While everyone was giving advice to Halo, who was beating up Pedro, I approached Joanna, who was trembling in confusion, not understanding the situation.
She flinched as I came closer, but relaxed once I used my cloak to cover her body.
“Hello.”
“Ah, um…”
“No, I suppose it’s not a good time for greetings. Let me explain the situation. I was engaged to that guy four years ago. The one beating him up like he’s going to kill him? That’s my second older brother.”
“W-what? Engaged?”
Joanna’s eyes widened in shock.
It seemed she had no idea what was going on—just like in my previous life.
Her eyes trembled as she finally grasped the situation, and then tears began to pour down.
She had given her heart to someone, not knowing he was trash.
“I’m sorry. I should have approached more calmly, but I couldn’t risk him denying everything.”
“Hhic…”
“I’ll make it up to you. I know compensation won’t truly make things right, but I can provide a letter of recommendation or financial support so you can settle in a city of your choice.”
“T-thank you…”
I wasn’t proud of myself, but from her perspective, it must’ve been a relief that I—a noble-looking woman—didn’t harm the commoner who had been involved with my fiancé.
My brother seemed slightly less furious only after he had beaten Pedro unconscious.
“Isn’t this guy seriously insane?”
“What was he thinking? He only got into the knight order thanks to your family’s connections.”
The other knights laughed and mocked Pedro.
He was always prideful—nearly like royalty—so if he were conscious, he probably would’ve wanted to die from shame.
I helped Joanna get dressed and told her to gather her valuables.
Just in case Pedro regained consciousness and tried to silence her as a witness, I planned to keep her close until the annulment was finalized.
I went straight to the townhouse and threw out the garbage like last time.
Laying the unconscious Pedro on top of it was a bonus.
A while later, Pedro woke up, saw that he’d been thrown out with his things, and started raging.
But the moment he saw my brother storming out of the townhouse, he turned tail and ran.
This time, he didn’t even grab his belongings properly.
***
The engagement with Pedro was annulled much more easily and quickly than before.
With 30 credible witnesses, and unfortunately for Joanna, even her own family saw Pedro getting beaten for cheating, word spread like wildfire throughout the capital.
I didn’t even have to do anything.
This time, I couldn’t charge him with fraud or seduction under the guise of marriage, but I did receive proper compensation for the annulment.
I gave half of it to Joanna.
After all, I had essentially used her to get out of the engagement.
She took the money and left, and Pedro, as before, was disowned by his family.
The only difference was that this time, he wasn’t sent to a monastery.
I didn’t care whether he lived or died anymore.
For the me who had returned in time, his betrayal was something that had happened over ten years ago—it didn’t hurt anymore.
I visited the palace office to submit the annulment documents and paused as I walked through the corridor.
I had hoped I might run into someone. But maybe it was the wrong day.
Or maybe they weren’t crying anymore.
I didn’t see the person I had been waiting for.
After lingering for a while, I returned home.
***
“I’m never getting married.”
“Uwaah, Loviaaa… We should’ve just killed that bastard back then… Huuuuu…”
My declaration of lifelong singlehood after breaking up with Pedro made my second brother burst into tears.
He seemed to think I was this hurt because I’d been deeply wounded.
The rest of the family didn’t cry, but their faces said they felt the same.
There was no way someone like Pedro—now just a figure from the past—could hurt me.
But it was too much trouble to explain everything, so I let them believe it.
“Now that the engagement is broken off… the only things left are the poisoning incident and the downfall, huh?”
I already knew the cause of the poisoning and how to solve it, so that wasn’t a problem.
The real issue was the downfall.
I had no idea what triggered it or how it happened.
‘It’s probably related to the male and female leads somehow…’
The problem was, I had no idea who the male and female leads were.
I didn’t know their names or what they looked like.
All I knew was that the male lead was blind and had supernatural powers.
I remembered the gods saying he lost his sight in some kind of incident.
So I figured I just needed to find a blind person with supernatural abilities.
But that was already a challenge.
“A blind person with powers? Why are you asking about that, Lovia?”
I asked my second brother, who was the easiest to talk to and knew a lot about the palace.
But he only responded with a question of his own.
