Chapter 1
The glass door against my back felt cold.
Still, I didn’t want to move away.
Because if I did, I might accidentally touch the man standing in front of me.
“I missed you.”
The man—Eden—said that to me.
He’s the male lead of the novel, and I’m the villainess.
I never thought the day would come when he would say something like that to me.
If only he had said it to my younger sister instead…
My eyes filled with tears.
I couldn’t understand why someone like him would say he missed me.
Like my father had done to him, I also tried to erase his memories.
I truly believed that was the best way to protect him.
“Eden… Why… why do you still remember me?”
But he still remembered.
It was the worst thing that could’ve happened.
He hadn’t forgotten the abuse he received from my father.
Which meant… he probably remembered the last thing I said to him.
—”What benefit is there for me to have you by my side?”
—“I don’t need you.”
I said those things, thinking he would forget them soon anyway.
I believed the magic would erase every moment he spent with our family.
But I was the one who pushed away his crying hands back then.
“How could I ever forget you?”
The situation was too much for me. I couldn’t stay calm.
Eden, silently watching me, gently placed a kiss on my hair.
That soft gesture only made me feel more suffocated.
“You wanted me to forget you…”
Then came his hurt voice.
Every word from him slowly tore apart my mind.
“Elicia.”
I raised my eyes to look at him.
Eden smiled softly when our eyes met.
That smile…
“Am I still not good enough to be by your side?”
He looked like an angel who came to forgive my sins.
But that was just an illusion created by his beauty.
He wasn’t an angel.
“It’s a shame your father died. Now I can’t prove my worth to him.”
That would’ve been the easiest way.
As he kept talking, I became certain.
Eden wasn’t a forgiving angel. He was just a human, broken by twisted love.
“You don’t have to prove anything. You…”
I felt so sorry for him, still trapped in the past, that I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Eden’s smile grew deeper.
“Do you really think that?”
He gently held my chin and whispered.
Even now, his touch was too gentle—it made my heart ache.
“You threw me away, saying you didn’t need me…”
He was forcing his beliefs onto me.
“But now you’re saying I don’t have to prove anything?”
“That’s not fair, Elicia.”
“You say it’s okay now, but…”
He surrounded me with his body and his words.
“That’s unfair. Elicia.”
At that moment, I painfully regretted stepping into his trap on my own.
✦✦✦
Elicia’s past life had been harsh.
She grew up in an orphanage and had no family.
One day, a couple adopted her.
But soon after, her adoptive mother died.
Her adoptive father, left alone, began to see her as a nuisance.
That annoyance turned into abuse.
Curses and beatings became normal. Sometimes, he even tried to strip her.
No one helped her.
People only offered pity—and that was it.
She tried running away, begged him to stop—but nothing got better.
As time went on, her choices narrowed.
Only two options remained:
Either her adoptive father would die, or she would.
Or maybe… both.
She chose both.
“Haa… ha…”
Her hands gripped the balcony railing, stained with his blood.
Broken bottles were scattered beside the man lying on the floor.
If she hadn’t struck him with one of those, she might not have been able to kill him.
She wanted to run.
Killing someone like him shouldn’t mean I have to die too…
She didn’t want to die.
But there was no other way.
Even if it wasn’t morally wrong, society and the law would say it was a crime.
She had no power. If she got caught, she’d be punished without mercy.
She didn’t want to repent.
Her grip on the railing loosened.
And her thin body fell over the balcony.
✦✦✦
“Ugh…”
Elicia opened her eyes with a throbbing pain in her head.
She couldn’t believe what she saw.
Her reflection in the mirror wasn’t her.
It was the image of a strange young girl.
Long, silky black hair reached her waist—even though she was a child.
When she blinked, red eyes peeked out from under her lashes.
‘…A foreigner?’
The black hair was familiar, but the red eyes weren’t common where she lived. That made her even more suspicious.
She raised her right arm—and the reflection did too.
