Until the age of twenty, my life had been consumed by the skill I was born with.
A bound skill, branded Mythic-ranked. Surely with such power, I thought I could change everything.
I scoured books like a madwoman, hoarded dungeon relics, and chased every rumor of hidden knowledge.
—“Greedy as a commoner and just as useless! Ellorang’s extravagance is bleeding the royal treasury dry.”
—“He* calls for councils, rushes into dungeons, and drags everyone down with him. What’s the difference between him and a leech?”
—“Enough! He is still our king!”
—“King? Hah. Rankers hold more power than kings these days.”
I knew whose hand was behind these whispers.
Lexio’s.
Their scheme was clear: destroy my reputation, drive Ellorang into ruin, and swallow my kingdom whole.
The harder I struggled, the faster we sank.
Ellorang was already slipping into the jaws of the Empire.
Unavoidable Misfortune.
That was the name of my penalty—and I wore it like a curse.
Every failure felt like proof.
That all of this misery… was my fault.
For a time, I even thought of surrendering. Maybe becoming Lexio’s vassal was the only way forward.
But then—
—“Mom, I’m hungry…”
—“Just one more day. I’ll find something to eat, I promise.”
How could I yield, when my people starved and died by monsters because of Lexio’s plunder and neglect?
No. I couldn’t give up.
—“Just find the skill. Just awaken it. That’s all you need to do.”
Blanc Marca—the first hunter known to possess a Mythic-ranked skill. Before she unlocked its true power, they mocked her as insane.
So I believed. I had to believe. That my strength would awaken too.
Otherwise, I would go mad.
I swore to myself:
I would protect this kingdom.
I would prove that one Mythic-ranked hunter could change the world.
It was my mantra whenever despair threatened to crush me.
Yet when my coming-of-age ceremony arrived, Ellorang was already crawling with imperial dogs.
My authority lay in ruins.
The army ignored me.
The nobles mocked me openly.
But still—I clung to hope.
Because I was the king.
My breath burned in my throat.
Thump. Thump.
Footsteps followed, heavy and unhurried, like a predator savoring the chase.
—Was the intel wrong? To think the wielder of a Mythic-ranked skill could do nothing but run pitifully.
—Not quite. Look at her eyes. She hasn’t given up yet.
Two men in imperial knight uniforms. Hunters from Lexio’s royal guild.
They didn’t even bother to hide their allegiance.
So this is how I die.
—Let’s interrogate her first.
A formless wave of energy crashed down on me.
—AAAAHHHHH!
They knew.
They already knew I bore a Mythic-ranked skill.
For three days, they wrung me dry with torture—no food, no water, only pain.
My body bruised and broken, blood choking my throat. Screams tore from me that didn’t even sound like my own.
—How long do you intend to drag this out? At this rate, she’ll really die.
One of them, a red-haired knight, sounded uneasy.
Strange—weren’t they here to kill me? Why fear my death?
My swollen tongue barely worked, but I forced out words between gasps:
—From the start… you never meant to kill me. That’s why… you showed your faces…
No answer.
Corrupt bastards.
—Time’s up. We’ll never learn the truth of Harmonia’s Necklace.
So this was it.
The end.
But no.
Not yet.
I couldn’t die—not like this.
“Move. MOVE. MOVE, damn you!”
The blade descended, slow and merciless, until it pierced my heart.
Slice!
Ah. So this was how I ended.
A worthless king, achieving nothing.
Perhaps it would’ve been better had I never been born.
Then none of them would have suffered for me.
As my life bled away, a radiant light burst from my body—drawn into my killers’ hands.
Their victorious grins burned into my fading sight.
Damn it. Not like this.
I was no martyr—I was their offering.
I wanted another chance. A chance to kill them. To avenge everyone. To seize real power.
And then—
Screeeech.
At twenty years old, I died.
[The System activates the exclusive skill ‘Miracle.’]
[Harmonia Jee Ellorang’s penalty, ‘Unavoidable Misfortune,’ has been recorded by the System.]
[Your bound skill, ‘Harmonia’s Necklace,’ has been converted into an item.]
—Huh…? W-what the…? Why’s my body… small?!
A clear message, and then a reflection in the mirror.
My eyes spun between the two.
The mirror. I hadn’t looked in one for so long.
That face—the one they used to mock—always filled me with shame and rage.
But now… now it was a child’s face staring back.
Golden hair like a chandelier of light. Crimson eyes like rubies.
Not ugly at all.
My gaze fell to the necklace at my throat.
Two golden serpents, coiled tightly around a prismed diamond key.
[Harmonia’s Necklace (Mythic): Forged by the God-Smith of Dimension A21-107. Grants eternal youth and beauty, but inflicts unavoidable misfortune. Secondary skills manifest according to the user’s will. Upon meeting conditions, the necklace has been itemized. The bearer is bound to a dungeon suffused with divine power. Usage requirement: discovery of a Hidden Dungeon.]
[Quest Triggered!]
[Unlock the Mythic-ranked skill ‘Harmonia’s Necklace!’ (Time Remaining: ¿??)]
And so my second life began.
Regression.
That’s what they call this, isn’t it?
I never imagined I’d live through something straight out of a serialized net novel.
Except unlike The Baby Princess is a Regressor!—where the heroine began from birth—I was sent back only to age four.
But what difference would it make?
An infant who can’t even speak would’ve been even more helpless than I am now.
Still…
Maybe, if I’d been given that chance… I could’ve saved them.
My father, who never blamed me even at the end.
My mother, who sang lullabies with such warmth.
But their faces, their voices—they’re already fading.
Too much time has passed.
Or maybe it’s because those bastards tossed out their portraits, claiming I’d failed to honor my duties.
That betrayal, I will never forget.
I remember.
I will remember.
The screams of my people.
Their pain.
Their deaths for my sake.
—I’ll never forget, Lexio’s dogs.
I’ll torture them worse than they ever tortured mine.
I’ll take my revenge—cruel and merciless.
—Die! Die, all of you!
I pounded my pillow with tiny fists, fury bubbling out of my four-year-old body.
—Argh… damn it. My hands hurt.
—Calm down. Calm down… I’m an adult. I have to act like one.
I forced myself to steady my breath.
—Diiie! DIE! Thump! Thump
…”Maybe I wasn’t such an adult after all.”
—There you are, Your Highness.
—Ah—¡
I hadn’t even sensed her approach. So much for all my training.
—Karen…
Warm arms gathered me up.
Karen Briel.
Not just a maid or a caretaker. She had been my family. My most loyal protector. And she had died the most painful death of all.
Seeing her now, alive again, I realized something.
This wasn’t just regression.
It was the cost of my bound skill.
Harmonia’s Necklace—the power that trades the user’s happiness for strength.
Perhaps that was why I had only returned after my parents’ deaths.
Why my penalty chose to preserve this moment.
Maybe my agony and my death were still a cheaper price than the helpless end I first suffered.
But the pain was real.
And so, my cursed skill will pay dearly.
For daring to humiliate its master.
