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ORIGINAL AUTHOR/S: 윤온

It was a quiet meal time.

Seraphine enjoyed the steak, feeling a gaze directed at her.

“I heard that you brought up ending your engagement to the Crown Prince first.”

It was the Duke of Rubia who broke the silence.

Seraphine’s father spoke to his daughter, who was eating her meal in an elegant manner.

Then, as if they had waited, Seraphine’s brother blatantly stared at her.

“Yes.”

It was a simple answer.

The Duke of Rubia listened for more details.

But Seraphine did not speak afterwards. Instead, she opened her mouth and ate the steak.

“This is a marriage with the Royal Family. It is not up to you to decide personally. You should have at least discussed it with me.”

“……”

“This will make it impossible for you to get engaged to His Majesty again.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?”

It was an answer that they would have never heard from Seraphine.

A brother who was slient and looked distraught.

Seraphine, who was looking at her father with mixed feelings, suddenly changed her attitude and put down her knife and fork.

“I’ve made up my mind. I will never change my decision.”

“You loved him even as you pretended to die. You’re not going to change your mind?”

As if it was a lie that didn’t make sense, her younger brother Joshua looked up. Recalling the past, Seraphine nodded.

“As you said, I’ve been pretending to die so many times that I realized how stupid I was during that time.”

As she gracefully wiped her mouth with a napkin, she went on.

“When I become an adult, I’m going to be expelled from the family. That’s why I mentioned ending the engagement.”

“……”

“And wouldn’t it be good for my father if I, the disgrace to the family, left?”

“Seraphine! Where did you learn to speak those words?”

“Comments about speech should be made to Joshua. Father, don’t raise your voice at me.”

She looked at her father sternly and stood up.

“Let’s get up first.”

Seraphine, who turned her back on her family without any regrets, thought.

It’s right to do this.

Because she wasn’t Seraphine von Rubia, the daughter of the Duke of Rubia.

The whole story goes back to about a month ago.

* * *

Before becoming Princess Rubia, Seraphine was a princess of the kingdom.

The king had only three daughters, but the second had no exceptional skills compared to the other children.

Her appearance was necessarily not beautiful, but compared to her gorgeous sisters, her presence was insignificant.

And there was a more serious problem than that.

She of divine blood was born without wings, unlike her family.

Being born with wings was as natural as having limbs.

It was a race so powerful that they called themselves ‘the bloodline of God.’

The pride of the people was very high, but the royal family that controlled them had no wings.

There was also a man who doubted Seraphine’s birth because she seemed like an ordinary human being on the surface.

-The second princess must be unclean. Banish her because she is no different than an uncivilized human being.

-My King, the very existence of a wingless princess undermines the authority of the royal family.

The king shook his head in frustration. It wasn’t to protect his daughter.

-Leave it alone. Anyway, it won’t be a problem.

It was pure indifference.

Growing up in utter indifference, she lived like that.

Until the coming-of-age ceremony.

– Have you ever heard of weapons, whether they were soul infused?

The day the princess became an adult.

After she asked for a private meeting with the king, she offered a crossbar.

Her weapons were of the kind that did not exist in the world.

Even those who have never killed before can easily commit genocide by possessing one.

After she created it, Seraphine’s life seemed to change.

-Thanks to you, we won this war!

Thanks to its powerful power, the kingdom was able to win without any difficulty.

The king, who was in the midst of a war of conquest at the time, wanted the princess to build more weapons.

However, a powerful soul was needed to make a weapon.

One life was needed for each weapon.

Wench, witch, demon.

Over time, the brutality of the princess, which seemed to be a secret forever, became known.

-You’re crazy! Do you kill people to build weapons?

-You’re an evil woman. Just breathing the same air as you makes me laugh!

Everyone pointed out that the powerful force that led the kingdom to victory was created in an inhumane way.

Despite suffering from numerous accusations, the princess silently built weapons, believing that the war would soon stop.

However, while she was making a total of eight weapons, there was no signs of the war ending.

Rather, more people died than expected due to the king’s greed.

The princess, who realized that she was mistaken, declared that she would not do anything.

But the greedy king did not give up the enormous power that he had once knew.

