The tale of a princess trapped in a tall tower sounds so cliché. But it doesn’t have to be a princess. I’m sure you might have heard of a young noble lady trapped up there as well. It’s a surprisingly common story.

“…Maybe they all planned this together to surprise us?”

Benya, the boy with the smaller build, immediately went against his brother Lettice’s opinion. In a sharp, sarcastic tone, he snapped back at him. “You’re the only one who would think of something like this. This isn’t funny! You deserve to be punched for this.”

Puffing out his chest, Lettice looked unwilling to put up with his little brother’s attitude. “What? You ought to be more respectful towards me. I’m your older brother!”

“You never gave me a reason to.”

Shaking his head in annoyance, Lettice ignored Benya and his somber eyes turned to me.

“Hey, Sasha, do you know anything about this? Such a carefully planned prank… I highly suspect that you’re behind all of this.”

“Oh, yes. That does seem likely!” The two brothers mumbled in unison.

Ah, these boys… Perhaps their mischievous behavior is their coping mechanism. I could imagine how anxious they must be at this moment—suddenly waking up in a place which seems to have a no way out.

The feeling of being trapped… it’s suffocating.

I dropped my face in my hands as the boys continued to argue in their usual carefree manner. They seemed so innocent, completely unaffected by the evils of the world.

As for I… I couldn’t believe it. How would such harmless little boys grow up to be villains that would bring ruin to the entire empire in the future?

“Sasha?”

Having transmigrated into this novel world, an ominous feeling slowly crept up on me. My heart raced as anxiety swirled inside, probably stemming from the fact that all of us were beginning to panic slowly.

Behind the bickering brothers’ faces, I could see the fear they so tried hard to conceal. They had to act tough and I soon realized why—it was for someone dear in their hearts.

Unlike her loud brothers, Estelle bit her lips and stayed silent. With small, hesitant steps, she approached me and clung to my arm.

Estelle was born with a weak constitution and was extremely sensitive towards her surroundings. Even the smallest of disturbances was enough to trouble her. Fortunately, my mother and I could calm her down. But after my mother passed away… I was the only one who could take care of her.

“Sasha, do you really not know anything?”

I couldn’t give her an answer. I had no idea what was going on. Would it have been better if I did?

And so, in an abandoned corner of the majestic manor, three noble children and their nanny’s daughter were locked up, not by some bored demon king or evil dragon, but by the very relatives of the siblings.

The only problem was that we knew nothing about what was going on. I racked my brains for any explanation about our situation, but every answer evaded me. I knew nothing.

Just like every other story, this one’s beginning was normal as well.

Of course, the standards of normalcy differ from every individual, but I was a pretty ordinary child. Yet, I couldn’t deny the fact that compared to other children belonging to my status, I was unbelievably lucky. And it was thanks to my mother.

My mother gave birth to me and raised me all on her own. After I was born, she travelled all the way to the capital with only a letter of recommendation from a southern count, who she used to work for before, and settled there. Soon, she began to work for the Cervantes, who’d just welcomed a baby daughter of their own.

The duke and the duchess were excellent people. I knew nothing about how the other nobles behaved, but the duke and his family were extremely kind to my mother and me. They treated us like family! It was only because of them that I, a mere servant’s daughter, could play around with their children instead of working like I should have. In fact, the duke would even go as far as to admonish his second son for teasing me to the point of making me cry.

My childhood was full of happy memories, filling me with warmth whenever I thought about them. Back when my mother, the duke and the duchess were alive, every day we spent were jovial.

But everything fell apart the day my mother passed away. A plague rampaged through the empire, leaving behind seven thousand corpses in its wake, regardless of their status. And within a day of my mother’s death, Empress Alicia died as well.

Because of the duke and duchess’ kindness, my sick mother could rest in peace after getting a proper burial instead of being burnt to ashes. The next few days were absolute hell. I was only fourteen and was facing the crisis of my life. I was young and didn’t have anywhere to go. Where would I go now? Fortunately, the Cervantes allowed me to stay at their manor.

