Chapter 2: TBTW

This was the story of the game <Abandoned World>, which had been adapted from a romance fantasy novel of the same name.

After the emperor—my father—died from the worsening of his chronic illness, the crown prince and my half-brother, Tahar, inherited the throne.

Not long after, a power struggle broke out between the young emperor and the Grand Duke of the North, ending with the grand duke’s assassination.

‘At this point in the story, the grand duke’s still-young children go berserk and reduce the capital to ruins.’

That was possible because the two boys the grand duke had been temporarily protecting were Transcendents—the male protagonists of the game.

Afterward, the still-childish protagonists grew up without guardians, enduring utterly miserable childhoods.

Fifteen years later.

The grown male leads and the imperial princess, the only surviving daughter of the royal family, sought revenge against one another… only to gradually fall in love.

The game was played from the perspective of Princess Lydia Obelir. You balanced between the two men, dressed them up, leveled them up, and so on.

‘Meanwhile, my role was the tenacious villainess who survives until the very end just to torment the protagonists.’

It definitely wasn’t a good role, but it wasn’t completely hopeless either.

Because right now, while the protagonists were still children, the story hadn’t even properly begun yet.

I mentally compared the game’s plot with several historical facts.

The empire’s history followed the game’s storyline so precisely that I could only become more certain that I had truly entered the game world.

‘If I know how the story unfolds, I can change the future.’

I couldn’t stop Mother’s death… but perhaps I could avenge her.

I clenched my fist inwardly.

Soon, warmth spread through my abdomen.

Father had urgently begun pouring divine power into me.

“Frey, you’ll be alright. Everything will be alright…”

His voice, always stern and dignified befitting an emperor, trembled thinly.

It carried both rage toward those who had killed his wife and the sorrow of losing someone he loved forever.

Listening to that voice, I realized something.

‘Even Father’s pure divine power couldn’t save Mother.’

It felt as though my heart had dropped straight to the floor, yet my breathing did not stop.

On the contrary, Father’s divine power gradually calmed my ragged breaths.

If only Father hadn’t left his seat.

No—if only he had returned a little sooner.

—I thought that for a moment, but it was meaningless.

The empress and the members of House Zelon would have tried to kill Mother and me, the unwanted thorn in their side, no matter what.

“Father… ugh.”

Gathering the last of my strength, I forced the words out.

At that, a faint glimmer returned to Father’s devastated eyes.

“Frey, I’m sorry. While I was away, something like this…”

His broad shoulders shook with every word he spoke.

His deep, experienced eyes repeatedly flicked toward Mother, whose body was covered in white cloth.

I quietly placed my hand over Father’s rough hand resting on my stomach.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say that it was alright or that it couldn’t be helped.

Mother’s death had been just as shocking to me.

“……”

And after seeing the future in which Father would die from worsening illness, it became even harder to speak.

Mother had just died, and now I had to think about Father’s death too.

As I lay there saying nothing, only breathing weakly, Father finally spoke.

“...I will not let today’s events pass without consequence. So for now, rest well and recover your health.”

Father wasn’t a fool either. He seemed to suspect that the people behind this were the empress’s family, House Zelon.

After all, they were the ones who stood to gain from Mother’s and my deaths.

‘Yes, Father. I won’t hide in fear like before.’

I conveyed that with my eyes before slowly closing them.

The divine power was purifying my entire body, and after suffering such a great shock in so little time, my strength gave out quickly.

No—it was practically a miracle that I had stayed conscious until Father arrived.

“Move the princess to her chambers so she may rest, and strengthen security. Assign priests and the royal physician to remain with her.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At Father’s command, I was carefully carried away.

“...Roselia.”

The last thing I saw before darkness consumed my vision was Father’s back as he called Mother’s name in a hollow voice.

It felt as though part of my previous life was replaying itself like a dream.

Before I reincarnated as Frey Obelir.

Ever since childhood, I had never been able to settle anywhere. I drifted from one relative’s house to another, living off their charity.

Sometimes for months. Sometimes for years.

Because my biological mother and father had run away together after having an affair, abandoning me behind.

‘They said my relatives only took me in because they wanted a larger share of my grandparents’ inheritance under the excuse of childcare expenses.’

But after years passed without any contact from my parents, they began treating me terribly.

[“An academic high school? Are you shameless because you take after your parents?”]

[“You should be working immediately instead of wasting money…”]

Deadweight. Parasite.

Money-eating pest.

Hearing those words every single day, with no one to stand up for me, filled me with bitterness and misery until I became twisted.

One day, after school, I wandered around instead of going home, and some kids laughed as they watched me.

[“You want to do something like that in broad daylight? In this day and age?”]

[“Whatever. She doesn’t have a mom or dad anyway.”]

