Chapter 2

　　“Hah!” Laila’s eyes snapped open with a ragged gasp.

　　At first, she didn’t immediately grasp that her eyes had opened. Because she thought she was dead.

　　“Where…”

　　She looked around. This wasn’t the afterlife.

　　My bedroom.

　　She hurriedly reached for the desk calendar and checked the date.

　　It’s yesterday!

　　Laila blinked.

　　This place, this date… What had happened?

　　Had she been dreaming? Dreaming of sweeping her jewelry into a bag, hiding it under the bed, and fleeing the estate the moment night fell…

　　No, it wasn’t a dream.

　　The color drained from Laila’s face.

　　I’ve returned to the past again.

　　Why?

　　Because she died.

　　Laila covered her mouth, recalling the moments right before she had returned.

　　I’m definitely…

　　She had left the inn early in the morning and boarded a carriage. Up to that point, she had been happy. She had been so excited and giddy that she had hummed to herself without realizing it. She had lost track of time, completely absorbed in daydreams of how she would spend her second life.

　　Then, about thirty minutes after the carriage departed, she had sensed that something was wrong.

　　“Coachman, is this the right way…? It seems awfully deserted…”

　　“Don’t worry. All the skilled coachmen take this route. It’s a shortcut.”

　　“Ah.”

　　Laila had trusted the self-proclaimed “skilled” coachman. She shouldn’t have. If she had noticed something suspicious and jumped out of the carriage, would things have turned out differently?

　　In the end, the coachman didn’t take Laila on a shortcut. Well, if he insisted on calling it a shortcut, it technically was. The problem was that it was a shortcut to the afterlife, not the capital.

　　“You said this was a shortcut!”

　　“Sorry. I’ll make it as painless as possible.”

　　The coachman had stopped the carriage on a deserted forest road and suddenly changed professions. From coachman to robber.

　　“Y-you picked the wrong person! I’m a beggar! I don’t have anything!”

　　“Well, we’ll see about that.”

　　“Ugh…” A groan slipped through the hand covering her mouth.

　　Laila cut off her recollection. She didn’t want to remember what happened next. Not that she remembered it very clearly anyway.

　　Regardless, she had died. At the hands of the coachman—or rather, the robber wearing the mask of a coachman.

　　Crazy bastard.

　　Laila’s fists trembled as she pounded her pillow.

　　“You lunatic! Trash! Absolute worst! Even for a robber, how could you rob a kid like me…!”

　　Laila froze mid-strike. Come to think of it, that was true. How could he, really? Why would that robber target a young child like her in the first place?

　　There wasn’t any sign that I had money.

　　She had deliberately chosen a bag and clothes that wouldn’t stand out. When she boarded the carriage, Laila was the very picture of an ordinary ten-year-old. She knew her hair color drew attention, so she hadn’t even taken off her hood…

　　Laila let out a sigh.

　　“The inn.”

　　The mystery was solved, and her mind cleared in an instant.

　　“The inn employee was in on it.”

　　There was exactly one person who had caught a brief glimpse of the contents of Laila’s bag. It was the employee at the inn where she had stayed for the night.

　　He had walked in without knocking while Laila was organizing her luggage in her room late at night. He had quickly apologized, claiming he thought it was an empty room and had made a mistake, before backing away. The next day, he had tried to apologize for the intrusion by hailing a carriage for her…

　　“He called his partner,” Laila muttered in a hollow voice. “They planned it. It was premeditated.”

　　Laila let go of the battered pillow, which had become ragged from her beating. She no longer felt angry. Other emotions had taken its place.

　　Anxiety and fear.

　　What if it happens again?

　　Whether thanks to the Regression Stone or not, she hadn’t gone to the afterlife but had returned to the past. That much was a relief. But what now? If she fled in the middle of the night again like yesterday, she could fall victim to a similar crime.

　　There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen.

　　Laila glanced at the full-length mirror.

　　Voluminous pink hair cascading down to her waist. Vivid green eyes. And a small head, small shoulders, a small torso, small limbs, small hands and feet…

　　I’m too young.

　　Laila swallowed dryly. Only now did she fully understand. She had learned a harsh lesson.

　　The outside world was far too dangerous for a ten-year-old child. Perhaps even more so than this family ruled by a villain.

　　Running away blindly right away was a stupid thing to do.

　　Laila decided to change her escape plan.

　　I need to grow up a bit more. And then…

* * *

　　Six years later.

　　When Laila turned sixteen, she announced one day that she was going out for a change of scenery, and escaped for good.

　　She entered a boutique she had picked out in advance, changed her clothes, threw on a wig, and slipped out the back door.

　　After shaking off her family’s escort knights, she took a carriage straight to the port. Waiting there was the person who would give her a fake identity, and the mercenary who would temporarily escort her.

　　Laila received her new papers and boarded a ship leaving the kingdom, with the mercenary by her side.

　　The ship set sail, smoothly cutting through the water. Laila went up to the deck and gazed at the vast expanse of the sea. Finally. At last. She had successfully escaped. For real this time.

　　“Goodbye for real, you damn villain and your juniors…”

　　The past six years flashed briefly through Laila’s mind. How quietly she had lived, waiting for this day.

　　She had always been quiet, but the past six years, she was hardly even present. Like a breathing corpse, like a doll that was alive but devoid of a will of its own…

　　As a result, no one in the family monitored her, and Laila used their negligence to amass wealth, plan her opportunity for escape, and finally flee like this.

　　Laila bit her lip slightly. She felt like crying, but now was not the time for tears.

　　It was a time for laughter, if anything. Yes, it was time to laugh. Loudly, heartily, to her heart’s content!

　　“Hahaha!”

　　Laila laughed until the tightness in her chest finally eased, looking out at the horizon.

* * *

　　After cruising smoothly for over half a month, the ship dropped Laila off in a small kingdom. Laila settled in a remote territory within this kingdom, whose name she barely even knew.

　　There, Laila became “Nana Lula,” the daughter of the fallen Baron Lula.

　　She wasn’t entirely thrilled with the naming skills of the person who had forged her new identity, but it was fine. After hearing it over and over, she grew rather fond of it, and eventually the name Nana even felt quite cute.

　　The secluded territory, with its small population, was peaceful. Laila made a living using the money she had brought, and occasionally, when she felt too bored, she took on work utilizing her fluent reading and writing skills.

　　It was quiet. It was tranquil. Comfortable… well, maybe not quite. To be honest, it was often inconvenient. Compared to a large city, supplies were inevitably scarce, and the flow of new things was rather slow.

　　Still, it was peaceful in return. Was she happy?…She was happy. Yes, this was definitely not a bad life.

　　She didn’t need children or grandchildren, so if she could just live like this until she was ninety…

　　“Laila Hildegard.”

　　“Yes?”

　　Walking down a trail, Laila absentmindedly answered and turned around when she heard her name being called from behind.

　　An instant later, she realized her mistake. Laila. There shouldn’t be anyone in this territory who knew that name.

　　“So this is where you were.”

　　Sure enough, the person who appeared before Laila was not a local. The one who had come looking for Laila was a nightmare. A living, breathing nightmare. One she had never imagined she would encounter a second time…

　　Before Laila could even determine whether this was a dream or reality, she opened her mouth almost reflexively.

　　“Spare me…”

* * *

　　“Aaah!” Laila opened her eyes with a scream.

　　She felt the sensation of a soft bed beneath her. Her familiar bedroom came into view.