During that traumatic period, memories flooded my mind. It was almost like a film reel, every detail vivid in my mind. Suddenly, it was all clear to me—the truth about the life I was living right now. I…could recall the memories of mypastlife.

At first, I thought it to be a fantasy that my mind made up to ease me of my grief… But those memories told me I was living in a fictional world from a novel. And that I was an orphan in my previous life, who met her horrible end—dying alone in a broken elevator, freezing until her last breath.

Who would want to believe such a story?

Furthermore, to think that the people I’d been with since my birth would suffer from an awful tragedy… There was no way I would’ve believed in such a wild story.

But then, just like my memories had predicted, the duke and duchess passed a week later. As soon as I realized the terrible implications of this incident, anxiety began to gnaw at my soul.

If this world truly was the one that I’d read about in a novel in my past life, then that would mean our future was filled with tragedy. Lettice, Benya, Estelle and I—all of us would meet an awful end.

According to the novel’s plot, which was told from the protagonist’s perspective, the Cervante siblings would spend the two years after their parents’ funeral in another country. The decision was made by their relatives because they deemed Lettice to be too young to inherit the dukedom at that time. Considering the empire’s situation, they thought it best to take care of the Cervante household in Lettice’s stead.

I had also followed them and faithfully took care of Estelle there, but I remember that nothing was written of how the siblings spent this period.

In the book, I’d followed them for Estelle, but I had no memories of reading about the time siblings spent there. All I knew was that due to her weak constitution and sensitivity, Estelle passed away there, after which the two brothers and I returned to the country and reduced the empire to ruins.

Yes, I was the final villain of the book—the Queen of Serpents; the demoness in human flesh! The plot of the book ended with justice. I was fated to die an extremely painful death.

Ah, and here I thought my life was simple! How did I gain such an awful second life? Did I not do enough virtuous deeds in my past life? Maybe not… After all, I didn’t even have time to be virtuous. To think that I was born again only to become a villainess…

Well, I guess it should be fine if I don’t do anything villainous in the future. Then I won’t have to worry about any consequences, right?

But, the problem was that my knowledge about the plot was incomplete. The story was told through the protagonist’s perspective, so I wasn’t aware of anything else other than what she knew.

Besides, whatever was told to the public might not be the truth either. After all, as far as I remembered, there were no descriptions about Lettice, Benya, Estelle and I being locked up in some secret room in the manor. All the book said was that we went to another country.

No matter how old I’ll grow, I’ll never forget that night.

As soon as their parents’ funeral ended, Estelle and I headed to the garden to watch the sky in silence as Lettice and Benya dealt with their relatives. The two of us embraced each other tightly as choked up emotions welled inside us, but neither of us cried nor spoke. Tiny hearts beating madly against each other.

The countless stars scattered across the sky seemed like they were trying to talk to us. Somehow, the common sight of the stars twinkling felt like the heavens themselves were crying—desperately trying to warn us of our future.

I knew what would come next, but I still felt like I was on edge. Warning bells rang in my head, signalling that something was off. But I didn’t get enough time to ponder over the signs.

“Estelle.”

I turned around to find Lettice, dressed in mourning clothes. The once bright blue eyes of the fifteen-year-old now blankly stared at us. It was almost like the light in his eyes had been extinguished.

“Uncle has something to discuss with all of us.”

The poor boy… He had numerous servants he could order to summon Estelle, but he still came on his own. He must’ve been desperate for some time alone. Despite needing to keep up a stoic appearance, Lettice was shy and found it hard to control and hide his emotion. For an heir to a noble family, it was considered to be a fatal flaw.

Estelle stared back at her brother, her eyes mirrored the same blankness. She turned around and looked at me, almost begging me to not let her go. Even back when her parents were alive, she’d feel nervous and anxious if I or my mother weren’t beside her. And now that she’d lost them… I couldn’t imagine what she must be feeling.

