Chapter 1
The castle was in chaos. Flames engulfed the forest surrounding the fortress. The fire had started from the main castle—Roberti Castle.
“They set it ablaze.”
“…My Lord.”
“The dream… told me to do it.”
“A dream…?”
“I don’t know anymore. I never imagined I’d lose my way at this age.”
After killing all the servants who had tried to escape the fire spreading inside the castle, Bled Howl Roberti blocked her path, holding a sword that surely wasn’t originally red.
He was the Lord of the southern castle and the father of Sophia Benny, at least in name. But he never allowed her to use the Roberti name, nor did he permit her to call him father. As always, he looked down at her with an emotionless gaze.
Those golden eyes—sometimes like the moon, sometimes like a starving beast’s—were what Sophia had always hated most.
Because whenever those eyes turned to her, death always followed.
“I’m not even allowed to run away, am I?”
“There’s only one path I’ve permitted you to take.”
His blood-stained sword traced a graceful line, pointing toward a small side passage that led out of the castle.
Sophia followed the gesture with her eyes, then turned back to him with disbelief. Ah, that path wasn’t being shown to let her live.
“Walk.”
“So you really do intend to kill me.”
At the end of that path would be the two brothers who had lived solely to kill the sister with impure blood. They shared the same mother, the same blood, the same face.
Without replying, Bled turned and walked down the path himself.
Sophia hesitated. There were other ways, not just this one. But whichever she chose, she would die. Knowing that, Bled had chosen this path first.
All the other exits must already be blocked. That was the only way out.
She knew. She knew everything. What would happen to her later, what awaited on all the paths she didn’t choose.
“Because I’ve already walked them all… Damn it!”
Sophia took the path her father had allowed. Without a single light to guide her, she walked the empty road.
And what awaited her there were the brothers standing in front of the gate, blocking her way with their backs to the world beyond.
Benjamin Chase Roberti, Joshua Chase Roberti, and behind them, towering—Bled.
Their white hair and golden eyes, which Sophia alone did not inherit, gleamed beautifully under the sky tinged with the glow of the fire.
Or maybe it wasn’t the sunset at all—maybe it was the fire consuming the heavens.
Their eyes looked hollow, but perhaps they were simply blinded by hatred.
‘Is it another failure?’
She didn’t want to believe that. In a last-ditch effort, she cried out, using a title she had never dared use before.
“Father! Brothers! Please stop. This isn’t right. I—”
Just as she opened her mouth to continue, Benjamin’s sword was suddenly at her throat.
“Sophia.”
How dare you speak to me so familiarly? How dare you question this? How dare you?
Their icy stares clung to her like they would tear her skin apart. Their identical golden eyes, except for hers, shimmered coldly before the burning castle.
If she said another word, if she dared finish her sentence, that sword would sever her neck without hesitation.
No matter what she did, Sophia Benny would die without ever leaving the castle.
“…Ha. Haha.”
Tears that had flowed sadly as she faced those who blocked her path stopped. Her expression shifted.
A world already broken and doomed, a world that would be repeated again anyway.
Sophia Benny smiled. The smile grew wider and wider until she laughed like a madwoman. Then her laughter faded, replaced by a cold sigh.
“This is so annoying. No matter what I do, it’s useless. You damn bastards…”
Her deep violet eyes, now blazing with fury instead of tears, turned to the brother who looked ready to cut her down at any moment. There was another just like him beside him—a pair of wretched twin brothers.
“Live your lives right, you trashy bastards!”
As she screamed at the top of her lungs, Sophia’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Her heart was racing, and she felt cold sweat soaking her entire body.
It was quiet outside. So quiet, she could hear the peaceful chirping of birds.
The world beyond the window was bright and green. There was no sign of the all-consuming flames.
She pulled her gaze from the window and examined herself. Small hands. A short, petite body. Hair still attached to her head.
After confirming it all, she lay back down on the bed.
She had returned again. Back to the day before her 12th birthday.
