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Chapter 1
10 years old, a dreaming time
“Finally, I’ve caught you.”
The Emperor spoke in a cold voice.
Hearing that, I thought to myself.
So I’ve finally been caught. No—at last, I’ve been caught.
“It took too long…”
It had been three years since the rebellion began.
This rebellion would have ended quickly… if I hadn’t existed at all.
“Who would’ve thought the one who made explosives that killed tens of thousands would be just a child like this?”
The Emperor looked at my small body and dirty appearance with a stunned gaze.
Hearing that tens of thousands had died made my heart sting.
Originally, what I created was a fireworks reagent.
It was my uncle and the rebels who used it to kill people…
But…
“But it’s still true that what I made killed people.”
Guilt rose inside me.
I turned my gaze away so he wouldn’t see my tears.
Then I saw my uncle, with his mouth gagged, struggling and twisting his body while making muffled sounds.
Serves him right for joining the rebellion.
My heart went cold again as I turned back to the Emperor.
His ruby-red eyes were fixed sharply on me.
Soon, the sword at his waist slid out with a sharp sound.
“Any last words?”
I bit my lip tightly.
There was nothing I could say.
No one ever listened to me anyway.
But still… if I could leave something behind at the end…
“I want to change everything from the beginning… as if none of this ever happened—”
The moment I thought that, my vision shook before the Emperor could step closer.
Something huge—like overwhelming magic—shook my body.
Then I saw the Emperor’s startled eyes.
* * *
“…A crumpled heart?”
A cracked ceiling came into view.
I remembered how I used to imagine shapes in the peeling paint when I was younger.
Strange. Why am I seeing that ceiling again?
My last memory should have been…
“The Emperor…!”
I gasped and forced my eyes open.
My mind was completely tangled.
The Emperor running toward me… and at the same time…
A ridiculous thought appeared in my head—that I was inside a novel.
“Sleeping Emperor of the Forest…?”
A fantasy romance novel inspired by Sleeping Beauty.
Just like the title, the Emperor of this empire falls into a deep sleep.
There was only one reason.
“Kadelos Ingram Azeldert will receive eternal death on his 20th birthday.”
Because the male lead, blessed by dragons, was cursed by a black dragon.
Other good dragons weakened the curse into “eternal sleep” instead of death—but it was still a sleep he would never wake from.
So after the Emperor fell into sleep on his twentieth birthday, my uncle Gregory—who was a minor noble supporting the crown—started a rebellion.
Gregory joined as a field commander.
Using magical reagents I was forced to create while being abused.
The rebellion, which seemed easy at first, turned into a stalemate when the saint from the Holy Kingdom woke the Emperor.
When the Emperor gained the upper hand, miracle reagents changed the battlefield.
When the rebels gained ground, the Emperor’s skill stopped them.
Still, as expected in a novel, the rebellion failed.
All rebels were executed in bloody revenge.
And the novel ended happily with the male and female leads.
“And I just happen to be Alicia Ferdinand—the genius alchemist who created that magical reagent.”
My head spun.
In my first life, I was a poor orphan college student.
I worked myself to death with assignments and internships until I collapsed.
And my second life… I was reborn into a villain side character from the novel I had just read before dying.
A child who lost her parents early, abused by her uncle’s family, and forced to become the hidden weapon behind the rebellion…
“No… no. I can change everything.”
This is my third life now.
Before, I lived like a machine forced to make reagents under abuse.
But now it’s different.
I have memories from both previous lives.
I can handle anything that happens.
I can live a better life.
“Yes! Everything will be fine!”
…Huh? Why does my voice sound so small?
I quickly stood up and walked to the window.
The window felt too high. My body felt small.
I pulled my hair—soft coral-colored strands fell into my view.
“After age eleven, Aunt cut it short because she didn’t like it…”
Thin, bony fingers. Small hands.
Definitely a child’s body.
“How young did I go back?”
If I went back in time, I would have preferred before my parents died.
Then I wouldn’t have been taken in by my uncle.
The younger I am, the more limited my freedom is.
To change anything… I need to grow first.
“I was twenty-one when I died…”
Even though I looked like a child because I was severely malnourished.
I couldn’t even tell my current age.
“If you’re starved long enough… you can’t even run away.”
I had been so weak that a single push could break my bones.
I had to fix this quickly before repeating the same fate.
“What should I do…?”
Then suddenly—
A flashy message appeared in front of my eyes.
(⸜(ˊᗜˋ)⸝ : Finally, you’ve recovered all your memories!)
(I am your helper! I’ll support you like a caring parent! Let’s achieve life reversal together!)
What?
(⸜(ˊᗜˋ)⸝ : Don’t worry! You can use my help once per day!)
Am I going crazy?
I tapped my ears and eyes, but it didn’t disappear.
(≡•̀·̯•́≡ : You’re not crazy! You’re perfectly normal!)
So… is this another change after regression?
The mirror shows nothing.
If I’m not insane… then maybe the world is really helping me.
I nodded slowly, still uneasy.
(⸜(ˊᗜˋ)⸝ : Today’s advice!)
“Take your health-beauty reagent to the sunroom for increased luck!”
“…Huh?”
It sounded like a fake fortune message, but I needed to move anyway.
So I decided to follow it.
The health-beauty reagent was something I made daily for my uncle’s family.
“Here, your knife.”
A maid handed me a kitchen knife without looking at me.
I thought about asking her something, but the servants here never speak to me.
Uncle Gregory made sure I was completely isolated.
So I just worked silently, peeling fruit and squeezing juice.
Then I infused it with my magic.
Blue light—like my sea-colored eyes—glowed and disappeared into the drink.
I sighed quietly and knocked at the sunroom door.
“Who is it!”
“My lady, I brought juice.”
“…Bring it in!”
I entered carefully.
Inside, my aunt Amanda sat with Gregory, reading documents.
“Here it is.”
I placed the drinks down carefully.
While pretending to be obedient, I glanced at the papers.
And saw something shocking.
“…A request to create a potion that weakens the curse further.”
“If there is anyone who can research it, reply.”
— Theodore Heidel Azeldert
Azeldert!
That’s royalty!
Since it wasn’t Kadelos, it must be his father.
“Why are you just standing there! Go back to work!”
I snapped back to reality and left quickly.
Behind me, I heard their annoyed voices.
I closed the door and stood still.
“I found it. My first chance to change my fate.”
