Chapter 1

My sister, Christina Shaw, took credit for my achievements. She obtained the engagement to Royal Academic Champion Clive Woods by claiming she had saved his life.

To stop me from ruining her plan, she ordered someone to break both my legs and locked me in the shed.

On the day of her wedding, I crawled out of the shed, clutching the token of proof, and pleaded with Clive for help. But I only received his indifference in return.

At that moment, I finally understood that the so-called favor of saving his life was far less valuable than the boost brought by the marriage to the daughter of the Royal Tutor.

I was dragged to the backyard by maids, beaten to death with clubs, and my body was dumped into a dry well.

When I opened my eyes again, I had traveled back to the day Clive was in danger.

Masked men in black asked if I had seen a wounded man fleeing. I tore open the tattered mat where Clive was hiding.

"What a coincidence. The man you are looKing for is right here," I said.

*****

The masked men in black looked stunned. They clearly hadn't expected Clive to be so reckless, hiding right under their noses.

Furious and humiliated, they drew their sword and stabbed the unconscious Clive more than a dozen times.

TaKing advantage of the chaos, I slipped behind a big rock and watched, secretly applauding, wishing I could go up and stab him a few more times myself.

All those stabs landed right where it hurt most, but after seeing so many dramatic twists in stories before, I couldn't help worrying he might somehow survive.

So after the masked man left, I crept over and checked if he was still breathing.

Perfect. He was breathing out more than he was breathing in. It seemed Clive was done for this time.

Clive, forget about ever parading through the city as the Royal Academic Champion. From now on, you'd just be a lonely spirit wandering this nameless village.

As I turned to leave with my basket, the nightmare from my previous life flashed through my mind. How those vicious maids shattered my legs.

They beat me with sticks until my legs were nothing but a bloody mess, left me broken and useless, crawling around like some street rat.

Why? Just because I tried to save someone, why did I have to get wrecked like that?

And now, the bastard who ruined my life was lying right here at my feet. How could I not hate him?

With that thought, I snatched up a heavy rock and smashed it down on Clive's legs, again and again, until the sound of bones shattering finally made me stop.

Even if you were the Divine Scribe sent down from the heavens, once you reach the underworld, you'd be forced to crawl across the River Styx.

I wiped the blood smeared across my face, turning away from the man who had destroyed my previous life.

The naive, kind-hearted Erica from my previous life died in that dried-up well at the Royal Tutor's Estate. From now on, I'd live for myself and myself alone.

I rushed back home with my basket, and the maid Christina assigned to me gave me a look, her eyes glued to the blood on my skirt.

"Weren't you supposed to be picKing vegetables? How come there's blood on your skirt?" she asked.

She was called my maid, but really, Christina put her here to spy on me. I mean, what kind of maid got to feast every day while I had to go out and dig for overpriced greens just to get by?

In my previous life, Christina hooked up with Prince Edmund, the King's younger brother, just to get close to power.

After a few secret dates, she ended up secretly carrying his child.

She thought snagging the title of princess consort would be a piece of cake, but Prince Edmund, famous for never letting any woman pin him down, denied everything.

My father was furious that Christina had an affair while still unmarried, shaming the family.

But he couldn't bring himself to punish his precious eldest daughter, so in the end, he had to swallow his pride and ask Prince Edmund to make an official proposal.

After all, Christina's pregnancy wouldn't wait. She'd be giving birth in a few months. Trying to terminate the pregnancy with medicine might ruin her health.

And if the child were born, Christina would either have to end her own life to preserve her reputation or shave her head and spend the rest of her days in a church as a nun.

The final deal was that Prince Edmund would marry Christina, but my father had to offer up another daughter as a concubine for him.

Since Christina was pregnant and couldn't serve him, they couldn't expect Prince Edmund to spend his nights alone.

This was the ultimate humiliation, but with Prince Edmund holding all the leverage over the Royal Tutor's Estate, my father had no choice but to give in.

That was how I ended up back on my father's radar. I was the forgotten daughter he had stashed away at some suburban house since I was little.

To make sure I didn't get wind of their scheme and run, Christina "kindly" assigned a maid to "look after" me. Though she was really there to keep an eye on me.