Chapter 1
1. The Son of the Villainess
“Why…?!”
Bright red blood dripped down from the sword that pierced through my stomach and fell to the floor.
It hurt. The pain was so terrible that I couldn’t even scream. But before the pain, a question forced its way out of my lips.
“Why… why would you do this…?”
The one who stabbed me… was someone I knew very well.
Emil Ronciste Calixt.
My precious friend. My only childhood friend. A pitiful boy who had been rejected by others simply because he was the son of a villainess.
The boy I trusted as much as my own family… was now giving me death.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor. It hurt. I held my stomach with trembling hands, but my arms were quickly soaked in blood.
“Answer me, Emil… why…?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“I’m really sorry, Bel.”
Emil knelt down like a knight making a vow and gently touched my cheek.
Even though he was the one who stabbed me… he was crying.
He was a boy who had endured endless suffering without ever crying before.
That proud boy was now looking down at me… broken.
“…If we’re both going to live like puppets, then this is better.”
He muttered something I couldn’t understand, and his unfocused eyes came closer.
When I saw those eyes, I understood.
The madness of the villainess… had finally reached Emil too.
Emil gently caught me as I collapsed completely and laid me on his lap.
Tears fell and wet my cheek.
Ah… I really thought this life was happy…
My stomach hurt so much.
“I don’t want to die… I don’t want to…”
But my eyelids kept getting heavier.
“…I’m sorry.”
And then…
Emil said something, but I couldn’t hear it clearly.
Just like that—
My second life came to an end.
* * *
My mother was the heroine.
Ismeralda Efrish.
The heroine who was killed by the villainess, Robellin Castone—the only princess of the Castone Empire, who suffered from madness.
If a novel ended with the heroine’s death, it would make no sense. But a heroine is a heroine for a reason.
My mother… came back to life again and again.
“I wanted to become close to you.”
“…Princess Robellin.”
“But I must pay for my sins.”
Like a passing flash, I remembered the novel I had read.
“No One Saved Her.”
It was a novel I loved so much in my past life that I even starved myself to buy a special copy.
It told the story of Ismeralda, the heroine, who died and returned to life twelve times at the hands of the villainess.
Even in such madness, she never lost her beliefs and continued to stand against Robellin.
And that Ismeralda… was now my mother.
‘Is this because I’m dead…? Am I seeing the past?’
I watched her.
Two women stood facing each other across iron bars in a quiet prison.
“At first, I couldn’t understand you. But now… I think I understand a little.”
“My sins won’t disappear. I won’t pretend nothing happened. But…”
I realized it instantly.
This was the final chapter of the novel.
“Ismeralda… could you sometimes check if my son is doing well?”
Robellin, with her pitch-black hair, was a woman consumed by madness.
Even though she had killed her many times, my mother answered calmly.
“Of course. Don’t worry. That child is innocent.”
“I’m leaving with three debts now.”
Robellin.
A terrible villainess who killed innocent people due to her madness.
Yet… the reason behind her madness was enough to earn Ismeralda’s sympathy.
“If none of this had happened… could we have been friends?”
“Of course.”
“I wanted to know more about you.”
“You already do. A side of me others don’t.”
Their time was short.
Robellin gave her final smile.
My mother returned it with a faint one.
It was a smile… hard to understand.
Robellin stepped away from the bars.
“Go back now.”
“May God guide your path.”
I followed my mother out of the prison.
Then—
The scene changed like turning a page.
My mother married my father as planned.
A perfect couple, blessed by everyone.
And one week later—
Robellin Castone, who had killed 21 people and tortured many, was executed.
Did you know?
Your son… killed me.
The daughter of the one who understood you.
Of course… she didn’t.
Like a ghost, I watched her execution from beginning to end.
That was the ending of the novel.
* * *
My past life was full of poverty and loneliness.
I lost my parents in an accident and lived alone.
My father’s debt…
Relatives who turned cold after hearing about it…
I hated all of it.
“Just once… I want to live like everyone else. In a normal, happy family.”
Maybe that wish came true.
One unlucky day—
I died in an accident.
“…You dropped your wallet, right?”
Even when I tried to help someone, they doubted me.
“Hey… there’s money missing.”
I had to prove my innocence using CCTV.
By the time I left the police station, it was already night.
I lost my part-time job.
And while worrying about next month’s rent—
As I crossed the street, I thought:
“It’s not like I’ll get hit by a car too… right?”
And then—
It happened.
“Ah… damn it… after everything I went through…”
I died.
Then I opened my eyes.
In a strange… yet familiar place.
“It’s a daughter!”
The names I heard felt familiar.
Ismeralda. Genewart. Lancaster…
“No way…!”
I cried out—
But only a baby’s cry came out.
Yes.
I had been reborn.
As the daughter of Ismeralda and Genewart.
“This is crazier than winning the lottery…”
But I adapted quickly.
And honestly—
It felt like luck.
My new family was perfect.
Wealth, beauty, power—
They had everything.
“Isn’t the room too small for my daughter?”
“Then we’ll combine it with the next room.”
“Look, Genewart! Bel is holding my finger!”
“This is unbelievable…”
“She’s so cute, right?”
“…I didn’t know having a child could feel like this.”
They loved me… too much.
“Bel blinked.”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s enough.”
It was overwhelming.
“I became rich overnight…”
Even a single toy was more expensive than my past salary.
And if I broke something?
Instead of scolding me—
“Bel, do you like this one instead?”
“Or this?”
“Try throwing it!”
They just gave me more toys.
I slowly got used to this life.
Years passed.
Then—
I met him.
“Hello, Young Master Calixt.”
The son of the villainess.
Emil Lachlan Ronciste Calixt.
I was ten years old.
He seemed… normal.
Except for his face.
Silver-gray hair.
Golden eyes inherited from Robellin.
Beautiful… yet lonely.
Like a wounded beast.
“Do you prefer being alone?”
“…No… not really…”
“Then let’s play together!”
Maybe I felt sorry for him.
Maybe I saw myself in him.
So I stayed by his side.
I wanted to give him a friend.
I didn’t know.
I couldn’t imagine—
That everything would fall apart.
As time passed, Emil seemed to adjust.
But he started disappearing more often.
“Emil, is something wrong?”
“…No. Nothing.”
But something was wrong.
And I realized too late.
When Emil disappeared—
I was nineteen.
They said he went to the northeast to recover.
It was a lie.
I searched for weeks.
And then—
He proved it himself.
One night.
Before my wedding.
He appeared.
Covered in blood.
“Belcia.”
Something felt terribly wrong.
“I… ruined everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Marquis and his wife are dead.”
“…What?”
“I killed them.”
I couldn’t understand.
I didn’t want to.
I ran out—
And stepped on something wet.
Blood.
A trail of blood leading to my room.
“Why…?!”
I turned—
And saw the sword.
“Why…?”
“…I’m sorry.”
And just like that—
I died again.
After wandering in darkness—
I saw the story of the original novel.
And then—
“Miss, are you awake?”
I opened my eyes again.
I had returned—
To when I was ten years old.
