Once, not twice, but three times.
That’s how many times I’ve regressed.
Just what could be the reason?
After searching and searching again, I finally found the answer.
‘What God wants is cause and effect.’
The reason I met such a miserable end—being stabbed to death three times—was because my villainous family never fell.
I’ve decided!
In this life, I’ll make sure we’re utterly ruined.
Just me? Of course not.
Then it would be no different from my past lives.
I’ll drag my entire family down with me into complete destruction!
I’ll be the one to lead my family to ruin!
And by doing so, I’ll break this dreadful cycle of regression!
“Miss, you haven’t forgotten your appointment with Young Master Stein this afternoon, have you?”
Agnes, Erensia’s maid, asked as she carefully brushed her golden hair.
Not once, not twice, but this was already her fourth life—there was no way she wouldn’t know.
Erensia gave a vague nod while examining her reflection in the mirror.
Erensia Novelita.
The youngest daughter of a ducal house that had contributed to the founding of the Empire was a beauty with golden hair and blue eyes.
She was the kind of person who would make anyone turn their head at least once upon seeing her. Even without much makeup, her skin glowed softly, her cheeks were rosy, and her lips were red.
But she had a special secret no one else knew.
‘This is already my fourth life! I’m so sick of it!’
“You mustn’t stand him up like last time, Miss.”
Erensia let Agnes’s nagging go in one ear and out the other, entrusting herself to her hands.
Agnes didn’t mind being ignored. The fact that she hadn’t been dismissed was already something to be grateful for.
Still, she worried that rumors might spread about Erensia.
Even before her debutante, people whispered simply because she was the daughter of the Novelita ducal house.
And of course, not in a good way.
Though there were also those who fell head over heels for her at first sight because of her extraordinary beauty.
Stein, whom she would meet today, was one of them.
‘My first target.’
There was a reason Erensia chose Stein as her first target.
Her regression point was connected to him.
Exactly one week ago from today.
Every time, she returned to the same day, the same moment—right when she read the letter Stein had sent.
There had to be a reason.
Perhaps he was a mountain she absolutely had to overcome.
Even if that wasn’t the case, Stein was perfect.
Even after her family fell, she needed someone who would watch over and trample the Novelita family.
Someone with power, wealth, or honor.
A family that wouldn’t easily fall.
The more enemies, the better.
Stein’s family was exactly that.
‘I’ll make him completely sick of me today!’
I’ll crush him thoroughly.
With firm resolve, Erensia stood up.
It was a sunny afternoon.
As the white carriage carrying Erensia appeared in the bustling district, people murmured and moved aside.
She felt alone in the crowd. The memories of her three deaths naturally surfaced.
The blade piercing her abdomen, the vivid blood staining the surroundings, her husband’s trembling, bloodstained hands—yet his eyes held no regret. And the people who looked at her but didn’t help.
In her first life, Erensia destroyed everything around her husband to possess him completely. She had been the very image of a villainess, and it was a fitting death.
In her second life, she suppressed her desires and lived like a saint, yet because her family didn’t change, she was stabbed to death on the street.
‘What about the third one?’
“Miss?”
Ah, right. Agnes.
Erensia’s eyes grew moist.
In her third life, she devoted everything to making her family repent. But the Novelita family remained the same, and the result?
She was stabbed to death by a businessman ruined by the Novelitas.
The only difference was that Agnes had stepped in front of her, and they both died together.
Seeing Agnes again filled her with guilt and affection.
‘Agnes, this time I’ll definitely protect you.’
“Miss, are you alright?”
Erensia gazed at her with distant eyes, and Agnes asked in a worried voice.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
‘And I’ll end this tiresome life too. I think I’ve found the way.’
Three regressions.
Erensia had searched endlessly for the reason she returned from death three times.
Libraries, antique bookstores, fortune tellers—she went everywhere, but found no answer.
The answer came from the street.
A priest had been reading scripture aloud for missionary work.
—Those who covet others’ property shall repay with double labor, and those who covet others’ women shall have their eyes gouged out…
Her eyes widened suddenly!
