Chapter : 01
“Miss Valley, that blue dress really suits you.”
“Right? I don’t know why I didn’t wear something like this before…”
“Did you want brighter dresses? I should have been more careful. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad I can wear it now.”
Valley shook her head and smiled faintly at her personal maid, Edel, who was helping her get dressed, then focused on herself in the mirror.
Her light green curly hair, like fresh leaves, flowed down to her waist and shimmered softly.
Her blue eyes were sharp and intelligent, and her pale white skin was smooth. Her cheeks had a healthy pink glow, and her small nose and lips were delicate and pretty.
Yes. Five years ago, Valley Priatin had been this bright and lively.
She was the first daughter of the water-affinity Priatin family. She died meaninglessly at the age of twenty-five—killed by her own husband.
At the same moment she died that unfortunate death, she opened her eyes again and returned to five years earlier, to when she was twenty. Her second life had begun.
In the Astell Empire, all royalty and nobles are born with an attribute. The imperial family has darkness, while noble families are divided into fire, water, earth, and light attributes.
In a world where strong magic is the honor and power of a family, Valley was born as the weakest existence.
At the age of ten, during the magical body examination all nobles must undergo, she received the lowest rank—Grade 5.
“Of all things, why was someone like you born as my child! You are a disgrace to the family!”
“I should never have given birth to someone like you…!”
At just ten years old, Valley became the person who had disgraced her family’s honor.
“Big sister, I heard no marriage proposals are coming even though you’re of age? As expected, you’re so weak you’re useless.”
Her younger sister Rina, who was Grade 2, and her parents, who were Grade 3, wanted to marry Valley off quickly and get rid of her. But because of rumors that marrying a Grade 5 would produce weak children, no one showed interest in her.
Then, at twenty, during an attribute harmony party, she met Batteri—the only person who approached her first.
Her parents said it was a chance that would never come again and married her off as if they were disposing of her.
A forced marriage could never be happy. She had to live carefully, just like in the Priatin mansion, constantly watching her husband, Batteri’s mood.
Still, she once had a faint hope that if she endured quietly, there might come a day when she would be loved.
“I brought you here from the start just for appearances. If I don’t marry someone of the same attribute, other nobles will look down on me. If possible, I needed a woman too weak to even fight back—and you were the most suitable.”
With those words, her hope shattered completely.
After marriage, Batteri brought home a new woman every day. But she could not tell anyone about his debauchery.
Who could she tell? Her family who would only be satisfied with disposing of him? The servants who would look down on her for not being loved by her husband?
She kept it all inside and slowly fell apart day by day.
Then one day—
“I heard everything. That you’re pretending to be unmarried and trying to steal a village merchant’s daughter’s inheritance. Stop it immediately. That’s a crime.”
“Shut up! Steal? I didn’t steal anything! She was the one who said she’d give it to me because she liked me first. Just stay quiet!”
“Don’t lie. You’re deceiving her. If you don’t stop, I’ll go and report everything myself.”
“What?! If you want to die, go ahead! Just stay quiet like usual and don’t do anything unnecessary!”
Even if she didn’t know before, she couldn’t ignore another victim being created by Batteri’s dirty greed.
Unable to bear living in a mansion built on unfair money, she secretly wrote a letter exposing everything.
“You useless woman! I saved you and this is how you repay me?! You ruin everything?! Die! I don’t want to see your face—just die!”
“Ugh… ugh… I… can’t breathe…”
Blinded by rage, Batteri, completely drunk, strangled Valley.
If she had known she would die so meaninglessly, she would have cursed him properly—called him every bad name she could think of, maybe even grabbed his hair and fought back.
In the end, she couldn’t even say a proper last word. Even she thought her life was pathetic and suffocating.
Full of regret and injustice, she closed her eyes… and when she opened them again, she had returned to age twenty.
A second life, like a miracle, had come to her. She could not waste it the same way.
This time, she wanted to live so well that she would have not even the smallest regret when looking back.
“Edel, decorate it with fresh flowers.”
“Fresh flowers will wither and change color over time, you know?”
“It’s fine. I don’t need it just to look pretty.”
Valley spoke with certainty, and Edel carefully followed her instructions. She braided a section of Valley’s hair, coiled it up neatly, and tucked fresh flowers into it.
“Miss, I’m glad your expression isn’t dark today. You used to hate going to crowded places.”
“I did. But today, there’s someone I absolutely have to meet.”
“Who is it?”
“Someone I need to change my life.”
The only surviving fire-attribute individual in the Astell Empire, and the captain of the state’s special unit Zero.
Wayne Biterad.
