Chapter 1 – Berylia Spinel

This shabby life was coming to an end again.

Without fail, in his hands.

Even though I had already died seven times under the hands of Rixus, why did I always have the same question?

“Why, me….”

On my chest, where my clothes were ripped apart, a bright blue rose pattern was blooming clearly.

Rixus’ sharp blade pierced the center of the rose.

He looked at me emotionlessly, even as he took my life. It felt like I was being strangled by the blue-purple eyes that were as deep and cold as hell.

If the dog on the floor of the market, which was hit and killed by a wagon, received a warmer gaze than this one… this death would be a little less lonely.

But shattering my expectations, he answered.

“Because you don’t deserve to live.”

It felt like the dry sentences he uttered wrapped around my heart and squeezed it out for a moment. Tears welled up in my eyes as I was saddened.

It was unbelievable for a reason.

“Berylia Spinel, you are the worst human being that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.”

A low-pitched voice pierced through it as eerily as a sudden day.

“Even if you disappear, no one will be sad.”

It was true. What he reminded me of made me even more terribly lonely and sick.

In the rising misery, I let out a sharp breath with blood.

And finally, the sword of Rixius completely pierced my body. I swallowed the scream that erupted in an instant.

Was this kind of ending really the best?

This book would have a happy ending only when I die, but my life was so hard and lonely.

Therefore……

“I, too, want to live a worthy life.”

At the moment of death, I protested against him for the first time.

“I don’t want to live a miserable and lonely life, then die as your enemy…”

In an instant, a crack appeared on the face of Rixus, who had been terribly expressionless. There were clear doubts in his eyes.

But now it was time to part.

I slowly lowered my trembling eyelashes. The pain and consciousness of the body, which seemed to burn the whole body, faded away.

My name is Berylia Spinel.

The best villain in this novel and ‘that woman’ in the prophecy that would end the world.

This was my 7th death.

Would there be anything different in another life?

* * *

My death was always the beginning.

As soon as I died, I returned to the first chapter of the novel again and again.

A mass-produced fantasy novel <The Legend of the Black Prince>.

This novel was a typical story of a Munchkin protagonist who is born as a prince, loses his parents at a young age, overcomes all kinds of adversity, and eventually saves the world.

(TL/N: in Korean, ‘munchkin’ is a term for ‘overpowered character’.)

The birth of me, possessing the best villain in this novel, was quite plausible.

I was born as the youngest daughter of the ‘Spinel’ royal family. On top of that, I have three older brothers, isn’t it a cliche you’ve seen a lot?

Yes. If it was a romance novel, I would be the youngest daughter who would grow up only receiving love.

But, sadly, this novel was a wasteland of negative emotions, and my mother screamed as soon as she gave birth to me.

“I… gave birth to a cursed monster! Remove that from my eyes right now, ahhhh!”

The symbol of the Spinel royal family was bright red jewels, eyes like ‘Spinel’.

But my right eye was a milky-white eye that gathered light like a diamond. It was an odd eye different from the one on the left.

The Spinel Kingdom had treated odd-eye as a symbol of ominousness since ancient times.

It was because of an anecdote related to Terosa, a rare villain with an odd eye in the distant past. She was born humble, was dissatisfied with the country, and eventually slaughtered the entire royal family.

Since then, odd-eye has become a ‘symbol of bad luck’.

I wanted to explain that Terosa was Terosa, and that I was just me, but I couldn’t.

Because I was a baby

The royal family, who were concerned about the youngest daughter with an odd-eye, put the matter to a noble vote.

In the end, I was abandoned miserably without even being held in my mother’s arms once.

“Princess, please die. For the sake of Spinel’s national luck, you must do so.”

A life in which death was forced upon you as soon as you were born. Wasn’t it so freaking cool and cuddly?

Was there nothing I could do for the country except to die…?

I had been through those cruel words 7 times, but I grew up in a swampy area under the care of spirits.

It was like that until the age of 14.

My first steps, my first babbling, and my deep loneliness were all learned in that poison-infested swamp.

Was it really the curse of the odd-eye?

On the day of the crowning ceremony of the Crown Prince of the Spinel royal family, the rebellion of another prince broke out. And the king, queen, and princes all died cheaply.

Spinel’s extinction in the Spinel Kingdom…

The nobles, tainted with the idea of pure blood, eventually came to the swamp.

So I ascended the throne.

‘After that, it’s the same.’

To eradicate the nobles who rebelled against me, and to become a monarch with unprecedented powerful kingship. And then, living like a king…

One day, an oracle came down that said I would destroy the world. And my horrible ending from this novel by a Munchkin male who had neither blood nor tears.

‘Now there are about two years left.’

At some point after the kingship was stabilized, the oracle came down. And I was just about to stabilize the kingship.

‘I’m glad I still have the sweetest part of my life.’

After suffering hardship in a swamp, and after ascending the throne, I rolled around like a dung beetle, saying that I would strengthen my royal power.

