Chapter 1: The Traitor's Smile

The cold touch of steel against my neck was the only thing that felt real.

The scrape of rough, old wood against my bare skin, the damp smell that seemed to reek of countless screams and sorrows, and… the chilling weight of the metal that symbolized the guillotine.

“Execute the traitor, Eliana Bester!”

The roar of the crowd filling the square crashed over me like a tidal wave. These were the same voices that had once praised my talent and raved about my work.

Now, they howled like bloodthirsty beasts, devoid of any pity.

A traitor.

A heinous criminal who dared to forge the Imperial family’s greatest treasure, the ‘Emperor’s Tear,’ and shake the very foundations of the empire.

That was the last name I was ever given. A scarlet letter that could never be removed, one that had stolen all my glory and my future.

Through my blurry vision, I saw familiar faces—faces twisted with contempt and disgust, eyes glinting with cruel curiosity.

But my own eyes cut through them all, fixing on a single spot.

There, in the front row of the VIP section, stood two people, so elegant they seemed to exist in a different world from my own.

‘…Cassian.’

I heard the sound of my own heart shattering into icy fragments.

His silver hair drifted softly in the sunlight, and the amber eyes that once held such warmth were now empty of any emotion. The fine suit he wore only made the distance between us feel all the more vast.

He was once my entire world. His smile was enough to make my day, and his sweet whispers filled my nights.

The day he first held my hand in a secluded corner of the Academy’s garden, he had promised me forever.

The simple wildflower in his hand had shone more brilliantly than any jewel in the world.

“Elly, your talent is a treasure to the empire. I will always be by your side to protect that light.”

And now, that same man was watching me die from the highest perch, with the coldest eyes I had ever seen—his expression as indifferent as if he were looking at a stone on the road.

Beside him stood a woman, gracefully sweeping back her fiery red hair.

‘Seraphina…’

My one and only friend. My soulmate, with whom I shared all my secrets. We’d spent countless nights in the old workshop at the Academy, discussing art until dawn.

We believed we were the only ones who would encourage each other’s talents instead of growing jealous, the only ones who would gladly watch each other’s backs.

“Elly, you’re incredible. One day, your name will be etched into the empire’s history. And I’ll be your first witness.”

Where had the warmth of her hand gone, the one that held mine as she smiled so kindly? Now, a faint, cruel smirk played on her lips. She looked like an actress savoring the final act of a long-awaited play.

Ah, I finally understood. It was all a lie. All the affection, every promise, every smile was just part of an elaborate spider’s web.

A sticky, fatal trap meant to ensnare a naive butterfly. I had been nothing more than the perfect sacrifice for their ambition.

‘Why…?’

The question rose in my throat but never found a voice.

I gave you everything. My talent, my time, my heart… all of it.

A bitter emptiness washed over me before the anger could even begin. The miserable feeling of being used and thrown away turned my blood to ice.

A tear streamed down my cheek, soaking into the cold wood of the guillotine.

The solemn beat of a drum echoed across the square, sounding like my own heart. It was almost over.

The life of Eliana, the genius restorer who was once the pride of the Bester family, was about to end in the most humiliating way imaginable.

“In the name of His Grace, the benevolent Emperor, release the blade!”

The executioner’s shout ripped through the air.

With my last ounce of strength, I lifted my head. I looked at them one more time. My lover, my friend.

Just then, Cassian and Seraphina’s eyes met briefly in the air. The faint smile that touched both their lips was one of victory, a secret they alone shared.

In that instant, something inside me snapped. In the place where despair and sorrow had been, a searing, black hatred began to boil like lava.

‘Cassian de Argen. Seraphina de Lafont.’

Just thinking their names felt like tasting blood.

‘If… if I’m given just one more chance.’

It was a foolish fantasy, but I couldn’t stop the thought.

‘I will never… forgive you.’

Shing.

The sound of the heavy blade slicing through the air rushed past my ears. I closed my eyes.

And with my last breath, I spat their names out like a curse.

“Gasp!”

My eyes shot open with a scream that tore its way up from the depths of my lungs.

The first thing I felt was the cool air on my neck. Like a madwoman, I clutched it with both hands.

Smooth skin. Not a single scar. The chill of the blade, the horrific pain of shattering bone—it was all gone.

“Hah, hah…”

I gasped for breath, frantically looking around.

There was no cold guillotine, no bloodthirsty crowd. Instead, an all-too-familiar scene stretched out before me.

A high, arched ceiling, walls lined with books on art, and by the window, a canvas with a preliminary sketch sat on an easel.

The scent of linseed oil and old parchment tickled my nose.

This was… my room in the Department of Restoration dorms at the Imperial Academy.

“A dream…?”

Impossible. The feeling of the guillotine was too vivid to be a dream. The pain of a heart frozen by betrayal, the terror as the blade fell—it was all real.

I stumbled out of bed. My legs buckled, but I managed to brace myself against a wall and make my way to the vanity.

I stopped breathing when I saw my reflection in the mirror.

“Ah…”

A girl with a youthful face stared back at me. This was me before I had grown gaunt from long imprisonment, before despair had stolen the light from my eyes.

My wheat-gold hair, like spun sunlight, was glossy and healthy, and my lime-green eyes still sparkled with pure passion.

This healthy, vibrant girl was a world away from the haggard wretch I’d been just before my execution.

Goosebumps prickled my skin. With a trembling hand, I reached for the calendar on my desk.

Clear letters were written across the top of the faintly dusty page.

[Imperial Kairon Calendar, Year 522, Month of Sprouts]

My heart dropped to the floor with a thud.

I was arrested during the Solaris Grand Exhibition in the Year 523, framed for forging the ‘Emperor’s Tear.’ After a long interrogation and trial, I was executed on the guillotine that winter.

“I’m… back.”

The soft whisper echoed in the room.

“I’ve come back… to before it all began.”

Exactly one year in the past. To the very time when Cassian was whispering words of love and Seraphina was pledging her friendship to me.

At first, all I felt was relief. The joy of being alive, of not having died. But that feeling was fleeting.

Soon, the cold rage I’d felt on the execution block began to blossom once more in the depths of my heart.

Their hypocritical smiles, their sweet voices that had deceived me, and their cold eyes that had watched me die—it all played back in my mind with chilling clarity.

I looked in the mirror again. The innocent light that had once filled my lime-green eyes was slowly fading.

In its place rose the cold, rational fury of a frozen forest. The tears that had streamed down my face had already dried.

I looked away from the mirror and clenched my fists, hard. The sharp pain of my nails digging into my palms became an anchor, tethering me to this new reality.

As if by magic, my body stopped trembling.

‘Yes. This wasn’t divine mercy or a coincidence. This was an opportunity.’

A chance to return the same pain to those who had taken everything from me. A chance to dig a deeper, darker hell beneath the feet of those who had pushed me into the abyss.

I whispered to my reflection—a final farewell to the naive Eliana Bester of the past.

“Cassian, Seraphina.”

My voice was as cold and sharp as a shard of ice.

“This time, I will be your guillotine.”