52nd? No, 53rd?

That was the number of times I reincarnated over a thousand years.

There isn’t a thing I haven’t tried.

I’ve been the greatest magician and I’ve been a swordmaster known as the “Sword Saint.”

The life of a musician, an artist, a blacksmith, a doctor, I’ve experienced them all.

I’ve been a billionaire who had mountains of money and once starved without any food for a single meal.

I’ve lived as a king who decided the life and death of strangers with a single finger and lived the life of the humblest of humble slaves as well.

I’ve been praised as a saint and holy woman who saved the lives of millions and accused of being a witch and burned at the stake.

“I’m sick of everything.”

Those were the very first words that I, who had just started her 54th life, spat out.

Would it be as disagreeably eccentric as my 53rd life?

I seriously didn’t feel like doing anything.

‘This time, I’ll live as a loafer. I must rest peacefully.’

The goal for my 54th life as an idler had been decided. It was now time for me to rest. I didn’t want to move even a single finger.

It was at the moment that my life’s goal had been decided!

The door to the room I was in burst open and a sophisticated aristocratic lady walked in.

“You’ve woken up now? You’re weak and frail just like your mother. Anyhow, you’re clearly not useful in any way.”

What were these roll-cake-bursting-like words as soon as I’ve reincarnated?

It was a sharp voice filled with hostility.

I blinked my eyes for a moment.

I had only just come to my senses, so I did not have the memories of this body’s ‘original owner’.

With my skills as a reincarnator, I quickly scanned over the body’s memories.

‘Oh my. I’m the Princess Rubia of the Roxanne Grand Duchy?’

This body’s identity was far greater than what I had anticipated. A princess from the start? For me, whose ambition was to become a slacker, this wasn’t a good thing.

‘Also, this is clearly a dysfunctional family. Rather than a family, they’re all enemies.’

I felt this body’s original owner, ‘Princess Rubia’, was pitiful.

She died after a lengthy battle with a fever. And in the empty spot vacated by her soul, I had entered.

From the perspective of her family, their daughter must have been suffering from a high fever and had barely woken up, but their response was only this. I couldn’t help but frown.

When the noblewoman saw my disagreeable expression, this stepmother of ‘Rubia’s’ lost her temper.

“You- what is with that frown? Anyhow, those with the blood of commoners are coarse to no end.”

At the fatigue that swept over me, I let out a loud sigh.

Of course, my sigh naturally brought out the stepmother’s wrath.

“Sighing? How dare you sigh rudely when your mother is speaking?! Do you need to be scolded once more before you come to your senses?!”

Afterward, she continued to nag for a long time. Politely put ‘nagging’, but it was just a temper tantrum.

I listened quietly and only after she had finished her sentence did I open my mouth.

“Have you finished talking? Then, why don’t you be quiet.”

Oops. The attitude from my past life had burst out unconsciously.

“…What?”

At my shocking attitude, the stepmother looked like someone had hit her over the head with a hammer.

“You, you… What was that just now…!”

“I’m sorry.”

I apologized easily. Though she may be the villainous stepmother, speaking thoughtlessly is still wrong.

“I just woke up, so it appears I have yet to come to my senses. As such, if you have finished what you wished to say, please return. If you still have more to say… Um… Even so, please return. I’m rather tired.”

When the stepmother heard my words, her jaw dropped. Shock and perplexity filled her face. Surely she would have never imagined hearing such words from ‘Rubia’.

It was to be expected, as the original Princess Rubia was so timid and cowardly that she would not rebuke, let alone answer when abused.

‘It’s too tiresome to follow her pace.’

The usual me would have appropriately imitated the personality of the original owner of the body. That way I would be able to assimilate without much trouble.

Perhaps it was due to my last life being especially turbulent? I was much too tired to do so.

“You, you! What is that…!”

It was the second the stepmother trembled and flared up.

I motionlessly looked up at her eyes. The moment when our eyes met, she hesitated and quieted.

“……”

I could feel that she was stunned by the difference in the look of my eyes. No, to be more specific, what this stepmother must have felt was not bewilderment.

Overwhelmed.

When she met my eyes, that was what this stepmother must have felt.

Not even a day had passed of my new life. It was inevitable that there remained influences from my past lives.

My eyes possessed the traces of my past lives in the form of an unexplainable pressure, and it was not something a sheltered villainess of a stepmother could handle.

‘If she met me in my last life, she wouldn’t have been able to properly hold up her head.’

Every time, I would always reincarnate on the same continent into a body whose soul had recently departed.

My last life was set in the central region of the continent during a chaotic and turbulent age.

It was rather far from the Roxanne Grand Duchy, which was located to the west of the continent. Despite that, this stepmother would have heard my name. Thanks to having lived a dreadfully tumultuous life, my name was rather notorious.

My notoriety had reached the point that the average person would not have not heard my name previously.

‘It’s all in the past. Now everything’s too tedious.’

Just then, the stepmother, who had been trembling, quickly turned around and walked outside.

“You, you! You’ll be punished for what happened today! You’d better be prepared!”

Left all alone, I laid back down on the bed.

‘Did I provoke her too much? Will I be bothered?’

I thought for a moment, but shook my head. Whatever, it’ll be resolved one way or another.

‘So, my name is Rubia.’

I looked at the mirror.

Am I now eighteen? An exceedingly beautiful girl absentmindedly sitting was reflected in the mirror.

‘She’s really beautiful.’

Even though I found everything tedious, I expressed my admiration.

