Chapter 01 Prologue
Ariletti Cadiz.
The most infamous villainess in the entire history of the Bertel Empire.
The most foolish villainess in the world—betrayed not once, but twice.
The world around her was nothing but white.
Ariletti lay in the middle of a snowfield, staring up at the drifting flakes falling from the sky.
She had lived two lives.
And she had regressed twice.
Now, at the beginning of her third life, she quietly reflected on the past.
A complete failure.
There was no better word for it.
Her life had been a spectacular disaster.
She had been born with nothing—an orphan with no one in the world, surviving by begging on the streets.
When she grew a little older, she worked in a filthy, foul-smelling general store, beaten by the owner while running endless errands. Then, at the age of twelve—when she first realized a mysterious power had awakened within her—she met her prince.
Ariletti’s prince was Albert Pederka, the First Prince of the Bertel Empire.
“You are one of a kind. A precious time sorcerer chosen by the White Forest.”
A time sorcerer.
Among the four powers of the White Forest, spoken of only in history books, this was the most absolute—so powerful it was considered a miracle itself: the power of regression.
As Ariletti stood there in stunned disbelief, First Prince Albert smiled sweetly and held out his hand.
“Your father was Baron Cadiz, purged for treason. Ten years ago, your mother fled with you on her back. Ordinarily, you would have shared their fate. But I want to give you a chance.”
“A… chance? For me?”
“Yes. A chance to let your ability bloom brilliantly. So, Ariletti… won’t you work for me?”
He was the first person who ever acknowledged her worth. The first to give her life a reason.
After stepping into the imperial palace at his side, Ariletti devoted her entire youth to making him emperor.
She became the strategist behind his cruel schemes, eliminating his rivals.
She became the villainess who took the blame for his scandals.
She even became his secret lover.
All for one thing—to place a golden crown upon his head.
She rewound time again and again, reshaping the world over and over.
She believed that if she did that, he would one day turn her into the princess of a fairy tale.
“Aril, my beloved angel. You are the greatest gift the White Forest has given me. Once I ascend the throne, I will make you my empress.”
She should never have believed those words.
When her prince finally became emperor, he married a real princess from a neighboring nation—one who could offer him political support.
Ariletti, who had dirtied her hands and her name for him, was discarded overnight.
If he was going to throw her away, he could have at least exiled her somewhere far from sight.
Instead, the bastard locked her in prison and threatened her.
“The physician says you don’t have long to live. Before it’s too late, you’d better pass on the Sage’s power.”
That was the first time she learned her ability could be inherited by someone else.
It was also the first time she learned the price of using it was her lifespan—that she had already burned away years of her life without realizing it.
“Your Highness, how could you do this to me? Why me…?”
“You seem to be mistaken. This was your purpose from the beginning, Ariletti. Without that ‘great’ ability of yours, do you really think someone like you could have held your head high in this palace?”
“You said… I was precious. That you cherished me…”
“That was when you could use your power without issue. Once you die, your ability disappears too. Ah, enough. You’re irritating.”
“Your Highness!”
“Sir Bodafetti, silence her and throw her into the dungeon. Find out how to take the power of regression from her. Use any means necessary.”
She was locked underground for weeks, the air thick with the stench of rotting corpses.
Eventually, she died.
When she opened her eyes, she was twelve again—the moment she had first awakened her power.
In her second life, Ariletti resolved to kill the man she had once called her lord and lover.
She approached his political rival, the Second Prince Lucius, and Lucius’s fiancée, Lady Pembroke.
The three of them swore brotherhood and burned with shared resolve.
“The three of us will die on the same day.”
“To the most painful death for that piece of trash, First Prince Albert!”
“Thank you, Lucius. Tenensia…”
For them—and to kill Albert—there was nothing Ariletti wouldn’t do.
She doubled Lucius’s power base, using her memories and her ability to secure his victories.
Blinded by revenge, how much blood had she stained her hands with?
And yet, the ending was the same.
When her revenge was finally within reach, the Second Prince and his bride—whom she had trusted as brothers—betrayed her.
Not only did they stab her in the back, they declared her a wanted criminal.
“Capture the Sage of the White Forest! She wields the power of regression. She must be taken alive—we must uncover the secrets of the Forest! Once we do, the throne is ours!”
They had never cared about her revenge.
From the very beginning, all they wanted was her power—and the secrets of the White Forest.
In the end, they were no different from First Prince Albert.
Filth. All of them.
Branded a criminal across the empire, Ariletti ran for a full year.
Because her lifespan had already been carved away in chunks during her first life, the end of her second came even faster.
When she had nowhere left to run, she threw herself off a cliff.
And when she opened her eyes again—
She was here.
A silent snowfield under heavy, falling flakes.
This time… where had she returned to?
She didn’t know.
Everything she had built across two lifetimes had crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by waves.
What did I even live for?
Lies? Betrayal? Hypocrisy?
And what did I gain?
Pain. Blood. Wounds. Suffering.
I’m tired.
Truly, utterly exhausted.
Everywhere she turned, there were people trying to use her.
Give them your heart, and they betray you.
Close your heart, and they pry it open and stab you anyway.
For what? For this stupid power?
She didn’t want it anymore.
Why struggle so desperately just to survive?
It was exhausting.
She was done.
The moment she decided that, a strange calm washed over her.
Then something stirred inside her coat.
—Get up! Get up! Are you planning to freeze to death here?!
The shrill voice was unbearably noisy.
From between her worn collar, a thin twig-like thing popped out and began smacking her face.
—This might be your last chance! I went through all that trouble to bring you back, and now you want to vanish without a trace? Huh?!
What’s the point of living? I’ll just die again in a few years.
She knew better than anyone.
She had abused her power so recklessly that only a few years of life remained.
—You idiot! Fine, then at least find a successor before you die! The seat of the Sage of the White Forest must never be left empty—not even for a moment!
Who was it calling who an idiot?
Annoyance flared weakly in her chest.
This is all your fault in the first place, you bastard.
If you hadn’t existed.
If I never had this power…
Maybe she would have lived her whole life begging in the streets.
But at least her soul wouldn’t have shattered like this.
Her body was slowly sinking into the freezing snow. She couldn’t feel anything anymore—and she didn’t care.
I just want to rest.
But even that final wish was denied.
The ground began to tremble with uneven, pounding thuds.
Horses.
A group riding hard across the snow.
“Captain! There’s someone over there! Looks small—like a child!”
“A child?”
A young man’s voice followed.
“I thought it was some kind of flower bush in the middle of winter.”
Ariletti’s hair was deep crimson. Spread out across the snow, it must have looked like a large flowering shrub from afar.
“Is it a boy?”
“No, I think it’s a girl… Wait, she’s even smaller up close. She’s tiny.”
Tiny? Who are you calling tiny?
“Go check. See if she’s alive or dead.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Footsteps crunched through the snow as someone approached.
Crunch. Crunch.
A shadow fell over her.
Ariletti murmured weakly, “Just… leave me.”
Let me die like this.
But she could feel a gaze burning into her.
With no choice, she forced her eyes open.
A knight with bristly brown beard and sharp gray eyes was staring down at her.
