/
The sound of metal clashing was high and piercing.
A sword cut through the air with great force. The flying sword fell far away from its master.
Clank! Tang!
One could hear the sound of the sword rolling as it nicked the marble floor.
It was my sword that rolled across the floor.
“This
!”
I was genuinely perplexed.
I thought I had dug into Caesar’s gap. His left side was obviously empty. But the moment I recognized that the attack was successful, Caesar’s sword blew my sword away.
Could it be that the gap was intentional? But he couldn’t have had enough space to stop my attack?
‘The sword
!’
It’s not over yet!
I threw myself at the sword that fell on the floor.
But Caesar’s sword was faster. After blowing my sword, there must have been a gap between the next attack, but he swung his sword aiming at my head with unbelievable speed.
“Ahh!”
I lost my balance while avoiding the attack. And as if predicting that, Caesar reached out and grabbed my collar with his empty hand.
And just like that, he pushed me to the ground.
No way.
“It’s over!”
Clack!
At his cry, the sword was thrust right next to my face.
It’s over. The confrontation with him.
Unbelievably, with his victory.
“Haaah
 Haagh
 Haa
”
He climbed on top of me, looked down at me, and exhaled heavily.
I couldn’t move either. Perhaps because this embarrassing situation couldn’t be readily accepted, my body froze completely.
We stared at each other for a while, breathing heavily.
“
 Lost
 huh?”
I was the first to open my mouth after a long time.
“Me? I
 lost?”
I couldn’t believe it at all.
How could I? I’d never lost in my life. Swordsmanship was a skill that I’d never imagined losing at.
I can’t believe I lost.
I can’t believe I lost.
Does this make sense?
“I’ve
 I’ve always been watching you
” Caesar smiled triumphantly, his face drenched in sweat. “Whether hunting monsters, sparring with knights trainees, or with Leonard or Agoth
 I’ve always been watching you.”
I didn’t know that.
Sometimes I felt like he watched from afar like it was a field trip.
“I watched and watched again. Analyzed, and found weakness
”
“Why
 Why did you do that? Did you want to beat me that much?”
Did you hate losing to me that much?
That internal dialogue popped out unconsciously. Of course, Caesar ignored it. No, instead, he smiled innocently as if he had been waiting.
“Because you told me to become strong enough to defeat you.”
Just because of that?
“It’s because
 Helena asked me to.”
I slowly sat up. Caesar was sitting on one knee before me, still smiling innocently.
“I won the bet,” said Caesar.
The words brought me to my senses.
Yes, a bet was placed on this sparring. The loser will grant the winner’s wish.
I bit my lips with a frown. The thought of what he would ask of me made me feel like I was falling apart.
“I-I don’t want to!”
“
 What?” Caesar opened his eyes wide at my words.
I knew it was childish, but I couldn’t stop talking.
“You’re breaking up the marriage, aren’t you? Dante Renatus isn’t the woman you loved, so you want to break up, right? I don’t like that. I-I don’t want to.”
“
 Pfft!”
“
?”
Upon hearing my words, Caesar burst into laughter. What the heck? I’m serious. I’m dying here.
“So, Helena. Were you worried about that?”
“
 You’re not?”
“Why do you think I’m breaking up with you? How much I struggled to keep you by my side.”
“B-But
 you’re mad, aren’t you? Aren’t you disappointed that I lied to you?”
“Well, Helena. Didn’t I tell you I had guessed it before you said it?”
So you’re not
breaking the marriage?
Caesar stretched out his hand and pulled a lock of my hair clinging to my cheek from sweat.
“Who you were in a previous life, what does that matter? You are still you.”
“You’re okay with it? How?”
“I want to ask instead. Did something change about you before and after I knew the truth?”
“
 No.”
“Have you become someone who’s not you because I learned about your previous life?”
“No. It’s not like that.”
I lowered my gaze.
Then Caesar gently caressed my cheek, made me raise my head, and our eyes met again.
“I don’t love just a single part of you. I love you all. No matter who you were in your previous life, what you did, or whoever you were, it just needs to be Helena.”
Nothing has changed.
It just revealed what was hidden.
I am ‘Helena Peresca’, who has lived the life of ‘Dante Renatus’, from the moment I was born until now.
The past named Dante Renatus is only a part of Helena Peresca.
“Now, tell me. What is your name?” Caesar asked me with his head slightly tilted to the side.
The soft voice made me overwhelmed.
I answered, barely swallowing what seemed like tears, “Helena. Helena
 Peresca.”
At my answer, Caesar smiled brightly.
“Yes. That’s the woman I love.”
Yes.
This man is the man I love.
I stretched out my arms and fell into his arms.
***
When I came out after taking a bath, Caesar, who had already changed his clothes, was sitting in the middle of the room.
Now the sight of him sitting at a table sipping tea and handing over the papers has become so familiar.
