If only time could stop. If only she could stay in this embrace forever, without war, without the Procession Tower, without a world that demanded her blood as its price.
But when Shiki finally opened her eyes, the warmth that had enveloped her was severed by something that felt… wrong.
On her ring finger, a ring caught the sunlight. Its red gemstone was clear, deep, and brilliant, shimmering like the eye of a living creature—as if it were staring back at her.
Shiki went still.
She raised her hand slowly, turning her wrist to let the light bounce off the stone's surface. Its luster was too vivid, its weight too heavy to be a mere figment of a dream.
Shiki's mind raced. She mentally searched through her jewelry collection in Ignisira; there had never been a ring like this. She recalled the dark days in the Procession Tower; not a single beautiful object had touched her skin then, let alone something this exquisite.
As a woman of dragon blood, her eyes were always keen on beauty. She could recall the details of jewelry she had only glimpsed once, even those belonging to others. A ring this stunning was impossible to forget… yet no memory accompanied it.
The cold touch of the metal against her skin made her chest tighten.
Her mother's embrace was still warm. This world still felt safe. But this one foreign object was enough to cause a crack in the facade.
Shiki didn't speak immediately. She simply observed her mother's steady breathing, the consistent scent of the room, the sunlight falling at the exact same angle she had always remembered. Everything felt whole. Too whole.
Slowly, she pulled back from the embrace.
"Mother," Shiki said softly, lifting her hand, "where did this ring come from?"
Emberlyn looked at her, then followed Shiki's gaze to her ring finger. Her brow furrowed slightly.
"A ring?" Emberlyn leaned in closer, taking Shiki's hand to examine it thoroughly. "There is nothing there, darling."
There was no panic. No acting. Emberlyn truly saw nothing.
Shiki withdrew her hand and turned to Andrea. "Andrea, do you see it?"
Andrea lowered her head, then looked up, staring at Shiki's hand for a long moment. Her face grew even paler before she finally shook her head.
"No, Young Lady."
The answers were too consistent to ignore.
Shiki lowered her hand. Her expression remained calm, but her mind began to move faster. If this was a dream, why were the details so perfectly interconnected? If this was heaven, why was there something only she could see?
The last memory before darkness had claimed her eyes returned with clarity.
A foreign voice.
A question.
The promise of one final chance.
And the date on the digital clock beside her bed.
May 30, 2083.
Shiki's heart quickened.
She glanced toward the window, at the morning light falling at that all-too-familiar angle. That day. That season. Her age at that time.
It was too early.
She swallowed hard.
That date wasn't just a number. Those were the final days of her life as a spoiled girl who had not yet known the world outside. A few years before the teleportation. Long before the Procession Tower. Before the Bride War became a term synonymous with blood.
She remembered it clearly: the day her mother called her into the study to ask which school she wanted to attend after graduation. She remembered answering with a lazy tone, saying no school was worthy of her.
And she remembered her mother's reaction.
Not anger. Not a reprimand.
Emberlyn had simply offered a thin smile… and a few months later, a new school stood. Built for a single student. With facilities that surpassed even the finest universities in Ignisira.
The memory was too specific. Too consistent. Too… real.
Shiki slowly curled her fingers into a fist, concealing the hand wearing the ring.
If this was a dream, it was too orderly.
If this was an illusion, it was too obedient to her memory.
And if this was reality…
Shiki's gaze hardened slightly, not with fear, but with a realization beginning to settle in her chest.
She wasn't dreaming.
Emberlyn's voice pulled Shiki fully back into the warm, quiet study.
"Are you still thinking about your engagement?" Emberlyn asked lightly, as if discussing a trivial errand. "Rest easy, my daughter. No one in this world can force you to do something you do not wish to do. Your father and I settled that matter months ago. We didn't feel the need to tell you, as it simply wasn't important."
Her tone was flat, almost indifferent. Not because the issue was small, but because to the Ganko Family, the matter had never been considered an equal match.
Those words unearthed a faint memory in Shiki's mind. An event she had once deemed insignificant—yet among the nobility of Ignisira, it had become a bitter lesson never to be forgotten.
A noble son from a prominent family, his power nearly equal to the Gankos, had once been captivated by her after seeing Shiki at a state gala. The potent dragon blood marked by the horns on his head made the man certain he was worthy. Without ever asking Shiki, without ever considering her will, he had stepped too far.
He sent envoys.
He issued demands.
He spoke as if the marriage were already a mutual decision.
Had it stopped there, the matter might have ended with a formal rejection and fake smiles between noble houses. But the man made one fatal mistake.
He approached Shiki directly—in her classroom. In front of other students. Before the teachers. He brought flowers, spoke her name with a tone of ownership, and then grabbed her arm when Shiki rejected him with cold disdain.
That touch—not his insult—was the unpardonable sin.
The news reached Emberlyn and Shinsei within hours. There was no mediation. No second warning. On that same day, the Ganko Family publicly severed all ties and announced total hostility.
What happened next was never recorded in official history books.
It was only known that within a short time, a great noble family collapsed. Their assets were seized. Their political networks vanished. Their name was never spoken again in elite circles. And that noble son—whose name Shiki couldn't even recall—simply disappeared.
In her father's study, Shiki had once seen the final proof:
A dragon-horned skull, displayed neatly in a glass case like a hunting trophy whose origins were never mentioned.
"Oh, Mother," Shiki said suddenly with a light smile, breaking the silence. "I had actually forgotten all about it."
She then turned cheerfully. "By the way, have you had breakfast yet?"
"I have," Emberlyn replied, casting a sharp glance at Andrea that made the servant bow even deeper. "Shouldn't you have eaten first before coming to see me?"
Andrea trembled slightly, her face turning paler, realizing that even a small oversight could have dire consequences before her mistress.
Shiki ignored the look. She smiled, stepped closer, and gave her mother a spoiled kiss on the cheek.
"Of course I wanted to see you first," she said airily. "Andrea said you wanted to discuss something with me. What is it, Mother?"
"Nothing major," Emberlyn replied, sitting back down. "I simply want to know which high school you wish to attend. If you haven't made a choice, I will select a school that will surely satisfy you."
That answer closed every lingering doubt in Shiki's mind.
She gave a small smile. "Hmm… high school, I see…" Then, with a casual yet certain tone, she voiced the choice that would alter the course of her life.
"I want to enroll in Vespera High, Mother."
"Vespera?" Emberlyn nodded slowly. "Very well. If that is your wish."
She stood, straightening her blazer. "You must be hungry. Go have breakfast. Don't worry about me."
"Yes, Mother." Shiki turned with a bright smile. "Come, Andrea!"
That small step—a seemingly trivial choice of school—had unknowingly set the gears of fate in motion toward a completely different direction.
'Regression, is it?'
If she truly had returned to the past, Shiki could fix every mistake and regret in her life, including taking revenge on those who had wronged her. But before her thoughts could sink deeper, the image of a man with violet eyes flashed in her mind, leaving her stunned.
Her smile widened, baring her fangs, and her dragon eyes glowed brighter, as if a turbulent fire were churning within them. Every mistake, regret, and grudge was momentarily forgotten. Her obsession with that man had survived, even after her regression.
"Where will you run this time? I won't let you go!" she whispered, staring at the red gem ring on her left ring finger.