-Sell, teach me how to put a soul into a weapon. Only one. If we have one more weapon, the world will be ours.

The princess kept her mouth shut despite the king’s continuous squabbles.

The king actively tried to convince her, but it was useless. The princess’s heart was already closed.

When the princess openly showed her dissatisfaction, the king became uneasy.

‘What if the princess turns her back on me and makes weapons for another country?’

Now he had the upper hand thanks to the princess’s weapons. But now she’s completely turned her back.

He never knew how and when he would cooperate with other countries and gain control.

An uncontrollable anxiety encroached on the king.

“If the princess were gone, I’d be the only one with the eight weapons in this world!’

The king pushed his daughter into boiling water.

The body, which fell into the red water that melted even steel, could not even scream and died.

Obviously it should have happened.

“But why on earth…”

It was cold.

The distant scene was as if it were in water.

“Wait, in the water?”

As soon as I realized the fact, I choked and bubbles leaked through my lips.

“Prin… princ …princess!”

I heard someone calling me. I couldn’t see their face in detail because it was blurry.

But it wasn’t the point that mattered right now. I was suffocating.

I struggled to get up to the surface in a hurry to survive.

As she struggled, she grabbed the outstretched hand and climbed up.

“Gasp…”

Fortunately, it wasn’t deep.

Soon the cold air filled my lungs.

Gahg.

I was so happy to be able to breathe properly. It was painful to even drink a small amount of water.

As I coughed and frowned because I was wet, the man in front of me asked in a formal tone.

“Are you all right? Princess?”

“… Princess? Now, did you say that to me?”

I could barely pull myself together and look at the person in front of me properly.

It was an unfamiliar uniform.

Especially, it was hard to tell which country the badge that was worn on the chest was from.

At first glance, he looked like a guard, but I wasn’t sure.

The title of princess was unfamiliar to me, so I asked again, but the other party seemed to be confused.

“Even if you pretend not to know, I will dispose of you according to the law. Princess Rubia has damaged the nation’s property, so you must go with me.”

What do you mean by destroying national property?

Where the hell are you taking me?

I couldn’t even understand why I was called by the unfamiliar name, Princess of Rubia. Everything was questionable.

However, all the questions circulating in my head disappeared with the cold feeling that wrapped around my wrist.

Steel.

My wrists were handcuffed.

“……?”

I was taken away and put in jail.

As she looked at the densely built bars, it felt more and more realistic.

‘It’s cold.’

She was shivering because she couldn’t wash properly.

One of the guards handed her a towel, perhaps because she was trembling like a shabby tree.

“Here, you go.”

The favor was appreciated, but the towel had a strange smell. It looks like it hasn’t been washed for a long time.

However, she couldn’t help but clean her body with it. Seraphine, who was looking down at the towel, could not bear it and called someone.

“What’s the matter?”

“At least you need to explain to me the reason why you’re doing this.”

She asked nonchalantly, but the guards looked at Seraphine with unfamiliar eyes, then one of them answered in a polite tone.

“The princess has entered the sacred fountain where the baptismal ceremony was held. Detention is a natural procedure until you receive your bail, so please bear with it.”

“The fountain……?”

Somehow, I thought the water was only about the waist, and it seemed that the place I fell into was a fountain.

“I’ve reported the news to the Rubia family, so I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Why do you keep calling me a princess?”

The name they called her was offensive, so she asked. But he had a bizarre look on his face.

“It doesn’t work even if you pretend to be crazy. Even if you say that to me, it won’t fit on the ears of your fiancé, the Crown Prince, and to your brother.”

The guard who answered politely earlier drew a line and treated Seraphine as a strange person.

And the other guard, who was quietly listening next to her, said absurdly.

“Everyone knows that you won’t die just because you’re immersed in that depth, but you have to act in moderation because you want to get his attention. Even if I’m the crown prince, I’ll be more annoyed than worried.”

“……Are you saying that I tried to commit suicide to get my fiance’s attention?”

What an absurd thing to say.

Holding on to the iron bars, she narrowed the distance with the guard who said that.

