Chapter 3

I remained seated on the bed, deep in thought.

Why had I even wanted to be Crown Princess in the first place?

It was because I wanted to prove that I was a proper noble lady, even without any magical power.

I wanted to do it in a way so decisive that the people who mocked me wouldn’t be able to utter a single excuse.

The King stood at the apex of all nobility.

If I became the consort of the Crown Prince who would one day inherit that throne, everyone would have no choice but to kneel before me, no matter how much they used to mock me.

Devoid of magic, I had no other way to prove my worth.

Yet in the end, my wish to become Crown Princess never came true.

I could never prove any worth. After all, I had possessed no value from the very beginning.

My first life was simply meant to make me realize that harsh truth.

So what was this second life?

For what purpose was this return from the dead—something that should have been impossible—restarted?

Was it to successfully become Crown Princess this time around?

Was it to completely deceive the Crown Prince, eliminate the other marriage candidates, and finally accomplish being chosen all over again?

How pathetic.

I had tasted enough in my first life to know full well that such an attempt would inevitably fail and achieve nothing.

Ultimately, someone like me without magic could never become anything.

Whenever I tried to become something, I only spread harm to that exact same degree.

That was the fate of those born without anything.

If that were true, though, why had my life been rewound?

Since I was a nobody, it would have been fine if I had simply died like that in my first life.

What was this impossible second life?

For what purpose was I redoing things?

Thinking this far made my head feel as though it was boiling over.

At that exact moment, a knock sounded once more.

I thought Noah had come back to check on me, but the door swung open without even waiting for my reply, making me realize my mistake.

A servant would never enter a room without waiting for my response; such a discourteous thing would never happen.

The only person who could do that was someone of higher status than me in this household.

Someone greater than a daughter—that, of course, was…

“Father.”

A man in his early thirties stood on the other side of the opened door.

Although his attire consisted of a crisp suit, his expression carried a gloomy undertone.

Looking at him now, he seemed so young, though that was only natural since we had gone back ten years in time.

The last time I saw Father in my previous life was the day before his execution, but he had looked far more weathered than the man standing right before my eyes now.

It felt like a gap of twenty or thirty years, let alone ten.

That meant his previous appearance had been a result of aging far beyond his actual years.

There must have been a reason why his mental and physical exhaustion had exceeded normal limits… I thought, before immediately giving a bitter smile.

Ah, that’s right. The reason for Father’s emotional strain was none other than myself.

Noticing my self-deprecating smile, Father spoke with visible displeasure.

“Elt.”

Father called me by my name.

“Elt” was the nickname of “Eltriede Eldenvalk”—myself. Since we were family, it was only natural for him to use a nickname.

“I heard you were feeling unwell, but you look healthy enough. Sitting around in a daze without even sleeping, and even wearing a smile?”

A sharp edge laced Father’s tone.

That was only to be expected; I understood without even needing to think why Father held me in such disdain.

My birth had completely derailed Father’s noble life, which should have otherwise been smooth sailing as a duke.

“Just how long do you intend to stay in your nightclothes? Breakfast is already prepared. If you aren’t sick, you need to eat quickly and get ready. The magic tutor will be arriving soon.”

That’s right.

Around the age of ten, I used to invite tutors to the estate and study magic.

Still unable to accept reality, I thought that if I tried so hard that I vomited blood, I would eventually be able to use magic.

That was why I had been assigned the finest magic tutor in the country.

Back then, I took magic training without missing a single day, and I never took a break even if I caught a cold or ran a fever.

The conclusion I reached at the end of all that was simply that “there are such things as useless efforts in this world.”

“What’s wrong? Are you not going to say anything? If so, should we cancel today’s magic lesson? Though it might be better to abolish it entirely rather than just canceling it for the day.”

The conversation was structured such that Father simply kept talking unilaterally while I gave no response.

Father must have been deeply troubled by my existence as well.

The Eldenvalk Duke family should have been one of the leading and most influential noble houses in the country. For someone completely devoid of magic to be born from such an ancient and prestigious house that had produced numerous great mages in the past was nothing short of a disgrace.

Because of my presence, we were ostracized by other nobles, and every time we appeared in public, we became the laughingstock of society.

I had inflicted such humiliation not only upon myself, but upon my family as well.

