I Only Raised Men for Revenge - Chapter 5

Those were her last words, her final testament.

And with that, Sesenia died.

‘I regret not killing my sister back then.’

A tear slipped from Sesenia’s eye.

That was the last memory of her life.

Her husband, the Emperor, wearing a relieved expression as he looked at her.

Her sister, Elzer, smirking at her.

Ian, clinging to her sister. He, who, when asked how to deal with the sister who had an affair with her husband, had said to send her into exile far away since she couldn’t be killed anyway even her only friend.

‘Love… it’s truly fucked up.’

But Sesenia’s life came to an end like that.

‘And I will be reborn.’

**

“Huh…”

When Sesenia opened her eyes again, her body was whole. She hadn’t been stabbed, and there was no pain.

“I’m back.”

She chuckled. As if she knew she would return, she clenched and unclenched her hands before approaching the mirror. It was her reflection. The only difference was a necklace she had never seen before hanging around her neck.

A pocket watch, a slightly thick pocket watch, opened to reveal an hourglass inside.

‘The family’s secret technique.’

A terrible curse passed down in the Bestel family. It was an ancient tale that even Sesenia’s father, Marquis Bestel, didn’t know. A curse placed upon those who desire death, preventing them from dying.

What kind of curse it was, and whether there were any side effects, had not yet been revealed? Sesenia had only found out about it right before her death. As if fate didn’t want her to die.

“I would have died anyway.”

They would have tried to kill her one way or another. It was a gamble with her life on the line, but death and death were the only options in the bet anyway.

Sesenia, comforting herself in that way, ran her hand through her hair. She stroked her cheek, feeling the solid sensation.

“I really am alive.”

Just then, the door opened, and someone entered.

“Ah.”

“Young lady. Are you sleeping in again today?”

“…To call it sleeping in, I just woke up.”

Acting as if nothing was wrong, as if she had always existed in this timeline, she looked around.

“Ah. Yes.”

The fact that she was being called ‘young lady,’ and that this place was clearly the Bestel Marquisate. Her room, where she had lived before her marriage.

‘Time has been turned back. Quite far back.’

As Sesenia shook her head this way and that to assess the situation, the woman who had entered the room urged her.

“Please get up quickly. You’ll get scolded by Marquis again.”

“Ah. Is Father here?”

“Are you asking the obvious? You drank a few glasses of wine at your coming-of-age ceremony yesterday, so are you out of it?”

She had figured out that she had been revived due to the family’s curse, but other than that, nothing was clear. Whether it was really reality, what time it was. So, as Sesenia floundered, she belatedly recognized who was nagging her.

It was Lizbeth, the daughter of her nanny, a friend who had grown up with Sesenia and was also her maid.

But two months before Sesenia suffered that fate, Lizbeth had died in a mysterious accident. She was her only friend, besides Ian, with whom she could confide, but she had said she was going to visit her mother for a while, and she never returned.

That memory surfaced, and Sesenia stared at Lizbeth. If it wasn’t a dream, had she returned to before Lizbeth died? Had she regressed? Why else would Lizbeth be here?

As time passed, her mind filled with questions.

“Lizbeth, are you okay?”

“Of course?”

“Really? you’re not sick or anything, are you?”

“Young lady, really. Did you have a bad dream or something? You’re acting strange today. As if you’ve regressed or something.”

Sesenia’s face turned pale in an instant.

“Regression…?”

“Yes. Like turning back time. Why are you so curious, as if you’ve experienced something like that?”

Sesenia felt a pang in her heart at that smiling remark.

‘Regression… it is but why is Lizbeth using such a rarely used word?’

Something felt off. All her circumstances were sorted out with the word ‘regression,’ but she couldn’t help but feel a strange emotion.

“Young lady?”

“Huh?”

“You seem the same as usual today, but also a little strange.”

“I know. I think I’m a bit weird too. Lizbeth. Yesterday was my coming-of-age ceremony. What does that mean?”

“What do you mean? It means that today you turned 20 and another day has passed!”

Sesenia only blinked as she looked at her, smiling brightly.

Five years had passed since the day she died. At 19, she was engaged to the Crown Prince. At 20, her father was deeply considering who to entrust the family to.

At 21, Sesenia was doing most of the family’s work, and at 22, she married the Crown Prince she had been engaged to. At 23, the Crown Prince became Emperor, and at 25, she died.

