Episode 3
I ignored it.
It didn’t matter who was shouting or scolding me right now.
What mattered was something else entirely.
As the glowing letters disappeared, the landscape that came into view looked strangely familiar.
This place… the main castle of Dragonia? The Blue-Brick Castle?
Even after living an entirely different life in another world,
there was no way I could forget the Dragonia crest engraved all over those bluish stone walls.
But… how?
Partanie, the Grand Duke’s daughter of Dragonia, was dead.
I had reincarnated in another world—as Yeon Boram.
I’d just been treating a patient moments ago.
And now I was suddenly back here?
That’s impossible.
As my fingers fumbled instinctively, they landed on a ring—
only then did I finally exhale.
This was an item that only Yeon Boram, not Partanie, possessed.
Which meant… this situation wasn’t some vivid hallucination or a warped dream.
It was something far more unpleasant.
Maybe even another regression.
I had experienced regression before.
My life as “Yeon Boram” had been like a brief illusion.
Maybe my real life had been as Partanie of Dragonia all along,
and I was being dragged back to it in some cruel twist of fate…
But even then, I eventually woke up and returned to reality.
So this time must be the same—
I tried to calm myself down.
“Truly… I just can’t understand you.”
Something felt off.
Out of all the countless regressions I’d experienced,
this was the first time that woman had appeared as a major player.
Penelope Warszawa.
I recognized her the moment I saw her.
The woman who called herself the fourth wife of the Grand Duke of Dragonia.
And Taran’s biological aunt.
She was just as responsible for making Partanie’s life hell as my cruel brothers were.
“To think such a half-breed would be born into the great house of Dragonia…
It’s an insult. An absolute disgrace.”
My eyes widened—
not from her words, but from the memory they triggered.
I remembered.
The very first time I was ever called “Dragonia’s disgrace.”
“So answer me!”
Penelope shouted down at me.
“Where have you hidden it? You dare steal the sacred relic of Dragonia?”
Ah. That incident.
Among all the relics in Dragonia,
there was one sacred treasure held above the rest: the Relic of the Divine Beast. 🔹
It vanished before I had even turned sixteen.
The Divine Beast hadn’t awakened in years,
and no one expected anything from the relic anymore,
but even so, it remained one of the most prized artifacts in Dragonia.
At the time, the Grand Duke was away from the Blue-Brick Castle, his main residence.
So was Sieraph, the eldest brother and official heir.
Naturally, the responsibility for the estate had fallen to the second son—Taran.
But that lunatic didn’t care about things like that.
So eventually, the role of acting manager fell to his aunt and guardian—Penelope.
Once she took charge, she turned the castle upside down.
“Partanie! Why did you do it?!”
She accused me of stealing the relic.
“And to lose it after stealing it?! Unbelievable!”
I still remember the moment she screamed in my face,
her finger jabbing toward me, my face soaked in tears.
I was innocent.
I didn’t even know what the relic looked like.
But.
“What would you expect from that half-baked daughter of the Grand Duke?”
Unfortunately, people believed her.
Everyone.
Their insults and blind anger came down like a storm.
“She’s not even a full-blooded noble—no mother, no noble lineage!”
“And she dares lay hands on Dragonia’s sacred relic?”
“She should be cast out immediately!”
The ridicule and contempt came like waves, drowning me.
I was young. Naïve. I had no way to fight back.
“N-No! I didn’t steal it! I don’t even know where it is!”
I pleaded, crying, begging—but no one listened.
Eventually, the rumor reached the Grand Duke himself.
“Are you trying to expose our family’s sacred secrets to outsiders?”
And with that, Father buried the incident.
He never publicly cleared my name.
No formal ruling, no proof—
just whispers behind my back forever after.
“Father, I really didn’t… I swear…”
“If you were truly innocent, you’d have proven it.
Instead, you let yourself be cornered and cried like a child.
Is that how a Grand Duke’s daughter is supposed to act?”
He didn’t even look at me.
