This story began when I welcomed my father home after he had kidnapped a young man.

“Father, that human” I said. “It’s different from the other toys you’ve brought before.”

“It’s the son of an arrogant bastard,” he said, as if the word “human” was not an accurate description of the person. The prisoner might as well have been a different species than us. “I brought him here to…re-educate him.”

From one look, I recognized this man. His presence: he had the domineering aura of a lead character in this world.

“May I play with this toy?” I said. “I will teach it well.”

“Me too, me too!” two voices cried out.

My younger siblings, who had both inherited my father’s sadistic personality, appeared. They grinned avidly at the newcomer, as if they were baby birds knowing that there was prey in front of their eyes.

“Keep it in the dungeons until it learns some manners,” my father said.

At his command, the guards grabbed the man by the hair.

The prisoner lurched back. He was gagged and his hands were tied with coarse rope, but his eyes showed that he was not defeated. Pride seemed to emanate from his body as he refused to flinch any further. He didn’t seem shaken by the blood flowing down his arms and legs. He stared at me and my family fiercely until he was out of sight.

I felt inclined to shiver from the defiance in his eyes.

“Oh, this toy is going to be fun,” one of my siblings said.

“I want to play with it soon,” the other said.

Yes, the prisoner. He was Cassis Pedelian, the older brother of the female lead in this novel.

While my younger siblings were excited at the prisoner’s appearance, there was only one thought in my head.

In the beginning, I didn’t know that I had been reincarnated as a character in a novel.

I remembered my past life. I had been a senior college student walking home after another long night at the library. My mind was still half-absorbed on my thesis as I had walked one step at a time during a blizzard. It was just my luck then to have a car skid off the road and hit me.

When I woke up, I was someone else.

 It wasn’t bad at first.

“It’s a girl this time. What a nice surprise.” My mother’s voice was warm and tender. As her new baby, I already felt loved in her arms. Her comment also made me think; in my new family, it seemed I also had at least one older brother.

Of course, it was a blow to realize that I had died and had to relive another life again but I quickly accepted my fate. 

What else could I do? My past life was already over and no matter how much I missed my old life there was no going back. In Korea, I had been raised as a pragmatic child, not a sap.

My new mother was a beautiful lady with Eurasian features. Her rich, blond hair fell softly over her shoulders like shimmering gold and her blue eyes reminded me of a deep lake. Her beauty was akin to a princess in a fairy tale.

Wow, I thought. My father must be happy to have such a stunning wife. I could see myself admiring her face every day of  my childhood.

Was the rest of my family just as lovely? I grew even more excited to see my potential older brothers and sisters.

“So this is the child,” a man told my mother. “She resembles you.”

It turned out that my father was even more handsome than my mother although in an unusual way. For some reason, his handsome features hadn’t caught my eye at first. I gazed somberly at the face underneath the black hair. Somehow, he seemed to exude a dangerous aura while standing at ease in this dark room.

“Her eyes remind me of you,” my mother said kindly.

At this point, I was looking forward to seeing my reflection. My parents were both beautiful. Since they had been generous enough to have me, wouldn’t it be natural for me to be beautiful too?

“Roxana.” My father’s voice was deep and strong. “Her name will be Roxana.” After providing my birth name, he left the room.

I understood his personality quickly. He was used to being obeyed. When my father had looked down at me in my mother’s arms, he had seen me as an insignificant being. I was barely acknowledged as his daughter.

“Roxana. My pretty baby,” my mother gave me a sad smile. She did not seem surprised by my father’s behaviour. “Please grow up to be a strong and wonderful Agriche.”

I had a foreboding when I found out my surname was Agriche.

Agriche…the name seemed familiar.

It was obviously a foreign name. Where was I now? My parents hadn’t been speaking Korean or English, but I seemed to have understood them naturally. That was one good grace I had received after being reincarnated.

Soon I couldn’t resist falling asleep. Babies sleep a lot, and the tired sensation I felt was too real to be a dream. My arms curled against my mother’s neckline while her hand gently patted my back.

Agriche. I remembered that name.

If this was related to the same Agriche family I had read about, I was in a horrible situation. It was madness to reincarnate into a fantasy world, but if I had, there was nothing I could do about it now.

I didn’t have just one brother.

In this world, polygamy was allowed. When I was born, my father had five children total, including me. His first wife, the senior wife, had one son. My mother was his fourth wife and had given birth to me and my older brother, Asil.

“Sana, my cute little sister. I’ll protect you,” Asil had whispered to me.

Asil was a perfect replica of my mother in male form, unlike me who had inherited a mix of my mother’s blond hair and my father’s red eyes.

He was a timid beauty, too innocent to belong to such a wicked family, and had a soft laugh that tinkled like a bell when he was excited. When I was still young enough to rest in a cradle, he would enjoy spending time with me even if all I did was breathe. Looking back, it still seems absurd to me to think that a four-year-old boy would want to be responsible. Asil’s character had always been generous, and he took the role of my protective older brother seriously.

With Asil’s support, I began to adapt to my new, terrible life.

