Chapter 03
A shiver ran through my entire body. At that moment, I felt so touched that I even felt grateful to the owner of that strange voice I had cursed so many times.
‘Did they give me one more chance because I provoked them in the comments by mentioning a regression story?’
Whatever the reason, I was simply happy to have time given to me again.
‘This time, I will truly be reborn!’
In this second life as Asphodel, I threw away the pathetic acting from the start.
‘I knew that character didn’t suit me from the beginning!’
Yes, let’s go naturally this time. What “sunny female lead”? That didn’t fit at all. Come to think of it, the owner of that annoying voice only told me to try it if I was confident; they didn’t necessarily say I had to act exactly like the novel, right?
To systematically block the villains, I thought it would be better to stop pretending to be half-heartedly kind and innocent. Instead, I decided to build a reliable and trustworthy image from a young age. So, I changed my course early on and started moving busily according to my blueprint for the future. Unintentionally, people started calling me a “prodigy princess.”
“The Third Princess is truly mature and brilliant for her age. Perhaps Her Majesty is also keeping a close eye on her?”
The Empress Mother, who was indifferent in my previous life, still didn’t seem to have any particular affection for me this time. However, while she might not have loved me as a daughter, recognizing me as a Princess was a different matter. Thanks to building trust step by step over time, she eventually stopped ignoring my opinions and began to listen to my advice.
I also maintained business-like relationships based on trust and faith with the people around me.
“Asphodel? She seems a bit full of herself, so she’s kind of annoying. I don’t even really feel like she’s my younger sister. But well, as long as she’s helpful to Lozantina, it doesn’t matter.”
“She is always thorough. Other than that, well… I don’t know what kind of answer you want, but as a subject, it is not proper to judge my liege, so I will take my leave.”
The dryness of the lines was unbelievable for an older brother and a male lead in a romance fantasy child-rearing story, but I didn’t care. Was the experience of failing after trying too hard last time that painful? Because of that, my strategy this time was to form relationships while maintaining a certain distance instead of clinging to them and pretending to be close.
Because I focused only on saving the country from the ruinous ending and punishing the bad guys like a workaholic, I unintentionally formed a lord-and-vassal relationship with the male lead, connected by respect and loyalty.
In the meantime, I dealt with the villains in advance and successfully blocked the monster invasion. This time, I only tackled the major events to avoid the bad ending, as if clearing essential quests in a game. I boldly discarded other side episodes, such as raising the intimacy levels of the sub-male lead and other supporting characters.
As a result, the incidents were resolved earlier than the original ending of the novel. When I finally cleared all the risk factors, it felt like a long-standing weight had been lifted from my chest. This time, none of the major characters met a tragic end, and I was perfectly alive.
I was 20 years old at the time. There were about two years left until the original novel’s ending. Tears even pricked my eyes as the times I had suffered—including my previous life—flashed before me like a kaleidoscope.
To celebrate my own achievements, I raised a toast alone that day.
You worked hard to get here, me.
Considering the original novel’s disastrous ending and the end of my first life as Asphodel, there could be no better happy ending than this! I felt like I could finally sleep soundly tonight without any worries.
But that very night, out of nowhere, my frail and beautiful younger brother started a rebellion.
***
‘No, there’s no way my baby cat would do this!’
It was a failure I never imagined. I thought I just had to stop him from joining the final villain. I never dreamed that this affection-starved younger brother would turn crooked and go dark all by himself while I was achieving my great work.
Feeling a deep sense of injustice and resentment, I coughed up surging blood.
“Do not resent the Fourth Prince too much. No matter who won this power struggle, the Third Princess would have been the first to die anyway.”
The subordinate sent by my younger brother spoke while standing before me as I lay dying and bleeding. I already knew that checks and balances were secretly going on between the siblings and that a quiet competition was happening under the surface. In the original novel, Asphodel becomes the central point and all the siblings get along well, but in my reality, they had no great affection for each other.
However, the people I knew were not the type to usurp the throne in such an extreme way. Especially since I believed the Fourth Prince—the frail, quiet, and affection-starved younger brother—was even less likely to do so.