As Seraphine’s face suddenly drew closer, his face flushed red in embarrassment, and he took a step back.

‘You must have been surprised that I approached you in an ugly way.’

Because of the situation, she felt her head pounding and tried to think calmly.

No matter what I thought, it ended up being ‘I think it was a dream.’

“Well, isn’t that something that the princess often does? If you want to commit suicide, do it at home! If you do this on the street for nothing, we’re the ones cleaning up your mess!”

When she thought it was a dream, her heart became lighter.

Yes. Falling in molten iron and being imprisoned in molten iron as a fountain are both dreams.

They seemed to have more things to argue with Seraphine. However, the prison door that had been tightly closed was opened by the news.

“The Rubia family paid the bail. Princess Seraphine von Rubia is free to come out.”

Coming out like a sinner, Seraphine tilted her head.

Maybe because it was a dream, they called me by the same name. The only problem was the title referring to me.

But when I thought of it as a dream, it felt like all those issues were nothing.

Seraphine, who was quietly following outside, happened to see a  calendar.

“517 years of imperial history?”

Seraphine frowned at the arrogant era.

“Since when did the kingdom become an empire? At the very least, I am dreaming of my father’s dream of being the conqueror. It’s crazy.”

“What are you talking about? It has been over five hundred years since the founding of the Empire.”

“You’ve been pretending to be crazy since a while ago, but you have to stop…Oops!”

“She’s still a princess! You stay quiet!”

The guard, who kept showing his negative feelings toward Seraphine, was eventually silenced by his colleague.

Either way, Seraphine couldn’t hear their conversation correctly.

‘This must be a dream.’

It had to be a dream.

More than five hundred years have passed since the founding of the empire.

Come to think of it, the people around me were all human, not the winged god’s lineage.

It was also the first time I heard the language he spoke.

‘How can I naturally use a language I hear for the first time? No, more than that… .’

The facts I hadn’t noticed flashed through my eyes one by one, where I was confused.

“Then are you saying this is not the Tilmun Kingdom?”

“The Tilmun Kingdom? Why does the Tilmun Kingdom, which would likely appear on the first page of a history book, suddenly pop up?”

It is now a country that only exists as a legend, and her guards looked at her as if she were a real madman.

‘I can’t believe it.’

The startled Seraphine wished she would wake up from this monstrous dream.

However, while they were ridiculing her, her five senses gotten more sensitive than usual.

She hasn’t touched anything yet, but the smell of a wet towel was hovering on the tip of her nose, the wind passing through the clinging clothes, and the chatter of people talking.

All of that became an indicator of reality.

“Princess, why are you not getting in!”

Seraphine was standing blankly when the coachman who came to pick her up yelled.

Even though he was talking to a person whose status was much higher than him,  his urging tone was similar to the attitude of getting rid of annoying things.

Even if you ask me to pull a heavy wagon, I would have been more docile than that.

From what I’ve heard so far, I guess I’m now the daughter of a powerful ducal family.

Even if she is the daughter of a lord who manages a small territory, her family should usually visit her in such a situation.

If not, the servants should come to get her.

However, a wagon was sent in bulk, and no one came.

It seemed that the bail money was roughly paid by the driver who came to run the errand.

“Princess, I have been ordered to return to the mansion immediately without any leaking! Don’t think about running away and get on quickly!”

She couldn’t understand the situation properly, so she got on the wagon as instructed.

Soon after, the wagon departed, and the scenery outside the window passed quickly.

It was a very different city from what I had seen before. There were no divine beings to be found in it. It was all human.

Five hundred years ago, human beings who were weak and disrespectful built an empire.

‘Is that possible?’

Conceptually, it was close to impossible.

But right now, even Seraphine herself was going through something beyond common sense. Her face was reflected in the window. And at first glance, it was a beautiful and unfamiliar face.

It was not difficult to notice that this body was also human.

Seraphine had to accept the pain she felt as she pressed her fingernails on the palm of her hand.

After more than five hundred years, she became a reckless princess of a troublesome family.

***

When she entered the mansion, the maid name Jane had a surprised look.

But only for a while.

She guided Seraphine to the room with her businesslike expression and tone of voice.