Right now, at this point, freedom would begin. Now, all I had to do was eat, play, and enjoy to my heart’s content until I died.

The only beautiful two years of my eventful life had just begun?

I crunched and bit the chocolate cookie with peace of mind.

‘The cookie tasted crazy. It’s so delicious.’

I used to only eat mud cookies in the swamp, but I couldn’t help but taste these cookies. It felt like the harmony of taste hits the brain.

“It’s pretty good. Is it the work of a new patissier?”

I asked politely, raising my chin. The red-bearded nobleman hastily lowered his eyes.

“Y-Yes, yes, Your Majesty the Queen.”

He was so afraid that his beard could be seen trembling.

I parted my lips and spoke in a low-pitched voice.

“Do I scare Lord Botanish?”

“No.”

“It’s a compliment, so listen to it as a compliment.”

I couldn’t believe a man who had even been crowned a knight was shaking.

Well, I am of the bloodline of Spinel that uses the power of snow. A knight’s neck can be blown away in the blink of an eye.

No, to be honest, an elite unit could be destroyed in no time. Without a single scratch on my body.

Those who knew such a monstrous power were terrified of me.

Besides, the impression of the best villain in the world was terrifying.

“······.”

I looked in the mirror silently. A horrifyingly beautiful woman stared at me in proportion to her notoriety. An arrogantly raised eyebrow, an odd eye with two different sides.

In particular, the right eye was shining so strangely that it could not be seen as a human’s pupil, and the left eye was close to blood.

Platinum hair, as if melting snow in gold, culminated in an impression that was not easily accessible.

I put the mirror down. It was my face, but it was too early to look at it for a long time.

Hmm, anyway, I should give praise to the nobles who had hired a great patissier…

……What should I do?

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty. If you don’t like it, I’ll bring you the next patissier.”

“No.”

I opened my eyes wide (I actually opened them softly with some care) and said,

“The cookies, they’re delicious?”

“He-heuk…! Your Majesty, please help me!”

Blood drained from Lord Botanish’s face.

He must have interpreted my laughter as, ‘If you hire such a poor patissier, I will divorce your body and head immediately.’

My stomach growled.

Terrified, Lord Botanish passed out.

“Oh my.”

…He was weak, but I bit my tongue and commanded.

“Take care of Sir Botanish. And leave the patissier alone.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The guards guarding the audience hurriedly picked up Lord Botanish and carried him.

“Sir Botanish! Sir Botanish!”

The voice that whispered his name and the sound of him getting slapped on the cheek was getting farther and farther away.

I sat on the throne in a relaxed posture, crunched and bit the chocolate chips and savored them slowly. It was a really happy time.

But that was then.

Dun, dun, dun!

My eyelashes lifted slightly.

‘Why can’t I hear these drums now?’

This was the sound of drums signaling that there was a problem at the border.

The drumming was growing ominously loud.

Dun! Dun! Dun!

“Your Majesty the Queen!”

The captain of the guard opened the door to the audience and ran in.

“What’s going on?”

The captain of the guard bowed one knee and said:

“Prince Rixius is asking for an audience at Breathbridge!”

…Prince Rixius?

The moment I heard the name, I got goosebumps all over my body. Instinct reacted strongly like a small animal that saw a wild beast with its jaws wide open in front of it.

That said, there was usually only one time when Rixus looked for me.

The ending of this novel. When he came to kill me.

But I still have two years left?

“Prince Rixus, why me?”

“That is……”

At that moment, the turquoise auditorium door opened as if shattering.

A tall silhouette hung long over the door.

He used a magic tool to arrive in front of me at once and was engulfed in a dazzling glow.

Black hair flying wildly.

Like they were cut with a knife, his sharp cool blue-violet eyes stared at me, as if piercingly.

Even on the battlefield, he wore black armor and rode a black horse.

This man, who became more brutally black as he absorbed the blood of the enemy, was called this by everyone in fear.

Rixius Aktoum.

‘The Black Prince of the Battlefield.’ And… the main character of the original and the man who took my life 7 times.

“······.”

Like a beast preying on its prey, he was staring at me tenaciously.

A feeling of tightness engulfed my entire body. Just those eyes alone made me feel a bit oppressed and suffocated.

But fortunately, even in the fearful situation, my expression was cold and dignified.

It was like a rare wicked woman, Berylia Spinel.

I asked coldly.

“What did you come to me for?”

I asked calmly, but my heart was tightening as if I was about to suffocate.

To the point where the pulsating sound hit my ears.

‘You must have come to harm me.’

It was  foolish to expect good intentions from a prince who had invaded the audience room of an enemy country without permission.

I wondered if everyone in this audience was thinking the same thing, since the guards were nervously fixing their swords.

Rixus twisted his lips under his arrogantly extended nose.

Then he smashed everyone’s expectations to the floor.

“I’m here to propose to you, Berylia Spinel.”

“!”