Chapter 1
How to Live as a Delinquent Princess in That Grim Child-Raising Novel
According to my memories, today is the day one of the novel’s villains—the Second Prince—almost gets poisoned to death.
[Asphodel! There—there! Poison in the Second Prince’s teacup!]
[Whoa, look at how pitch-black that is. One sip of that and he’s totally done for.]
I stroked the two ferrets whispering on my lap with both hands and turned my head toward where the Second Prince was sitting.
What I saw next made me click my tongue in alarm without realizing it.
Ugh, that’s seriously black as hell. No wonder the kid’s always sickly and frail like a dried-up green onion—he keeps gulping down stuff like that.
Despite the rather hot weather, today’s tea time was being held in the outdoor garden.
Still, magic stones that emitted cool air had been placed around the table, so none of the attendees were suffering from the heat.
Using magic stones just to enjoy hot tea outdoors in the middle of summer—
It really hit me again what an outrageous waste of money this was.
But extravagance like this was nothing unusual here.
After all, this was the imperial palace—where you could probably melt gold just to splash around in it.
“Rubellio, you seem especially low on energy today. There are many new snacks imported from the East, but you haven’t touched any of them.”
“Ah… I think I have an upset stomach.”
“Oh dear. Then at least try some tea. It’s a medicinal tea from the North—it should help soothe your stomach.”
Unable to resist the pressure from those around him, the Second Prince reluctantly reached for the teacup in front of him.
The poisonous aura swirling inside the cup was visible only to me and my familiars.
It had been a while since I’d last seen him, and the amount of poison accumulated in his body had grown alarmingly dense.
If I left him alone like this, he’d definitely end up hovering between life and death for a while—just like in the novel.
Normally, I wouldn’t care about a guy who acted obnoxious every time he saw me.
But unfortunately, I was just too kind.
Pio! Kino! Move out!
[Moving out!]
[Here we gooo!]
As soon as they received my order, the ferrets leapt onto the table as if they’d been waiting for it.
Tap-tap-tap!
“What—what is that?!”
“Aren’t those the Third Princess’s pets?!”
A commotion broke out among the people enjoying their peaceful tea time as my adorable familiars dashed across the table.
The white ferret, Pio, made a huge racket on top of the table, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Kyah!”
Meanwhile, the spotted ferret, Kino, swiftly reached his destination and mercilessly swung his fluffy white paw.
Smack!
“Aaagh!”
The teacup the Second Prince was holding was struck dead-on and went flying.
“Y-you damn vermin!”
The Second Prince’s father, Kuncha—who had always disliked my familiars—shot to his feet, abandoning his usual refined demeanor.
“What are you doing?! Catch those things immediately!”
Without realizing that I’d just extended his precious son’s lifespan, Kuncha trembled with rage.
Well then.
Guess it’s my turn to step in.
Oh divine one, please allow me to become a righteous executioner!
After offering a solemn prayer to the goddess, I took a deep breath.
“Don’t you dare bully my babies—aaaaaaaah!”
My booming voice, projected straight from my gut, echoed throughout the garden.
When I yanked hard on the lace fabric draped over my knees, teacups and cakes flew into the air.
People’s shaking pupils swam through the air like a school of salmon.
Crash!
Clatter!
Tea sets and dishes—including the poisoned teacup—hit the ground and shattered into pieces.
My familiars were already munching on stolen cookies, cackling wickedly.
The once-peaceful garden tea time collapsed into complete chaos in an instant.
“A-Asphodel! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Y-Your Highness!”
It was a midsummer day, about half a year after I had possessed this godforsaken grim child-raising novel and begun my third life as a princess.
To explain why I decided to throw away my reputation and become a delinquent princess—
We’ll have to rewind time quite a bit.
Chapter 2
Beware the Author’s Curse
“Is the author insane…?”
The phone I was holding slipped uselessly and fell onto my face.
I was completely stunned by the shocking ending of the web novel I had just finished reading.
