🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 2
Three days had passed before she knew it.
I still haven’t gone back today either.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a magnificent chandelier.
A familiar sense of despair washed over her whole body.
Why did I come back?
I already reached the ending.
Then why was I transmigrated into the game again?
Her head throbbed painfully.
A dreadful feeling crept over her—that she might remain in this world forever.
“…System.”
Katrina called for the system window out of habit.
But—
[Error]
“Ha!”
Are you kidding me?
Being thrown back into the game was absurd enough, yet the system window refused to respond at all.
I’d already reached the villainess ending, so what else do you want me to do?
And of all things…
‘Do you know what I had to do just to get back?’
The adopted daughter of the Abiche family who didn’t know her place.
The infamous villainess.
She had earned countless disgraceful titles in her desperate attempt to return.
From time to time, Katrina had received strange “quests.” She simply followed the system’s instructions, and these were the consequences.
Not a single rumor surrounding her was favorable.
They said that anyone who angered the villainess Katrina would disappear without a trace.
That she enjoyed seducing both men and women, only to toy with them until they were completely ruined.
There probably wasn’t another person in the Empire with as many rumors surrounding them as Katrina Abiche.
But the most famous rumors all involved the protagonists.
That she had attempted to poison the heroine.
That the wicked villainess had used underhanded tricks to frame the male lead.
That she had committed every vile act imaginable in order to possess the Crown Prince she loved.
Half of those are lies, though.
Why had she been brought back?
The agony she had felt just before dying was indescribable. Katrina had endured all of it, doing everything she could just to return home.
Yet instead…
She had transmigrated again—three years after Katrina had collapsed.
“Damn system!”
Her anger surged once more.
“Send me back!”
She shouted in frustration, but nothing changed.
Knock. Knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“…Miss, may I come in?”
It was the maid assigned to her.
“…Come in.”
Calm down first.
Getting angry wouldn’t solve anything.
“The Duke has a message for you.”
“…Father?”
It had already been three days since she woke up, and he hadn’t come to see her even once.
What could he possibly want to say?
The maid cautiously studied Katrina’s expression before speaking.
“He said… that you will soon be sent to a monastery…”
“What?”
A monastery?
“…He told me that you should be aware of it.”
…That’s practically exile.
Once someone entered, they never left.
It was the method noble families used to dispose of children they had no use for. The worse one’s standing within the family, the harsher life in the monastery would be.
So they were getting rid of her.
…How ridiculous.
“And you have a visitor.”
…A visitor?
Someone actually came to see me?
She already had a bad feeling about this.
“It’s His Eminence, the Cardinal.”
…Who did you just say came?
Lucife Orleans.
He was the craziest man Katrina had ever known.
At the same time, he was one of the game’s male protagonists.
In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him the most insane of all the male leads.
While the other male leads were simply overflowing with superiority complexes, Lucife was…
“That young master we met before… I don’t like him. The way he looked at you bothered me.”
“Did it?”
“So I threw him into the river. I did well, didn’t I?”
“…What?”
He was simply insane without a shred of self-awareness.
There had once been a time when they weren’t on bad terms.
Which also meant that making him an enemy was a serious problem.
…And unfortunately, Katrina had made an enemy of Lucife.
Because Lucife had betrayed her.
Katrina opened the door to the drawing room.
The moment she did, a man dressed in pure white priestly robes turned to face her.
Snow-white hair.
Crimson-red eyes.
He looked almost like a holy being descended from the heavens.
His flawless, translucent skin shimmered faintly beneath the sunlight.
“It’s been a long time, Katrina.”
He greeted her with a bright, innocent smile.
Why the hell is this bastard here?
No…
Thinking about it again, she could guess why.
Forcing down the expression twisting across her face, Katrina spoke.
“…Lucife.”
“Yes. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear you say my name.”
The corners of his lips curled upward, revealing his signature mischievous smile.
“I was so happy when I heard you’d finally woken up.”
“…”
“I was worried you’d never wake up.”
For a brief moment, Lucife’s eyes reddened, as though he were about to cry.
But to Katrina, they were nothing more than crocodile tears.
Lucife wasn’t the kind of man who would be happy to see her recover.
If anything, he should have mocked her.
“…Why are you here?”
She asked cautiously, unable to hide her suspicion.
Because there was only one reason Lucife would come looking for her in a situation like this.
“Is that really all you have to say? I’m hurt.”
“To be precise, we’re not on speaking terms.”
“Oh, Katrina.”
Lucife pinched the corner of one eye dramatically.
“I admit our relationship hasn’t been very good.”
“If you know that, then don’t come here.”
“But we’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so don’t be so distant.”
…Seeing each other often?
She had suspected it might have something to do with the monastery.
But why would she be seeing Lucife often?
The monastery Katrina would be sent to wasn’t supposed to be the same place where Lucife served.
“The Duke of Abiche is sending you to a monastery.”
Don’t tell me…
“So I requested that you be transferred to my diocese.”
Damn it.
The dreadful premonition she had tried to ignore had come true.
Cardinal Lucife.
She still couldn’t understand why someone like him had become a clergyman.
In any case, if she ended up under the Temple’s authority…
“We’re friends, after all, aren’t we?”
…Her life would become a living hell.
“Of course, I know you hate me, Katrina. It makes me terribly sad to say it myself.”
“…”
“But even so, shouldn’t I be the one looking after you?”
Lucife slowly admired Katrina’s frozen expression.
A chill ran down her spine.
To her, it sounded like nothing less than a declaration that he intended to torment her openly.
“After all, I’m the only one you have, aren’t I, Katrina?”
She was speechless.
“I’ll come pick you up soon, my love.”
If her luck was truly rotten, she’d end up in the hands of this madman.
At that point, her life would truly be over.
“Seriously…”
I think I’m going to lose my mind.
I have to live in this world all over again?
After enduring more than ten years here already?
No.
I’m not going to endure it anymore.
Come to think of it, Katrina no longer had any reason to keep enduring.
Back then, she had endured everything to return home—to reach the ending.
But not anymore.
“System.”
[System]
At that moment—
The system window, which had remained silent for three days, finally appeared.
Startled, Katrina instinctively reached toward the air.
[System]
An unknown error has occurred.
Player Han Seoryeong, obtain the ‘Wish Stone’ and return.
The system window began to flicker with static again, as if it were malfunctioning.
…The Wish Stone?
After remaining silent for three whole days, the system had finally presented her with a way to return.
Katrina stared at the place where the window had disappeared.
If I obtain the Wish Stone… I can go back…
She knew exactly where the Wish Stone was.
It was in…
The Grand Duchy of Rockpenheim.
The household of the man she had betrayed.
For a moment, Katrina hesitated.
Then she made up her mind.
I have to go back.
She immediately sprang into action.
As she headed toward the mansion’s entrance, everyone’s eyes followed her.
It seemed the servants still found it astonishing that Katrina had awakened after three years.
“You.”
She called over a nearby attendant.
“Prepare a carriage. I’m going out.”
Returning home wasn’t completely impossible.
There was one last method left.
It was something she had never dared to attempt before…
But now, it was the only option remaining.
So Katrina decided to act without hesitation.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Well… um…”
The attendant glanced nervously at Katrina before answering.
“I was instructed that… if Miss wishes to leave the estate, you must first receive permission.”
“What?”
What kind of nonsense is that?
I can’t even leave on my own?
“…Who gave that order?”
“I did.”
A voice came from behind her.
Just as she expected.
Damian Abiche.
So it was you.
