“Hilise, please.”

My beloved older brother, Ricardo, whom everyone calls ‘The Prince of Roses’, said to me, who is locked behind the bars.

“Die in place of Gabrielle.”

My heart, which had already been stabbed countless times throughout my life, was completely broken at that moment.

I did not know what to say. I could only hold my breath and stare at the man in front of me.

It was on Gabrielle’s behalf that I was jailed in the first place.

I didn’t expect Ricardo to patch things up and get me out of here.

But I expected him to say that he was worried about me.

Even if it would’ve been an obvious lie, I didn’t care.

My brother’s face, which had always been cold whenever he saw me, was dark.

A faint sense of guilt was visible in his eyes as he avoided my gaze, unable to look at me any longer.

“You did it before. You’ve already repeated seven lives.”

The moment Ricardo said it with a heavy voice, I shuddered as if I was being stitched with a harpoon.

“Die—Die……then go back to the past.”

“Don’t say it.”

“So Hilise,”

“Don’t.”

“Please die in Gabrielle’s stead.”

I didn’t know that such cruel words could pass through those beautiful lips.

However, it wasn’t anything new. He had always been cruel to me.

But still……How could he?

“It’s just for a moment anyway. After that, you will still go back.”

Ricardo spoke again with a desperate voice as if he was trying to persuade me.

“That’s why……”

“You didn’t believe me.”

Ricardo fell silent when he heard what I said.

“You despise me for talking nonsense to get other people’s attention.”

He never talked about it.

“But now you’re bringing it up because you don’t need me anymore?”

Knowing his personality, if we are in a different situation right now, he wouldn’t believe a word that I say.

Ricardo’s face looked troubled.

“I’m sorry.”

His actions made me feel as if the warmth of my body was being drained out of my fingertips.

“But please, Hilise. For the first and last time, I ask this of you.”

For the first time, a nobleman knelt before me and begged with his head down.

For Gabrielle, whose blood he doesn’t share but is clearly the only sister he considers as his.

He wants me to die for her.

“Haha……”

I couldn’t stand it and burst out laughing. How can I not laugh at this funny sight?

“This is hilarious.”

Ricardo’s shoulders stiffened a little as if he thought I was mocking him for being on his knees.

Still, he made a silent appeal to me.

That’s right, that’s how much he cares for Gabrielle.

To the extent that I’m nothing to him.

I’ve always been miserable in all of my seven lives, and there was no exception this time.

Nevertheless, the fleeting expectation, which had remained as thick as a handful of dust, finally turned into ashes and scattered in the air.

“Ricardo.”

I didn’t shed any tears.

I just felt empty.

Yes.

Finally, after seven failures.

“I won’t call you brother anymore. Actually, you’ve never been my brother since the day I was born.”

Ricardo’s hand flinched at my words. He raised his head and looked up at me.

“Thank you, Ricardo.”

Perhaps my face is as dry as my voice right now.

As soon as his eyes met mine, his expression cracked.

“I’m glad you’re a scumbag until the end.”

Looking at his quivering eyes, I felt my lingering vain feelings, which were slowly disappearing like grains of sand, vanish entirely.

I don’t feel bad looking at him anymore, it’s not even heartbreaking.

Have I ever felt this positive in all of my lives before?

Well, I’m finally free now.

So, it’s my turn to abandon them first.

“No, don’t go there……!”

Another new beginning after death.

I took a deep breath for the first time in this life.

The mixed scent of spring, tea, and the soft scent of grass quickly filled my nose. At the same time, a panicking voice struck my ears.

Ah, I remember this. It’s time for that to happen again.

What pierced my ears just now was Ricardo’s cry, which I’ve heard seven times already.

Once I open my eyes, I will find an ornamental beast coming for us, threatening to devour me and Gabrielle.

I didn’t need to prepare myself mentally because I’ve been through this situation a few times already.

I slowly lifted my eyelids.

The moment I opened my eyes, the sun’s glare greeted my vision.

– Grrr, grrr……!

What I saw next was a huge white beast, as big as a house, running towards us. It was something that I have been expecting.

I saw Ricardo running from a place not far away.

I remember this scene vividly.

After running with his neat red hair, he reached out his hand.

But it touched Gabrielle, who was standing beside me.

Without a second thought, Ricardo embraced Gabrielle as if to protect her and quickly distanced themselves away from me.

– Roaaarrrr……!

I was left all alone in front of the raging beast.

It opened its mouth with me as its target.

Sharp fangs rushed towards me as if it would pierce me right away.

But I only looked at the scene unfold in front of me without batting an eye.

I’d rather die at this moment, but that’s not my destiny.

HWAAA!

At that seemingly hopeless situation, a gentle energy surrounded my body.

The scent of flowers, which became much stronger and sweeter than it had already been, reached my nose.

