I finally stood here.
The Eternal Moon Ball.
A stage where I would be recognized as the Empire’s only princess.
“Your Highness, are you nervous?”
At my partner’s whisper, I firmly shook my head.
“No, I’m not nervous. I’ve waited for this day for a very long time.”
That was right. I had lived only for this moment until now. There was absolutely no room for failure.
Seeing my wide, determined eyes, the servant—mistakenly thinking everything was ready—shouted loudly.
“Princess Ella Luminous, Her Highness, is entering!”
Before I could even take a deep breath, the doors swung open.
A dazzling crystal chandelier poured brilliant light over the hall, filled with nobles in luxurious attire.
Their pale faces and blood-red eyes stood out sharply.
They were vampires—the nobles who ruled the Empire.
Shock and anger were clearly visible on their faces as they looked up at me from the stairs.
“A dhampir…?”
“A half-blood… and she’s the princess?”
The word dhampir—a human-vampire hybrid—echoed through the hall.
Ignoring the rising murmurs, I began walking down the stairs with a determined expression.
If you have a problem, go talk to my father!
If you don’t like it, talk to my mother!
It’s not like I chose to be born a half-blood, so I don’t care for your complaints!
I stomped on the final step with a loud sound, and the hall fell silent.
My partner, who had practically been dragged down with me, suddenly burst into laughter.
‘Hey you! Is this funny right now?!’
While I shot him a glare, the frozen nobles quickly stepped aside.
Like the Red Sea parting, a path opened—and a man stood at the center.
Long black hair that reached the floor. Ruby-like red eyes. Skin so pale it looked almost translucent.
Even his ornate robe and jewel-studded formal attire could not hide his distant, hollow aura.
Yet he was the most noble being here.
The Emperor himself.
He looked at me with crimson eyes and spoke.
“What are you doing? This is the Princess’s presence.”
Everyone snapped back to their senses. Those quick to react immediately knelt.
Like falling dominoes, the rest followed.
Some gritted their teeth, some hid their anger, some forced bitter smiles.
But they all said the same thing:
“Long live the Princess!”
Seeing my confusion, the Emperor frowned.
“There is no need to be intimidated. This place exists only for you.”
His low voice pressed down on everyone still kneeling. Watching them tremble, I spoke.
“Everyone, stand up.”
At my words, they slowly rose. Some were visibly unsteady, shaken by the pressure.
Then the Emperor extended his hand.
It was time for the first dance of the ball.
When my eyes met my partner’s, he smiled faintly and stepped back.
Now alone, I took a deep breath and stepped forward.
The moment I took the Emperor’s hand, memories flashed before my eyes like a storm.
Everything that had led me here… back to the day I was reincarnated.
That night, on my way home, I received a strange message.
[Web Message]
Congratulations! ✧.◝(˘ᗜ˘)◜.✧
You have been reincarnated into the last book you read.
Enjoy your new world and your adventure!
“What the—spam?”
The moment I deleted the disturbing message, a sharp screech echoed.
A car had jumped onto the sidewalk and was rushing toward me.
“Huh?”
I thought of dodging—but there was no time.
A massive impact sent my body flying through the air.
That was my last memory of my previous life.
When I opened my eyes again, I had already been reincarnated.
“King of Blood and Thorns.”
A fantasy novel about a boy suffering in an evil empire who takes revenge on vampires for killing his mother.
It was commonly called “Blood King.”
I loved this novel—even though it was ridiculously violent and full of nonsense plot holes.
But that didn’t mean I wanted to be born inside it!
[You have been reincarnated into the last book you read.]
Yes. I had been thrown into a trashy novel where vampires run wild and half the cast dies.
Luckily, I had been reborn in a tiny country at the far edge of the Empire.
In other words, I was basically an irrelevant speck who wouldn’t even appear in the original story.
‘Honestly, this is better.’
If I had been a vampire, I would’ve lived in constant fear of dying.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I jumped at the sound of pounding on the wall. Dust rained down from the attic ceiling.
“Ella! You lazy girl worse than a pig! Are you still sleeping? If you don’t get up right now, I’ll break your legs!”
“I’m coming down!”
I quickly sat up from the straw pile.
Carefully avoiding the low ceiling, I climbed down the ladder and saw my furious aunt.
Before I could explain, her hand swung.
“Ah!”
Smack.
I grabbed my cheek and teared up.
Of course, it didn’t really hurt—but it was better not to let her know that.
“Go clean right now! If you slack off even once more, you’ll starve until tomorrow!”
“…Yes.”
I lowered my head and answered quietly.
My aunt turned and left.
Only after she disappeared did I look up again.
“Phew… good thing I wasn’t caught.”
My name in this life was Ella. An 8-year-old orphan with no home and no money.
But I had one special thing.
[Web Message]
Cleaning Time of Rage ₍₍ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ⁾⁾
The angrier you are, the harder you clean!
-Reward: 20 EXP
Maybe because I died while holding a phone in my past life, a strange window appeared in front of me like a smartphone.
I named it “Spam.”
Spam was my only companion—almost like a friend.
If Spam didn’t exist, things would’ve been much harder.
I swiped the window aside, and my status appeared.
[Name: Ella (Dhampir)]
Title: Cleaning Master of the Small Inn
HP: A+
Intelligence: F
Agility: E
Will: B
Luck: C-
Level: 29
Points: 0
Yes. It was basically a game system.
By cleaning and doing chores, I earned EXP from Spam and slowly leveled up.
Every time I leveled up, I got 1 point to allocate.
I always invested it into HP.
In a harsh place like this, where work was hard and food was scarce, at least I needed stamina to survive.
But now my HP was A+, so even when my aunt slapped me with full force, it barely felt like anything—I had to pretend it hurt.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would’ve raised intelligence instead.’
I regretted looking at my embarrassingly low intelligence stat.
Unlike other stats, intelligence hadn’t grown at all.
‘I’ll definitely raise intelligence next time.’
I made up my mind and looked at the top of the status window.
[Name: Ella (Dhampir)]
“Spam, when are you going to tell me what ‘dhampir’ means?”
Spam, as always, didn’t answer that question.
It was annoying how it would explain everything else but stay silent only when I asked this.
As I pouted, I suddenly heard footsteps rushing up the stairs again.
My aunt came running with an excited expression and grabbed my arm.
“Hurry! Your father sent someone to bring you!”
…What?
I’m an orphan… so I have a father?