Her fourth life had begun.
“…Annoying.”
She had died three times already and returned. No matter what she did in all those chances, she couldn’t change the future. It was strange that she hadn’t gone insane—but somehow, her mind had always stayed clear.
As if her body and soul had already accepted this bizarre reality.
“I’m done.”
Whatever happens, this time she wasn’t going to do anything for them.
She was tired. And if she was going to die at 21 no matter what she did, then at the very least, she would live her own life instead of clinging to the irredeemable.
Sophia Benny chose to give up on them.
It was a path she had never walked before—and the most comfortable one.
She pulled the blanket over her head and curled up.
She thought she might stay still until she forgot how to use her legs, but just then the door opened, and she heard two sets of footsteps.
“Young Lady.”
“….”
“It’s time to wake up.”
The gentle chime of a bell and the familiar voice roused her. Sophia pulled the blanket down, raised her upper body, and leaned against the headboard.
And there it was—a face she hadn’t seen in so long, smiling gently at her.
“…Roray.”
“Are you going to scold me again for waking you when you haven’t slept enough?”
“…Yeah. I’m still a growing child.”
“Yes, which is why I made sure you got a full nine hours of sleep.”
With her gray hair tied neatly in a bun, she didn’t look old or sick.
She looked exactly as she had when she was at her healthiest—in her mid-thirties.
Sophia playfully grumbled.
This morning, which had repeated four times now, was her favorite across all lives.
Ordinary conversation, like waking from a bad dream and being told it was all just a dream.
How could she not love it?
“So, you must get up now, Young Lady.”
Roray’s light laughter brushed off Sophia’s complaints as she placed the bell on the side table.
Roray Murkle, Sophia’s maid, gently brushed her tousled lavender hair.
The good thing about returning in time was this—getting to see the people who had died before her once again.
After washing her face with the water Roray prepared and dabbing her skin dry with a towel, Roray handed her something.
“This is the list of gifts prepared by the Lord. Which one would you like the most?”
It was a booklet with all the birthday gift candidates. Sophia glanced at it as she passed the towel to her maid.
As if the Lord prepared anything. Bled probably didn’t even know when her birthday was.
If Sophia picked something from the list, Roray and the other loyal servants who cared for her would pool their money to buy it.
They only said it was from the Lord so that Sophia wouldn’t hate him for not doing anything.
She didn’t know why, but everyone around her seemed desperate for her not to hate the Lord.
Unfortunately, it was too late for that.
Not wanting anyone to waste money on her pointless birthday, she waved the booklet away.
“Nothing.”
“Ah, Young Lady?”
After that curt reply, she crawled back into bed.
“I don’t need anything.”
“But, Young Lady… it’s your birthday….”
“Leave. I’ll eat later.”
Roray quietly watched her burrow under the blankets, then let out a small sigh and gently patted the spot where Sophia’s head would be.
“Please don’t hate the Lord too much. He cares for you deeply. He just fears you might get hurt… so he can’t bring himself to visit you.”
With those words, she left the room with another maid. Alone once more in the now-silent room, Sophia curled up even tighter.
He’s too afraid she’ll get hurt, so he doesn’t visit her?
Honestly, she didn’t understand what that meant. That wasn’t protection—it was neglect.
Bled…
Up until her mother died, Sophia had spent the most time with Bled. But those memories had already faded.
From 12 to 21—repeating that long stretch of time had pushed out most memories from before she turned 12.
Still, she remembered at least this: Bled had once cherished her. Enough to cause someone’s death because of his love for her and her mother.
Chase Sebiche Roberti. Benjamin and Joshua’s mother, who had died a lonely death locked in a tower.
Come to think of it, today was the anniversary of Chase’s death.
As her thoughts wandered, a memory resurfaced.
“If I told you that my mother killed your mother, could you still like us?”
“We can’t. How could we ever like the daughter of the woman who killed our mother?”
Ugh, her stomach churned.
She could almost taste the poison she had once swallowed on that day.
