.｡.:✧ Chapter 3 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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When I realized that the place I had been reincarnated into was a romance fantasy novel that I had previously read and discarded, and that the setting of the novel was not kept as is, but rather the genders were reversed and even the gender of the characters was changed, I wondered what I should do.

I pondered it, but there was no answer.

It wasn’t just one or two strange things. The situation was truly a jumbled, chaotic mess to the point where I couldn’t make sense of what was what. In such a situation, even a career counselor wouldn’t be able to provide an answer.

With a deeply furrowed brow, I agonized over it for quite a while. Eventually, I let out a sigh that wasn’t quite a sigh.

“Why did I only realize that now…”

It had already been 20 years since I accepted my reincarnation and started living here. Enough time had passed for landscapes to change twice over, and it was a miracle that I was able to realize this was the content of a novel I had read, given human memory capacity. If I hadn’t read it somewhat carefully, I probably wouldn’t have remembered at all.

Of course, the details of the novel’s content were now all hazy. It was a novel I had read more than 20 years ago in terms of my perceived time, so how could I remember the contents?

It’s not like I had a complete memory ability like the protagonists in novels.

“…Well, there is one thing I’m sure of at least.”

The novel I read was an ordinary romance fantasy novel, and it definitely did not contain content about the children suddenly regressing and causing chaos like this. In other words, I know it’s a novel, but the development of the world I’m living in now is very different from the contents of that novel.

After pondering it for a while longer, I placed the newspapers I had collected in front of the entrance and sat down at my desk. Then I opened the magic book I had been reading.

“What’s the point of agonizing over it?”

I had procrastinated as much as I could, but it’s not like the contents of the novel I had forgotten would come back to me just because I fretted over it.

I might as well just finish reading the magic book I was reading.

And Princess Elena had definitely said she would be inspecting Count Weiss’ territory, so when she comes and I see her face-to-face, I might be able to figure something out then.

Oh, but seriously, why did they regress?

…I should ask Princess Elena when I meet her. As far as I can recall, there was no such content in the original work.

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“…..”

She had returned. The process of becoming aware of that fact was chaotic. Memories flooded in like a tidal wave. For a moment, she had a headache and her head throbbed.

Her jet black hair and equally black eyes like obsidian, eyes that sparkled mysteriously as if holding starlight, were now filled with regret.

“…I’ve returned. I can start over from the beginning again.”

In her dry, soft murmur, undisguised elation flickered. She had received a blessing that could only be described as a miracle – the ability to regress to the past she had desperately wanted to rewind. If she knew she was not the only one granted this, her joy would be dampened, but…

At least for now, that was the case.

Eileen Nord.

The Grand Duchess of the Nord Duchy and the rightful ruler of the Nord Grand Duchy that had defended against invasions by northern barbarians and demonic beasts for generations. She was also a member of the imperial family with imperial blood.

To defend against the invasion of barbarians from beyond the Great Wall, she could conscript an almost unlimited number of soldiers at all times, and her personal fighting prowess was among the top ranks across the entire continent.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Eileen already had everything. However, there was one thing even Eileen Nord could not have until the very end.

“Rudrick……”

Her regretful murmur dissipated into the cold northern air. However, even the harsh northern winter could not extinguish the flames that had already begun burning fiercely in her heart.

I should not have loved him, she had muttered self-derisively dozens, hundreds of times. But those were not her true feelings, as much as she now thought it would have been better if she had discarded him for another lover once she realized how beautifully he would depart from her life.

The incurable curse that had taken root in her from birth had already grown too large for her to do anything about by the time she became aware of it.

Until the very end, all she could do was hold his increasingly sickly face and repeat the empty platitude that he would pull through.

“…I will not experience that again.”

Eileen declared dryly yet resolutely. A keen observer might have noticed the solemnity and passion contained in her voice.

The peaceful sleeping face flashed through her mind, no longer drawing breath. It was an agonizing memory she could never forget.

That pitiful experience was enough for one lifetime.