A single line from the scripture pierced her ears like a sharp spear.
‘This is it! What God wants is cause and effect!’
As expected, the problem was the Novelita family.
The family committed evil deeds—though in her first life, she had too—but the one who was always punished was Erensia alone.
‘That was the problem!’
And so, Erensia decided to destroy her family.
Living righteously alone was meaningless, and the Novelita family would never repent anyway.
In her previous life, she had spent forty years trying to change them. It was futile.
The only remaining method was total ruin.
If this wasn’t the answer?
‘Then I’ll just regress again.’
After doing it so often, regression no longer felt unfamiliar or surprising.
To achieve her goal in this life, mere bad reputation wasn’t enough.
The goal wasn’t just ruin—it was complete devastation.
I’ll make everyone in the world enemies of my family—and myself.
“There are a lot of people, Miss.”
As Agnes opened the door, a small bell hanging under the sign that read “Afternoon Sunlight” rang cheerfully.
Erensia snapped back to her senses.
The place was so full there wasn’t a single empty seat.
Good. A large audience.
They would spread rumors after witnessing her wickedness.
“Let’s go, Agnes.”
Before stepping forward, Erensia took a deep breath.
Her heart pounded with tension and excitement.
It had been a while since she last did something bad—her fingertips tingled.
“Welcome, Lady Erensia. I’ve been waiting.”
Stein stood up.
A man with loose lips and a powerful family.
Perfect to make into an enemy.
Strong enough to strike at the Novelitas.
And if the Novelitas retaliated, creating more resentment—
A perfect cycle of malice.
‘This is an excellent start.’
Stein grinned foolishly as he looked at her.
“Please, have a seat.”
Erensia and Stein sat facing each other.
His toad-like lips twitched as he sniffed, unable to hide his excitement.
Soon, a waiter in a black vest approached.
“May I take your order?”
He handed over the menu and began listing items.
Erensia raised her hand to stop him.
She had already decided what to order on the way here.
“One very rich chocolate cake, a cold strawberry juice—but without ice. And lastly—”
She slowly looked Stein up and down.
‘He looks like a white duck.’
Stein was dressed neatly in a white suit with shiny gold buttons.
“Coffee, lukewarm.”
It shouldn’t be too hot.
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
The waiter bowed and looked at Stein.
“I’ll have the same.”
Stein’s eyes were unfocused.
‘He’s completely smitten.’
This wasn’t arrogance. It was deduction based on observation. His eyes proved it.
The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Erensia eagerly waited for the food to arrive.
“Were you busy last time?”
“No, I was sleeping.”
“They say beauties need more sleep. It must be true.”
A formidable opponent.
Even when she was cold, he turned it into a compliment.
His skill at twisting things made her almost click her tongue.
“Your drinks and cake are ready.”
Erensia smiled sweetly.
Under her sunlight-like smile, Stein’s mouth hung open.
‘You should close that.’
She pulled the plate toward herself.
Now, it was time to execute her plan.
Every time, Stein confessed his love as soon as they met.
In her previous lives, she had simply smiled ambiguously.
Rejecting someone coldly required effort, and she didn’t want to waste it on someone like Stein.
But today was different.
‘I’ll snap him out of it. Better yet, make him hate me.’
She checked the temperature of the drinks and the cake.
Stein smiled with crescent eyes. That affectionate gaze would soon turn into resentment.
“Lady Erensia, this may be sudden, but—”
She already knew what he would say.
She didn’t want to hear it.
But she endured for the climax.
“I like you! Your face, your figure—everything is my type!”
“…What?”
What kind of lunatic says that?
At a moment that called for sincerity and romance, he mentioned her figure?
“I love you, Lady Erensia!”
Stein shouted loudly.
All eyes in the café turned toward them.
Now!
Erensia grabbed the cool juice in one hand and the lukewarm coffee in the other, smiling brightly.
“I dislike people who talk about love based only on appearances. They seem shallow.”
And then—
She poured both drinks over his head.
Completely.
Splash.
