The light pouring from the towering windows of the corridor blinded her. She squinted and wondered if this was how death felt like—a warm morning sunshine that she could only recall during the days of her childhood. Beside her, Ariadne heard a familiar croaky voice.

 

“… Your Grace, I like to present my only daughter, Ariadne Larissa y Severine.”

 

Why was this voice sounded dear to her? Why everything around her looked strangely familiar? Like a faint memory, she had already lived through. The little girl in her green dress turned from where the voice was coming. Surprisingly, it came just beside her from a man that brought her memories that were both radiant and painful. 

 

His back bent low. Though he was a bit younger, recognition slowly registered in her mind. Father? Ariadne thought, bewildered. She traced the familiar creases of his face, his blue eyes hidden by his half-open lids. It was the same eye color she inherited from him and would later be the source of the Empire’s fear—the Blue-eyed She-devil, they called her.

 

Ariadne’s father opened his eyes and glanced at her sharply. Astram Paul y Severine was his name. He was the family head of House Severine, a minor, and a vassal to House Atolia

Ariadne could only stare at her father in confusion as she kept giving her the daggers. What am I supposed to do in this kind of situation?

 

Astram gestured subtly towards the front with a slight nod of his head.

 

Ariadne looked up. The first thing that she noticed was the small boy behind the tall man. He had the prettiest golden hair that she had seen in her lifetime. And for some reason, she felt she was familiar with it. She observed him more; his red eyes stared at her with both awkwardness and interest. Isn’t that…

 

When conclusion finally came to her, she felt her head throb. Before the man beside him could finish introducing the little boy, Ariadne immediately ran in his direction. All the while, she was repeating in her head the words: Your Grace!

 

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” she said joyfully, wrapping her arms around him.

 

She opened her mouth to speak, but the pain in her head pulsated, sending her into a dizzying darkness.

It took a moment for the people in the hallway to realize what had just happened.

 

“Ariadne!”

 

Osriel held Ariadne in his arms as the child’s father rushed toward them.

 

“Forgive my child’s insolence, Your Grace,” Astram said as he bowed before the duke.

 

“That’s not what matters right now. Maids! Call for the doctor and bring the little lady to a room.” The duke commanded.

 

“Young lord, you could now finally let go,” Astram said as he reached her daughter, preparing himself to carry her. The boy was surprised; he didn’t expect the butler’s daughter to be this shameless. He heard rumors she was aloof and would prefer the company of books to children her age…

 

“Your daughter is different, Mr. Astram,” he could not help but express his suspicion.

 

“Your Lordship, please forgive me.”

 

The boy smiled at Astram.

 

“It is fine,” he said.

 

---

 

Ariadne woke up sometime in the afternoon. She was in one of the palace’s many rooms. Sleeping in chambers like this gave her comfort for a long while. Her body felt strange as if she hadn’t slept for decades.

 

The garden she could see outside comforted her from the confusion that soon followed when she realized she was sent back to the past.

 

Ariadne sat on the bed and watched the waving flowers and trees shedding their leaves as they prepared for winter. Her father told her that the late duchess treasured the garden the most. Before she came to this place, it was left unattended, and the duke was not inclined to take responsibility for his own garden. When she married the duke, one of the first things she did was to hire gardeners that could restore the palace’s garden to its former beauty.

 

She exhaled, touching her face. Ariadne could not fathom what happened, but it appeared she had regressed to the past. She wondered what year; there were no calendars in the room that could tell her about it. She also thought of the reason behind this. And who did it? The gods had always been deaf and silent to her pleas that it would be impossible for them to do her this kind of favor. She also heard nothing about a power that could turn back time. Perhaps it’s a prison where I would live forever repeating the same ordea-

 

Before she could finish what she was thinking, the door creaked behind her. Ariadne looked back and saw her father with worried and angry eyes.

 

“Are you alright?

 

She stood and nodded to him. Astram sighed heavily, putting his hand on his chest. “You make me worry for fainting… and what you did to the young duke! No proper lady of the Empire would do that to any man. I taught you about proper etiquette, did I not?”

 

Perhaps the young Ariadne would find it annoying. But listening to it melted something inside her heart. Astram stopped speaking as he saw his daughter drying her tears with her hands.

 

“Ariadne, why are you crying? You are making me worry.”

She shook her head and tried to regain her composure. 

 

“Nothing, Father… and I’m sorry for what I did earlier. I think I just got a bad dream while we were walking?”

 

“You dream while you are awake?”

 

She nodded, “I dream with my eyes open when I’m listless.”

Astram sighed and reached to pat her head. “It can’t be helped because you read too many romance books. I need to set up another meeting between you and His Grace. Remember, we cannot afford to leave a bad impression on them.”

 

She nodded. “Father, I have something to ask you?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“What year are we right now?”

 

He looked at her suspiciously, “First day of Nardure, and the year is 1268.”

 

When Ariadne realized what year it was, the emotion overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t help but throw her arms around her father. So, it was twelve years before the war happened… and fifteen years before the young duke and I faced our death.