Never in her life had she called out to God as much as she did then. Nor had she cursed God as much.

But in the end, God did not abandon Eileen Nord and Rudrick Weiss. Thanks to that, at this very moment, she was able to regress eight years back into the past once more.

Plop.

Tears that had welled up fell from her delicate eyelashes.

“How unsightly of me.”

Muttering impassively, Eileen wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and rose, heading to the balcony attached to her study.

Unlike the study where the fireplace warmly burned, as soon as she opened the balcony doors, the cold, biting northern air assaulted her mercilessly.

But who was she? None other than Eileen of the bloodied Nords.

The number of demonic beasts and northern barbarians slain by her hand was too numerous to count. Just as her ancestors had defended the Great Wall from all threats through the generations for the Nord Duchy, so too must she follow in their footsteps.

Only, what she had to protect until her last breath was not the massive wall.

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It was completely dark. Nothing out of the ordinary. For her, the sun’s light was an existence as accursed as could be, and the darkness that had fallen over the world felt more cozy and familiar.

Vampire.

With an appearance indistinguishable from humans, living among them in hiding, but unable to survive without draining the blood of humans to the death – a demonic beast.

As long as she lived, she could only crave human blood, and being a vampire rather than a human, she could never truly develop bonds with humans. To a vampire, humans were merely frail beings who provided fresh blood whenever she was hungry, only to eventually die.

To sustain life meant killing someone and usurping their blood.

However, even for her who had lived close to an eternity, the experience of the past 8 years was novel. It could be called the first real stimulation in her long life.

‘…If you need blood, drink mine.’

‘Don’t spout such foolishness. Even a sturdy woman would quickly die if I drank her blood. Could a frail person like you possibly endure it?’

‘But I’m a mage?’

‘…What did you say?’

‘I can heal minor wounds on my own. So wouldn’t it be okay? As long as you control yourself a bit while drinking, Arwen.’

‘…It makes no difference whether you are a mage or not. Not a single mage has been among the humans whose blood I’ve drained until now.’

‘That’s because you never intended to control yourself back then, fool!’

‘……’

Tears streamed down her pale skin. From those violet eyes that others had scornfully called bewitching, but that someone had complimented as beautiful as amethysts with pure sincerity.

Vampires do not cry tears. It was said that even the progenitors, more evolved existences than regular vampires, were no exception.

“…I was wrong.”

The hot tears streaming down her cheeks were a foreign sensation to Arwen. There had truly been no occasion in her life for her to shed tears.

But even a progenitor vampire could cry tears. She had come to learn this new fact in a way she never wanted.

Muttering under her breath, Arwen kicked open the lid of her coffin and rose.

Normally, kicking open the very coffin that served as her sole resting place and den would have been considered unbefitting of dignity. But in the current circumstances, it was a different story.

An opportunity had arisen to change the tragically predetermined fate that even the power of a progenitor vampire could not defy.

“If there truly is a God… I suppose I must express gratitude.”

More than anyone, she had admired humans but could not become one – a monster.

It was not words one would expect from Arwen, who had cursed God while deeming that fate a curse. At least, any acquaintance vampires or subordinates who knew her would have been aghast to hear such words.

Color was returning to the monochrome world that had been painted as a tragedy. Even in the cozy darkness of night, her violet eyes glinted sharply, able to pierce straight through the darkness.

“First, I will go to the human empire. I need to see him.”

Arwen muttered, her gaze turning towards the ancient window of the old castle where she had dwelled, beyond. If it were her past self, she would have simply remained in her territory without anything to do for three years before heading to the human empire.

But now, the situation was different. There was no time.

She had to find a way to undo the cursed bloodline before it manifested and grew stronger, not leaving Rudrick as she had helplessly in the past, beyond even the reach of the vampire progenitors.

From now on, it would be a race against time.

Murmuring softly, Arwen’s figure dissipated into the darkness of the night without a trace.

Shortly after, a swarm of dozens of bats took flight from the abandoned castle.

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