As she went up the stairs, Seraphine heard a giggle of laughter.

“It smells like a gutter here.”

“What the hell is that? A filthy beggar is far cleaner than that.”

“His Highness didn’t hear any news? The master seemed to be responding as well. With such a personality, who would pay attention to you?”

The maids who chatted with each other pretended to work quickly when Seraphine and her eyes met.

The type of people who openly gossip about their owners was not new.

‘If grown-ups are ignoring them, they’ll look down on the things below.’

Seraphine was also like that in the past.

Her servants tended to ignore her until she made weapons and was recognized by the king.

She knew how to deal with such people.

However, she needed a proper understanding of the situation, so Seraphine first took a quiet bath. She knew that she had attempted suicide and that she had gone to jail.

Everyone in the mansion knew. But their attitude towards her was the same.

Either it’s neglect or contempt.

The guards were also looking down on her as if he knew it.

Seraphine, looking for a chance to ask questions while taking her bath, caught the maids who didn’t attend her bath as if it were natural.

“The young lady doesn’t like someone attending her bath. She usually refuses other’s touch, so no one is attending.”

tl/n: They were referring to her in a third person for formality’s sake.

As time passed and the water that had moistened her body was half dried up, it was even more unpleasant.

I said I wanted to wash up immediately, and I was startled by the wounds revealed as soon as I took off my clothes.

Both large and small scars were scattered all over the body.

“Have you been abused?”

The worst has never been this bad.

Seraphine looked away and tried to not see her terrible figure as much as possible.

‘I think the people around her would notice, but when I see that no one cares……’

There was no one on Seraphine’s side here.

‘You can’t ask for help from anyone.’

Seraphine felt the need to overcome the problems one by one, but she suddenly felt hungry.

‘I guess it’s not really a dream. Seeing that I feel hungry in this situation.’

After finishing her bath, she went outside and ordered her maids to bring snacks.

The food was then prepared quickly.

But there’s a problem……

“Ugh.”

As soon as she smelled it, she almost vomited. It was so bad that she couldn’t even eat it.

Seraphine called the maid who brought her food. Then two maids stood in front of Seraphine.

“What are you doing?”

She must know why she called her, but the maid was brazen.

‘You’d have to be shameless to give your owner spoiled food.’

Seraphine briefly clicked her tongue inside and said.

“You didn’t even check the food before you brought it, didn’t you?”

“Confirming?”

“Answer. “

“Yes?”

“You have to answer my question first. Don’t tell me you don’t have enough hands for a maid to help a princess.”

The sarcastic maid showed a moment of perplexity, and then she responded quickly.

She said, “I don’t know what kind of confirmation you’re talking about, but it’s the food you’re going to eat.”

“Yes, that’s right. Then you should try it first.”

“How can I eat your meal….”

“I suspect it’s poisoned.”

“There can be no poison.”

“That is unknown. You may not know it, but the higher you are, some forces are more likely to want to harm you. So you should always be careful.”

There was no poison.

There was only spoiled food.

No one knew that the food was spoiled at this place.

But she wasn’t stupid enough to bring that fact out of her mouth.

Because it will be like confessing your sins.

“Didn’t you tell me? It’s what I eat. But I’m afraid it might not taste good.”

Saying that, Seraphine laughed. It was a cold laugh.

“Fret not if you’re afraid that there might be poison in the food. There are enough lawmakers to run at me with my call.”

The maids were not expecting such a reaction.

Originally, Seraphine, who couldn’t win a battle, had to huff and throw things away.

Further, she immediately runs to her father, the Duke of Rubia, and tells him the insults she has suffered.

Then, with a tired face, Duke Rubia gave the maids some money and kicked them out.

Since the amount of money given was ‘roughly,’ it was widely known among the maids that they could bully Seraphine if they wanted to leave this place with a lot of severance pay.

Aside from her lack of personality, Seraphine was a pushover.

Because no one in her house could hear her properly.

“Will you eat it if I feed you? After all, we don’t know who the owner is.”

The maids looked into each other’s eyes.

Then, the most brazen maid who served her finally scooped the soup with trembling hands.

She was only going to pretend to eat it.

