The butler led Navia to the Emerald Room, the most secluded among the third-floor chambers.
"You shall use this place from now on."
"Uhm..."
Navia answered with a subdued voice and entered the room.
"I will send a doctor shortly."
Thud.
The door closed, and silence ensued.
Navia surveyed the room.
Indeed, the third floor was incomparably larger and more splendid than the other rooms.
A large emerald affixed to the doorknob, a gold-painted candelabrum and columns perfectly matched the green room, and the expensive furniture.
Navia walked slowly, her fingertips brushing the furniture and walls as she circled around.
"Nothing special."
Once again, she was eight years old, and the world seemed vast.
That's why the size of the room felt even more enormous to her.
But the third-floor room didn't seem as impressive or grand as before. It seemed merely trivial.
"Did I so desperately want to enter this trivial place?"
As she recounted past events, a sneer formed on her lips.
"Why did I foolishly treat them with kindness?"
What she got in return was a horrific and miserable death.
Navia's steps halted in front of a large mirror.
Her physique was too lean and undersized for an eight-year-old.
Navia had been strictly managing her diet since the day she was adopted into the duke's mansion because she was not allowed to gain weight.
"In truth, the reason was not so much about gaining weight, but that even food was considered a privilege."
They intended to thoroughly train her from a young age to regard delicious food as a significant reward.
She was treated like a dog.
Perhaps because of this, even in her eighth reincarnation, when she last measured her height, she was only 159 cm.
"I've often been compared to the robust Wood and Vivian."
This time, she looked at her hair.
Not the distinctive red of the Agnis, but the silver that was lauded as more elegant than the finest pearl.
Before, she resented that her hair was not red.
"Instead, I took comfort in the fact that at least my eyes were red."
Now, she was grateful that her silver hair had no connection to Agnis.
Navia touched the corner of her eyes.
"To think I wanted to resemble these disgusting humans... Unbelievable."
Some said her red eyes were enchanting, while others found them bewitching, but she looked ready to gouge them out in rage.
"...Cough!"
Navia coughed and wrapped her arms around herself.
Her head was hot, and her body trembled with cold.
"I can't afford to be sick."
It was only the first day of her return, but Navia was already drawing the bowstring, aiming at her target.
There was no time to wallow in sorrow or lie down ill.
She must move faster than the enemy to not lose in this desperate fight.
Navia walked to the bed, deep in thought.
There was one commonality in her eight returns.
If Vivian's incurable disease was cured, Navia would surely die within a year.
Of course, some regressions ended even before that could happen.
"I know the cure for Vivian's disease."
If left alone, that cure would be discovered 12 years later, the year Navia had her coming-of-age ceremony.
During her eighth reincarnation, Navia struggled to become a part of Agnis for those 12 years, barely surviving.
But in the end, it was futile.
Now, she felt nauseated even at the mention of Agnis.
"Navia Agnis," she wanted to throw that disgusting name into the trash immediately.
However, Navia was too valuable.
Nikan could not give up his greed for her, as she was far too outstanding.
Not only that, but the damned Prince Ares always seemed desperate to possess her, regardless of the means.
"He'd probably prefer me as a slave than his wife."
The aristocracy was full of insane and twisted individuals.
There were two ways for Navia to escape their influence.
"Die or find a different guardian."
Once Navia became the foster daughter of a noble, she had no choice but to live prominently; there was no option to live quietly in a corner due to imperial law.
A noble's child was strictly bound to their parents until marriage.
This was supposedly to maintain and protect the bloodline of the nobility, considered endangered.
But the true meaning was different.
"The law was created to safely possess magicians as property."
If the law specifically targeted magicians, there would be problems, so the wording was cunningly changed.
In any case, whether or not a child was a magician, if they were pretty or smart, they became valuable assets for the family head to use.
Like Navia.
"Damn imperial law..."
Nevertheless, there were two things Navia had to do.
Healing Vivian and finding a negotiable new noble foster parent.
"I know Vivian's treatment, and the problem will be finding a new foster parent, but there are already excellent candidates."