The roses that grew from beneath my feet spread immediately.

As the vines grew longer, the roses’ petals scattered in the air pleasingly, as if to cover my field of vision.

The vines that came from me, which were covered with thorns that stretched forward, entangled with each other.

The four special-blooded families that pass on their powers from generation to generation symbolize the four seasons.

The first time I realized that I had this power was when I was trying to save myself from a dangerous situation.

“What just……”

A low, trembling voice flowed into my ears.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice. There, I found two figures sitting on the green grass.

Ricardo, who stared at me with a surprised look, and a blonde girl, who trembled pitifully in his arms.

It was Ricardo and our stepsister, Gabrielle.

Perhaps very shocked to have come face-to-face with a beast, Gabrielle was grasping Ricardo’s arm with a pale and panic-stricken face.

I couldn’t help but compare them, who sat together, to me, who sat alone in the middle of the garden.

It was hard to tell who the real siblings were.

The vines climbed to the level of my head as more roses bloomed.

“Hilise, how did you…… How are you able to use ‘blooming’……”

Ricardo seems awfully surprised at what he is seeing.

It was worth it.

The powers of the four special-blooded families, including the ‘Inoaden or Spring’ family, are only inherited by the heirs. Thus, they are the only ones who can manifest these abilities.

So far, everyone was convinced that it would be Ricardo, not me, who would awaken his power soon since he is Father’s successor.

“You’re really horrible.”

I stared at the astonished Ricardo and opened my mouth.

“If you have common sense, shouldn’t you say something else first?”

He didn’t seem to quickly understand what I meant.

The beauty that covered my surroundings and a fallen, white beast that seemed to have surrendered itself to its master.

And Ricardo, who sat in the midst of all these while looking at me with trembling eyes, finally breathed after a while.

Soon after that, his face turned white.

Ricardo’s eyes passed over me and fell on Gabrielle.

“Brother…… sob.”

Gabrielle’s doe eyes were filled with tears.

A glass-like teardrop fell the moment her eyes met Ricardo’s.

She looked so pitiful that if someone else saw her, they wouldn’t be able to bear not to comfort her.

Ricardo would have wiped her tears away at other times, but right now, he was frozen still as if time had stopped for him.

The fact that he abandoned me and only saved Gabrielle seems to have come as a big shock to him.

Ricardo’s actions just now were done unknowingly, so it showed what was truly more important to him in his heart.

Moreover, the creature that appeared just now was a request of the witless Gabrielle from Father.

The reason being that it was the trend among young people these days to raise ornamental beasts.

Besides that, Ricardo took the untamed beast out during tea time only because Gabrielle wanted to see it up close.

I didn’t know that the beast, who was taken out of its cage, would cut its leash off and come at us, but somehow, the blame falls on Gabrielle.

And with that incident just now, I almost lost my life the first time it happened.

Ricardo, who raised his head again, made an indescribable expression and wetted his lips several times.

But Ricardo couldn’t fool me easily.

I had no intention of waiting for what he had to say.

In my previous lives, I tried to hide my bitter feelings and forced myself to smile while saying, ‘It’s okay’.

There was also a time when I complained about how he’s too hard on me and that I can’t tolerate it anymore.

But now, I know it was all useless.

“No thanks. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

After saying what I had in mind, I got up from my seat.

“And besides, I’ve known you and your terrible personality for a long time now.”

Ricardo’s face has, once again, become indescribable.

But that face was somehow different from the one he made a while ago.

Now, he seemed to have noticed that my attitude towards him has changed.

Gabrielle, who was sobbing beside him, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Get out of my way.”

Then, I walked past the two human garbage.

The people, who noticed the commotion, were rushing out of the mansion and running towards us. Even with my back turned, I could feel two pairs of confused eyes following me.

Softly,

With every step I take, a light red rose would bloom and spread its fragrance. It was the same color as my current hair color.

The end of my long hair, on the other hand, was dyed with a clearer scarlet.

And that was how my eighth starting point came to pass.

* * *

After leaving the garden and entering the mansion, I headed straight into my room.

I ran into several servants on my way there.

But they all busily ran past me as if they couldn’t see me.

There was no way they couldn’t be able to see me. They just chose to ignore me.

I climbed the stairs, walked a little along the corridor, and opened the door to my room. A familiar view welcomed me.

I strode inside the room at once and walked towards the window.

My appearance was reflected in the polished window.

Unlike Ricardo’s vivid red hair, my long hair, which looked like a light-colored flower, came into view.

Its ends have turned darker at the awakening of my power in the garden a little while ago, but it wasn’t that dark yet.

The face reflected in the glass looked a bit brighter.

My age right now, which is near for one to be considered an adult, is 19.

My age when I died in my last life was twenty-four, so I returned five years earlier in this life.