Radiant silver hair, jewel-like crimson eyes, pale skin like white jade.

The impression the reflection gave was pure and kind-hearted. Even then, the body emitted elegance. Should I say gentle, pure, yet like an elegant flower?

The appearance of the reflection was the embodiment of a princess that emerged in fairytales. The fault in an otherwise perfect jade was the world-weary look that didn’t go well with the otherwise exquisite looks.

‘Looking into the mirror will be a feast for the eyes.’

Though the beauty of this body was not short of being enough to cause the downfall of a country, my appreciation ended right there.

In order to live a lazy life, it made little difference whether I was beautiful or ugly. Rather, being too beautiful could easily lead to tedious situations and logically disadvantageous for such a life.

‘But, what do I have to do to live like a slacker?’

Having been born as the princess of a great republic, it was natural to assume that one could live richly without suffering, but in reality it was not so.

First, not only the stepmother, but King — the birth father of the princess — abhorred Princess Rubia.

Why does he hate his own daughter? I have no idea. Anyway, he hates her. What a dysfunctional family.

‘How should I go about it? I need money in order to live lazily.’

There were many ways to earn money.

If I made up my mind, I could build up an immense estate from nothing.

However, this all required great effort and labor. Even if it was me, there was no way for me to amass such wealth without effort other than winning the lottery.

‘Renting out land is by far the most comfortable, but I don’t have any cash on hand. Do I have to catch a wealthy fool to marry?’

I let out a giggle.

Was it the 27th or the 28th? I’ve lived a life like that before.

The wife of a wealthy man. It wasn’t a very happy life, and its ending was likewise not preferable. More importantly, the madam of a rich family had many things to consider and care about.

‘Or perhaps the estranged mistress of an unambitious man? Would that be enough?’

I collapsed into my bed and closed my eyes.

‘I don’t know. Whatever. Everything will be solved in due time. Let’s take a nap.’

Sleep swept over me.

In my last life, I had never slept for more than four hours per day. And, even then, I was unable to sleep deeply. It was because I was always in danger of being assassinated.

As a result, this time I decided to keep to three rules: sleep early, wake up late, and take an afternoon nap. Of course, if I feel drowsy in the middle of the day, I will sleep even more.

‘Life isn’t complicated. Good things are good. This time, let’s be happy at all costs. But first let me sleep.’

However, my first attempt at an afternoon nap, which was required for my happiness, turned to smoke from the beginning.

It was because the door to my room slammed open.

“Rubia!”

Sharp voice. It was the stepmother.

This time she came with backup.

It was a handsome young man with attractive and elegant, radiant silver hair and cerulean eyes.

He started to speak in a firm tone.

“Rubia, are mother’s claims true?”

I woke up wearily.

‘Viscount of Sabien.’

That handsome young man was the heir to the throne of Roxanne Grand Duchy, the Viscount Sabien. He was also Rubia’s stepbrother. He was the child of the first Grand Duchess, prior to the Grand Duke’s marriage to Rubia’s birth mother.

As one could see from how her stepmother had brought him as backup, he, too, did not like Rubia.

‘No, to be accurate, he has no interest. As such, even as the stepmother blamed Rubia for a million faults, he didn’t think to investigate more deeply into the circumstances.’

In some ways, he was worse than her stepmother.

For the timid Rubia wasn’t given a chance to explain the unfair rumors about herself.

Had Viscount Sabien had investigated even a little into her circumstances, the amount of hardship in her life would have been reduced by half.

“Answer me. Is it true that you had acted rudely to our mother?”

His cold tone was like that of a blizzard, full of sharp, frozen needles.

Of course, I only felt that it was rather cute.

“Yes, it is true.”

Viscount Sabien’s eyes shifted unusually. It was because my tone of voice was calm, unlike usual.

I ignored his reaction, and continued speaking.

“That is if you can call a lady, whose first words to her daughter who had just returned from death’s doorstep were that of scolding and mocking, a mother.”

“……!”

At the sudden blow, the stepmother’s face blanched. The stepmother had always pretended to be good-hearted in front of others, with the exception of Rubia.

Viscount Sabien frowned deeply.

“Your words are too harsh. Even if mother had said seemingly hurtful words, they must not have been with bad intentions.”

“R, Right. I was just worried about you!”

Worried? If she worried twice, she’d end up nailing a scrappy doll.

T/N: Nailing a scrappy doll – This is a Korean idiom. There no direct translation, so the translator made a reference to voodoo dolls. It’s basically cursing people by stabbing the doll.

I let out a sneer, stared straight at Viscount Sabien and spoke.

“Is my lord scolding me with the loving intentions of an older sibling or trying to set straight the household decorum?”

For a moment, Viscount Sabien was at a loss for words.

“I….”

If it was out of love for his younger sibling, this was not how one should have scolded them, as showing concern over his sister’s wellbeing, who had recently been ill, should have come first in the conversation.

Had it been for the sake of setting straight household rules, the stepmother’s usual actions towards Princess Rubia would not have abided by the decorum.

‘How frustrating.’

I fumbled for the mallet out of habit from my past life, and after realizing it was absent, my eyebrows furrowed.

“Anyhow your attitude was at fault. Apologize to mother.”

I crossed my arms.

What frustrating development. It felt like I was stuffing myself with baked potatoes without water.

I thought about using my syllogistic reasoning to deliver a fatal blow to Viscount Sabien’s argument, but I gave up at the last second.