Chapter 4
“W-What is this all of a sudden…?!”
“I…”
Summoning the last of my strength, I sneered at the man standing before me.
“You said that one day I’d inevitably become a disaster… and that you came to erase me in advance because you were afraid of that.”
Just uttering that single sentence made me cough up blood again.
My voice, barely forced out, was hoarse and torn.
“And yet… why are you leaving me alive like this, letting your guard down instead of killing me right away?”
Even so, my meaning reached him clearly enough.
Sensing something ominous, the man hurriedly tried to cut off my final breath.
It seemed he had finally realized that I had been deliberately stalling for time.
But it was already too late.
“U—Uaaagh!”
Screeeech—!
An invisible black hand clamped tightly around his neck, dragging him across the floor and pulling him into the darkness.
“Ghk…!”
“Aaah!”
The other subordinates of the Fourth Prince, who had been guarding the door, met the same fate one after another.
I spat blood again and released the remaining restraints.
After undoing the first seal, the rest came much more easily.
The holy spirits I had personally sealed away escaped the room and shot off like arrows toward the Fourth Prince, wherever in the imperial palace he might be.
Even if you don’t believe it, I did receive the heroine buff.
To the public, it was said that the temple valued me merely for my symbolic significance, and that my actual ability was no more than minor purification.
But that wasn’t the truth.
A blood-stained smile naturally spread across my lips.
I hope my dear little brother likes his sister’s final gift.
[Asphodel! You can’t die!]
[Stay conscious, Asphodel!]
[Those bastards—I won’t let any of them get away with this!]
Through my hazy vision, I could vaguely see the spirits standing protectively before me.
I used to scold you for being noisy, but right now… I’m kind of glad you’re here.
In the end, you’re always the ones who stay by my side whenever I die.
If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve summoned you more often, played with you a bit…
But regretting it now was pointless.
Instinctively, I knew this was the end.
So, dear god—
Let me kill that bastard Fourth Prince one last time before I go to heaven.
In the end, I died before dawn, without even seeing the world’s first light.
It was the absurd, hollow ending of a second possession life I had never imagined.
Ah… how unfair. After all that suffering, to die such a worthless death…
I was floating aimlessly in a dark bluish space, having become a soul.
This place seemed to be something like the afterlife.
So… I really am dead.
At that moment, my surroundings gradually brightened, and a sphere of light appeared.
Instinctively, I knew—it was the owner of the voice that had cursed me.
I waited, thinking it might mock me again.
But what I expected didn’t happen.
Flash!
Instead, the round light began to glow brightly.
But… what was this?
My soul-form body was suddenly pulled toward it, as if drawn by a magnet.
Don’t tell me it’s going to eat my soul?! Just like that?!
Panicking, I shouted urgently.
“W-Wait! Hold on!”
The white sphere didn’t even pretend to listen.
“Wait a second!”
Finally, a faint white light brushed against my body.
A chill ran up the back of my neck.
“Hey! Don’t you think I deserve at least three chances?! Two times is way too cheap, don’t you think?!”
The moment I screamed in desperation, the white sphere trembled slightly.
My body, which had been moving against my will as if about to be swallowed, suddenly stopped.
The sphere remained still.
…Was I imagining it?
Strangely enough, it almost seemed hesitant.
Seizing the opportunity, I pushed forward.
“Don’t you know the rule of three?! We eat three meals a day, and even in games you play best-of-three—it’s common sense!”
—……
“There’s the Trinity, three cheers, Mencius’s mother moved three times! The Three Little Pigs, the Three Fates, Rule of Three—you seriously don’t know this stuff?!”
Honestly, I knew I was just spewing nonsense.
But with my soul on the verge of being devoured, I wasn’t exactly sane.
“Just let me try one more time! I swear I’ll do it right on the third run!”
At this point, all I could do was cling desperately and argue shamelessly.
What was surprising… was that it actually worked.
Perhaps it had more of a conscience than expected—after a long silence, the white sphere finally bobbed up and down, as if nodding.
—Fine. One more time. This is truly the last.
Immediately after, a familiar white light burst before my eyes.
“Your Highness! Congratulations on your fifth birthday!”
When I opened my eyes, a familiar scene greeted me.
Chapter 3
If This Is My Third Possession Life, I Might As Well Write Poetry
“Your Highness! Congratulations on your fifth birthday!”
Dazed, I looked around in disbelief.
This was the dazzling imperial banquet hall.
Decorated with flowers and jewels, the interior was so brilliant it made my eyes ache.
I was seated in the most honored place, on a soft chair, facing the crowd.
I knew this scene.
The very beginning of the novel.
And at the same time—the first moment my life as Asphodel began.
Still, I couldn’t believe I’d been given another chance.
Or was this heaven?
Maybe it was a dying hallucination.
They say people see their past memories before they die.
But this was far too vivid—too real.
“Adel, why are your eyes so wide?”
Someone gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
The only people who could touch the body of a high royal without permission were those of the same blood.
Tears nearly burst out.
I turned toward the familiar voice.
A beautiful face, smiling softly, filled my vision.
“Are you still half asleep? Or are you surprised by the crowd?”
The man murmured gently and bent down to place a loving kiss on my forehead.
As silvery hair fell like a curtain before my eyes, I couldn’t hold back.
“…Dad?”
“That’s right, Adel. Everyone is here to celebrate your birthday.”
He was my father—Roxan Hiserion.
A man with the Hiserion family’s signature silver hair and deep blue eyes, possessing a refined and mysterious beauty.
Even as he aged, his looks never faded—but now, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, his presence was so striking it naturally drew admiration.
Despite his cool appearance, he was endlessly gentle only with me.
During this damned life as Asphodel, he was the only one who loved me unconditionally, without any expectations.
“The Empress said she’ll be a bit late, so let’s open the gifts first.”
My father lifted me up from the soft chair.
Without realizing it, I reached out and clutched his shoulder.
A small, chubby child’s hand entered my sight.
…Ah. I really did come back.
To the past.
To when I was five years old.
“Congratulations on your birthday, Third Princess.”
“Happy birthday, Asphodel.”
My father carried me to the central hall of the banquet, where countless gifts were displayed.
I could feel people nearby smiling as they looked at me.
Everyone offered their birthday wishes.
My mother’s consorts and my half-siblings stood mixed among the nobles.
“Now, Adel. Which gift do you like the most?”
Father asked as he brought me before the pile of presents.
Without thinking, I reached toward a familiar gift box.
“That one… the one with the blue ribbon.”
The words slipped out naturally, as if I were truly a child.
Father smiled sweetly, his eyes curving.
Wow… our dad really is ridiculously handsome.
“That must be your favorite. Shall we open it?”
Nodding absentmindedly, still mesmerized by his face, I already knew why he was smiling.
It was because he was the one who had prepared that gift.
Just like in the novel, I always chose the box decorated with the blue lace ribbon.
But I never got to open it at the banquet.
Because—
“Th-This is an emergency!”
Ah, speak of the devil.
Just as I hugged the box to my chest, someone rushed into the banquet hall in a panic.
According to the novel, this was the moment I was supposed to get startled and drop the box.
And in my first life as Asphodel, that’s exactly what happened.
But it wasn’t something that had to break for the story, and it was a gift my father had prepared with care—what a waste to ruin it.
It was a beautifully crafted glass music box, designed so that when triggered, music would play and sparkling petals would flutter inside.
So in my second life—and now—I held onto it tightly, like a squirrel clutching an acorn.
The Delinquent Princess’s Free-Spirited Life Plan
