MCQN 01

Episode 1

└[Dropping this.]

What?

At the calm voice that didn’t match the situation, I looked up and scanned my surroundings.

‘Was that just in my head?’

What was I expecting? There’s no one here besides me.

I’m in a prison for nobles.

But the reason no one else is around isn’t because it’s solitary confinement…

“Ugh!”

Part of the ceiling gave way with a loud crack, and scorching heat rushed in.

That’s right. The entire noble prison was burning down.

Judging by how quiet it was, everyone had probably escaped a long time ago—everyone except me, who’d passed out from whatever drug had been put in the water.

‘Damn it. Was it him who spiked the drink?’

My father.

To be precise, my adoptive father, Count Torto—no blood relation at all.

Even in my groggy state, his face surfaced in my mind with eerie clarity.

No wonder—I’d seen him just minutes ago, standing right outside this prison.

—Father! Please help! The fire… Cough, please just prop something against the window so I can climb out!

Relieved to see someone outside, and especially that it was him, I called for help.

It was nighttime, but the flames engulfing the building lit everything up, and I could clearly see his face.

—Fa…ther?

Count Torto’s face was exactly as I remembered it.

That was the problem.

He stood there with the same emotionless expression, watching me trapped in the flames.

The man I thought had come to save me—

‘He was here to make sure I died.’

As I watched him turn away without a word, I understood why I had to die.

Because I’d done so much to gain his recognition.

In other words, I knew too much about the family’s corruption.

He was erasing me like one burns documents—removing evidence.

‘To him, I was never a daughter. I was just a disposable tool.’

I didn’t cry.

I was too angry at myself for ever yearning for affection from someone like him.

‘I’m not going to die quietly.’

If he’s so scared of the truth getting out, I’ll leave behind proof myself.

Because sharp objects were banned to prevent self-harm, I had no pen or ink. So I tore open a pillowcase, bit into my fingers, and wrote in blood.

‘Torto. Slush fund. Locked drawer…’

I didn’t have time, so I had to keep it cryptic. But if someone found it, they’d get suspicious enough to investigate. That was my will.

Just as I was racking my brain to include as much damning info as possible—

└[First time I’ve seen someone drop a story after just one episode lol]

└[Dropping after the first episode isn’t dropping. It’s just tasting.]

That voice again.

‘Am I losing it?’

It didn’t sound like someone next to me.

The tone was flat and felt like it was echoing directly in my head—a bizarre combination of words that made no sense.

I could only assume it was a hallucination and tried to focus back on what I was doing.

‘Secret ledger… in the fountain…’

└[I’ve read the latest chapter. Thought it’d be the usual comfort dish like kimchi stew, but turns out it’s got a tom yum twist. Recommended if you like clichés.]

“This is one long-ass hallucination!”

To keep the burning cloth from flying back in, I shoved it into a wooden cup and threw it out the window.

Even as I struggled to breathe, that voice kept muttering in the corner of my mind.

It wasn’t loud enough to distract me, so I kept ignoring it—until one word pierced through.

“Rose?”

Rose. My name.

The one I had before Count Torto gave me the name Veleta.

To hear my real name again now, of all times.

I let out a bitter laugh—not very fitting for someone about to die.

‘So I die as Rose, not Veleta Torto.’

In a way, I liked that ending.

I closed my eyes and surrendered to the flames closing in.

But instead of pain, an odd sense of peace washed over me.

The fiery haze didn’t take me to death—but to another fire from long ago, in my childhood.

‘Is this my life flashing before my eyes?’

The day the orphanage burned down.

My friends died, and I had to keep living in that half-burnt building after it was hastily patched up.

The one who took me out of that nightmare was Count Torto.

—Am I… your daughter?

—Yes. I’ve come to take you home.

He had the same blond hair and blue eyes as me.

His looks, his age, even my background made me a convincing illegitimate child.

He took me to a beautiful mansion, gave me the name Veleta, and I lived the dream of a noble daughter.

But the dream didn’t last.

My hair, which should’ve stayed blonde, started showing streaks of orange.

—What about the orphanage director who introduced the girl?

—They’ve gone missing…

Suddenly, I was part of a scam. And from then on, I lived walking on eggshells.

The only reason he didn’t disown me immediately was that he needed a daughter—for political use.

‘As long as the real daughter doesn’t show up, I’ll be safe.’

I lived like a cuckoo in another’s nest for years.

—This ring… my mother left it to me.

My hopes shattered when the real daughter appeared.

—What a miracle.

—They said Veleta was a distant relative. They adopted her thinking Rayleigh had died.

—If only Veleta hadn’t been there, we might’ve found Rayleigh sooner. Heaven is cruel.

That’s when I started bringing back gossip from noble society gatherings.

The Count had no wife, and Rayleigh wasn’t yet fit for noble circles.

I was the only one who could do it.

Thanks to that, the Count didn’t ship me off to some distant family, nor did he marry me off the moment I came of age.

And eventually, I met someone who understood me.

—Veleta, you’re the only one who truly gets me.

The second prince, always overshadowed by the crown prince. Me, always in Rayleigh’s shadow.

We found kinship in each other. Friendship blossomed into romance.

Soon, a ring from him arrived at Count Torto’s estate.

—Oh my, Veleta is going to marry into the royal family!

But everything shattered with the butler’s next words.

—This is for Miss Rayleigh.

Later, Rayleigh drank poison from a teacup after meeting the second prince alone.

Everyone thought I had poisoned her out of jealousy.

Somehow, I was framed, imprisoned—and that brought me here.

‘What a mess.’

My life didn’t even need a flashback. It had been over since the fire at the orphanage.

└[Another regression story… and the setup feels familiar. I’m out.]

└[This person keeps writing “I’m out” comments lol]

‘What the hell is that voice again?’

I furrowed my brow and opened my eyes.

‘…Huh?’

Why did I just open my eyes?

…Why am I alive?

└[I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling.]

Despite the voice summarizing my situation like a narrator, this wasn’t an unfamiliar ceiling.

‘This is…’

The orphanage. The one I, Rose, lived in as a child.

‘This room was destroyed in the fire.’

As I shifted my now small body, everything started to come into focus.

A dim room lit by pale moonlight through the window. I was in bed, surrounded by the soft breathing of sleeping children.

And then I heard—

└[Cheering you on!]

└[Keep writing!]

└[Cheering you on!]

└[Please stop cheering, everyone]

└[Found this during a review event. Unique and fun story. Recommended^^]

└[Wow~ congrats on launching, author! clap clap clap Review event]

└[They said there’s no review event lol]

└[Review event. Cheering you on.]

It was a baptism of countless cheers.