“Why… me?”
I knew it was a stupid question, but I asked because I truly couldn’t believe this situation. I swear, I had no interest in the throne. Of course, I knew that the things I had worked so hard to achieve to see the happy ending of the story might look like an ambition to become the next Emperor in the eyes of others. That’s why, to eliminate any chance of getting caught in a bothersome succession race, I had already given up my right to the throne years ago.
Perhaps thinking of it as a final mercy, the man in front of me told me the reason for the purge.
Because of the protagonist’s buff, I was the only one among the imperial family who possessed divine power.
So, even if I had given up my right to the throne for now, I was a dangerous element who could disturb public sentiment with my position as a Saintess and gather the temple’s forces to plot a rebellion at any time.
Also, because I was a daughter who received great trust from the Empress Mother.
And because my father—who had been favored the longest among the mother’s husbands—was from the Hyserion family, one of the most prestigious noble families in Lozantina.
So, since they didn’t know when I might become a source of trouble and threaten them, it was better to just remove me now rather than be anxious forever—that’s what he meant.
“What is restraining the Princess’s body right now is a divine power sealing tool specially made by the Prince for today, so it will be useless to waste your energy.”
I laughed because it was so ridiculous.
Ah, what should I do? I’m starting to get really angry.
I was angry at myself for drinking so much tonight that I couldn’t defend against the assassin attacking from behind. When I thought of my younger brother who stabbed me in the back the moment I let my guard down, heat rose inside me.
Even though we spent little time together this life because I was busy defeating enemies… Still, unlike the others, you and I didn’t have a bad relationship in the last life! If it had been the other siblings who stabbed me in the back, I wouldn’t feel this way.
Of course, I hadn’t formed a bond as strong as the Asphodel in the novel had with her brother. But still, unlike the other siblings who consistently rejected me throughout two lives, he alone had always remained a brother to me. So I had sincerely given him my heart…
But you betray me like this?
‘You look relieved, sister.’
Suddenly, the face of the Fourth Prince I had seen for the last time earlier today came to mind. Late in the evening, for some reason, he had come to the front of my room and was waiting for me.
‘Zerkain, what brings you here at this hour?’
‘Since the work you were most concerned about is finally finished, I wanted to congratulate you.’
‘Thank you. It’s thanks to your concern.’
When I smiled at him, the Fourth Prince stared blankly at my face for a long time for some reason, then said something whose meaning was hard to grasp.
‘Sister, you still look at me with those eyes.’
‘What?’
‘I’m a bit relieved that you haven’t changed.’
‘What do you mean…’
‘You might not know, but the longing I have for you has also never changed.’
Should I have thought about those words more deeply? But at that time, my mind wasn’t working well due to the joy and relief of finally finishing everything, combined with late-arriving fatigue and exhaustion. So, I simply thought he was acting spoiled for the first time in a while. Thus, I spoke with the intention of comforting him.
‘Now that the busy work is over, we’ll be able to see each other more often.’
What kind of face did he have when he smiled then…?
‘It’s already quite late. I hope you fall into a deep sleep tonight.’
Only his strange, sunset-colored eyes that I met for a split second just before he turned away crawled up from the bottom of my memory with a vivid shape.
‘…Then goodbye, Asphodel.’
Without even waiting for my answer, he just passed me by. It felt a bit strange, unlike his usual perfectly polite self. But at the time, I was intoxicated with the feeling of freedom and didn’t notice all those warning signs. However, thinking about it now, he had already intended to kill me since then.
Flash!
I laughed coldly in despair and completely broke the first seal of divine power that was constricting my body.
Whirrrrrrrr—!
A strong wind suddenly blew in, and all the flickering candles went out. The room was instantly filled with complete darkness.
“What’s this?”
Since there were clearly no open windows, the Fourth Prince’s subordinate stiffened his face and looked around.
Crash!
Bang…!
At that very moment, the objects in the room flew wildly in all directions and shattered, as if swept away by a giant’s arm.