Just cast his judgment with cold eyes.
“Disappointing.”
I was so crushed I couldn’t say another word.
That moment was the start of it all—
when I truly became the disgrace of the Dragonia house.
Maybe that’s why, even after death and reincarnation,
even after time itself had passed like flowing rivers—
I still couldn’t forget.
The sorrow of being ignored.
The pain of being falsely accused.
The loneliness of having no one stand up for me.
All of it had been burned into my soul.
And the one who had carved it in was standing before me—
Penelope.
Come to do it all over again.
“Well, what can you expect?
A girl who doesn’t even know who her mother is—
she can’t possibly hide the filth in her blood.”
A girl with no mother.
That, too, was part of why they rejected me.
I hadn’t been born in Dragonia’s main castle.
I was born elsewhere.
An illegitimate child.
But one day, the Grand Duke himself brought me to the Blue-Brick Castle.
“This child is mine.”
He said.
But he never spoke a word about my birth mother.
And so, I became the girl born of an unknown woman,
of lowly origin.
Ordinarily, such a child would never be accepted into the family,
but because of the Grand Duke’s power, I was formally acknowledged.
Still—
among the full-blooded children of noble birth,
my rank was already decided.
Half-blood.
The Grand Duke’s daughter in name only.
Openly called the “half-baked daughter.”
“Indeed, Madam.
Blood always shows its true color.”
The maid beside Penelope sneered at me.
The others giggled and bowed in agreement.
“Children who don’t even remember their own mothers are fools, aren’t they?”
“Yes. To forget the woman who carried you for ten months—
what a disgraceful child!”
I was frozen.
Back then, I was young and afraid.
My hands and feet stiffened.
I couldn’t even speak.
Why?
Why are they being so cruel to me?
Was it because I was born so far below my brothers?
Or was I just… innately lacking?
Flawed in some unknown, fundamental way?
Back then, I endlessly questioned myself.
I convinced myself that if they hated me, there must be a reason.
And if I could fix that reason—
they would accept me.
So I picked myself apart, over and over, searching for flaws.
The answer was always the same:
Become someone useful to Dragonia.
Then they’ll stop mocking you.
They’ll stop calling you a disgrace.
You’ll be loved—as Dragonia’s youngest.
There was a time when I believed that.
So foolishly.
I smiled bitterly.
The result of that foolish belief?
A miserable, terminal life.
A pitiful death.
I tried to forget.
Told myself it was just a past life.
Tried to move on.
But here it was—being replayed like a cursed memory.
Resentment and anger I thought long buried came surging back.
[Quest Triggered!
Reward: A Piece of Him 🔹
A strange system message popped up.
…Quest?
I stared, stunned.
What? I’m not even in a dungeon—why is a quest showing up now?
Well… what did I expect from this damn regression.
My boiling emotions fizzled out in an instant.
I laughed bitterly.
Even this ridiculousness has a new twist.
Penelope’s face twisted in disgust.
“How dare you act so arrogant in front of your elders—!”
“Elders?”
I let out a dry chuckle.
“You think you’re my elder? Ha!”
It was ridiculous.
Me, getting riled up by a stupid system message.
Her, showing up just to torment me again.
Her lackeys, laughing on cue.
Tiresome.
You people just won’t leave my life alone, will you?
“Unbelievable…”
Penelope stuttered.
Maybe it was because she was used to seeing me cower.
The maids stared, wide-eyed.
I just smirked.
Yeah, unbelievable.
“What nonsense are you spouting now?!”
Penelope grabbed my shoulder and raised her hand—
to slap me.
Finally.
This was what I’d been waiting for.
The moment I lifted my head—
…What was that?
A sleepy voice cut through the tension.
“What’s with all the noise?”
The voice wasn’t loud or soft,
but it was enough to stop Penelope’s hand in its tracks.
T-Taran…?
Penelope’s voice trembled.
Her hand dropped instantly.
A young man with soft blue hair stepped forward, letting out a long sigh.
To be continued…
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