That Day at Twenty

That day, at twenty.

Rhea had spent the entire day in the stables, giddy over the birth of twin foals, happily turning names over in her mind until sleep took her.

Then, in the dead of night, she opened her eyes to her nurse's urgent hands shaking her awake.

"Princess, you must get up."

Her face drained of all color, the nurse hurriedly dressed her.

They fled through the palace and arrived, breathless, at the mouth of an underground secret passage, where Rhea found her older brother Ahren, King of Zephyros.

"This passage is known only to the king. It should buy you time."

Tears welled in Rhea's eyes in an instant.

"Brother—you're not coming with us?"

The words had barely left her lips before she burst into tears.

Ahren looked down at his pitiful little sister.

"I'll... follow after. Rhea. Let's meet again. Safely."

That night, the moment Rhea and her attendants emerged from the secret passage, they climbed the red mountains to the west. In the darkness, only the harsh sound of footsteps echoed. No one opened their mouth. The silence was heavier than any scream.

It was a barren mountain of nothing but rock, rarely touched by human presence, and the cave they found was adequate for hiding.

The knight who had gone down to gather news of the palace returned with a face twisted in devastation. The moment his eyes met Rhea's, he dropped his head.

"...No."

Rhea shook her head. She staggered toward him and seized a fistful of his clothes.

"Say it isn't so! Tell me my brother is all right!"

"Princess."

His voice trembled.

"His Majesty... has passed."

Sixteen years later.

Nortia, a vassal state of the Tera Empire.

Nella, the ruler of that land, took one look at the woman sitting limply on the bed and clicked her tongue.

Her faded blonde hair, cropped short like a man's, had grown out ragged at the ends. Nella had been told that even when they tried to tidy it, she would not let anyone touch it.

"Do you have any idea what the bounty on your head is worth?"

"..."

"To think the Red Phantom—the one the Empire is so desperate to hunt down and kill—would look like this. I've gone and picked up a corpse."

Nella caught the unresponsive woman's chin and lifted it. Her face, once so gaunt the cheekbones jutted sharp, had filled out a little. She looked almost presentable now. But those green eyes were still dead.

"They tell me you haven't spoken a word. Is it that you cannot speak, or that you will not?"

When Nella released her, Rhea's head dropped weakly again.

A single thought ruled Rhea's mind.

Why am I still alive?

The dozen-odd years from powerless princess of a fallen kingdom to commander of the rebels who fought the Empire flashed past in an instant. She had lost everything all over again. Drowning in despair and self-loathing, her mind drifted without anchor.

Nella sat in the chair beside the bed and watched her in silence for a time, then spoke abruptly.

Rhea slowly lifted her head. Light entered her eyes, but they stared at some far and distant place. The light that had revived her was not the spark of life, but hatred and despair.

A gleam flickered through Nella's eyes. One corner of her mouth lifted. She knew. The most powerful motive that keeps a human being alive is rage.

"If I could go back, I would sell even my soul."

The voice she had not used in so long scraped out, rough and raw.

"And what would you do if you went back?"

"Stop one person. Only one. Everything fell that day by a single pair of hands."

"Who is that person?"

"Neria. My half-sister."

"So you remember when that day was."

"How could I forget?"

With blazing eyes, Rhea spoke dryly. And beneath that dryness, Nella could see a spark pressed down deep, a fire on the verge of exploding.

"Are you truly confident that if you return to the past, you can change it?"

"Yes. Without fail."

"Even if the price is losing something precious to you?"

Something precious?

A hollow laugh escaped her. As if she had anything like that left.

"Your spirit."

Rhea's eyes flew wide in shock.

"How—"

Focus snapped sharp in her gaze. At last, she truly looked at the face of the person before her. A middle-aged noblewoman, her hair mixed half black and half white, smiled—cold and elegant.

"Now you look as if you might actually be of some use."

Caught in those red eyes, Rhea could not look away. She felt as if she had been thrown before a beast—savage, beautiful, and so overwhelming that resistance was meaningless.

"Let's draw up a plan, shall we?"

Rhea stared blankly at Nella, who was saying things she could not understand.

"Princess! Good morning!"

A hearty voice, and the curtains were thrown open, morning sunlight flooding in. A woman with brownish-black hair, light brown eyes, and a face full of cute freckles beamed at her.

Was it the sunlight that made her eyes sting—or the fact that she could see that bright smile again?

"Princess, I have wonderful news that'll surprise you. Guess what?"

"...Nashim had her foals last night."

"How did you know? Nashim had her babies, and—"

"Twins, right? Two of them."

"What? You already heard from somewhere!"

Rhea jumped straight down from the bed and pulled Penny into her arms.

"Princess?"

"I'm just happy."

"Oh, honestly, Princess. Are you that glad? I told you not to worry. Nashim is healthy—she'd deliver just fine."

Holding Penny tight, Rhea closed her eyes as they grew hot.