In my previous life… the day before my execution, through the iron bars of the cell, my father and I had our final meeting.

Looking far more weathered and haggard than the man standing before me now, my father had muttered softly.

He said, “I raised you wrong.”

When faced with a direct ruling from the Crown Prince and being sentenced to capital punishment, words like that were bound to come out.

At the time they were spoken, I had been deeply shocked.

I thought, “In the end, this person never acknowledged me until the very end.”

However, having returned to the age of ten, and perhaps with my mindset reformed, I could now examine those words with a different sentiment.

It was I who had been tormenting my parents.

If a good-for-nothing like me had never been born, both Father and Mother should have been able to lead peaceful, healthy lives.

Right now, the relationship between my parents must have grown completely cold.

Because someone like me, “one with no magic”, was born, Mother was suspected of infidelity, yet for the sake of noble decorum, they could not even divorce and were merely playing the roles of a married couple in name only.

In my past life, I had thought that even if I couldn’t use magic, ascending to the position of Crown Princess would allow me to become a daughter my parents could be proud of.

Yet that too only served to torment my parents further.

Even while I was reminiscing about the agonizing expression I glimpsed through the iron bars that night, the young Father kept chattering on about something.

“What is the matter? Why won’t you answer? …Could it be that you are truly feeling unwell? If so, then as I thought, the magic lesson will be—!”

“Indeed, let’s stop it already.”

“Eh?”

Perhaps taken aback by my sudden outburst, Father swallowed his words.

“Not just today. You don’t need to have the magic teacher come from tomorrow onward either… Because I have already learned well enough that I have no magic.”

“W-What is this all of a sudden?”

Father’s tone wavered, as if my sudden change in course was completely unexpected.

“Are you really going to stop your magic lessons? Weren’t you so determined that you would definitely become able to use magic no matter what it took?”

From Father’s perspective, too, if his daughter became able to use magic, that would be the neatest way to settle everything.

Yet I could no longer live up to those expectations.

I learned that harsh truth painfully well in my previous life.

“I have finally realized, albeit belatedly… that some things simply cannot be done no matter what you try.”

“N-No way… is that so?!”

Father was still unable to keep up with the sudden development, leaving him at a loss for words.

However, refusing to remain flustered forever as a duke, he soon gathered his composure…

“Very well… Since it is your own decision, it is best to follow your wishes. I will notify the tutor myself.”

Deep down in his heart, he must have felt relieved.

After all, no matter how much training someone like me without magic went through, it was impossible for me to use magic.

To avoid spreading the family’s shame, he must have wished for me to refrain from any unsightly behavior as much as possible.

“However, Eltriede, since you were born into the Eldenvalk Duke family, you surely understand your duties as a noble. In this country, anyone who cannot use magic is not recognized as a noble.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“For some reason, you were born into our house without the ability to magic. Since you are putting an end to your efforts to use magic, you must determine a way of life appropriate for that reality.”

I understand.

Normally, if “one with no magic” were born into a noble family, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to be disposed of the moment it was discovered.

Even so, I suppose I should be grateful that up until today, despite being despised, I was raised properly as a daughter.

No, not just until today.

Father and Mother remained my parents all the way up until ten years from now… until I committed a grave mistake and lost my life as retribution.

That meant I was the one tormenting them.

Because I never gave up.

“A daughter who cannot use magic has no qualifications to be a noble. I understand. I shall leave this house immediately.”

“W-What?”

Father, who had been about to say something, froze in place.

“What are you saying?! Why is it coming to that?! It is true that other nobles will not acknowledge a noble who cannot use magic, but that is exactly why…!”

“I have no qualification to remain in this house. No… I should probably say the Eldenvalk Duke family. It was strange enough that I was allowed to stay here until now.”

“There’s no such thing as… No, what do you mean by leaving the house?! The world is not so lenient that a child like you can survive on her own!”

“I am entering a monastery.”

Among the monasteries where followers of God gathered, there were several whose purpose was to take in and isolate problematic nobles.

I was still a remnant of the nobility. Furthermore, I had the massive problem of being unable to use magic.

If I explained the situation, I was sure some place would take me in.

Foolish as I was, I never realized it until the moment I died.

What I needed to do was not use every trick in the book to force myself to be recognized as a noble.

It was to promptly leave this world that refused to acknowledge me.