Previously
Cecilia, the reincarnated fourth princess, confronts Rosivius, the obsessive second male lead of the original novel, after thwarting his attempt to kidnap the heroine Emily. Despite their antagonistic roles, a complex tension exists between them as Cecilia mocks his failed plans while secretly feeling drawn to him.
In the beginning, there was a story. And at its opening, I reclaimed my role.
I could not tell if my eyes were open or closed, but a torrent of white light poured over my retinas.
‘That must have been salvation.’
That was the only phrase I managed to salvage.
Remarkably, I fussed whenever night fell. Yet I never truly woke, nor did I ever truly cry.
The reason was that the exact same story repeated itself in my dreams every single night, without fail, in chaotic fragments.
“Are You all right, Your Highness?”
“Do you think she feels lonely?”
“Don't say that when you know nothing about me.”
“The baby's mother's name… what was it?”
“No…! Hold on, Millie!”
It was as if I was forbidden from forgetting even the smallest fragment of it.
And so, as my senses gradually developed to grasp the rationality of an adult, I came to realize the situation I was in.
“A great blessing must have descended upon Asuramasura.”
…What a bizarre name for a country.
“It is because His Majesty the Emperor Optimus III is so full of virtue…”
A name that brought to mind a giant robot, or even some piece of modern stationery.
And those tales that looped relentlessly through my hazy nights recounted events set to unfold in Asuramasura under the reign of Optimus III.
Yes, the situation was all too familiar to someone who had spent years reading romance fantasy novels.
A country name I had heard before, familiar figures, and the fact that I—a newborn—knew all of this…
In other words, I had transmigrated into a book I once read. Or would reincarnated be the more accurate term?
As for the last memory of my past life… I had been walking across Mapo Bridge.
Phrases like “Try to remember the good times” and “You must have had a hard time” lingered before my eyes, though I was there for reasons entirely unrelated to the bridge's grim reputation.
It had been a hollow sort of day, so I downed a bottle of soju with some beer at the Han River park and was heading home.
My face was flushed from the alcohol, so I meant to catch the river breeze to sober up a little before boarding the subway.
I brought up my phone and tapped the top entry in my call log. It was something I had done once or twice every evening over the past few days, and several times already by the riverbank today.
[♡My Love♡] ↗ (13)
Ring, ring…
Listening to the ringback tone I had heard dozens of times over recent days, countless thoughts flooded my mind.
Half of me wanted him to answer, while the other half prayed the line wouldn't connect this time either.
And if he did pick up… what would I say? What would I hear? I was not prepared for any of it.
The call cannot be completed. You are being redirected to voicemail…
The automated message, which I had heard countless times today alone, sank clearly into my ears despite the roar of passing traffic.
“I knew it…”
I gripped my phone tightly and froze in my tracks.
Another breakup.
Relationships into which I poured everything, only for them to end in places I never wanted to go.
The roar of passing cars left my ears echoing with emptiness.
I didn't want to be alone today… Should I go back to my parents' house?
“Your sister's exams are right around the corner! Why are you here stirring up trouble?”
“Eating fried chicken will just make you feel bloated!”
“Throwing money away on useless things. You should have bought some tonics for your little sister instead… How did we raise a girl this foolish…”
…No. Then was there a friend I could call at this hour…?
“Did you see your ex's profile? Looks like he moved on to someone new already. Honestly, you can't blame him… She's way better than you…”
“Weren't you being way too nice? Men run when you chase them, don't they say?”
I tried conjuring the faces of family and friends, but the harsh words I had once endured surged back without mercy.
‘In novels, even when everything goes wrong, there's always a destined lover… How envious…’
I was recalling the plot of the novel I had been reading along the riverbank, and when I looked up with a sigh—
Suddenly, the world spun around me.
The crimson streetlamps, the red glow of passing brake lights, and the sky dyed blood-red beneath the rainclouds…
Then, pitch darkness.
That was the last memory of my past life.
Did I die? Honestly, I don't know.
Would that mean this doesn't count as a past life, then?
Well, I wasn't entirely certain… but one thing was clear: the life beginning now was my real life.
‘That must have been salvation.’
That faint sentence etched into my memory… was perhaps the turning point of my existence.
Ah… so sleepy…
‘Guess I've met my thinking quota for the day.’
Though I had lived for more than twenty years in my past life, my body had barely begun to develop, making it difficult to maintain consciousness or perceive my surroundings for long.
“Look at the little one yawning.”
“Ah, isn't she just like a little chick?”
“She's utterly adorable.”
“Yaaawn…”
At times, words were spoken that felt too embarrassing to be meant for me.
“The baby is asleep again today.”
“It's only natural at this age. They sleep a great deal.”
“You were the same when you were small.”
Now and then, I could sense people who were likely my family lingering near my cradle.
Still… could a family really care for me this much?
‘Maybe that's just how people treat a newborn baby…’
Then I drifted off to sleep once more.
How many times did I sleep, wake, and repeat the cycle?
One day, while living in that hazy state—eating when fed and washed when bathed, unable to tell whether this body was truly mine or someone else's—
An unusually noisy commotion broke out, and I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away the drowsiness.
