Chapter 03
Iana could not clearly remember how she had finished her meal. Only after returning to her own room and collapsing onto the sofa did she finally manage to calm down.
Partly it was because of Diabel’s presence, which left her unsettled. But more than that, the atmosphere of the dinner had felt unfamiliar.
Throughout the meal, warm voices and tender glances had been exchanged. People asked after one another’s well‑being, offered more food, traded trivial jokes.
It was an ordinary evening meal. Yet everything about it was utterly foreign to Iana.
So this is what it means to have a family…
For thirteen years, Iana had had no family. She had a husband and a child, but they were not people she could call family.
She could hardly recall ever sharing a meal with her husband or his relatives. While everyone else dined in the dining room, she stayed in her room. Such cold treatment had been foreseeable ever since the engagement.
When a woman married, she was expected to bring a dowry. But Iana had no such money.
Baron Pasito had pointed this out many times. Each time he did, Iana felt like a worthless, cheap thing.
“A penniless, family‑less woman like you—the only thing you can do for our house is bear a son.”
From the moment she set foot in the Pasito household, her value was reduced to that. The dreamy, beloved girl was nowhere to be found.
The wedding was not properly held. There was no beautiful dress, no wedding gifts. Just a hollow ceremony. No guests. The officiating Baron Pasito asked her:
“Do you swear to obey your husband, devote yourself to him, and live in modesty?”
It was less a vow than a threat. A threat that if she did not comply, she would be cast out immediately.
Iana wanted to shake her head. But she forced her lips apart and answered, “Yes.”
After that, Iana lived a life close to confinement. She was strictly forbidden from leaving the mansion.
It was to avoid Roselle’s eyes. Because Baron Pasito had secretly smuggled Iana away, she was practically a missing person.
The reason was logical, but the life was painful. She had to stay in her room almost all the time. The days were tedious and humiliating.
She was allowed to go outside her room occasionally, but it was never pleasant. Encountering the servants or her sisters‑in‑law always brought some ordeal.
Once the servants learned that they could mistreat Iana without punishment, they became bold.
Not greeting her was just the beginning. They began neglecting the laundry and cleaning. Things frequently went missing.
Once, a maid was caught trying to steal Iana’s necklace. When Iana scolded her, she was slapped by her sister‑in‑law instead.
“You still don’t know your place. You’re even lower than these maids. If you get thrown out of this house, you’ll lose your head immediately.”
Iana could not even argue. Instead, her sister‑in‑law forced her to kneel. Only after extracting an apology did she leave, satisfied.
Even after having a child, the painful life continued. Perhaps that was why—around seven months into her pregnancy, she showed signs of premature labour.
The doctor said the delivery would be difficult. When asked whom to save if a choice had to be made—the child or the mother—Baron Pasito answered:
“Is the child in her womb likely to be a boy?”
“It seems so.”
“Then save the child.”
Upon hearing that, Diabel tried to run away with Iana. But Iana clenched her teeth and refused. If they were caught fleeing, she might survive, but Diabel would surely die.
Iana gave birth at seven months. A boy. She nearly died in childbirth, but whether by ill fortune or not, she barely survived.
When she was young, her mother had said: “Childbirth was terribly painful, but compared to how much I love you children, it was nothing.”
So Iana had hoped. Her husband and his family were all loathsome, but her child… perhaps if she could love her child, this life would become a little more bearable.
But Iana could not love the child at all. He was the son of the man who had raped her. He had that man’s face.
Not only his face but also his nature—the child was cruel and violent. After he learned to speak, it only got worse.
The canary Iana kept had its neck snapped. The boy stood before it, grinning.
The first real breathing room came several years after the birth. An epidemic swept through, killing most of the Pasito family.
After the funerals, she was able to leave the mansion for the first time in years. House Roselle eventually learned of her whereabouts, but they could not touch her recklessly.
With her husband and father‑in‑law dead, Iana’s son became the head of the household. But he was far too young to hold that position.
Thus Iana naturally became regent and the de facto ruler of Pasito. She was no longer a woman who would die so easily.
At last she had the power to take revenge, yet she was still lonely.
At the dining table there was only herself. There were no conversations. Each time, Iana would recall the evening dinners she used to share with her family at the Rihaft mansion.
Iana wanted a real family. And after thirteen years, she had met them again.
Her family was more precious to her than the world. Sitting on the sofa, Iana clenched her fists tightly.
I will never let them die again.
To do that, she had to prevent the attack that would come in a month. Just as Iana stared at the floor with cold eyes, a voice spoke.
