~Chapter 1~
In a quiet castle where even screams couldn’t be heard, a boy with lifeless eyes stared blankly upward from among the sleeping children.
“Hi.”
A woman appeared—completely different from this dull, gray world.
She had bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.
“…”
The boy just looked at her with empty eyes.
The woman showed a sad expression for a moment, then forced a warm smile and gently reached out her hand.
“Sorry.
I’m really late, aren’t I?”
And with a smile brighter than he’d ever seen, she tightly held the boy’s hand.
“Damian, let’s go with your aunt.”
—
I was sitting blankly in the sunniest spot of the count’s mansion.
“Young Lady, here’s the tea you asked for.”
“Mmm, nice.”
As usual, I sipped tea while looking out at the rose garden that gave off major “romantic fantasy novel” vibes.
As for me—I majored in business administration, one of the top liberal arts fields in Korea, and died at 23.
Luckily, I got reincarnated into another world.
And as expected, my college major is absolutely useless in my second life!
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve gone into science or engineering.’
The only upside is that this new world isn’t some monster-filled apocalypse or crazy sci-fi hellscape where I get sold to aliens.
It’s just a normal fantasy world.
Even better—I was born as the youngest daughter of a count in the empire.
Yup, I’m a noble now.
Not that being noble fixes everything, but hey, it’s better than being a peasant.
“Still, getting married off to some fat old noble sounds like the worst.”
“Young Lady! Oh my goodness, why would you say that out loud? What if someone hears you?”
I mean, what kind of future can a noble girl expect in a medieval fantasy world with a class system?
A political pawn ending, obviously.
It’s not like I’m sitting here sipping tea just because I’m bored.
You think I didn’t try using my degree? I totally did.
But without any real power, I couldn’t do anything.
Oh, and sure—there’s that fantasy where you run away from home, struggle on your own, and come back successful.
But sadly, I’ve already seen someone fail that way.
Just look at my eldest sister.
She ran off chasing “freedom” and became famous in the capital for barely surviving. No support, no money.
“Seriously, who else is even around to hear me say this?”
“Young Lady, still… please be careful.”
“You’re way too old-fashioned.
I’m the most progressive person around here, and you’re the one acting like it’s the dark ages.”
I let out a big sigh and stood up.
It was around the time my dad—the Count—would be coming home.
Since I’m the only kid left at home, I had to go greet him, like it or not.
No harm in staying on good terms with the parents.
I got up, dragging my feet with full annoyance.
“Ugh, what am I even doing… I’ll go say hi to Father.
Clear off the tea table, and eat the leftovers if you want.”
“Understood, Young Lady.”
My sister ran away, my brothers are all studying abroad, and I, as the youngest, am stuck doing everything.
Here I am, trying to suck up just to marry into a half-decent family… It’s kind of depressing, but what can I do?
Me, Roen Estella.
Living my second life.
I’m not gonna fall apart just because of this—
“Raniel is dead.”
“……What?”
Huh?
—
I couldn’t believe my ears.
Raniel… is dead? I froze in place on my way downstairs, instinctively holding my breath.
The only “Raniel” I know is my older sister.
“I knew that girl would cause trouble one day.
We ignored the rumors about her and the Crown Prince, and now look at what’s happened.”
I’ve never really been the type to believe in the whole “bad things happen if you leave home” idea…
But I didn’t expect it to come true like this.
I couldn’t process what the Count just said.
My brain just stopped working.
Sure, I’m not super affectionate with my family, and even though this is my second life, I’m still human.
Hearing something like that? Yeah, it hurt.
Raniel wasn’t just anyone.
She was the only sane one in this messed-up household.
The eldest daughter.
And… kind of my weak spot.
“…”
It’s not like we shared a lot of memories or anything.
I left home at 13 to join the Magic Tower, trying to live a bold, independent life.
Back then, I couldn’t bring myself to care about this dysfunctional family, and when Raniel was suffering, I just watched from the sidelines.
What could I have done? I couldn’t fix the abuse she faced, and if I stepped in, I’d just end up hurt too.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t care.
Honestly, I was starting to feel pretty guilty.
‘Maybe I should’ve at least tried to stop her from leaving?’
And those are her parents? Their daughter just died, and that’s how they react?
“Those rumors…! Don’t speak such nonsense.
The Crown Prince? That’s ridiculous!” the Countess snapped at the Count in a disgusted tone.
“Sigh… This is a real headache.”
“Did you find the heirloom? The heirloom?”
I instinctively held my breath.
The heirloom? What are they talking about?
“If I had, do you think I’d be this stressed right now?”
Then it happened.
Before I could even process what he meant, a loud ringing pierced my ears like a siren.
Everything went pitch-black, like something covered my eyes.
Damian threw the heirloom at Count Estella and said
“Hahaha! If this useless thing is so precious, then I’ll return it myself.”
“Oh, but just handing it over is boring, right? How about I take your head as payment? Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”]
I could hear the sound of pages flipping, and soon, familiar text appeared in the darkness.
I was in shock. I’ve already lived here for 19 years, fully settled into this world.
But now… these memories are coming back?
The ones who drove his mother to death were none other than her own family.
Damian decided the Estella family deserved to be punished.
And he had the power to make it happen.
So this wasn’t just an easy, comfy reincarnation.
It took me 18 years to realize it—
I was possessed.
I’d taken over the body of a character in a tragic fantasy romance novel I’d read in my past life.
Specifically, I’d become the aunt of the male lead.
The same aunt he would later behead.
“…”
I couldn’t believe it.
Possessed? Are you serious?
‘Well, and reincarnation does make sense?’
I nearly swore out loud.
Reincarnation was bad enough—but this? I got stuck in the body of a background character with a single line in the novel, who gets executed?
At this rate, I’d be killed by the male lead when he becomes emperor.
And not just me—he completely destroyed the entire Estella family.
I considered running away right then.
But no.
I gave up on that idea pretty quickly.
He’s the male lead for a reason.
Even if I ran off to another continent, he’d somehow use fate, coincidence, or whatever to track me down and kill me.
Otherwise, why would all my brothers, who already fled overseas, still die in the story?
Luckily, thanks to some kind of possession side effect, I clearly remembered the novel from my past life.
Too bad the plot was all about the romance between the male and female leads.
Not very useful to me… But still, better than knowing nothing.
“Damn it…”
I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes.
My blurry vision slowly started to clear.
Everything matched—the royal names, my family, my sister’s name. It was all straight from the novel.
I already died young once.
I’m not doing that again.
Right now, I had two options:
1. Find the male lead and kill him first.
2. Find the male lead an
d win him over to my side.
Unfortunately, I’m not a psychopath—so only option 2 was possible.
The moment I made up my mind, I jumped up and ran straight to the Count.
Forget the original story—I need to survive first.
“Father! What do you mean Raniel is dead?!”