Every starting point was different, but the way my lives went and ended was all the same.

“Please. Die in Gabrielle’s stead.”

Ricardo’s desperate voice, which wasn’t anything like him, came to mind.

Thereafter, I remembered the Ricardo who just sat in the garden earlier.

People always talked about me whenever they saw me outside.

‘The ugly duckling of the Inoaden family.’

‘The worthless member of the family.’

‘The useless weed growing in the rose garden.’

That is everyone’s impression of me, Hilise Inoaden.

The first two nicknames were formed because of my relationship with the family members, whereas the last one was because of the unusual nature of those with the Inoaden’s blood.

No matter how many nicknames I have, none of them are good.

I heard voices through the half-open window.

When I came closer and looked out of the window, I saw the garden where I stood earlier.

Ricardo and Gabrielle were already gone from their place.

The gathered maids and servants are diligently organizing the surroundings under the butler’s orders.

Drag the tray, clean the tea table, and collect the dead body of the beast.

However, they did not know what to do with the roses that bloomed around them.

The fact that it wasn’t Ricardo who bloomed them was probably a small part of the employees’ confusion.

None of them doubted that Ricardo, the eldest son, would be the heir.

Everyone affectionately called him ‘The Prince of Roses’.

However, unfortunately, this power is mine, and until I die, his turn would never come.

I looked at where Ricardo sat earlier, thinking about how cynical I was.

Now, I just have to continue with this act.

The servants eventually called the gardeners to clean up the roses I bloomed and turned to go back inside the mansion.

But as soon as someone touched a rose, it turned to dust, glistening like powdered glass.

I witnessed its glittering particles scatter in the air as I reached out and closed the window.

Then, I pulled the curtain next to me, completely blocking the light from my view.

* * *

“Please come this way, Mr. Madsen. The young master and young lady are waiting for you.”

The Inoaden’s family doctor, who visited the mansion because of the incident earlier, went to check on Gabrielle first.

Even though I was the one who was almost eaten by the beast, everyone prioritized Gabrielle, who was protected by Ricardo, so that not even a single strand of her hair would be lost.

It was so natural that I wasn’t even surprised.

Gabrielle must be completely fine besides being a little surprised.

But I know she’s going to fake everything.

To cut Ricardo and Father’s attention from me because they were distracted by my powers.

But even if she doesn’t do that, Father and Brother will still run to her because even at the mere sight of a crying Gabrielle, they would always become flustered.

That’s how much they love Gabrielle.

And that’s how much they hate me.

My father, Diego Inoaden, and my mother, Rowena Evelyn, had a marriage out of love, not a political marriage, which was rare for nobles.

Their love was indeed extraordinary, and I’ve heard that everyone envied and wished for their happiness forever.

When my brother, Ricardo, was born, the spring at Inoaden was as perfect as ever.

But the beautiful days came to an end like a lightning strike.

This was because Mother, who became weak after giving birth to her second child, died after struggling with death for several days.

My father and brother, who loved my mother more than their own lives, could not forgive me for killing her.

It was a common and boring story that often happened in popular novels.

Then, winter came. At that moment, it seemed as though Diego Inoaden would have no other woman for the rest of his life.

But five years later, he remarried.

The woman was a widow from the North, whose looks were very similar to our dead mother. She also has a young daughter, who looked a lot like her.

Maybe it was a fateful encounter when the longing grew deeper.

Father and Ricardo were immediately captivated by the two.

Ricardo treated our stepmother, who resembled our biological mother, like his real mother, and her daughter, like his real sister.

I was the only one outside the fence of their newly built family.

But for the second time, my father and brother’s spring days were over. It lasted for only ten years.

It was because our stepmother suddenly died of an unknown disease.

The people outside gossiped, whispering, ‘Maybe it was their destiny to die early.’

In any case, with our stepmother’s death, Father and Ricardo became more affectionate toward Gabrielle, who was left alone.

Whereas I, on the other hand, became even more neglected in the Inoaden family.

“Are you comforting me?”

A rose that bloomed from under my bed wrapped itself around my arm and gently rubbed its petals on my cheek.

It seemed as if it was touching my heart.

“Thank you.”

But I’m fine.

I don’t have any sorrow left in me.

Still, I leaned my head to the rose as a token of gratitude.

Whoosh-

Long hair flowed down to my chest.

It was a little strange to see my hair in a long length as it was still short enough to show my neck just before I opened my eyes in the garden.

But I only felt such an emotion for a short time.

In my past lives, they betrayed me after I exhausted everything I had.

So now, I won’t give them anything of mine anymore.

Knock, Knock-

“Milady, Mr. Madsen is here.”

I heard the maid’s voice calling me outside.

After examining Gabrielle, the doctor came to visit me.

It was only natural, but no one really did come to my room until that evening.