She sighed, then raised her left arm. The mirror copied again.
Is this really me?
Not only had she become someone else, she had become a young, foreign-looking girl.
The situation felt more unreal than smelling blood back then.
“Woo!”
A baby’s babble came from behind her.
She slowly turned her head.
There, behind her, was a baby—smaller than the child she saw in the mirror.
The baby toddled toward her, just learning how to walk.
She had never seen this child before.
The baby had the same red eyes as the one in the mirror.
‘This can’t be real…’
Elicia wanted to shut her eyes and ignore it all.
But the baby’s wobbly steps were too unstable.
She couldn’t look away.
She watched nervously, in case the baby fell.
Thankfully, the baby reached her safely.
She didn’t know it, but those were the baby’s first steps.
“Wooong!”
The baby fell into her arms, using all its strength.
Without thinking, she held the baby back.
But she was also just a small child now, and couldn’t hold the weight.
So she fell backward.
‘Who is this baby… and who am I?’
‘Where even am I…?’
✦✦✦
Even with a second chance at life, Elicia couldn’t feel at peace.
Soon after waking up, she realized where she was—
and whose body she was in.
Thanks to the kind woman who called her “Elicia”—her mother, Isabella.
Isabella was loving and cared deeply for her two daughters: Elicia and Ariel.
As soon as she heard those names, she knew—
She was in the novel: “The Prison That Trapped Ariel.”
Ariel was the heroine.
The name was even in the title.
It didn’t take long to figure out her situation.
‘Of all people, I became the villainess older sister…’
She was now Elicia Partine—the Duke’s first daughter. Ariel was the second.
That wasn’t the issue.
The real problem?
Elicia was the villain who made the main characters’ childhoods miserable.
She didn’t just bully them when they were older.
She hurt Ariel and Eden when they were growing up.
Of course, she continued later too.
Elicia was the type of villain who left scars on others—especially children.
And if anyone knew what damage childhood abuse could do, it was her.
So the moment she realized who she had become, she understood her future.
‘If I treat Ariel and Eden badly like in the novel… I’ll die.’
In the original story, Eden destroyed the Duke’s family to save Ariel.
And Elicia—the villainess—died as part of his revenge.
‘One death was enough. I’m not dying again.’
Watching young Ariel, who was learning to walk, she made a decision:
‘Be good to Ariel. That’s the only way to live.’
Nine years passed since then.
Ariel could now eat and walk on her own.
For nine years, Elicia kept reminding herself:
Never interfere with Ariel and Eden’s love.
Even if the Duke brings Eden home, she must never repeat the past.
‘If someone has to die, let it be the Duke who kidnapped Eden—not me.’
She didn’t want to die again because of her parents.
While she was lost in thought, someone approached.
It was Edick, the butler.
“Young Lady Elicia. Miss Ariel has caused another mess…”
“I’ll handle it. Just leave her alone.”
She sighed, remembering her vow.
Ariel—her adorable little sister and the heroine—often caused trouble.
And Elicia was always the one to deal with it.
She stood and gestured for the butler to leave. He bowed and stepped back.
Then she headed to Ariel’s room.
“Ariel.”
She knocked with her small hand on the large door. No answer.
She clicked her tongue and opened the door.
“Ariel!”
“Uh… Sis…”
Ariel poked her head out from under a blanket and stuttered.
When their eyes met, she quickly looked down.
To Elicia, even her shy look was adorable.
“What kind of trouble did you get into today?”
Nine-year-old Ariel had soft, chubby cheeks.
She had black hair and red eyes—more similar to the Duke than Elicia.
But to Elicia, Ariel was still the most precious thing in the world.
Trying not to smile, she asked with a strict voice.
‘Even if this world expects noble children to act properly,
she’s still just a kid.’
Elicia didn’t agree with the harsh standards, but still scolded Ariel.
Because letting things slide might bring the Duke’s attention.
And that was worse.