When I said I was just curious, his expression turned troubled.
“I want to tell you everything you’re curious about, my sweet little sister… but I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Why not?”
“It’s top secret. Supernatural people are treated like strategic weapons, so it’s forbidden to talk about them.”
Since the palace had ears everywhere, if it was discovered that my brother told me about a superpowered individual, both of us could be in serious trouble.
In the end, I had no choice but to give up on finding out.
Instead, I came up with a good idea.
‘I’ll make money… and support them with it.’
Even if the palace gave them funds and salaries, the more money they had, the more they could do.
It was better to have too much than too little.
I just had to hope that with the money I gave, they could prevent the downfall.
I immediately declared I’d start a business and scouted Bizella, who had been working hard.
“Won’t you walk the golden path with me?”
Bizella, touched by the proposal, said she had never received such a thrilling offer before and took my hand with a dreamy look.
Since I’d walked this path before, I didn’t need to fumble this time.
“Gasal. One silver coin per basket. I’ll buy them all. Forever.”
“Welcome!”
I hired pharmacists too, but this time I didn’t need to experiment.
“This is seaweed that strengthens the liver and detoxifies. Dry it with hot air, grind it into powder, and turn it into pills. Market it as a beauty supplement for women and a stamina booster for men.”
“Are you a genius?”
I released the nutritional supplement far earlier than in the previous timeline.
By launching with a free giveaway under my family’s name, people tried it skeptically but spread the word once they saw the effects.
“They say this is actually a rejuvenation pill?”
“I heard a viscount’s graying hair turned black again.”
It wasn’t that effective.
Probably just a placebo.
I sold it at a low profit like before, but maybe because of the popularity, I became rich in no time.
And the first thing I did with that money was—
“Let’s buy the mine and the land it’s on.”
“But this land has been in my family for generations…”
When I suddenly showed up and asked him to hand over the land, the mine owner looked troubled.
So, I opened the chest I brought with me.
When he saw the amount—enough to buy a few more mines like his—he gladly sold the land passed down by his ancestors.
“Blow it up.”
The moment I bought the mine, I ordered it to be destroyed.
Bizella looked puzzled, as if she couldn’t understand why I was throwing money into the ground, but there was no other way.
If I just left it there, someone might stumble upon the disaster inside—by accident or on purpose—and unleash it upon the world.
That would render all my efforts meaningless.
It was better to collapse it completely so no one could touch it.
‘Too many people died last time.’
Although the Empire had relatively few casualties thanks to the nutrients I had preemptively distributed, there was still damage.
Other countries that had no preparation lost nearly half their populations.
Even though I had resolved the poisoning incident, the world struggled to stabilize due to the drastic drop in population.
“Only one left now.”
Destruction.
I packed up the money and headed straight for the Imperial Palace.
***
“So, what exactly is it that you want to do, Lady?”
“I want to use the money I earned to support the Espers.”
When I said I wanted to become a sponsor for them, the Emperor carefully studied me, as if trying to pierce through and uncover any hidden motives.
His eyes were sharp, full of suspicion, as if asking whether I intended to use the Espers’ power for my own ends.
But I had no hidden agenda.
I simply wanted peace.
“I’ve always respected those who work tirelessly for the Empire’s well-being.”
“Have you ever met an Esper before?”
“No, I haven’t. But as a noble born in the Empire, I want to contribute to it. Earning money is the only skill I have, so I want to help by sponsoring them.”
The Emperor still seemed skeptical, but since it was a cause for the Empire, it was hard for him to refuse outright.
He could have declined, but rejecting my offer might have been interpreted as hostility toward the House of Count Estarote—a known pro-Imperial faction.
There was no need to alienate allies and create unnecessary tension.
At any rate, the only thing I could do was earn as much money as possible and give it to them.
Whether the male lead and female lead used it to travel or to buy snacks, it didn’t matter to me.
‘Just please keep the world safe.’
I wasn’t asking for much.
As long as the world remained safe, I would have no problem giving them my money until the day I died.
And then, one day, while I was working hard for world peace, it came.
Suddenly, panels filled with prophecies popped up everywhere before my eyes, filling my vision chaotically.
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