Chapter 2

To describe Cia's situation in one word, it would be 'a regression that isn't quite a regression.'

In her first life, Cia hadn't been close to Duke Tenneris. Therefore, she had no idea why or how he had ended up destroying the world.

All she vividly remembered was the sky suddenly turning dark, fierce storm-like winds blowing from all directions, and ashes flying everywhere.

'Everyone, run!'

'Kyaaa, help me!'

Someone well-versed in magic had tried to stop the phenomenon, calling it 'mana runaway' or something, but it was no use.

Cia, who had been glaring at the large crow statue that symbolized House Tenneris, tilted her head.

'Did he go down the wrong path because he was a dark mage?'

Mages in the kingdom were born with various attributes, and among them, the 'darkness' possessed by Duke Tenneris was a very rare attribute.

Since it was an attribute that primarily dealt with the annihilation of all things—in other words, death and destruction—it didn't have a good reputation.

'Magic related to death? Doesn't that sound ominous?'

'I heard some prophet from long ago said that one day, a tremendous dark mage would destroy this kingdom.'

Whoever it was, they were a skilled prophet. Though they were wrong about it being just this kingdom—the entire world was destroyed.

After thinking for a moment, Cia shook her head.

'It's probably more due to his personality than his magic attribute.'

She'd once overheard someone badmouthing Duke Tenneris, saying he must have received his magical power in exchange for his humanity.

He indeed kept people at a distance, and even when he did appear at social events, he maintained distance from others. On the rare occasions he did speak, he had a personality that bluntly said whatever he wanted without considering the listener's feelings.

And those who disliked his haughty attitude spread all sorts of rumors.

'Just because he's from House Tenneris, he thinks he's something special? He almost fell from grace, you know.'

'He's so cocky just because he has strong magic, but it's just darkness attribute anyway.'

'Right, isn't that unlucky?'

At some point, ominous rumors began spreading—that people who encountered the Duke sprained their ankles, started losing hair, and so on.

People would joke that if something unfortunate happened to someone, it must be because they'd displeased Duke Tenneris.

He was truly the icon of misfortune in the Astley Kingdom.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Aha, so that's how it works."

Using Janet's scream as background music, Cia began carefully observing the facility she was about to enter.

Wind magic to blow off dust, water magic to spray disinfectant, fire magic to blow warm air... It really was an automatic car wash. The only difference was that people went in instead of cars.

It would be a bit dizzying, but it seemed manageable enough—a car wash, or rather, a person wash.

'It looks like a facility made with magical engineering—I wonder where they commissioned it?'

Even to Cia, who hadn't studied this field deeply, it was clearly a facility that employed highly advanced technology.

'It probably wasn't a regular magic shop. Maybe the Academy?'

As she stood there staring blankly for a while, Janet, exhausted from screaming, stumbled out.

'Ah, this isn't the time for daydreaming.'

Closing her eyes tightly and stepping into the device, a strong wind hit Cia's face.

As she'd confirmed through Janet beforehand, passing through the facility wasn't a problem.

Except for one thing—at the moment the disinfectant sprayed, she breathed in wrong and got a little in her mouth.

"Ptooey ptooey ptooey. Ugh, why is the peppermint so strong."

Cia grimaced at the sharp sensation reminiscent of mint toothpaste and rushed out of the person-wash.

'Since I've come this far, I absolutely must get some hint about this so-called mission or whatever.'

Staring at the now-open mansion door, Cia steeled her resolve.

Shortly after dying in this place that Cia had arbitrarily named the 'First World,' she was somehow reborn in another world while retaining her memories.

At first, she thought this was incredible luck.

'Living another life with adult memories means I can get ahead of everyone else this time, right?'

She had even asked the woman with the surname Shin, who was adopting her, to give her the name 'Cynthia' again—to make up for the regret of her first life that had ended so meaninglessly.

'Of course, life didn't work out so easily...'

She'd become a fairly decent member of society and thought she was living well enough, but...

<SYSTEM: Welcome back to the First World!>

One day, she opened her eyes and found herself back in the First World, at a point not long before its destruction.

<SYSTEM: Special Mission—Save the World from Destruction! Upon completion, generous rewards (※Subject to change upon confirmation) await Cynthia Astley!>

'Wait, how exactly am I supposed to save it? Did they release an unedited version? And what's with the typo in my name?!'

She'd argued with the empty air, but the dry status window only showed the destruction probability going up and down in real time.

'Should I just ignore it?'

Perhaps she'd had an accident in the Second World and had to return to the First World—maybe she could just wait it out.

'Ugh, this is so annoying!'

Even after about a week had passed, Cia still couldn't get used to the status window.

Even now, sitting in the ducal residence's reception room, the window stubbornly occupying a corner of her vision grated on her nerves.