However, Seraphine’s eyes were persistent that she had to put a mouthful of soup in her mouth.

“Ugh.”

She then immediately felt nauseous.

Seraphine gave orders coldly as if she already knew it.

“Don’t spit it out.”

The other maid who felt the unusual atmosphere rushed to her fellow blue-faced maid.

“There seems to be a mistake. I’ll bring a new one.”

“No, summon the head maid.”

“Yes?”

“Bring in the head maid without preparing the food.”

The maid nodded unexpectedly and took her fellow maid outside as if running away.

Soon the head maid came in.

“I heard you called.”

The head maid already had a cold impression and looked at Seraphine with all ears.

After returning to the mansion looking like a human, it was a reaction to her that caused another incident.

Seraphine looked straight at the head maid and said.

“I don’t believe any of the maids who take care of me are worthy of working in this mansion. It’s proper to care for their master, but how did you educate them?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As expected, the head maid brushes it off as if she didn’t know what had happened.

‘They’re all on the same page.’

The maids who went to call the head maid could not have said anything.

If that maid had confessed her sins, she would have a rough idea of the food in front of Seraphine.

However, the head maid was reluctant to ignore all the circumstances.

“What a disappointment. Can’t you see this with your eyes?”

As Seraphine pushed the spoiled food away, the head maid stared at it.

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding. I’ll tell the chef not to make this happen again.”

“A misunderstanding?”

Seraphine’s expression hardened as if she heard a not-so-funny joke.

Seraphine then got up from her seat and raised the spoiled soup.

And then,

“Ah, my lady!”

She poured it on the head maid.

The spoiled soup slowly dripped down due to the solid ingredients. Its stinky smell began to spread from the head maid’s head.

“Now what is this…!”

“Where is this gutter smell coming from?”

Seraphine copied the words whispered by her maids when she entered the mansion.

At that time, the maid’s malicious gossip must have been sufficiently heard by the head maid, who was by her side.

The prickly head maid met Seraphine’s scornful eyes.

The maid’s shoulders reflexively shrugged.

“I mistook you for a trash can. I think there was a mistake, but it was a shame.”

“……This is not a mistake, is it? You stood in front of me and spilled food openly, so how can you say you’re mistaken?”

The head maid was angry because her enemy had hurt her self-esteem.

“I can’t stand this either. I will report to Duke Rubia.”

“I know you did it on purpose. But how do you think the maids served this kind of food by mistake?”

Seraphine waved her empty bowl in front of the head maid. She then said,

“I can smell it.”

The spoiled food smelled different.

So she must have not come and served me by mistake.

“You said you’ll report to my father? I’m worried. I’m afraid that you, who can’t even smell properly, will make a mistake again and serve this trash to my father.”

“……”

“Yes, it seems like you and I have a little business, so why don’t we discuss it right here?”

Then, the head maid realized.

The Seraphine in front of me is not the usual noble lady who only knows how to scream.

“Oh, my lady.”

The head maid’s voice trembled.

But Seraphine only looked at her coldly.

“How long have you been working in this house?”

The chief maid had no intention of leaving the Rubia family yet.

When the situation is not favorable to her, she answers politely.

“I have been working here for three years.”

“”It seems that you were not just employed in this house; what is your overall experience?”

“It will be twenty years soon.”

“Twenty years is not a short time. It’s an experience that is fully recognized wherever you go.”

“……”

“Your skills aren’t up to par with your experience, and today’s work cannot be avoided. The same holds true for you, who looked after the maids.“

Up until now, Seraphine had blamed only the maid who had wronged her.

However, those people did that to earn a lot of money right away, so it won’t affect them in any way, even if they were fired.

But this head maid was different.

How did you get this position?

The duchess passed away early, and there was no other mistress to serve.

Due to Duke Rubia’s indifference, the chief maid steadily expanded her power. So she didn’t want to be kicked out in a situation like this.

“I am not going to tell my father what happened today.”

“…… Is that true?”

Seraphine’s opinion was surprising.

Before asking the question ‘why?’, the chief maid was visibly pleased.

“Instead, fire all the employees: the maids who talked about me today and the chef who made the trash. And, of course, you should include those maids earlier.”

