“Why…”

Baeksa murmured as she stared down at her tiny hands.

“Why… am I back?”

The moment she awoke, Baeksa was overcome with shock.

She had opened her eyes in her own residence inside the imperial palace.

This wasn’t the Southern Lands, where black snow fell endlessly and the cold seeped into one’s bones.

How had she returned to the palace?

Had Father… given her another chance?

Had he picked up the daughter he abandoned and brought her back?

But if that were true, something was strange.

There wasn’t a single black spot on her body.

Just as she had been before awakening her Ability, her body was completely pure.

Wanting a closer look, the little girl spun around in place.

Brilliant five-colored mist rose around her, and from within it appeared a tiny baby snake.

Having transformed into her beast form, Baeksa looked down at her tail.

Not a single black mark could be found anywhere on her long, white body, as smooth as a freshly steamed rice cake.

Just then—

“Hey! Snake!”

With a loud crash, a boy barged into Baeksa’s residence.

It was Songra, her older half-brother and the Second Prince born to the Empress.

Baeksa froze the moment she saw him.

‘On Brother Songra’s forehead…’

The Dragon Mark was still there.

The golden emblem was possessed by every dragon capable of using the Ability known as Blessing.

But Songra had lost that mark when he was ten years old.

“Y-You…! What have you done?!”

Because when Baeksa awakened her Ability, she had absorbed part of his Blessing.

After losing a portion of it, the mark on Songra’s forehead never returned.

Because of that, Baeksa had endured endless abuse and condemnation from both Songra and the Empress.

But now… the mark was still there?

If that was true…

‘Don’t tell me… I’ve returned to the past?’

An unbelievable possibility surfaced in Baeksa’s mind.

‘If that’s really what happened…’

Then no matter how Songra bullied her, she must not react.

As Songra grabbed her and tormented her, Baeksa squeezed her eyes shut and silently endured everything.

“How funny. Why won’t you even turn into your human form?”

Unlike before, she didn’t wish to run away.

Nor did she wish to become a magnificent dragon like Songra.

Because if she entertained those thoughts…

That incident might happen again.

“Tch.”

“…”

“You’re no fun today. What’s wrong with you? Did you eat something weird?”

When Baeksa gave him absolutely no reaction, Songra quickly grew bored and left.

Only after he was gone did Baeksa slowly open her tightly shut eyes.

After confirming no one else was in the room, she slipped outside through a small opening in the door.

She bit a single wild blade of grass growing outside the residence between her teeth and activated her Ability.

Sssss—

“…!”

Just as she had expected, the grass lost all its life force and withered away.

Her greedy Ability had already awakened.

Whether it was life or death.

Blessing or contamination.

It was a horrifying Ability that greedily devoured everything that existed.

Calming her racing heart, Baeksa organized her thoughts.

“I really have returned to the past.”

To before she awakened her Ability.

Before she became Father’s tool.

If she had reacted to Songra’s bullying just moments ago, everything would have unfolded exactly as it had before.

Having reached that conclusion, Baeksa looked up at the sky.

Wait.

Would it really be so bad if everything happened the same way again?

Shouldn’t I become Father’s tool once more?

Maybe… this time I could do better.

Maybe I could become even more useful.

Then I wouldn’t be abandoned…

But then she remembered her father’s cold expression as he cast her aside without hesitation.

Her shoulders drooped.

‘What a foolish thought.’

If she truly had returned to the past, nothing she did would change the future.

She would still be forced to absorb the energy inside the owner of that mysterious hand according to her father’s orders.

And when it was over…

Her merciless father would abandon her again.

She didn’t want that.

If that future awaited her no matter what…

She refused to walk that path again.

Working until her nose bled.

Pushing herself desperately to use her Ability just to earn her father’s approval.

Living in constant fear that once she was no longer useful, she would be thrown away.

She was tired of that life.

“Then… what should I do?”

At that moment, she remembered something her father had said before her death.

“I had been planning to throw you into the southern lands soon anyway.”

She later learned those words had been true because of Songra.

After Baeksa stole part of his Blessing, he had screamed at her in fury.

“If it weren’t for that disgusting Ability of yours, you’d have been abandoned soon anyway! You know that?”

“Sob… You would’ve been abandoned! If Father had thrown you away just one week earlier…”

“One week…”

That meant the Emperor would abandon her in the Southern Lands exactly one week from now.

After thinking for a while, Baeksa made up her mind.

This time…

Instead of trying to earn love, she would simply let herself be abandoned.

If the same future was waiting for her anyway, she didn’t want to remain inside this horrible imperial palace any longer.

Even if she only had a single day left to live…

She wanted to spend it outside the palace.

Somewhere no one looked at her with disgust or treated her as filthy.

Besides…

‘I want to see it.’

That pearl she had seen at the very end of her previous life.

She hadn’t gotten a clear look at it, but it had undoubtedly resembled a Dragon Pearl.

‘If only I could see it one more time.’

If she could find out what it really was…

She thought she wouldn’t mind dying earlier in this life.

But first…

She had to hide her Ability.

If she was lucky, she might survive there for several days.

After all, her Ability could absorb anything.

Since she hadn’t absorbed anything yet, it would take time before her body filled completely with contamination.

Four days should be enough to discover the truth behind that mysterious pearl.

Of course…

It might never appear again.

Even so, Baeksa wanted to return there.

Whether it appeared or not, she felt she had to see the place with her own eyes.

And if fortune smiled on her…

She might even meet the beastfolk said to be living in those exiled lands.

Perhaps, with a little kindness from them, she could survive for a few more days.

‘Though… they probably won’t be kind to me.’

Still…

Anything would be better than living here.

Having already lived through it once, Baeksa knew there was no place lonelier or sadder than the imperial palace.

But after deciding to leave, one thing continued to weigh on her mind.

‘That hand.’

The hand whose owner’s energy she had absorbed every single day under the Emperor’s orders.

What will happen to that person after I’m gone?

The energy inside that person’s body had been powerful enough to destroy Baeksa’s small body and ultimately kill her.

If she disappeared…

Baeksa stared blankly at her own hands.

While living in the imperial palace, there had been moments when that hand had brought her comfort.

Its owner never spoke.

Never moved.

Never hated her or pushed her away.

But at the same time, it made her unbearably sad.

The only beastfolk in the palace who never rejected her…

Was someone lying there as still as if they were dead.

Because of that, Baeksa sincerely wished that woman would wake up soon.

And even after waking…

She hoped the woman wouldn’t shake off her hand.

But she was afraid as well.

Afraid that once the woman awoke, Baeksa would no longer have any purpose.

Afraid that the owner of that hand would push her away as mercilessly as Father had.

Thinking that far, Baeksa shook her head vigorously.

‘No.’

If she kept thinking like that…

She wouldn’t be able to leave.

And then, just like before, she would become Father’s tool once again…

Only to be discarded in the end.

“I’m sorry… nameless lady.”

Remembering the young woman’s hand, Baeksa curled herself into a coil with a sorrowful expression.

“Even if I stay… I’ll soon become useless anyway.”

So please find another way.

Wake up as soon as possible… and recover completely.

Baeksa sincerely wished for the woman to awaken soon.

After all, it was thanks to holding that hand that she had managed to extend her own life, if only for a little while.

She had now given up even that.

But that didn’t mean the feelings she had experienced back then had disappeared.

Even now…

It felt as though the familiar, nostalgic fragrance she had smelled by that woman’s side still lingered at the tip of her nose.

Inside a room softly illuminated by lamplight.

The Emperor lifted the long curtain of hanging beads before him with one hand and asked,

“How is her condition?”