Chapter 16 A Different Kind of Alliance "I can... let..."

Quick, let me go back!

Eleanor felt a metallic taste in her throat; the blood congealed into a gelatinous substance at the back of her throat, blocking her trachea and making it impossible for her to breathe.

Is it too late?

Am I even alive now?

Are the promises of the gods...true?

If it's real, how can it take effect?

One question after another, one wave of dizziness after another.

Eleanor clutched the gold pendant and prayed incessantly, petals piercing her palms, drops of blood dripping down her fingers.

Tick-tock.

In her mind, she saw a drop of blood fall into a river of blood, and then—time—the long river of time—began to flow backward.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The sound of water droplets and the hour, minute, and second hands constantly turning played in my ears, and after only three rises and falls, the stagnant air around me began to circulate again.

"Phew..." The obstruction in my throat disappeared.

Eleanor slowly opened her eyes. The near-death experience vanished abruptly. There were no screaming waiters around her, only a quiet darkness... and herself.

"..." She slumped back onto the soft bed, thoughtfully touching the pendant on her chest.

The good news is that all six petals are intact, except for one missing vein on the first petal. It seems that as long as one actively chooses to rewind before death, a life will not be wasted.

However, the suffocation and pain before death are very real, so being poisoned is definitely not a good idea.

Eleanor quietly abandoned her idea of ​​using poison to return to life and began to review the previous issues.

From her own perspective, she had avoided the most dangerous path of "showing her mother her ambition and aiming for the crown prince's position," but she was still killed by an unknown person.

The unknown person hiding behind the scenes is most likely not the mother.

Eleanor knew Eva quite well; that woman, indulging in wine, women, and wealth, would disdain assassination—at least not such a despicable means against her ten-year-old daughter.

Furthermore, given Queen Eva's status, a single glance or hint would be enough to have plenty of people vying to drag Eleanor out and get rid of her.

Could it be that Eva instructed someone to poison me?

It's possible, but the probability is still low. Because Eva herself is too lazy to take such roundabout measures; she's the type who'd rather be dragged out and beheaded!

Eleanor set Eva aside and began to count the servants in the room one by one.

The finance minister who was closest to us at the time was Kurdona. She was my and my third sister's aunt, so she wasn't a strong suspect.

Prince Inorn, who wields real power. Her mother's sister, who is of different blood, has a weak presence in the court, but her mother trusts her very much.

General Aya. A complete fool, she'll die at Attila's hands later on.

At this time, Manhani was a favored courtier and also served as a scribe in the royal court. She didn't yet have the power to take sides; at best, she was a henchman of others.

She mentally simulated the positions of the four people and recalled their movements and expressions.

Apart from Kurdona picking up the scroll and glancing at it, everyone else looked bored and like they were just trying to coax a child before she left.

However, it's not necessarily the people present who did it; the servants and guards around the mother are all suspects.

Vultures dare not offend a healthy, active lion, but when a lion is sick or weak, the vultures will follow far behind.

The thought of her mother, who would die of illness in a few years, made Eleanor's fingers tremble: she had never thought of helping her mother change her fate of dying young, but should she try to change it in this life?

No.

She quickly made up her mind not to change.

Because her mother, Eva, was an even more despicable and incompetent ruler than the mediocre Ophelia.

Even though he had worked tirelessly in Enlin in his previous life, using all sorts of advanced methods to increase crop yields and people's productivity, Norlana's financial situation was still a complete mess in terms of sustainability.

She had once blamed Ophelia, but the mediocre king, who was considered by others to be only good at spending money, specially sent someone to bring a sealed box containing a long letter.

The letter meticulously records the flow of money in a "small portion that can be made public": a list of advance payment projects that would make one's scalp crawl, and large sums of debts that can be defaulted on, cannot be defaulted on, have already been defaulted on, and are currently being defaulted on.

Ophelia even wrote this last paragraph.

My dearest sister, everyone says you are the embodiment of wisdom. So tell me—should I seize the nobles by the neck and force them to regurgitate their ill-gotten gains, or squeeze the blood out of the commoners to make it easier to balance the accounts?

Eleanor remained silent for a long time after reading the long letter. She did not reply to her sister's letter, but instead promoted more advanced and labor-saving spinning machines throughout the continent and spent a lot of manpower over the years improving the water infrastructure between the two countries.

Let Eva die on time. If she lives any longer, the people of Norlanna won't be able to hold on.

Eleanor got out of bed with her pillow in her arms and paced slowly around the room, racking her brains over the suspicious person.

This amount of information alone is not enough to identify the suspect, but fortunately she has the ability to rewind time and can gradually narrow down the possibilities through various methods.

For example, her previous act of revealing to her mother that "I want to drink the Water of Grace" was a test that "as soon as I show any signs of wanting to seize the throne, someone will take action to get rid of me."