Duke Lark Eseled.
An unmarried man in his thirties.
No heir.
He was the one who was supposed to become Navia's new guardian.
Knock, knock.
As Navia had just settled into bed, there came a knock.
"Miss, it's Charlotte. I've brought your meal."
"Come in."
The door opened, and Charlotte, the dedicated maid, entered the room with a tray in her hands.
Thud! Thud!
"Move aside!"
Philippa entered the room with an angry stride, pushing Charlotte aside.
Charlotte nearly spilled the meal due to the rough push, and her expression swiftly turned fierce but was quickly composed.
'Of course.'
While Charlotte appeared to be in cahoots with Philippa, she was actually sharpening her knife inwardly, ready to strike at any moment.
Navia carefully observed Charlotte's expression, and their eyes met.
Charlotte, not knowing Navia was watching her, froze on the spot.
At that moment, Philippa, with an enraged face, shouted.
"Go to the Duke right now, kneel, and beg for forgiveness, Miss!"
Navia slowly blinked her eyes.
It was clear why Philippa was so angry. It was because Wood had to be confined due to Navia's fault.
To her, Wood, who would be trapped in a room for a day, was far more pitiable than Navia, who almost burned to death.
Well, such discrimination was familiar.
'But being familiar doesn't mean I'll tolerate this wanton behavior forever.'
Initially, Philippa didn’t disregard her completely.
At first, she was treated decently, albeit dismissively, for being a lower-class noble's daughter.
However, her attitude changed when her biological family died and her patron Nikan became indifferent.
Philippa did not hide her disgust towards Navia, who was like a duckling in a swan flock.
By then, Philippa had started to threaten and whip Navia, thinking she was easy to bully.
If she lifted her skirt, there would be thin scars from a whip on her thighs.
'I tried to get along with Philippa as if she were my mother, but that was foolish.'
The nanny was endlessly kind to Wood and Vivian. She seemed ready to give her all for them.
Navia had longed for that level of affection, even if it was just a cup of honey tea when she was bedridden with flu.
"Don't make a fuss! What's the big deal about a mere flu?"
Navia asked Charlotte.
"You said you brought a meal?"
"Here it is, Miss."
Charlotte, with a wary look, glanced at Navia, set the tray on the bedside table, and retreated.
She then quietly observed the situation, stepping back as far as possible to not provoke Philippa.
Philippa, feeling ignored and even humiliated by Navia's lack of response to her, was too preoccupied to pay attention to Charlotte.
"Are you ignoring me right now!"
When Philippa yelled like this, Navia should have been trembling and clueless.
But Navia didn't flinch.
'Has she eaten something wrong? How else could she have grown so bold overnight!'
Driven by stubbornness, Philippa shouted again.
"If I ask you something, you should answer!"
Finally, Navia looked at the nanny, who had been squawking.
"You've been saying strange things, Nanny. What do I have to apologize for?"
Philippa straightened her shoulders and chest and spoke in a threatening voice.
"Obviously, for troubling Master Wood."
Wood was the heir of a great noble family.
Philippa believed that a lowly girl like Navia should not be a stumbling block in his bright future.
"Miss, you are enjoying luxury due to the grace of the Duke's family. How can you let the heir of such a family be misunderstood like this?"
Navia knew very well what kind of person Philippa was.
Philippa revered the great nobles as if they were gods.
Navia smirked.
Then she was a fallen being, ready to shatter that god.
Philippa boiled with rage, realizing she was being mocked by Navia.
'She needs a good beating to come to her senses!'
Philippa's expression turned vicious.
"If you behave like this, I have something in mind!"
Philippa approached Navia, swept away the blanket, and tried to grab her with a brutal hand.
"Oh, I now understand the mistake I should apologize for."
Navia said in a voice mixed with cold mockery.
She looked coldly at the tray Charlotte had left.
The pitiful meal of a fist-sized piece of cold bread and a ladle of soup, almost like plain water, caught her eye.
"I just realized that you've been embezzling the childcare funds. Isn't that a grave oversight on my part? Right?"