'Can't close it or hide it... And why does it have to be in Times New Roman?'

That font that designers shudder at with disgust!

Having developed a Korean identity and worked in the related industry in the Second World, seeing this font was particularly painful for Cia.

"Oh, for goodness' sake..."

At the sound that unconsciously escaped her lips, Janet and the butler waiting nearby fidgeted nervously, bowing repeatedly.

"Your Highness, please endure just a little longer. There, there."

"Ahem, I apologize. The Duke will be out shortly."

She hadn't meant for them to hear, but she couldn't exactly say she saw a window in the air—they'd think she was crazy—so Cia let them misunderstand.

As she crunched on the cookie Janet had given her, the delicious combination of chocolate chips and almonds slightly softened her mood.

'Come to think of it, what kind of image did I have anyway.'

Why were the butler and Janet so flustered just because she'd shown a hint of discomfort?

She recalled what her First World self had been like.

'Assertive, stubborn, capricious, easily offended, hungry for attention...'

...Even Cia herself, who had lived as an ordinary person for over twenty years in the Second World, could see that her past self was, in one word, 'the royal family's headache.'

"Ha, really."

Why did they even send her back to this world? If a meteor had hit the Second World and destroyed it too, then send her to a Third World instead. Why did they have to send her back to the time of her embarrassing dark history!

Cia writhed in internal agony.

"He really will be out soon—ah, Duke!"

The butler, who had been anxiously watching her expression, brightened at the sight of someone entering the reception room. Cia was equally relieved and immediately rose to greet him.

"Hello. It's been a while, Duke."

Her straight lips curved into a crooked smile. He too bowed in greeting.

"Indeed. It has been quite a while."

Ah—Cia almost clicked her tongue out loud but barely managed to bite it back.

'From my perspective, I'm meeting him after decades, but from the Duke's perspective, it's been less than a month since our last meeting, right?'

Moreover, it had been a rather 'unpleasant' meeting. Remembering it made Cia's cheeks burn.

'What's so hard about one dance?'

That day was Cynthia Astley's birthday—and not just any birthday, but the day she came of age.

A grand party attended by nearly all the nobles was held, and Cia, being the center of attention for once, was in high spirits.

Then she spotted Warren Tenneris standing in a corner of the ballroom with an expression that said he wouldn't accept anyone's approach.

The man with long, straight legs had an air of indifference to the fact that no one was speaking to him.

Even though he was the only one in plain black formal wear while everyone else was elaborately dressed, his appearance was striking enough to draw eyes naturally.

'He's not wearing party attire?'

The only unusual part of his outfit was the dagger-like objects hanging on either side of his belt. This gave him a slightly dangerous aura.

'Who is that tall, handsome man? I don't think I've seen him before.'

When the young ladies realized who she was pointing at, they made a fuss.

'Oh my, Princess. That's Duke Tenneris.'

'They say just making eye contact with him brings three months of bad luck.'

'He's handsome, but don't stare too openly.'

'Right, what if he curses you?'

Cia had heard rumors about him too, but this was her first time seeing him in person.

'So that's him. What a waste of good looks.'

He did have a somewhat gloomy impression due to his black clothes, but if not for the rumors surrounding him, he would probably have been quite popular.

One of the young ladies surrounding Cia chuckled.

'Are you thinking of asking him for a dance?'

The twentieth birthday in the Astley Kingdom held special meaning. It was the age at which one could formally inherit titles or the throne, and also the age at which one could marry by their own will.

Therefore, nobles held lavish coming-of-age balls, and there was an unspoken rule that no one could refuse a dance requested by the guest of honor on that day.

At first, Cia tried to laugh it off with a 'no way.' She would have, if not for the butler announcing at that very moment in a ringing voice.

'His Highness Prince Philost Astley has arrived!'

'Oh my, His Highness Prince Phil?'

'I heard he had other engagements...'

With everyone's excited attention focused on her younger brother instead of her, Cia gripped her fan tightly.

Why did he have to force himself to come on her special day and try to take all the attention?

A surge of emotion rose in her throat.

'We'll go greet His Highness as well, Princess.'

The people in the ballroom were already crowding around the prince. A heavily made-up smile rose on Cia's face.

'Go ahead. I was thinking of dancing the first dance of the evening with Duke Tenneris anyway.'

'Excuse me? With Duke Tenneris?'

Cia's bombshell declaration achieved the effect she'd wanted.

The fact that eyes that had been passionately fixed on Prince Philost were now turning toward her filled her chest with pride.

She didn't care about the shocked pleas or the wide eyes of disbelief.

She straightened her shoulders, aware of the eyes upon her, and click-clacked her way across the ballroom toward Warren.