<Princess Asphodel>.
Just as the simple title suggested, it was a romance fantasy novel that followed a female protagonist reincarnated as a princess, starting from her childhood.
In an era overflowing with child-raising stories, it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking—but a well-executed cliché is always delicious.
One thing that made it a little different, though, was that the emperor was the mother, not the father.
The royal family didn’t give birth naturally; instead, they combined magic in a divine sanctuary touched by the breath of gods to produce heirs—a fantasy setting detail that was surprisingly intriguing.
The colorful lineup of fathers, siblings, and scene-stealing supporting characters blended together beautifully.
But really, isn’t the true charm of this genre watching an adorable protagonist be showered with love by her family while delivering refreshing, cathartic payback?
This novel had all those trendy elements mixed in generously.
“Found it lying around. If you like it, take it, Asphodel.”
A cool, lioness-like emperor mother who radiated effortless charisma.
Strong, beautiful, and seemingly indifferent to worldly affairs—yet that aloofness only made her more charming, earning her immense love from readers.
“Adel, your father would do anything for you. So keep smiling like you do now.”
And then there was the father—gentle and beautiful like a flower-deer.
He had an elegant, almost tragic beauty like a unicorn archetype, cool toward others but endlessly affectionate toward his wife and daughter—a gap that made him wildly popular as well.
“My cute little sister. If anyone bullies you, just tell us. We’ll wipe them all out.”
“I can’t sleep without you, Sister. Please come here and hold my hand.”
Of course, brothers who couldn’t live without the heroine were essential too.
Add in charming and cool older sisters, and it was perfection.
“Your glory is my joy, your happiness the reason I live. Princess, you are my one and only god.”
Dashing male leads and sub-male leads appeared at just the right moments, cranking up the flutter factor.
On top of that, the villains were dealt with in satisfying bursts of justice, maintaining a perfect balance of tension and release.
No wonder every chapter was gripping.
Ah, this is why I love female-lead growth stories.
I was certain the story would continue sweetly and gently, ending beautifully and carving out a monumental place in the romance fantasy genre.
But then—
Did the author eat something bad halfway through…?
Huh? Why is this suddenly going in this direction?
From the middle of the story onward, massive narrative disasters started getting dumped out of nowhere.
Hidden powerhouse villains suddenly ran wild, and even monsters that had barely mattered before began swarming like drugged-up cockroaches.
The once bright and cheerful tone steadily turned bleak and oppressive.
No, seriously, author…?
Why did this suddenly become a grimdark story?
I was confused, but I tried to stay calm.
After all, they say the ground hardens after the rain—surely the heroine could overcome hardships like these!
The author must have a plan!
Then the heroine’s father died.
He protected her during a monster invasion and was torn to pieces, leaving behind nothing but one arm.
Holy f—.
Still, thanks to his heartbreaking sacrifice, the invasion was resolved, and the heroine awakened her powers and defeated the villains.
It felt like things were heading toward a happy ending.
But that wasn’t the end.
The final villain turned out to still be alive and brutally murdered the heroine’s brother, while her sickly younger brother was brainwashed and turned into the villain’s lackey.
Are you kidding me?!
And that wasn’t all.
Even the male lead, who’d been sharing sweet romantic moments with the heroine, was gravely injured while trying to save her during the final battle and was left unable to ever wield a sword again.
For f—’s sake…!
In the end, the villain was defeated—but the story concluded with everyone left wounded, broken, and scarred.
Then the “Completed” mark appeared.
Faced with an unprecedented bad ending, readers completely lost their minds.
—Author…? That was just the end of Part 1, right? There’s a Part 2 where they regress, right? Please say yesㅠㅠ
People clung to the hope of a regression or resurrection ending—even if it made no sense.
But it was a futile dream.
No matter how long they waited, there were no updates.
Eventually, perhaps overwhelmed by the uproar, the author uploaded a post-completion note on their personal site.
The Delinquent Princess’s Free-Spirited Life Plan