‘So, I’ve been given a five-year grace period.’

“This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“Do you wish it was a dream? Well, getting older is always sad. I understand.”

Lizbeth, who had always been cheerful, was smiling brightly at Sesenia. Her heart ached at the sight.

‘It seems I really have returned, Lizbeth. I lost you, but you’re alive in this time.’

At this moment, Sesenia was happier than ever.

“That’s right. I think it’s sad. But this moment is good.”

“Is that so?”

“I need to get ready quickly and go to Father.”

Sesenia smiled more brightly than ever and looked at Lizbeth.

‘I’ll give them everything they want, just as they wish.’

It was her sister who wanted everything she had. So, Sesenia clenched her fist, determined to give her sister all that shit this time.

Even if those who drove her to death and the current versions of them were different, the time she had experienced was the same.

And so, Sesenia headed to her clueless 19-year-old father.

**

The Marquis had only two daughters, no sons. So, he was deeply troubled about who to pass the family on to.

Sesenia, the second daughter, was smart but lacked charm, which the Marquis didn’t like.

In contrast, Elzer was charming and lovely in herself. But Elzer had no interest in business.

So, Sesenia worked hard to please the Marquis. And she revived the Marquisate, making it more prosperous than any other family. Nevertheless, the Marquis tried to pass the family on to his daughter, Elzer.

But Elzer gave up the family, saying she wanted to have free love and live freely in the world. In the end, Sesenia took over the family’s affairs even after becoming the Crown Princess, and eventually, the family became hers.

‘And yet. Even that family was what my sister wanted.’

Only after everything was completed, she wanted to have it without losing anything.

No matter how she thought about it, she was truly a repulsive human being.

Of course, there was no guarantee that such things wouldn’t happen again this time.

‘I won’t trust anyone in this life. Not my sister, not Ian, not the Crown Prince. And I won’t even have the family. I’ll create my own things, and I won’t be deprived of anything. I’ll give hell to those who only used me.’

That incident kept coming to mind. Her friend and sister laughing at her. Her hands trembled. At that moment.

Someone grabbed Sesenia’s arm as she headed to the Marquis’s room.

“Sesenia! Are you on your way to Father?”

Sesenia’s body stiffened in an instant. A familiar voice, a familiar action. It was Elzer.

“Sister.”

Unlike herself, who had been criticized for being emotionless, Elzer was loved by everyone. Even she, her younger sister, found Elzer lovely.

She was known as the most beautiful woman in the empire, and she had grown up hearing that she was smart. In fact, the Marquisate was always filled with men trying to confess their love to Elzer and the gifts they sent.

Until Sesenia became the Crown Princess and entered the Imperial Palace, that daily life was always repeated. And Elzer loved all those men. The reality was different. Elzer used this man and that man, claiming it was free love.

At that time, Sesenia thought her sister was amazing. She wondered how she could control the hearts of so many people like that.

But she never imagined that that free love would extend to coveting her husband. That it would lead to a conclusion where she would steal her place, steal her husband, and even cause her death. Sesenia couldn’t hide her expression.

‘The person who betrayed me in the future isn’t this person, why can’t I calm down? Get a grip. This person is different from that person in the future.’

Sesenia forced a smile and looked at Elzer.

“Yes.”

“Were you okay yesterday? It was the first time you had proper wine. Did you have a headache or anything?”

“Uh.”

“Actually, I prepared that. I got something special for you.”

Sesenia felt nauseous in an instant. The sight of Elzer gently stroking her hand and talking about yesterday reminded her of being paralyzed by a strange object when she was imprisoned, and she couldn’t calm down easily.

“I see. You haven’t changed, Sister.”

“Huh? What do you mean, haven’t changed?”

She looked at her with a face that knew nothing, which was disgusting.

“No. Just. You always care about me.”

“That’s right! Who in the world would care about you as much as I do?”

“Yes. That’s right. You always have.”

Sesenia really thought her sister loved her when she said those words. She thought no one loved her family as much as she did. She lived trapped in that ridiculous frame. She never imagined that her sister would be the one to kill her.

She had an affair with her husband, gave birth to his child, and used that child to kill her, never dreaming that she would think her sister’s heart was sincere.

Her mouth was so bitter.

‘But now I’ll use you.’

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