The window flew wide open, and a strong wind swept over them both. Their clothes fluttered. Hair scattered in every direction.

"My goodness! What a wind!"

Penny let out a short shriek of surprise, then burst into laughter.

Rhea closed her fist slightly, as if to catch the wind. It slipped into her palm and slid away again.

It's you, isn't it? You came back with me too, didn't you?

As if in answer, the wind brushed her cheek.

That day at twenty, when she learned of her brother's death, she had felt a despair that seemed to close around her throat—and in that moment, she had awakened the power of a spirit.

I succeeded, Your Majesty. And a miracle happened.

She had returned to the past together with her spirit. This was not a new awakening. Something had occurred that defied all prediction. It could only be called a miracle.

Rhea squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. Her gaze flashed, fierce and bright.

Neria.

Tonight, I will stop you. Without fail.

At the southern tip of the continent lay the desert kingdom of Zephyros.

In the kingdom's sanctuary stood a great holy relic known as Zephyros's Eye.

Thanks to this perfect instrument of defense, the kingdom had built a history spanning a thousand years. Even in this age, when an empire had risen on the continent and the entire land bowed beneath imperial influence, Zephyros maintained its proud independence. Under the relic's protection, the kingdom was peaceful and safe.

Is that truly so?

Rhea stood atop a high tower of the palace and looked down with a cold gaze upon the kingdom spread below.

This isn't peace. It's a slow sinking.

Born a princess of the kingdom, she had spent a happy childhood without a care in the world. She had loved her kingdom and thought this place was paradise. She had believed that Zephyros, sheltered by a mysterious holy relic, was truly blessed by the gods.

And yet.

At some point, the kingdom's holy relic had become a poison eating away at the kingdom itself. The greater misfortune was that no one had noticed. Rhea had understood only after she lost it all. Leaning on the relic's power, the kingdom had grown idle and decayed. Someday, even a paltry sandstorm would have brought it crumbling down.

That still does not mean what you did can be forgiven, Neria.

Zephyros's Eye was the treasure of treasures, and yet the security around it was not particularly tight. Anyone other than those of royal blood who drew near would find their mind crushed, leaving them unable to move. Legend held that only the bloodline of Zephyros could destroy Zephyros's Eye.

Rhea had never taken that legend seriously. How could royal blood dare destroy the holy relic? The relic was the very foundation of Zephyros.

And yet Neria, Rhea's half-sister and a princess of the kingdom, had actually committed that terrible act.

Tonight was that very night.

"Rhea."

She whipped her head around. A young man with the same blonde hair and green eyes as hers stood there, looking puzzled.

"Why did you suddenly call me all the way out here..."

Rhea threw herself into his arms, and Ahren startled. Then he startled again, feeling his little sister's shoulders shaking against him.

"Rhea, what's wrong? What happened?"

This had not been part of the plan. But the moment she saw Ahren's face, the tears came, and she could not hold them back. To see her brother alive again. To be able to touch him like this. She was terrified it was all a dream, and so happy that it was real.

Ahren waited patiently, rubbing her back, until her crying subsided. Just as she remembered, her brother was truly kind.

"Your Majesty."

Ahren's eyebrows rose.

"Your Majesty?"

"Please listen to what I'm about to say. The fate of myself, of Your Majesty, and of the kingdom hangs on this."

Ahren regarded her for a long moment, then nodded. The little sister he knew might be a touch spoiled, but she was not a child who would talk nonsense.

"I received an oracle."

Rhea did not want to explain everything she had lived through, point by point. It would take too long, and it would sound absurd. One might say that invoking an oracle was even more absurd—but this was Zephyros, a kingdom that truly received the protection of the gods.

"Tonight, something terrible will happen. Countless people will die, and the kingdom will stand on the brink of collapse."

"What?"

"I can't tell you what it is right now."

If she said the holy relic might be destroyed, Ahren would strengthen the guard. That could not happen. Everything had to unfold as it had before.

"I can stop it. I have to stop it. So don't ask anything, and just trust me for today. I might lie about other things, but I would never lie with our kingdom's fate at stake."

Ahren looked at her in silence, then lightly flicked the tip of her nose with his finger.

"Look at that red nose. If you had a nightmare, go back to sleep a little longer."

"Your Majesty!"

"His Majesty hasn't the leisure to listen to nonsense—but someone else might."

Seeing the playful smile rise at the corners of Ahren's mouth, Rhea blinked.

"...Brother."

Ahren grinned.

"What can I do to help?"

"Tonight... please don't sleep, and have the knights on standby."

Her voice caught in her throat of its own accord, coming out thick with tears.

"Is that all?"

"That's enough."

Rhea pulled Ahren into a tight embrace once more.

"Thank you, Brother. I'll tell you everything tomorrow."

"All right."

Feeling Ahren's gentle hand patting her shoulder, the impatience and anxiety in her settled.

In my last life, how did I go on living after I lost my brother?

This time, I will never lose him.