Still, no matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn’t join the family meeting. Despite practically growing up with the siblings, I wasn’t officially their family. It was impossible for me to be present there.

I smiled at her, trying to reassure by gently tapping her hand. Still reluctant, Estelle slowly let go of my hand and walked up to Lettice.

Under the bright moonlight, the siblings’ pale blue hair sparkled as they constantly looked back at me during their walk towards the manor. Were they…worried about me? I wanted to hug them and tell them that as long as we were together, everything would be fine.

But at that time, I didn’t know that their worry was not for naught.

If only I’d known that that night would be our last time in the gardens for the next two years… I would’ve picked up a wild blossom to take along.

***

When I opened my eyes, a strange ceiling greeted me. That was the first surprise of the day. I didn’t know what others might have done in the same situation, but panic suddenly began to creep up on me.

The second surprise sprung up on me soon after. When I turned my head, I found Estelle’ long pale blue hair resting on top of mine. I’d clearly gone to sleep in my room in the annex last night, where I used to live with my mother. Unless either of us suffered from sleepwalking, there was no way we should have been sleeping on the same bed. What was even more weird was that the room itself was unfamiliar to me. It wasn’t mine or Estelle’s. How did we end up here?

I stared at Estelle’s sleeping figure in stunned silence. She must’ve felt my gaze burning into her because she soon stirred awake. Her sleepy blue eyes blinked vacantly and looked at me. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and spoke in a groggy voice.

“Did you bring me here?”

Why would she think that? Perhaps she was still half-asleep. I wish I had someone I could ask the same question.

“Sasha? Estelle?”

“Are you guys upstairs?”

Suddenly, I heard Lettice and Benya calling out to us. I panicked for a moment, I couldn’t figure out where they were. But soon the two boys came running up, their footsteps thudding against the steps.

The moment our eyes met, we all fell silent. The last time we’d seen each other in pajamas was about 8 years ago. It was embarrassing to see each other in such a state, but this wasn’t the time to linger over something like that.

“Sasha, do you have something to do with this?” Lettice raised a query against me.

Ah, he didn’t know anything either? And here I thought I could rely on Lettice. He is the most reliable out of all the siblings. I couldn’t help but stare at him in disappointment.

Benya ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. He turned around to glare at Lettice upon hearing his question. Lettice’s expression, in return, turned sour seeing Benya’s suspicious face.

“What? I just wanted to clear it up, okay?”

“The fact that you said that shows that your intellect is suffering from a major problem.”

“Won’t you think someone’s playing a prank on us after waking up together in a strange room too?”

We exchanged puzzled glances, all of us ignorant about the current situation. An ominous feeling began to creep up on me. It was as if my heart was plunged to ice cold water.

“Does our house even have a room like this?”

“Are you an idiot? You’re the eldest son and you don’t even know this?”

“Did you know?” Retorted Lettice.

With balled fists, Benya couldn’t help but say, “It’s not like you know anything about it either.”

We used to run around all over this manor during our childhood, so we found it hard to believe that there was a place that even we didn’t know about. The bedroom was fairly large, but it looked cramped because of all the furniture stuffed in the room.

A short-legged bed lay in the center of the room, surrounded by different kinds of chairs and a marble table with a lamp on top of it. Several chests and closets were lined up against the wall, right next to the dressing table and the thick rugs covered the cold floor. But none of the furniture matched each other, as if chosen without any care for beauty.

The sunlight trickled in from the large witch window placed up on the wall. It was the only source of air and sunlight in the room. It was quite disturbing. It was as if—

“Were you guys in a room downstairs when you woke up?”

“Yes, imagine having to wake up next to him!”

“Hey, how do you think I felt?”

I left the bantering pair behind, choosing to explore the place instead. I spotted a small door right across from us. I walked towards it and held the rusty brass doorknob. The door creaked open as I turned it.