Translated and edited by Baset

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*A big thank you to Io for the Kofi donation*

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In her first life, she stayed by his side her whole life, but when Rachel gained her second life, she ran away without leaving a trace after taking him to Avery's cottage.

Thus, she ran away from Ian's life.

That day, Rachel's life changed forever. However, that was the only thing that changed from Rachel's first life after that she'd left Ian behind.

The winter, three years after Rachel and Ian fled the imperial capital, the empire was attacked by a dragon. Ian Dakendov defeated the dragon, and became the crown prince once again.

The summer when Rachel was supposed to die passed, and she lived the time she didn't have before.

In the winter of that year, when the empire was in turmoil due to the destruction of the capital by the dragon attack and the rebellion of the first prince, the Sienna Empire attacked. They seemed to think that the best time for them to win against the Levskaya Empire was when it was confused, and weakened.

A war broke out that Rachel had never experienced in her previous life. Ian won that war in two year, and became the emperor just like the prophecy foretold.

The prophecy had come true and Ian became emperor, but it had nothing to do with her.

Rachel was living the quiet life she wanted in Ravenna, where she'd fled to. As long as there were no big changes, she could quietly live the rest of her life.

However, for some reason the prince, now emperor, had re-entered Rachel's second life.

"Ha, ha."

When the morning sun was turning the dark sky red, Rachel woke up. A small sob escaped her lips.

Her green eyes looked blurry because of the tears that filled them. As if she'd returned to the young girl in her dream, Rachel was shedding tears again.

She let out several sharp gasps and shook her head, as she tried to shake off the nightmare that still haunted her.

"It's all in the past."

Rachel clutched her chest, and tried to comfort herself.

'That won't happen anymore.'

This time around Rachel hadn't experienced certain things. In this lifetime, she hadn't met the beautiful blonde girl with golden eyes, Diana Avery...

She didn't live in the cabin with Ian.

That day her precious doll was given to Lady Diana.

So there was no reason to be hurt now, and there was no reason to be heartbroken.

She threw away the doll first, and she ran away from Ian.

There was no reason to be sad about what she didn't even go through.

Even when she tried to soothe herself like that, that memory still made Rachel sad for a long time.

Rachel looked down at the soft slip of silk that didn't suit her at all.

This room, which didn't match her, reminded her of the emperor, who'd taken her away.

Rachel stood up, put her slippers on, and opened the door.

"Do you need anything, my lady?"

The maid that was waiting outside the door rushed to address Rachel.

"Oh... A cup of water..."

"I'll bring it to you immediately."

The maid quickly disappeared to get her some water. Deprived of what she was going to do, Rachel returned to her room and absentmindedly put on her dressing gown.

Her head screamed loudly, 'I need to know why Ian is acting like this', but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure it out.

Rachel knew that no matter how hard she tried, Ian's thoughts would remain unfathomable to her.

She gave up thinking about it, drank the water the maid brought, and went outside like her heart desired.

"My lady, where are you going?"

On her way down the stairs, she met a butler who approached Rachel.

"I'm going outside for a bit."

"It's cold outside, my lady."

Rachel glanced outside, as she felt awkward at the butler calling her a lady. Rachel suspected that the butler's gentle concern was actually him monitoring her.

"It's just to the garden."

Rachel added a few words as the butler was about to say more, but he seemed to understand, and he hurried out of the way.

She wanted to get away from this residence that didn't suit her, and get away from everything that reminded her of Ian.

But Rachel couldn't do that.

All she could do was get out of the fancy room, and look at the flowers in the garden.

The cold dawn air made her body shiver a little bit, but Rachel thought it would be better if it was colder.

She'd hoped that it was so cold that she couldn't think of anything, but the cold.

Or she wanted to catch a cold from the chill breeze.

Rachel wanted to get sick with a generic illness for a while. If she did that, this frustration and sadness she felt right now might disappear.

"Rachel."

A man's voice came from behind Rachel, who was standing still and looking at the yellow chrysanthemums.

Rachel's shoulders quivered at the sound of the man's voice calling her name, and she slowly looked behind her.

Her trembling green eyes looked at the person who called out to her.