‘Why are there so many people?’
In the room where only my mother, the wet nurse, and a few maids ever set foot, it felt as though more than ten people had gathered.
“A full month has finally passed since the child's birth.”
Suddenly, my body was lifted from the arms of the woman I assumed was my mother.
This broad chest… yes, it had to be my father.
I blinked, trying to focus my unsteady vision, and looked at the man holding me. He was a middle-aged gentleman with handsome features and neatly combed silver hair, smiling gently down at me.
‘This is Optimus III…’
I was seeing the face of the Emperor, whom I had known only by name, for the very first time.
Now that I thought about it, I seemed to recognize this voice from my half-asleep states.
“Come now, my little one. Look at your father.”
He gently swayed his arms, cradling me to play with me.
Oh… my vision was blurring… was he still smiling at me?
‘He looks like he's head over heels for me… Well, all babies are cute.’
Did I ever receive looks like this when I was an infant in my past life?
Still, a baby was a baby, but there was a world of difference between being an imperial royal and an ordinary citizen in modern times.
A moment later, the light around me shifted as he turned around.
“Now we shall formally enter the child into the Asuramasura imperial lineage.”
Ha, even hearing it again, that name was embarrassing.
Some said it had just been chosen at random.
“And her name shall be…”
I swallowed hard, if only on the inside, as the names of Optimus III's imperial children flashed through my mind.
‘I don't seem to be the eldest, so I won't be the crown princess. Will I be Roselia, leader of the Holy Knights? She was truly cool, but knight training sounds exhausting… Or maybe Rebecca? Since I was called a salvation, Rebecca, with her immense holy power, would fit. And since I'm a princess, I won't be Theodore.’
While I was buried in thoughts about the members of the imperial family—
“The child's name shall be Cecilia.”
“The Fourth Princess, Cecilia!”
Ah, how could I forget that one?
I snapped wide awake, focusing every bit of my visual senses on my surroundings.
The scene, which had seemed like mere blotches of light and shadow, finally began to sharpen.
A noble lady smiled gently from the bed, and beside her, young boys and girls gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
‘Right… the voices I heard every day were so varied because I was the youngest.’
Furthermore, my father's hair and that of my siblings in this life all gleamed silver, the hallmark of the imperial family.
‘I must have hair like that too, right?’
So I had been born as the youngest princess of Asura… or whatever it was called, under the name Cecilia!
“Awoo.”
“Goodness, is she smiling already?”
“Her Highness the Princess is truly bright.”
“A great blessing upon Asuramasura.”
It seemed my uncontrollable joy had forced my facial muscles, though I was barely a month or two old, into something resembling a smile.
And how could I not smile? I had been born with a diamond spoon in my mouth!
The world I had been born into was that of the novel ‘The Violet of the Duchy That Grows with Tears’, or ‘The Violet of the Duchy’ for short.
It had been my favorite guilty-pleasure novel.
‘The Violet of the Duchy’ was a classic Cinderella story about a universally adored ducal heir and a hardworking heroine who arrived in the capital to rebuild her family, enjoying explosive popularity during its serialization.
Why was it a “guilty pleasure”? Because along with its popularity, it was packed with every exaggerated makjang trope in the book!
Secret births, fierce opposition from prospective in-laws, scalding tea thrown in faces, and envelopes of gold coins slapped on tables—nothing was missing.
On top of that, perhaps because the author insisted on driving home that the leads were bound by fate, their relationship was laden with grueling obstacles.
‘All that angst was truly suffocating. Yet people used to say there might be readers who never started it, but no one ever read just one chapter.’
You might wonder how reincarnating into a world rife with such melodrama could make someone happy enough to twitch the facial muscles of a two-month-old baby.
Like I said, I was born with a diamond spoon!
The empire was enjoying an era of prosperity, and my parents—the Emperor and Empress—lived in such perfect harmony that they had conceived me late in life.
My siblings, who were at least twelve years older than me, shared deep bonds, so I could expect to grow up blissfully ignorant of any threats to my life.
Furthermore, unlike my older sisters, it didn't look like I would be saddled with any heavy official duties.
‘A youngest princess with no major responsibilities, merely showered with love… What a sweet life.’
Best of all, my role in the original story was practically nonexistent.
“They say Her Highness the Youngest Princess is already attending state affairs meetings.”
“She seems extraordinarily clever; they say she'll take up an important post before long.”
She was mentioned only in passing murmurs by minor characters like that.
“You must be very close with the Fourth Princess, using a pet name for her…”
Or she surfaced merely as a device to provoke the heroine's jealousy and deepen her feelings.
The fact that my role in that agonizingly painful story was so minuscule meant only one thing.
‘My life has absolutely nothing to do with the plot!’
In other words, there would be no death flags in my future, no dramatic storms derailing the leads' romance—none of that was my problem.
In the story, only the main couple suffered. The imperial family—and I—had nothing to do with it.
All I had to do was live happily ever after as the beloved youngest child of a flourishing imperial family.
‘Haha, I can't help but laugh.’