’s opinion. What is it that you are plotting? Why are you doing us such a favor-”
“Hey…!”
Midway through Jill and Yerina’s questions, Yulia slammed her hands down on the table and raised her voice.
This was the loudest she had been, the tiny voice she had maintained until now.
In unison, Jill and Yerina shifted their gaze to her.
“I-I told you already! It’s to help Yoo Jin! I-I know too! Keeping it a secret means I could monopolize Yoo Jin…! But using more magical power will… b-be safer for Yoo Jin! That’s why I called you! I’m doing this at a loss for the happiness of Yoo Jin! You two only care about yourselves! How can you be this selfish…?!”
“…”
“…”
Yulia burst out, and in front of her, Jill and Yerina felt their own excitement deflating.
They felt infinitely smaller.
Shame washed over them.