Next, we can start by investigating the most suspicious prince or the clerk from whom we can find the most clues.

The only problem is that there are too few rollbacks!

Even if she makes full use of the six chances at each level, she only has a total of thirty-six chances to go back. And each time she goes back, she can only go back a maximum of six days.

Unless a new petal is opened, some mistakes, once made, cannot be undone.

"Ugh..." What should I do?! Eleanor slammed her head against the window frame.

"Your Highness, are you having trouble sleeping?"

Andra's voice came through the window.

“!” Eleanor leaned gently against the window frame, placing her hands on the spot where the sound came from: So I’ve returned to this day.

"Yes, I'm having trouble sleeping."

She slowly closed her eyes. It seemed that as long as she hadn't used up all her life, the specific time she could rewind to a few days earlier was entirely up to her.

The little princess's clear voice rang in my ears.

Andra pressed herself against the window, a smile unconsciously playing on her lips. "Do you need me to come in and keep you company?"

Eleanor's eyes stung again.

It's always like this, that unintentional tone.

How could I not need it, Andra? How I wish you could take my hand.

If I didn't have memories of my past life, no matter how many times I reincarnate, I would still be unable to resist relying on you.

Eleanor's heart throbbed slightly.

Andra, I realized that the reason I wasn't harmed by my family in my past life was simply because I lay flat enough.

In her past life, she was an innocent little princess who was of no use except for being sent to a political marriage.

Everyone assumed she would go to Hetuya to marry Andra. It would be ideal if she could integrate her bloodline into the enemy royal family, and being killed along with Andra wouldn't hinder Norlana.

So what happened next? As the lord of Enlin, she was undoubtedly useful.

But Enlin's lord possessed the invincible Andra, along with a loyal following. It was this group who helped her deter rivals lurking in the shadows and eliminate anyone who dared to lay a hand on her.

When Eleanor regained consciousness, she placed her right hand on the window again and opened it a crack.

"Does Your Highness want me to crawl in from there? Well, I'd better try harder." Andra's soft laughter was particularly clear in the night.

Perhaps someone heard it, perhaps no one did. All was silent.

Glug.

Eleanor gripped the window frame and took a deep breath—

"No."

No? Andra turned around in surprise.

Why is the little princess acting like this...? "Your Highness?!"

She couldn't help but gasp softly as a graceful figure, still in her nightgown, flew up and fluttered down from the sky, squeezing through the window.

Eleanor lost her footing and slid off the window!

"Ouch..." She rolled over and fell headfirst, but fortunately Andra reacted quickly and caught her head.

"Your Highness." Andra placed his warm palm on her head, gently stroking it through her long hair.

This action immediately awakened Eleanor's primal instinct for longing.

She leaned on Andra's shoulder very naturally, and the comfort seemed to transcend decades, bringing infinite solace in the instant of the touch.

"...Do you need my help?" Andra lowered her head, the girl in her arms with tears in her eyes, as if she had suffered some injustice.

A hidden protective instinct and anger toward a "common enemy" rose within her.

“Yes.” Eleanor nodded.

She pushed Andra away gracefully: the action was easier than she had imagined. After all, the girl in front of her had no intention of restraining her; instead, she politely took two steps back.

Eleanor tidied her hair; although her eyes were a little red and swollen, they were surprisingly bright.

"I want to go to Enlin."

As if afraid that Andra wouldn't understand where Enlin was, she stood on tiptoe, broke off a branch, and drew a simple map on the ground.

The little princess poked the circle representing Enlin in the bottom right corner and muttered softly, "This is my territory, I want to go, but no one will allow it."

Everyone? Of course, it's King Nolana who won't allow it.

Andra knew immediately what had happened; it must be that the pampered little princess was making a fuss about wanting to go play in the territory.

Managing such an important task as territory could certainly not be entrusted to a child, especially a pampered princess.

Andra smiled gently: "Your Highness, I can't help you with this..."

She suddenly fell silent and embraced Eleanor. The little princess had quietly reached out and softly wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Andra." The petite girl whispered in her ear, each word like a tiny feather brushing against her earlobe.

"Someone wants to kill me. Can you help me... find her?"

Glug.

Andra heard himself swallowing.

“Okay, then…” She nestled against the little princess’s head, affectionately tidying her stray hairs with her left hand: “What will be my reward?”

She's so cute! She gives me toys? Childish kisses? Or promises to marry me when we grow up?

Andra's heart pounded.

"I can..."

The little princess, just a step away, smiled slightly and stared at her with her clear eyes.

"I will make you the king of Hetuya."

Eleanor looked up and saw the same light in Andra's eyes as she had in her past life.

A note from the author:

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