Final Attempt

Unwanted Position

At the tender age of 10, the only daughter of the Elise Duchy was betrothed to the crown prince of Ateria.

Ilia Elise loved him. She poured her heart and life into the training to become an empress. She would practice decorum every single day. The walls of her room were covered with pages and diagrams of the rules and etiquette to be observed in the palace. And she practiced day and night without fail just to catch the attention of her husband to be at least once.

When there was a ball, Ilia would practice until her feet would bleed. Wearing awful shoes and a tight corset, she would repeat the steps over and over again to make sure she never inconvenienced the crown prince.

However, when she turned 11 she had an awful dream. A dream that recounted everything in her life, but showed how in the future she would become an awful person.

She had been driven mad by the indifference of her fiancé, and his obsession over a ruined princess.

When the sword slit her throat the first time she was laughing. Her family was ruined, her father had died, there was no where to return to. And with those cold eyes, the prince who had become the Emperor, killed Ilia with no regrets.

Surprisingly, she had never hated the princess. What power did she have as a woman to stop these men? Her kingdom had been ruined by the father of the crown prince. And then the duke who had actively taken part in the war had brought her back to Ateria. Did she actually love either of them?

Ilia didn't believe it.

In the first timeline, the crown prince had locked the ruined princess away in his castle. After a push and pull kind of affair, the princess finally caved and fell in love.

That was probably when she snapped. She knew Navi had fallen in love out of desperation. She was suffering psychologically, and this was her escape.

But then what about her? She couldn't stand it , and rallied the other aristocrats against Navi. Ilia made sure that Navi was ignored at all social gatherings. She actively spread rumours about how a ruined princess had caused the crown prince to become a lustful tyrant. She needed to do this to make sure her position as the most eligible candidate for empress was not stolen.

But when Deitrus found out he lost his mind.
Punished for the crimes of slandering the royal family, she was sentenced to death. Her father was accused of treason and starting a rebellion and was executed. Her brother exiled, and stripped of all wealth.

This was the first vision she had, but everything felt so real.

In the second timeline, she tried to protect ilia by helping her settle into the aristocratic world. She actively tried to help her escape with Alain, but they never succeeded.

She again tried to woo the crown prince. A small part of her thought maybe if she's different from before he can love her too? She was gentler this time. Nicer. Kinder. Humble. She worked harder. It was for nothing. Her foolish attempts of pursuing Deitrus ended in failure. He still loved Navi , he never looked at her once.

And so she died. Again.

Present day:

In the office of the duchy of Elise. A man with pale white hair and tan skin sat at a grand mahogany desk. Standing in front of him was a dark haired man wearing a suit with the emblem of Elise patterned on his right arm. Behind them were bookshelves filled to the brim from floor to ceiling. On the right there was a large window that overlooked the main courtyard. The light filtering in made the scene look grand, yet warm. However, the mood of the two men was anything but warm and lighthearted.