It was a firm command.

“The new maid must be properly educated to serve me.”

Saying so, Seraphine waved her expensive jewel brooch towards the head maid.

“I’ll give you this brooch when you’re done.”

Seraphine grinned as she read the eyes of the head maid, who had forgotten her mistake and quickly became greedy.

Then she hid the brooch again in her pocket.

“It will be up to you to satisfy me.”

Now, Seraphine was an ideal figure of a nobleman.

Starting with the intonation, the eyes, the gestures — everything.

I’ve never seen something like this before.

The head maid nodded her head politely and gulped down her dry saliva.

My lady has changed.

* * *

The change came quietly and quickly. All the maids who belittled Seraphine were kicked out.

According to the head maid’s affirmation, they were kicked out bare. She hadn’t even get paid for their severance pay, which they would have received.

And Seraphine was silent by the head maid’s actions.

The maids’ disposal who ignored me was not a big problem.

The real problem was…

‘I didn’t wake up.’

Even after sleeping for several days, she was still Princess Rubia.

She had hoped that maybe she could wake up as the princess of the Tilmun Kingdom after sleeping.

It was because she couldn’t shake the thought that all this might have been her dream.

But her hopes were shattered.

Cough, cough.

“Lady, are you feeling ill?”

As soon as she started coughing, the new maid quickly looked at Seraphine.

As if the brooch was really coveted, the head maid did the job right.

Upon confirming the new maids’ polite attitude, Seraphine secretly handed the maid accessories other than brooches.

“I’m a little tired, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

I’ve been sick due to being wet while in prison.

I thought I would be able to shrug it off, but I didn’t seem to be getting any better.

Seraphine shook her head as if it were a habit and looked away.

So the maid turned her head and swallowed dry saliva and asked.

“Are you really going to dispose of all this?”

“Yes.”

Seraphine was now organizing the original owner’s closet.

Inside, her closet was reflected with glamor and luxury; many shiny clothes would make her blind just by looking at it.

“It’s all expensive; won’t you regret it later?”

“No matter how expensive it is, clothing is the one that people see first. Furthermore, it’s not worth it.”

She answered firmly, and she began to dispose of them one at a time.

As time went by, the memory of the owner’s body came to mind one by one.

And I could guess why I was able to enter this body.

The guard said she wouldn’t die if she threw herself into the fountain.

But she didn’t do it just to get attention.

‘She took poison and really died.’

She believed that she would be happy.

And the reason she committed suicide in the fountain was simple.

When an imperial family or a high-ranking nobleman is born, a christening is held at the fountain after 100 days of age.

It washes away the sin, promises a blessed future to the children, and they will receive a name.

For this reason, the owner of the body died in the fountain in hopes of being reborn.

‘A normal person would know that it’s foolish, but the owner of the body was suffering from depression.’

She grew up being told that she would not live long because she had a rare disease since birth.

Perhaps because of that, she was rude and sensitive.

She tried to have everything she wanted and felt better when all her people looked after her.

It was also safe to assume that her engagement to the crown prince was a gesture to appease her since she would soon die anyway.

And the owner of the body knew that too.

When her death was taking place, she began whining and crying for more attention.

‘Because she didn’t want to be forgotten after she died.’

Her liking the fancy clothes was also an act of wishing attention to the people around her.

If I wear pretty clothes, they’ll look at me at least once. If I spend money like water,  my father is likely to give me a word.

tl/n: It’s her rationalizing the og owner’s thinking process.

In the splendor of the material, she didn’t realize that she was being buried.

‘But not me.’

Neither the family nor the fiance of the body’s owner was obsessed with what interests Seraphine.

I didn’t even think about pretending to be the body’s original owner and getting along with them.

Usually, an influential person would be afraid of evil.

However, the  Duke of Rubia had neglected her entirely to such an extent that his subordinates ignored her or retaliated.

In the memory of the owner’s body, Duke Rubia had always turned his back on her.

The only love her father gave to his daughter was money.

Moreover, she had no desire to look good to such a person.

Seraphine straightened the lines of her lips and was startled when she found something.