[“What did you just say?”]

I grabbed them by the hair and fought them desperately.

‘…Maybe recklessly charging in like that was why I reincarnated as a doomed imperial princess.’

Anyway, whenever I was treated miserably in my previous life, I prayed over and over again.

Please, let me have a family that loves me too.

A family who considers my existence a blessing.

A family who loves me simply because I am me.

Unfortunately, that wish was never granted before I died in a traffic accident.

‘And now that I’ve reincarnated into this game, I finally met parents who truly love me.’

Did the empress and crown prince know that meeting Mother and Father in this life was the very thing I had desperately wished for throughout my previous life?

‘Mother, I don’t think I can keep my promise to pretend I don’t know who’s behind this.’

Perhaps my body had recovered somewhat, because my eyes opened naturally.

A whole day must have passed.

The thick velvet curtains blocked most of the sunlight pouring through the windows.

The room before me was so luxurious that the old me from my previous life could never even have imagined it.

‘To think I lived twenty years without realizing how fortunate this was.’

Now that I remembered my past life, I could truly feel how much I had been blessed with in this one.

The beloved daughter of the emperor of the empire—a golden spoon among golden spoons.

With so many resources at my disposal, perhaps I could put the knowledge from my previous life to use in many ways.

“Ah…”

As I let out a faint groan and shifted slightly, the priests and royal physician in the room straightened immediately.

Seeing their black clothing reminded me of Mother’s final moments, making my chest ache.

“Princess Frey, how are you feeling?”

“Please drink some warm water first.”

“……”

What caught my attention next was how excessively tense they were.

Of course, I knew exactly why they acted as though a single mistake would cost them their heads.

Even before I could speak properly, I had constantly shrunk back in fear because of the killing intent directed at me by the empress and the crown prince’s faction.

They were powerful enough to kill me at any time, and they occasionally threatened my life outright, destroying my mental state.

As time passed, I became hypersensitive even to the smallest stimuli, like sudden loud noises.

Even during meals, if I saw unfamiliar utensils or ingredients, I assumed the empress had sent them to poison me.

“Get that… away from me right now! Immediately!”

I had always been terrified of death, leaving my nerves constantly on edge.

At first, I was merely frightened, but over time rumors spread that I took out the stress of being ignored by the empress on the servants instead.

The mistakes I made while desperately trying to survive gradually became known as acts of cruelty.

Contrary to the rumors, I had never physically abused anyone or relentlessly tormented someone until they broke.

‘Now that I think about it, I probably hid away even more because I was afraid of the rumors spreading.’

But the moment I recalled the future of this world from my previous life, my fear quickly faded.

Which meant I no longer needed to throw hysterical fits born of terror.

“...Thank you.”

As I accepted the cup of warm water and said those words, everyone’s eyes widened.

As though I had suddenly spoken in some alien language they had never heard before.

“Princess Frey… what did you just say?”

“Royal physician. Is there a possibility of brain damage caused by the shock?”

“I’ll examine her immediately, Your Reverence.”

“……”

Seeing people far older than me react this way was embarrassing enough to make my life in a Confucian society feel absurd.

Normally, I would have gotten angry, but—

‘Things are different now.’

If I wanted revenge against the empress and crown prince—and if I wanted to change my future—I needed to make people stand on my side.

And there could not have been a better turning point than this.

That didn’t mean I intended to act like some naïve saint.

People would grow suspicious, and if I appeared too easygoing like I had in my previous life, everything would only become harder.

‘Be strong toward the strong. Be different toward the weak.’

“Thank you for taking care of me even after Mother passed away. And for doing your best for her yesterday as well.”

As I lowered my gaze, my reflection appeared in the empty cup.

Brilliant golden hair that resembled Father perfectly. Red eyes and long lashes inherited from Mother.

“Thanks to all of you, I survived.”

Though unfortunately, Mother had not.

When I murmured those words with a face full of sorrow, their eyes trembled.

Eyes filled with sympathy.

It seemed none of them believed that someone like me—who had never shown any political skill—could survive the empress and crown prince’s relentless attacks.

I pressed my lips tightly together as though holding back tears before finally asking,

“What about Mother’s funeral?”

“It is scheduled to be held after sunset today.”

I silently nodded.

Mother’s funeral would likely be modest, just as she had jokingly wished during her lifetime.

She had wanted to avoid Father becoming a political target because of her funeral.

After the royal physician and priests completed several examinations, I accepted the black dress they handed me and asked,

“Her Majesty the Empress must be too busy to attend, I suppose.”

It sounded more like mockery than a question.

But the answer I received stabbed into my chest and tore it apart.

“Well… we heard that Her Majesty the Empress and her associates are hosting a party tonight in the White Chrysanthemum Garden.”