“Lady Iana, you called for me?”
The voice came from outside the door. Iana told him to enter.
The one who stepped inside was Diabel. Like Iana, he had a young face now.
The Diabel of his thirties had carried a certain mournful dignity—an air that only someone who had endured hardship could possess.
In contrast, the Diabel before her now had less of that sharp ferocity about him. Still, his face was as beautiful as ever.
Normally, seeing that face would have made her purely glad, but now one side of her chest throbbed. Iana barely opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come easily. After wandering on her tongue for a long while, the words finally slipped out.
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”
He looked calmly at Iana, then smiled faintly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your childhood face. You are as beautiful as ever.”
At those words, Iana’s shoulders flinched for an instant. She gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
“……Is this a dream?”
“No.”
“Then… have I gone back to the past?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Somehow, she felt her strength drain away and her breath return. Diabel laughed silently.
“Did I not tell you? I said I would give you a new chance.”
At that, Iana fell silent for a moment. Turning back time—such a thing could not be possible. Not for an ordinary human being.
A stillness flowed between them. As if time had stopped for both, neither moved. Slowly, Iana parted her lips.
“……Who exactly are you?”
She raised her head and looked at Diabel with eyes full of doubt and suspicion. Diabel’s low, gentle voice spread through the air.
“I am the swordsman who worked for House Rihaft, your loyal knight, and also a fan of you—the tragic heroine.”
In the darkness, his dark‑red eyes gleamed.
“I am the devil, Diabel.”
“A devil?”
Iana murmured the word as if enchanted. Devil? Diabel? It was impossible. Was this a dream? Or some cruel joke by Diabel?
But if he truly was a devil, then she had no choice but to accept it—the unreal situation, his cryptic behaviour, everything.
Iana was shocked, but not because he was a devil. She slowly opened her mouth.
“There is something I’m curious about.”
“Yes. Please speak.”
“Why did you only tell me now that you are a devil?”
Whether he was a devil or a human did not matter to Iana. What shocked her was that Diabel had hidden something from her.
At any other time, Diabel would have knelt and explained the circumstances. But now he stood stiffly, looking down at Iana.
“You never asked, did you?”
At those words, Iana was momentarily dumbfounded. That voice—annoyingly light. The Diabel she knew would never speak like that.
The person standing before her felt like a stranger. And yet, he was the one she had kept closest for thirteen years.
Iana’s fists trembled. Her voice, barely suppressing her emotions, emerged.
“Why did you help me only right before I died? If you could turn back time, you could have done it much sooner.”
He tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes, and smiled.
“Because it was entertaining.”
“Entertaining… you say?”
Iana asked, astonished. Seeing her like that, Diabel merely smiled. He touched the corner of his mouth with his long, slender fingers.
“Yes. Your life, Lady Iana, was quite entertaining. It was worth saving you.”
It was the tone of someone who had watched a play. A low chuckle rang out.
“Devils love stories. But when you live for a very long time, fictional tales eventually become tiresome.”
He grinned, then walked toward Iana. Iana flinched and pressed her back against the sofa. It was the first time she had ever felt the urge to run away from Diabel.
Ignoring her reaction, Diabel bent down to meet her at eye level. A soft, coaxing voice sounded in her ear.
“So we devils insert ourselves into the play of human lives. We want to watch the story from the closest possible seat.”
Hearing that, Iana felt like an actor on a stage. Diabel’s gaze was painfully persistent.
He was like a person trying to peer into Iana’s very soul. But Iana’s eyes were as empty as a dried‑up well.
“The most thrilling part was after you became the Regent of Pasito. I truly thought you would succeed in your revenge… What a pity.”
Then he curled the corners of his eyes and smiled faintly. His violet pupils glowed sinisterly. Their colour shifted each time they caught the light.
“You’ll do well this time, won’t you?”
“You… you stayed by my side for thirteen years because…”
Iana finally managed to speak. Her eyes were full of confusion.
“Was it not because you loved me?”
She had believed that just as she loved Diabel, he loved her. That was why he had stayed by her side.
For the first time, the smile faded from his lips. Diabel looked at Iana with serious eyes.
Those were the eyes she had seen for thirteen years. His voice, devoid of playfulness, reached her.
“Of course I loved you.”
Then he quietly smiled. His face was like a warm spring day, and it made Iana want to weep.
“If you loved me, why did you let me suffer?”
“Because the one who loves the protagonist the most is the reader—but the one who is also the most ruthless is the reader.”
Saying that, he smiled as brightly as ever.
“A story without hardship isn’t interesting, is it?”