There stood the emperor.

Ian was standing under the dawn sky.

He took one glance at her, strode over to her, took off his jacket and placed it on Rachel's shoulders.

"Your clothes are too thin."

At that short remark, Rachel frowned and looked at him quietly.

Was he worried?

His eyes looked at her indifferently, so he couldn't have been worried.

Still, Rachel found it odd that he seemed so worried about her. She was sure it was a misunderstanding.

However, she was forced to misunderstand Ian's behavior when he took off his jacket. The emperor seemed to be worried about her.

Rachel's heart began to beat anxiously even before he put his jacket on her shoulder.

It started when her name came out of the emperor's mouth.

It was the name that she'd heard countless times in her life. Rachel, a common name that was nothing special. It was just a name.

Her name coming from his mouth was strange, but not awkward.

For some reason, her heart pounded anxiously, and her emotions wavered deep within her heart.

It was the first time he'd called her name.

She'd stayed by the emperor's side for a long time, but not once did her name come out of his mouth. That's about all Rachel was to him.

No matter how long we've been together, they'd never called each other's names.

A time deep in the past, a day when Ian Dakendov was still young came to mind. He didn't usually notice her, but that day he called out to her with a "Hey."

During that time, she'd wandered around happily and reflected on his voice for a while. The emotions at that time came back to her and she teared up.

"Why did you give this to me?" (Rachel)

Rachel's voice came out a little colder than she intended.

"Hmm...you must be cold. But why me?" (Rachel)

Rachel hurriedly added, hoping that it would sound more polite this time.

"Just because." (Ian)

Ian had a unique expressionless face and eyes without a slight change in expression, and his voice didn't contain any emotions.

Rachel stared at him, her gaze trembling.

"...."

Her frustration didn't go away with his answer.

What does he mean that he did it for no reason?

"Why are people calling me a lady?"

Again, Rachel's voice sounded a little fierce.

"Why did you bring me to the capital?"

Rachel's words came out a little faster.

She'd asked the questions, but she didn't give Ian time to answer since she had no intention of hearing the answers.

"Why did you come find me?"

"...."

Rachel tried to keep quiet until Ian was finished acting like he didn't know what was going on.

But she'd realized that she would have to ask.

"What do you... What do you want from me?"

Once she'd started asking questions, it was difficult to stop.

"...."

"...."

And it wasn't long before she was boldly asking him questions.

Rachel's amber eyes stared at Ian's purple ones, and shook anxiously. She was starting to regret asking.

Ian only looked down at Rachel with an expressionless face despite the harsh anger she'd unleashed on him with abandon.

After a while, he opened his mouth.

"Because I missed you."

"...What?"

Rachel frowned at the incomprehensible words coming from Ian's mouth. What was he saying?

She had no idea what he was thinking.

"What do I want from you?"

"...."

He blinked slowly as if he was contemplating for a moment.

"There's only one thing I want from you."

"...."

"Stay with me. Don't run away."

Rachel frowned, unable to compose her expression.

However, it didn't seem to matter to Ian, and he didn't criticize Rachel for it. It seemed that the anger of a small woman, who didn't even reach his shoulder, didn't concern him.

"You told me before. You'll be with me for the rest of your life."

He recited directly back to her what Rachel had said to him sometime ago, in a tone that was both emotionless and hushed.

"...Me?"

"...."

"I said I'd be with you for the rest of my life?"

Rachel, after hearing Ian's words, opened her mouth in dismay at the promise she couldn't even remember.

"Can't you remember?"

Ian tilted his head slightly, as if he didn't like Rachel's response.

"Hmm, that's..."

Rachel quickly wracked her brain, trying to avoid going against him.

However, she couldn't stand the creeping, ominous feeling and opened her mouth again.

"Of course... But do I really have to stay with you for the rest of master's, or your Majesty's, life?"

Rachel's eyes looked desperate, hoping that she'd misunderstood.

Ian just nodded silently.

At that moment, Rachel's face paled, as if she'd been sentenced to death.

Her amber eyes, slightly open red lips, as she looked at Ian with a frown. Her expression clearly revealed her heart that she couldn't hide.