The Agriche family was unique. We were the mafia of this world: criminals that stole, scammed, threatened, and organized mercenaries for hire. We traded drugs and poisons in the black market. Killing was not beneath us.

Of course, the scale of our operations did not go unnoticed by the rest of the kingdom, yet we met minimal opposition. I was amazed that we were still a legitimate noble family that appeared in public. All children born with the Agriche name had to follow this immoral lifestyle and were educated accordingly from an early age.

As a modern Korean, I struggled to accept my new family’s values. Rote memorization came to me easily, but laying my hands on weapons, consuming drugs and poisons to understand their effects or build my immunity, knowing how to approach people confidently or by stealth…I often struggled when I practiced these skills and did not love any of the subjects.

You don’t succeed in life without effort, I would tell myself.

On my eighth birthday, my father appeared before me again.

My father, Lant Agriche.

Would Darwinism best describe him? Our family had grown under him until I now had seven mothers and ten other siblings. Even if he had been a responsible parent, he would not have had the time to cater to us all. His view was that only useful children deserved his attention; all other members of the family were neglected. Thus far, I had only seen him eight times over the entire course of my life.

“From the start, I did not think you were a capable child,” he had told me.

Hah, had I really once believed that I was lucky to join this family?

I wanted to retort, but held back for my mother and Asil’s sake. The two of them were standing beside me. My mother was especially nervous.

My father observed my face calmly for another moment before continuing. “However, I’ve changed my mind. It is time I specialize your education.” He began to speak more about his expectations in detail.

The Art of Seduction.*

This crazy bastard. I could see how he had gotten the idea. I was beautiful from inheriting my mother’s looks. I was freaking gorgeous. Did that still mean he should discuss sex and seduction tactics with me while I was still an eight-year-old child? F*&$@.

This was a disgusting family. Ultimately, I had to know how to seduce a man to assassinate him or learn his secrets. As a child, I had to learn the importance of ambience and conversation for ********, practice beautifying myself for a man’s affection, and know how to pleasure a man at night.

“Mother, I don’t want to learn any of this. Why do I have to study these subjects?” I said.

“Sana, you mustn’t say that,” she told me. “Be blessed that you are a beautiful Agriche. You must learn well to live up to your name.”

At that time, there had been a hint of desperation in my mother’s voice. She had held my shoulders tightly. I couldn’t bear to argue against her sad and pathetic eyes.

In this feudal era, it was impossible to go against the wishes of my father, who was the patriarch. It was sick and wrong, but in the end, I accepted that I couldn’t go against his wishes. However, my heart continued to disagree with the fundamentals taught to me by my instructors. The progress in my education was appalling compared to my siblings. I learned slowly and with effort.

Meanwhile, my darling brother Asil became known as ‘trash.’

It happened when I was eleven years old…..

Roxana’s Past (Continued)

“Asil!” My mother’s scream rang in my ears.

Asil, who had smiled at me brightly only a few days ago, continued to smile at us even in death. His cold body was completely still as rigor mortis set in. I couldn’t move. I stared at the glazed eyes and curled lip that was frozen on his face until his body was removed from our sight.

The woman, who introduced herself as a family executive, explained that Asil had been unworthy of his noble rank. His death had been in our best interest; a child slaughtered for being disappointing and useless.

I shivered as if someone had poured ice cold water all over my body.

My memory relapsed to three years ago, when my father had also given me the same lifeless gaze that Asil was giving me now. My mother was trembling again, as she had in the past. I knew early on that this family was perverse and disturbing, but to this extent…

My poor mother passed out while holding Asil’s body. For the next ten days, she would be sick in bed.

I was also in shock. While I visited my mother, I found out why she had been so firm on my education. Half of her worst fears had come to pass. Asil had been disposed of, and I would be next if I continued to be incompetent. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I took in her words.

My father, Lant Agriche, only allowed capable people to live in his domain. I worked harder on my education like never before. With a clear mind, I re-evaluated my situation.

“Sana, have you been studying well lately?” My mother later asked.

“Yes, mother. I’m doing well,” I replied.

‘Good, you must learn our family values thoroughly to become a great Agriche,” she said.

“Yes, mother.”

I did not question her about my curriculum anymore.

Since I had turned eight years old, my main subject had been seducing men, but I was also expected to keep up with my old subjects as well. My knowledge expanded on various weapon systems, botany for poisons and antidotes, psychology, and debating skills.

Over time, I became aware that this warped and diabolical family had a tradition. Once a month, my father would host a family dinner with his ‘top three children’ that had produced great achievements. Of course, Asil had never been invited to a dinner.

Since his death, two more children had been discarded. One of them, who suspected she was next, had tried to escape our estate. In the end, she was killed in the most excruciating way; tortured and maimed before being set on fire.

Often I questioned the sanity of this world. I reached the conclusion that only my father, Lant Agriche, could tell me how to survive in an environment controlled by him.

When I was twelve years old, one summer after Asil’s death, I was invited to one of my father’s dinners for the first time. I had had my suspicions before, but our conversation then finally convinced me that I had reincarnated in a novel I had read in my past life; a novel where my character died young.