Aha. Well, imo that convo between the two in their OG timeline has just solved why Tia survived sacrificing herself.
We’ve already seen in the current timeline that Cedric can’t seem to lie to save his life. This gives us an interesting list of things we can compile concerning OG!Cedric:
-He really didn’t love OG!Leshia romantically, but as a sister. (Ah, the infamous FL misunderstanding. No manhwa is complete without one.)
-He trusted OG!Tia’s nature to the extent of asking her for a personal favour (while also, interestingly enough, avoiding putting that in words)
-He noticed OG!Tia enough to note that she didn’t dance and thought about her enough to assume she just couldn’t
-He beyond generously arranged for OG!Tia to live comfortably in the countryside for the rest of her life, despite her being utterly useless for his cause and no doubt on the wanted list. Not to mention, both breaking her out and providing her with a place to live must have used many resources that were probably already scarce and could have been much better used elsewhere.
-Most damningly, if we assume Current!Cedric’s dream conveyed OG!Cedric’s emotions, then he apparently felt his heart wrench when OG!Tia was crying in the tent.
Conclusion: Methinks a certain someone was carrying a torch for the enemy.
Is it a cliche for the ML to have already loved the FL in the previous timeline? Yes, but I completely forgive it here- in fact, I adore it, because it adds a whole new level of twisted to their backstory. Specifically to Cedric, which is great, because I do dislike a perfectly noble ML with no flaws.
I thought it was weird how Tia had lived so long in the OG timeline, considering everyone seemed to know she was Lawrence’s biggest support. How was she not assassinated by rebels? I originally assumed this was OG!Cedric being a noble idiot who refused to stoop to such depths, but now I wonder if it was also because he couldn’t bear to. Which must have made guilt burn him every time Tia’s schemes for Lawrence succeeded. Like I said, it adds a great layer of conflict to the otherwise perfectly noble ML.
Anyway, as to how I think this explains why Tia survived: when Tia sacrificed herself, her last thoughts were for ‘Cedric’s wish to be fulfilled’.
But what exactly did OG!Cedric wish for? Just the good of the empire? Surely, he must have had his own personal desires too. Like having his loved ones safe, and well, and by his side.
In order words, if OG!Cedric’s “wish” also included Tia, then his wish would only be ‘fulfilled‘ if she survived the trip back too. (And my, what a coincidence that their current circumstances make her marrying him the best step forward, no?)
TL;DR:
OG!Cedric carried a torch for Tia and that’s why she survived the rewind - because unbeknownst to herself, her being by his side was part of ‘Cedric’s wish to be fulfilled’.