Chapter 3
The man walking at the very front roughly divided the people into groups of six or so and locked them in the cells set up on one side.
Pushed into the second room, Lynette heard the sound of the door being locked and looked around at the others. They were already staring at each other with dead eyes.
Even before her regression, she had probably been in the same prison as these people, but of course, she didn’t know any of their names.
‘I… was the last one, wasn’t I.’
All those who had been made test subjects before her had died. Each time a corpse was dragged out, the prison sank further into a soundless terror.
Was there anything worse than a fear steeped in helplessness, without even the strength to wail?
Lynette went to a corner and crouched down.
‘Ah… I get to see Euphen again.’
Just thinking about that made her feel as though a smile might slip out.
If she met him, she would surely fall in love all over again.
But that man must not love her. Their ending was already set, after all.
Unless she planned to say farewell through tear-stained eyes like last time, this time she had to make sure he fell in love with someone else.
Just imagining such a situation made her chest ache. But there was no helping it.
She hadn’t gone through the trouble of regressing just to live the same life again and tear his heart apart once more.
‘The other person will be…’
Yes. That woman would be good.
Lynette recalled someone she had only seen once.
Euphen’s ‘real’ Guide. His destined partner, Eshar.
What could be better than Euphen and Eshar falling in love?
She was the perfect match. The two of them suited each other like a picture.
And compared to Lynette, who is nothing more than a commoner, a mere test subject, Eshar was the only daughter of a great merchant lord.
‘I just have to find Eshar.’
Until she awakened as a Guide, Lynette would guide Euphen herself.
After that, the two of them would fall in love and take care of the rest on their own.
She couldn’t know for certain when Eshar would awaken, but it was sure to be before Lynette’s body was completely ruined.
If it turned out that way, she would be able to leave while still pretending to be fine, and go far… so far away that Euphen would never be able to find her again.
Then, in that place, she could live out the rest of her life taking comfort in the fact that the only man she loved was happy.
“…Excuse me.”
A woman sitting a little distance away spoke in a dry voice.
Lynette, who had been lost in thought, slowly lifted her head, and saw the woman biting her cracked lips nervously.
“W-what’s going to happen to us?”
Before her regression, Lynette would have either answered “I don’t know” or ignored her outright. But looking into those fear-filled eyes, she found herself unable to open her mouth even if she wanted to.
She couldn’t carelessly say that they wouldn’t die. Because if, by some tiny chance, she turned out to be ‘unsuitable’ in this life…
If the magic failed, everyone here would surely die.
‘No. Someone else could become the suitable one.’
No matter what she said, it wouldn’t be the right answer. She was still hesitating, not knowing how to voice the words that kept circling in her mouth, when someone else replied in her stead.
“You’ll die.”
Lynette flinched at the small voice from behind her.
When she turned her head, her eyes met those of a woman leaning against the bars that separated the cells. Even in this atmosphere where everyone else was steeped in terror, her gaze was cool and still.
“Hhh…”
The woman who had first spoken let out a frightened sob.
“Isn’t it obvious? If they were going to use us as working maids, they wouldn’t have locked us up in here.”
When the woman grabbed the bars and shook them, they clanged noisily.
Lynette stared blankly at her. She couldn’t tell whether the woman’s composure in the face of death came from resignation or from courage.
‘Was there someone like her here before?’
Truthfully, she barely remembered this period at all. From the moment her family had sold her for money to the time she became Euphen’s fake Guide, she had just been swept along in a daze.
All she could recall was glancing at the bodies being dragged out and wishing it would just end quickly for her, too. She had been so hungry and exhausted that she thought maybe death would be the end of everything.
“You don’t seem too bothered by the thought of dying.”
The woman who had cynically said they would die gave a small laugh, then fixed her gaze on Lynette.
“…I’m not going to die.”
Lynette answered calmly. Unless her memories were false, out of the roughly twenty people here, she had been the only one to endure forced awakening.
No, ‘endure’ wasn’t the right word. This wasn’t a matter of mental strength or physical stamina, but of whether one was ‘suitable’ or not.
If nothing had been greatly twisted by her regression, she was a ‘suitable one.’
At her words, the woman let out a short chuckle. A few people turned toward Lynette with curious expressions.
All of them already looked half-dead in their faces and eyes. And no wonder… after all, the Imperial Palace had bought children from poor families for money, claiming they were needed, and then hadn’t even treated them like human beings.
They must have realized during the carriage ride that their role wouldn’t be something as simple as being ‘servants.’ If the palace had truly intended to employ them, they would at least have given them a piece of bread a day.
On top of that, as soon as they got out of the carriage, they were thrown into prison, so it was obvious they would be used for some ‘unspeakable’ purpose.
“You sound like someone who knows she won’t die.”
Lynette didn’t bother answering the question in the woman’s voice. She couldn’t explain this situation without mentioning her regression.
The woman didn’t seem intent on pressing further either, leaning back against the bars once more.
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