It was almost to the point where I wondered if he was stuffed in one corner of my field of vision.
“You still have a lot of work, I guess?” I asked, sitting across from Caesar. Only then did he look at me and smile.
“I’m checking the movement of the knights on the day of the wedding. Would you like to see, Helena?”
“Can I see it?”
“Of course.”
I received the documents Caesar handed over and examined the contents. The documents were packed with timely layouts and travel routes.
“The Black Knights are unexpectedly busy.”
“Because they exist for times like this.”
The Black Knights, half ridiculed and half-scorned for being ceremonial knights, seemed to shine brightly at events where the protocol was necessary.
“We plan to open the square outside on this day, so more personal guards will be added.”
“Isn’t Brother a personal guard?”
“Haha! How could he be an escort to his own family?”
Oh, I see.
Well, I don’t know since I’ve never attended any marriage.
I quickly moved my gaze back to the papers to hide my embarrassment.
“Ah. Here, why ‘archer’?”
“Have you never seen an imperial wedding, Helena?”
“No.”
“But Dante Renatus- Well. Right. Emperor Dante was single.” Caesar nodded in agreement. I was embarrassed and found it strange that he casually mentioned my former name.
“A large flower basket sent from the Church to celebrate the wedding will hang on the pillar in the plaza’s center. When the archer shoots it, the flowers rain down on the plaza.”
“Really? It must be pretty.”
“Yes. But there is a superstition that if you don’t hit the basket right at once, your country’s luck will decline, so it’s troublesome.”
“The archer’s duty is very important.”
“So we select carefully. Actually, I don’t believe in superstitions, but the people who will watch the national marriage are in a different position.”
Can’t we just think of it as a pretty and fancy event? How can you bet your country’s luck on a flower basket?
“The bow is stored in the central castle pavilion. It’ll be shot from there.”
“Have you seen it?”
“I’ve never seen it shoot, but I’ve seen the bow. I’ve heard it once, but my arm trembled when I held it with one hand.”
It must be a huge bow. I’m curious, so I’ll go see it later.
“I can’t believe it. A wedding,” I murmured as I put the papers on the table.
It was literally the first event in my life. I thought I had experienced enough to get tired of quite a few things, but after my second life, I could see that there were surprisingly many things I hadn’t experienced.
“That’s a relief.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because there is still a ‘first’ thing left for you to be with me.” Caesar’s eyes bent gently.
I was happy and embarrassed because he said it after knowing about my past life.
I quickly changed the topic to divert my embarrassment, “You won the bet on that. What are you going to ask of me?”
“Ah, that’s right. Haven’t I told you yet?”
We’d made a bet like this before. It ended in a draw then, but Caesar said that if he won, he wanted to be called by his first name.
‘It reminds me of the old days.’
I didn’t know I’d miss those days.
Back then, I just thought every day was dull, trivial, and meaningless to the point of suffocating.
“Are you prepared, Helena?”
“Don’t talk like that. I’m nervous for no reason.”
To Caesar’s mischievous question, I answered with a serious face. Caesar burst into laughter at my reaction.
“My request is this.” Caesar rummaged through the piles of papers on the table and handed me a piece of paper.
“What is this?”
“Knight’s reward for Helena Peresca.”
“What?”
Oh, an unexpected demand has come.
“You’ll give me a knighthood?”
“I thought this would make you more comfortable to wear a sword by my side, the emperor.”
“No, but
 is this okay? Giving the empress a knighthood is a precedent
?”
“If I give you the title, it will be a precedent.”
No, it’s easy to say.
How are you going to convince the council and other nobles?
Had he looked into my eyes and read my thoughts? Caesar looked at me with a confident expression as if telling me not to worry. “Those who oppose will be purged.”
“Nonsense!” I screamed in surprise. This man, are you trying to solidify your image as a tyrant?!
Caesar burst out laughing.
“Just kidding.”
Don’t make such scary jokes!
“Discussions with the advisory council have already ended. Everyone agreed that it would be safer to give Helena the sword than to give it to me.”
“What happened to your image, Your Majesty
”
“Not bad, well. Thanks to that, I can let you hold a sword.” Caesar shrugged. “Helena, who’s lazy and doesn’t care about everything, is only passionate about swordsmanship since childhood.”
“Do you
see me that way?”
“You were the most lively when I poked into your openings during training.”
How unfair. Are you saying I need to be threatened with life to regain vitality?
“I will give you a sword. So be my knight, Helena,” Caesar asked me. “Of course, this is not a request, so you cannot refuse.”
I had no intention of refusing.
Rather than granting his wish, I felt I had been given a huge gift.
To the point where I was worried if it was okay to receive this.
“I will leave my world to you.”
Mm.
I have to protect you.
Because you are the one I love.
“I will protect you, Your Majesty. Even if I put my all on the line.”
I thought so from the bottom of my heart.
Maybe this is why I’ve lived this long and tedious life so far, I thought.